Premium Essay

The Importance Of Food Deserts

Submitted By
Words 367
Pages 2
I wanted to address this particular issue of “food deserts” because nutrition has always been a subject that is important to me. I have come to realize that in society, it is advertised that it’s vital to live a healthy lifestyle, however society makes it extremely strenuous for vulnerable populations to access nutritional food without difficulty. Since minorities are commonly living within low-income areas, “food deserts” can be a major component in effecting a minorities overall health. Many individuals within middle-class predominately white neighborhoods have access to all the nutritional food that they desire, which will allow for the middle-class predominately white person to maintain their overall health more simply than a minority. Increases in diabetes and diet related diseases are major public health problems today, these diseases tend to be worse in certain U.S communities, due to lack of access to nutritional food (United States Department of Agriculture, 2009). …show more content…
As a social worker, it is the social worker’s responsibility to advocate for your clients when issues such as “food deserts” arise and end up marginalizing your clients. The topic of food deserts is also important to the social work practice because food deserts also has a racial connection. People of color are more likely to live within low-income areas, which can result in people of color being more at risk for health issues. Urban core areas with limited healthy food access are also characterized by higher levels of racial segregation and greater income inequality (USDA,

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

O Odham Case Study

...contentment. Because the desert did not provide the necessary food items to endure particular seasons, the O’odham for example traveled up the mountain in winter to a permanent water source such as a spring. In the summer months, the people would travel to arroyo mouths where they would construct brush dams to prevent flood runoff from ruining their varieties of corn, melons, tepary beans, squash and other crops. Harvest would therefore run around October and November months that would typically yield 1/5th of the O’odhams yearly food supply. When they were not seasonally traveling, the people of the desert would farm and gather wild foods such as cholla buds which nourished you before planting could start, pear fruits, mesquite, agave, and...

Words: 308 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Deserts and the Effects It Has on Society

...Food Deserts-The Impact Food Deserts Have on Today’s Society Abstract Food Deserts is defined as large and isolated geographic areas in which mainstream grocery stores are absent or distant. The research has demonstrated the statistical link between Food Deserts and worse diet-related health outcomes, after controlling other key factors. The actual term ‘food deserts’ is quoted, by S. CUMMINS (British Medical Journal, 2002, Vol.325, p.436), as having been originally used by a resident of a public sector housing scheme in the west of Scotland in the early 1990s. There are several ways to look at food deserts. 1). low- Income Project 2). The independent. 3). The observer 4). The guardian. This research paper will elaborate on the ways foods deserts are defined and what affect it has on the health and well being of cultural families and communities. Table of Contents Page Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………...2 Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………………………....3 Chapter One Context of the Problem ……………………………………………………………………......5-10 Statement of the Problem ……………………………………………………………………10-16 Research Questions ……………………………………………………………………………...16 Significance of the Study ……………………………………………………………………16-19 Objective of Study …………………………………………………………………………...19-20 Research Design and Methodology ……………………………………………………………..20 Materials ………………………………………………………………………………………...20 Organization of the Study………………………………………………………………………..21 Limitation of...

Words: 14390 - Pages: 58

Premium Essay

Mojave Desert Food Web

...Mojave Desert Food Web The life of the organisms in the Mojave Desert originates with the light and energy that the sun provides. In combination with the solar energy, rainfall, carbon, and nutrients the miracle of life begins with plants growing from seeds from the parent plant. Scientists refer to these plants as autotrophs, or producers because they make their own food energy by using the process of photosynthesis. A heterotroph cannot produce energy, and therefore are dependent on the producers and other herbivores to receive their source of energy. The first type of heterotroph is the primary consumer, which are the herbivore that eat only plants. These herbivores are one of the food sources of the omnivores, the secondary consumers, which consume plants and herbivores. Omnivores will also consume carnivores. Carnivores consume omnivores and other carnivores as their primary food sources. The connections of each species within this cycle are the networks that scientists call the food chain, and connected food chains a food network or food web. Another important connection in this cycle is the process of energy passing from one organism to the next. This process is the energy flow, and the food web illustrates the energy flow among the organisms in the food chain for the Mojave Desert ecosystem. The Pathways of Energy Flow Scientists identify food chains and food webs as the pathways that energy and matter pass from each link in the chain beginning with the...

