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FOOD INSECURITY: AN OVERVIEW
By Lindsey Lanquist and Michael Bodley
North Carolina, like most of the United States, produces and imports more than enough food to feed its residents, at least in theory. But thousands go hungry each day, relying on a food-insecure system glued together with SNAP benefits, co-op startups and old-fashioned soup kitchens.
In 2014, the earliest year with available data, 16.7 percent of North Carolina households were food-insecure, compared to a U.S. national average of 14 percent. The state is within the Top 10 most food-insecure in the country.
Breaking down food deserts
Though the United States is one of the largest and most efficient food producers in the world, nearly 50 million U.S. citizens (1 in 6) are food insecure. This means 50 million U.S. citizens don’t have regular access to “enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members,” as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
States in the Southeast have some of the highest rates of food insecurity in the country, with Mississippi boasting the highest rate at 22.7 percent. To put things into perspective: 1,801,940 of North Carolina’s 9,944,000 residents are food-insecure.
Many of these people (23.5 million) live in areas known as “food deserts,” which are neighborhoods “with limited access to affordable and nutritious food." These “deserts” are often found in low-income neighborhoods and are characterized by a lack of supermarkets. In Alamance County and elsewhere in North Carolina, many residents lack access to reliable transportation, meaning they often have no means of making it to far-off grocery stores.
North Carolina is home to several cities that have the highest levels of food insecurity in the country: Greensboro, High Point, Asheville and Winston-Salem , ringing around the Triangle.
About 160,000 North Carolina residents receive emergency food assistance each week, and of those 160,000, 81 percent don’t know where their next meal is coming from. 73 percent of these residents have had to choose between paying for food or paying for health care, 75 percent have had to choose between paying for food or heating their homes and 61 percent have had to choose between paying for food or paying for housing.
It could get worse.
The prevalence of food deserts in the country is projected to increase in the coming years as grocers move to higher-income urban areas and leave rural and low-income neighborhoods behind.
Food insecurity and public health
Food deserts do have food, though — it just may not be the healthiest. The golden arches of McDonald's and the red ring of Arby's line streets like Burlington's Huffman Mill Road, which has one of the highest concentrations of fast food retailers in the country. There are convenience stores and gas stations, packaged snacks and microwavable dinners. But there isn't a lot of nutritional value.
These options are less likely to carry affordable, healthy foods — causing some food desert inhabitants to have poor diets.
The salts and fats and cholesterol crammed into processed food leads in an expected direction: obesity.
Southern states have both the highest rates of food insecurity and the highest rates of obesity in the country. Arkansas and Mississippi, the two states with the highest food insecurity rates, fall within the top five for most obese states, with obesity rates at 35.5 percent and 35.9 percent, respectively. North Carolina lies toward the middle, here — its obesity rate of 29.7 percent good for 24th on the list.
Still, North Carolina’s obesity rate has steadily increased over the past 25 years (23.3 percent in 1990, 20.9 percent in 2000, 29.7 percent today). By comparison, the overall U.S. obesity rate is approximately 35 percent, and the rate of American adults who are either obese or overweight has reached 70 percent.
Obesity can lead to all kinds of health problems, including heart disease, stroke, Type 2 Diabetes and certain kinds of cancer — all of which are leading causes of death in Alamance and Guilford County.
Potential solutions
A variety of solutions to the problem of food insecurity have been posed — both privately and publicly. At the federal level, the government has implemented the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food stamps to those in need. At the local level, North Carolina has implemented several policy-based solutions, including: incentivizing corner store grocers to sell healthier foods, supporting grocery store cooperatives and connecting local farmers with institutions like schools and hospitals.
Recently, however, the North Carolina General Assembly has passed legislation critics say hasn't helped.
In September, the General Assembly passed House Bill 539 to mediate a gap in funding between charter schools and traditional public schools. An unintended consequence of this bill was a cut to federal nutrition grants at public schools, which means less money is going to feeding children in low-income families. In the same month, the North Carolina government also unveiled a new plan for food stamps, which could make it harder for some unemployed residents to receive nutrition assistance.
Several privately-owned options exist, as well. In 2014, North Carolina’s Feeding America Food Banks distributed more than 140 million meals to families in need. There are seven Feeding America Food Banks in the state. Allied Churches of Alamance County provides food, shelter and emergency assistance to the hungry and homeless in the Burlington area. And many others are working to increase access to farmers markets.