Food Inequality
“In the USA, about 1/3 of the calories produced are wasted per year, which is enough to feed 70 billion people” (Huckins, 2018, 8:15).
In America, we spend an average of nearly 6% of our income on food. On the other hand, countries in southeastern Africa spend approximately 50% of their income on food (Huckins, 2018, 16:00). We see this issue of food accessibility in many third world countries and it is obvious that one of the solutions to create equal food production and consumption is to improve food accessibility in these countries. Because of this, it is vital to increase both the capacity to produce food and the purchasing power of food. It should never be the case that the majority of your income is required in order to properly nourish yourself and your family.
Knowing these differences, it is now easy to understand the differences in treatment food gets in different parts of the world. “When you are spending more than half your income on food, that becomes a precious item” (Huckins, 2018, 21:00). This is why people are far less likely to put their food to waste in third world countries. These people become more willing to eat food past expiration dates and use every scrap and leftover until they are licked clean. Completely opposite of that, when you buy a $2 chicken sandwich from McDonalds in America and you don’t finish the whole thing, people have no problem throwing it away because of the affordability and accessibility of it.
Now we understand why America is the leading contributor of food waste in the world, however, there is a significant amount of hunger and food shortage in America as well, so where does that come from? A food desert is described as an area that has limited access to affordable and nutritious food. There are lots and lots of food deserts scattered around the US, most of them being in lower income and lesser developed parts of the country. These people struggle with creating a balanced and nutritious diet, and even to consistently have food on their plate. These areas can be anywhere, so it is important to look at the communities around you and see if anyone needs help because this is a very clear illustration of the fact that access to nutritious food is unequal even across our own landscape in the United States.
Hopefully having this understanding of why the problem of food waste is so much more prevalent in some parts of the world than others, we can be better at finding solutions to fix the problem.
Huckins, Sarah D. (2018). “Combating Food Waste and Unequal Access” Retrieved March 7, 2021 from https://video-alexanderstreet-com.gate.lib.buffalo.edu/watch/feeding-our-world-combating-food-waste-and-unequal-access/transcript?context=channel:food-systems