Words: 1328 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Food Desert Essay

...Fresh Food Draft Access to affordable and nutritious food has become a topic of interest to the residents of Colorado. Food deserts, as defined by the Nutrition Digest, are “parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers” (Gallagher). Areas of Colorado such as this exist in largely rural and urban or low-income neighborhoods throughout the state. In these underserved communities, the issue lies with the ability to reasonably travel to get fresh food and the, often, non-existent retail food presence. In an article published by International Health Geographics, authors Joseph Sharkey, et al. explain that “Individual and community concerns with food security, limited access to supermarkets, higher costs for food (food...

Words: 2116 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Assignment 2 Nomads

...1. Nomads are important because they are people that travel the world and help areas develop. Clans are families that are related by blood or marriage, and they were important because they provided security and support in the extreme conditions. Monotheism is the belief in only one god, and it’s important because it represents who the people believe is the real god. An oasis is like a river in a desert, and it’s important because it helps sustain life whether it’s human or animal. Allah is the Muslim’s god, and he was important because the Muslims believed he was the one who brought everything into existence. Pilgrimage is a journey that a pilgrim makes, and it’s important because it represented Christian life from earth to heaven. 2. Two...

Words: 401 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Asian Culture

...being that I had a Haitian mother. One of the most diverse things about the culture and one thing that many people can agree with, is the food. As for me, that's one of my favorite things about being Haitian-Dominican decent as I get to eat the amazing food. But another culture who's food is a big part of their being, are Asians and their style of cooking and what they eat and what they make, and etc. So I thought, why not visit or get in depth with another culture whose food is a huge part of their being. And for this paper, I've decided to get into Asian food and how it differs from my culture as well as the importance it plays in their culture. To continue, as I began to think of where I can go to try real Asian food to really speak on for this essay, I remembered about my neighbor. My neighbor whom is of Chinese descent owns restaurant called 'Asia Town'. When I approached him about wanting to learn about different Asian foods and taste them, he invited me for a free meal at his restaurant to try some of his popular dishes. He even explained to me that a lot of his food is cooked by himself and though he gets help from his mother, he makes sure to keep the 'Asian style' in his food. A lot of popular buffets make their food 'mainstream' according to him and he mentioned to me, his restaurant was the best place to try real Asian food. Furthermore, as I entered his restaurant on September 12th and there wasn’t too many people in the restaurant and therefore he wanted...

Words: 1813 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Sand Dunes

...Algodones Dunes Sci/256 7-29-13 Sheryl Wildt Algodones Dunes Earth is a complex entity comprised of many different components which form the most unique environments known to man. These components, or ecosystems, are themselves complex, however also fragile. Whether intentional or not, humans have negatively impacted the environment to the point where intervention and management is necessary to preserve or remediate these fragile ecosystems. One such ecosystem is located in the Southeast desert of California, the Algodones Dunes. Although sand dunes are not a typical or popular ecosystem, they do have structural dynamics, human affected biogeochemical cycles, a need and plans for management, and implications of species interactions in that management. Structural Dynamics The Algodones dunes is a band of sand dunes reaching as high as eighty meters that extend seventy five kilometers in length from the Colorado River in Baja California northwest toward Indio. They are eight kilometers in width at the widest point bordered by the Chocolate and Cargo Muchacho Mountain range in the east and the Coachella Canal in the west (Sweet, Nielson, Havholm, & Farrelley, 1988). The sand dunes are formed by Pacific westerlies and weather fronts which blow in a southeast direction. Because of this, the crescent dunes form with a more gradual windward face toward the northwest and a leeward face or sudden drop and slope facing the southeast (Sweet et al, 1988). Home to a highly...

Words: 1208 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Character Analysis: A Long Walk To Water

...According to “A long walk to water” in chapter 11 ” page 65 “It was if almost as if they had left their strength with him, to help him on his journey.” The continuous struggle within Salva himself of strength was difficult to control. Salva believed that drinking water gives life even though he needed the water to give himself physical strength.When walking on one of his first walks with his group he had to deal with a tremendous amount of bee stings to give him food to survive. When the tragic passing of his uncle allowed his group not to share, Salva had to use his strength to finish the walk with very little or no water at all and no food. Salva used his mental strength to help him move through the passing of his friend and family members. This quote explains how the passing of his Uncle and his friend Marial help him gain an ability to move on knowing they were by his side no matter what. Mentally, this helped him reach his goals to meet his new family even though he had doubt in himself that his family wouldn't like him. He would not be able to reach his goal if he had not had hope. In addition to Salva using strength on his walk, he also uses hope, persistence, and the obstacles against nature to make it on his...

Words: 972 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Project

...organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system.[2] These components are regarded as linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.[3] As ecosystems are defined by the network of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their environment,[4] they can come in any size but usually encompass specific, limited spaces[5] (although some scientists say that the entire planet is an ecosystem).[6] History and development Arthur Tansley, a British ecologist, was the first person to use the term "ecosystem" in a published work.[fn 1][10] Tansley devised the concept to draw attention to the importance of transfers of materials between organisms and their environment.[11] He later refined the term, describing it as "The whole system, ... including not only the organism-complex, but also the whole complex of physical factors forming what we call the environment".[12] Tansley regarded ecosystems not simply as natural units, but as mental isolates.[12] Tansley later[13] defined the spatial extent of ecosystems using the term ecotope. G. Evelyn Hutchinson, a pioneering limnologist who was a contemporary of Tansley's, combined Charles Elton's ideas about trophic ecology with those of Russian geochemist Vladimir Vernadsky to suggest that mineral nutrient availability in a lake limited algal production which would, in turn, limit the abundance...

Words: 3556 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Desert Survival

...Desert Survival Decision-making The Desert Survival Simulation is a decision-making task that challenges individuals and groups to determine the best solution for survival. The general idea is that the plane crashed in the Sonoran Desert, and only the passengers survived. Fifteen items were salvaged from the wreck, and after each person ranks the items in order of necessity, a group of people is then formed to list the items in order of necessity together. Surviving in a desert is not a situation that many people are familiar with; therefore, it forces the group to use a synergistic decision-making process in order to come to an agreement. Synergistic decision-making is a process that includes problem-solving and interpersonal relations. According to Human Synergistics International (n.d.), “Problem-solving is the rational sequence of questions the team considers in reaching decisions, and interpersonal relations is the way people treat one another in solving the problem” (pg. 20). My team made up of myself, TQ, John, and Mike, used a synergistic approach with a focus on rational problem-solving. My team had no cohesiveness when we first got together. We started off by having each member say what their number one item choice for survival would be. None of us had the same top choice, so we began to chat about what we selected as our top choice, and why. There were some items that were commonly towards the top of the list; however, the conversation was not organized...

Words: 1369 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

The Little Prince Analysis

...1943. The first French edition did not appear until 1946. publisher  · Reynal & Hitchcock, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. (U.S. edition, both French and English); Gallimard (French edition) narrator  · A pilot who crashes in the Sahara desert, where he meets the little prince. The narrator tells his story of the encounter six years after it happened. point of view  · The narrator gives a first-person account, although he spends large portions of the story recounting the little prince’s own story of his travels. tone  · When describing his surreal, poignant encounter with the little prince, the narrator’s tone is bittersweet. When describing the adult world, the narrator’s tone is matter-of-fact and often regretful. tense  · Past settings (time)  · “Six years ago,” although the current date is never specified settings (place)  · The Sahara Desert and outer space protagonists  · The little prince, the pilot major conflict  · The childlike perspectives of the prince and, to some extent, those of the narrator are in conflict with the stifling beliefs of the adult world. rising action  · After he believes he has been spurned by his rose, the prince travels to neighboring planets and eventually lands on Earth. He wanders through the desert in search of humans, and he is eventually found by the fox. climax  · The fox teaches the little prince his secret, and the little prince realizes the value of his rose. falling action  · The prince meets the narrator, to whom he passes...

