For Emily and so many others, this battle started with money. She started gaining weight when her family started buying cheaper foods. The seemingly positive side of processed foods is not so positive; it sabotages people everywhere and ultimately leads in a fate of being overweight and attaining diseases related to poor
He often states that the rich are necessary because they lead our economy and that their money helps them to do so. Then later in the books he calls the rich greedy and that they have more money than enough money for them to have a luxurious life. He is basically saying that while some families are struggling to have at least one meal a day, the rich just save/blow money on useless things. He quotes on pg. 20 that “The poor cannot be expected to save, because they need every dollar for basic needs such as food and shelter.
There are abut 47 million people on food stamps. Also more than eighty percent of the people that are on food stamps have a monthly income that is below the poverty line( ). Food stamps have also taken a cut in how much money they give out. This has become a big problem because people on food stamps are already struggling enough as it is and then when the food stamp company takes more money away from a family it makes it even harder for them to get food and provide for their family. Food stamps are also not accepted everywhere.
The money would go much further if the person would purchase processed foods such as hot dogs, lunch meat and Ramen noodles. This meal may not always be the healthiest choice, but it would feed the family. Many people do not chose to eat this way, or to have their family eating like this, but when push comes to shove, one must purchase what they can afford to feed the whole family. A website on the effects of low family income states,"A poor family is much more likely to buy a large amount of cheap, unhealthy food that will feed their family than a small amount of nutritious food that will leave them hungry." (Effects of Low Family Income) Foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables do run high in the store, and it is much cheaper to buy canned fruit and vegetables, but these processed canned foods add more sugar and salt to the diet than the fresh do.
After that, if food is available, more food is usually consumed, which helps the progress of obesity. The consumption of more organic foods can combat obesity and malnourishment. Unlike fast food, organic foods are not toxic and have more useful nutrients. However, their price is usually high, and families with low income cannot afford them. Organic food is expensive due to a number of different factors.
1. * The two main causes of obesity in America are fast food and lack of exercise. Fast food contains extremely high levels of fat, calories and carbohydrates that your body doesn't need. As portion sizes at these establishments have risen, so has the caloric intake for those who eat there regularly. Another major cause for obesity in America is lack of exercise.
But it is in turn up to people to make personal choices to help eradicate or at least ease the rate of poverty. Everyday 870 million people go hungry while 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted or lost every year. This causes severe damage to the environment as unconsumed food is responsible for 1.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions. And economically, food that is wasted costs $750 billion every year which is equal to Switzerland’s GDP. Every day, people, especially in the developed countries, waste almost as much food as the entire food production of sub-Saharan Africa.
Obesity: Society’s epidemic Since the introduction of fast food in the 1980’s, obesity rates have risen due to a variety of factors. Physical activity has decreased among schools while more fast food restaurants are created in the US. Furthermore, the convenience of a meal makes people come back for more, with catchy commercials luring both children and adults in. Moreover, the food is convenient, cheap, and advertised well, and our nation pays for the cost of obesity. Fast food has become part of our culture, forming our adults and children into becoming overweight.
As far as hunger, the rising in the cost of living makes poor people less able to afford items, poor people spend a greater portion of their budgets on food than richer people, as a result, poor households and those near the poverty threshold can be vulnerable to increases in food prices. How we as individuals can make a difference is by, we can start small and locally within our own communities collecting donations, (in any form) and giving them to a local organization, also making other people aware of the problem. Also trying to help the homeless some kind of employment, most are willing and able to work. In some states 25%of homeless people are employed, this goes against the belief that homeless are lazy people who choose not to work. