Food Deserts and Food Insecurity: A public health issue?

by Ile-Ife Okantah

Lisa Nunn, executive director of the non-profit Let’s Grow Akron, says that food desserts should be a top priority for law makers.

“Having a diet lacking in fresh fruits and vegetables has a direct link to so many healthy issues,” Nunn said.

Unfortunately, studies show that food deserts are more likely to occur in lower-income communities. The USDA even provides a food desert map on their website that further illustrates that.

Let’s Grow Akron aims to “create and support community food gardens in neighborhoods with limited access to fresh food.”

“The point of this organization is not only to give people access to fresh food, but also to build a community,” Nunn said. “and we definitely rely heavily on legislation to do this.”

While Nunn describes her relationship with Akron’s city government as “mutually beneficial,” she states that there seems to be a disconnect between what’s happening in the city and what the legislature is funding.

“Sometimes I think it’s an ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ situation,” Nunn said. “The people who are running the city don’t live in these poorer neighborhoods. For them, they have so many options. They have a car that they can drive to Whole Foods, then to Acme, then to Giant Eagle. They can choose to shop organic. They can fill their cars with groceries. So to them, the problem is foreign because they’ve never experienced it.”

Although Nunn argues that city officials may not understand the need for fresh food there is another demographic of people who do: college students. Food insecurity, or the lack of reliable access to sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food, is a growing problem on many college campuses.

The National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness conducted a study on 3,765 students in 12 states. They found that 48 percent of respondents reported food insecurity in the previous 30 days. They also found that food insecurity is more prevalent among students of color, with 57 percent of black students reporting food insecurity.

For more on the study visit: https://studentsagainsthunger.org/hunger-on-campus/

For more on the largest food deserts visit: https://newsone.com/1540235/americas-worst-9-urban-food-deserts/

Summer Wigley, a graduate student at Kent State University who works at the university’s Women’s Center, says that she has witnessed how expansive food insecurity is on the campus.

“There is a pantry downstairs in the women’s center that provides food and toiletries free of cost for students,” Wigley said. “I see all kinds of students benefiting from this pantry. As happy as we are to help it is sad to see so many students hungry and without resources.”

India Pinero, a senior at Kent State, has used the pantry during her time at the university. She says one of her biggest stressors is often where her next meal is going to come from.

“People don’t understand that a lot of us are really really really hungry,” Pinero said. “After we pay for class, books and rent, we don’t have that much left over. I really struggle. Sometimes I rely on free food on campus for a full meal.”

Kent State offers numerous resources for healthy and fresh food. During recent years the university has implemented initiatives to make the campus more vegetarian and vegan friendly as well as overall healthier. The addition of Grazers in the Student Center as well as healthier options in dining halls has been praised by many. However, without a meal plan or disposable income, many of these options are out of reach.

“I am ALWAYS asking for swipes (a free meal from someone else’s meal plan),” Pinero said. “I look for swipes, free pizza, samples, all of that. It’s hard not living on campus because the options for us are like fast food. I have epilepsy so my diet is important to me. It just sucks that I have to have hella money to afford to feed myself what I want.”

As Nunn said, a diet lacking in fresh food can have a direct link to health issues such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

“To me, food deserts and food insecurity should be a public health priority,” Nunn said. “So many of these food related illnesses can be prevented through access. Community gardens help with blight and overall community pride. But sometimes society looks over this in favor of other issues.”

Initiatives like Let’s Grow Akron and the pantry in Kent State’s Women’s Center show how important food security is for all.