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KeiryHiraldo
Mrs.Curtis
Ela1
April2015
FoodInequalityandAccessibilityBasedonLocationandEconomicStatus
Alllivingthingsneedfoodtogainthenutrientstheirbodyneedstocontinueworking,but
whathappenswhenpeoplearen'tgettingthequalityoffoodtheyneedtomaintaintheirhealth?
LowincomefamiliesintheUnitedStatesarenotgettingtheorganicandhealthyfoodsthey
deserveduetolocation,andeconomicstatus.MostofthefoodproducedintheUnitedStatesis
industrialized,theseindustrializedfoodsarecheapbuthaveverybadquality.IntheUnited
Statestherearesignificantlylessorganicfarmsasopposedtoindustrializedfarms.Theonlyway
toget100%organicfoodintheUnitedStatesiseithertogrowityourself,orbuyitfroma
farmersmarket/farm,butthesethingsaremucheasiersaidthandonebecausethecostistoohigh
forlowincomefamilies.Higherincomefamiliesareabletoaffordthehighpricesoffamer
markers,orhavethelandtogrowtheirownfood,butlowerincomefamiliesdonothavethat
luxury.InthenextparagraphsIamgoingtogomoreindepthonfoodinequality.
Farmsandfarmersmarketsarelocatedinareaswherehighincomefamilieslive,thefood
grownintheseareasareorganicandofcoursefullofnutrientsunliketheindustrializedfoodyou
wouldgetatyourlocalsupermarket.Atyourlocalsupermarketyouwillfindfruitsand
vegetables,buttheproblemwiththatisthatitsnotorganic.Thefruitsandvegetablesfoundin
supermarketstendtobesprayedwithchemicals(pesticidesandherbicides)andorgenetically

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modified,thesefruitsandvegetablesalsotravellongdistancesincemostofthemarenotlocal.
ThePriceoftheproduceatafarmersmarketissignificantlyhigherthantheproduceata
supermarket.Forexample,thecostofacabbageatalocalfarmer'smarketis$2.00,butatWinco
Supermarketacabbagecost$0.58perpound.Itisatoughchoicetochoosethehealthierbut
moreexpensive,orthecheaperlesshealthierone,mostpeoplechoosethecheaperonebecause
thatiswhattheycanafford.Thepriceistakestogrowthatonecabbageandthepricetheysellit
atisridiculous,ittakes$3.00togrowasquarefootofcabbagesand1cabbagecostmorethan
halfthatamount.
Farmermarketsarearoundareaswheretherearefamiliesofhighincomeandwheres
therealotofland.Theaverageincomeofafamilynearafarmermarketis$70,000+,farmers
tendtobearoundtheseareassothatpeopleareabletobuytheirhighpricedproduce.According
the2015FarmScavengerHunt,allthefarmsarefarwayfromthecitywherethelowerincome
familieslive,mostofthefarmsarelocatedaroundSmithfield,Kingston,NewPortetc.Thisis
anotherdisadvantagetothelowerincomefamilies,notonlyarefarmersmarketunaffordableto
them,buttheyarealsoreallyfaraway.Intheareaswheretherearefarmermarketsalarge
majorityoftheresidentsarewhite,inSmithField,RI94.3%ofthepeoplearewhite.Thisproves
thatwherethefarmersmarketsarelocateditisn'tdiverse,thisisfoodinequalitybecauseone
raceisgettingthebetterqualityoffoodthantheotherraces.
Fortunatelytherearesmallchangesbeingmadetothisproblem.Supermarketssuchas
Wholefoodsthatsellsorganicproducearebeingputincities,andaroundlowincomeareasso
lowincomefamiliescangetorganicfoodsalso.Manylowincomefamiliesarealsogivena
certainbalancefromEBTtobeabletobuyatfarmersmarkets.EBT(
ElectronicBenefit

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Transfer)isacardwithanamountofmoneygiventolowincomefamilieswithwelfareto
beabletobuyfood,sincemanycannotaffordtofeedtheirfamilies.44.5millionpeople
intheUnitedStateshavefoodstamps(alsoknownasEBT).Thousandsofmore
farmermarketsaresoongoingtostartacceptingEBT,andnotonlythefarmersmarket
balancegiventothem.Manypeoplearealsomakingcommunitygardensinthecitiesto
encouragethecitizenstoeatorganicandbetterfruitsandvegetables.Onceinawhile
farmersmarketalsogotothecitiesandlowincomeareastosellproduce,anddisplay
whatfarmermarketsgrow,andthedifferenceoftheirproduceandsupermarket
produce.Thesechangesareeffectivebecausetheyarelocalanditsmakingiteasierfor
lowincomefamiliestoalsogetorganicfoods.
Foodinequalityandaccessibilityisanunfairdisadvantage,thefactthericher
peoplegetgoodqualityfoodbecauseitsclosertothemandtheycanafforditrather
thanlowincomefamiliesisn'tright.Littlebylittlechangescanbemade,peoplecando
simplethingslikegrowingtheirownfood,oradvocatingtofarmersaskingthemtocome
tothecitiesmoreoften.Everyonehastogetthenutritiontheyneed,industrialized
producedoesnotcontainthenutrientsandallthechemicalsinitaren'tgoodforpeople.
ProducesuchastheTheDirtyDozen(R
eferrespectivelytothefruitsandvegetables
thatarethemostandleastcontaminatedbypesticideuse.EnvironmentalWorking
Group
)arefoodsthatyoushouldalwaysbuyorganic,butlowincomefamiliesusually
don'tbecausetheyeitherdon'tknoworsimplycanaffordortravelthedistanceofa
farmersmarket.

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Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/food-inequality/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/02/americasgrowingfoodinequalityproblem/
http://foodinequality.weebly.com/definition.html
http://politicsofpoverty.oxfamamerica.org/2014/10/foodinequalitydivergingdietssignalcomingwavehealth
yeating/
http://www.feedingamerica.org/hungerinamerica/impactofhunger/hungerandpoverty/hungerandpoverty
factsheet.html?gclid=CjwKEAjw0q2pBRC3jrb24JjE8VgSJAAyIzAdHotqhdkm27MIRnezleMl3GLJNmoQ78v
quJjkDBQDyhoCWY_w_wcB
http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/foodnutritionassistance/foodsecurityintheus/keystatisticsgraphics.aspx
http://happymoneysaver.com/farmersmarketsvsgrocerystoreforfreshproducewheredoyousavemore
money/
http://www.profitableplantsdigest.com/top10questionsaboutgrowingmicrogreensforprofit/

http://www.usda.gov/documents/FARM_FAMILY_INCOME.pdf
http://www.citydata.com/city/SmithfieldRhodeIsland.html
http://demonocracy.info/infographics/usa/food_stamps/food_stamp_nationSNAP.html

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/whatyoucando/queenofgreen/faqs/food/whatarethedirt
ydozenandthecleanfifteen/