Words: 7718 - Pages: 31

Premium Essay

Formal Assessment Tools

...Knowing your patient's socioeconomic level is helpful when you are teaching; one way it can be helpful is by making you aware of the resources that are available to the patient. For instance, you have client with high blood pressure you are going to teach him about shopping for healthy foods. If he lives in a food desert, teaching what to purchase at a grocery store will not mean anything if those foods are not available. Formal assessment tools are beneficial although not always practical to do. Working with patients in a freestanding clinic you are limited on time. In the perfect world there would be plenty of time to do a health literacy test, sometimes you must be resourceful. Your plan is to prescribe a less expensive generic medication...

Words: 355 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Fight Against Childhood Obesity-Parental Involvement

...Abstract The purpose of this research paper is to show the need for better public knowledge about the issues facing children who are struggling with obesity, with a primary focus on parental involvement. Parents need to understand the seriousness of allowing their children to consume whatever they want, and how much they want: We are seeing hypertension, heart disease, some cancers, breathing difficulties, and type II diabetes in more children today than ever before. Opposing arguments claim that it is not the fault of the parents; however, infants don’t have control over how much they are fed, and toddlers lack the cognitive development to make an informed decision about their food choices. Young children themselves are not to blame, so focus on parents seems reasonable. America is challenged with a growing rate of childhood obesity, and public knowledge regarding solutions remains inadequate. We can do a better job of promoting the issue by helping parents understand the seriousness of childhood obesity; the best way to approach this is likely through marketing. The Fight against Childhood Obesity The percentage of children and adolescents who are overweight and obese is now higher than ever before: Over the last 25 years, childhood obesity has more than quadrupled (Get America Fit Foundation, 2012). Childhood obesity is defined as a Body Mass Index (a measurement calculated using a child's weight and height) that is at or above the 95th percentile for children of...

Words: 3127 - Pages: 13

Free Essay

Asdasd

...Judaism, Islam Lack of water desert Conflict wars Crusades十字军东征 Book about Discover different recipes in their home Italian their culture complicated background Their background are mixed The importance of sharing food Show friendship and trust sign of community Breaking bread share ideas more than physical meaning Also cultural and community Element working together similar Work together to cook and to make peace Israel Change hand diversity Why different languages appear Mother tongue your first language Anecdotal : story one example, not scientific Culinary cuisine Private odyssey journey filter through the prism Consciousness in turn Freshmen fifteen ice cream bar at midnight TED Talk Paleolithic nostalgia Legumes foraging Legume vegetable (in French) a certain kind of vegetable (in English) Foraging don’t go to supermarket Paleo virile live primal Chronciallly ill Abandon more like ancestors A lot of meat Don’t contain grains Improve health and live longer Eat meat found in plants vitamin c Digest plants matter the meat myth Lean small Inherent bias Two dental calculus Inside tubers fad diet bananas a farmers food latex Whicj are oliveoil model diet acess svocade olives chinkens eggs broccoli Carrot human inventions Paleo diet manymany carible Plural essentialmoredern seasonal Organs toxin s benefit sort of diet forgiors No onr coreect diversitycorn soy and wheat Fresh food in season can t always fresh ...

Words: 426 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Analysis

...Factors effecting…. Factors Effecting Brand Preferences: A Comparative Study of McDonald’s and KFC Abstract The study was undertaken with an objective to identify factors affecting brand food products about two major food industries i.e. Mc-Donald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Factors included were taste and quality of product, price of product, delivery of product, availability of product, environment of restaurant, staff of behavior and value for money. A pre design questionnaire was used to collect relevant data about these two food industries. The study found that the product of KFC were relatively better as compared to that of Mc-Donald’s in most of the traits studied especially in Taste and quality of food, price of product, staff behavior, delivery of product, and environment of the restaurant. Key words: Brand Preference, McDonalds, KFC Restaurants are becoming an important part in an industry system, providing services to people away from home in the form of foods. In view of this many forms took place and one break through is fast food restaurants. Factors effecting…. Fast food was a breakthrough from traditional catering method and standards fast food has their own benefits which their consumers perceive. Because of which they patronize their selection. Such benefits were rated on different variables shown in figure below. Perception regarding such benefits may be formed by word of mouth communication, exposure to promotion from restaurants...

Words: 4019 - Pages: 17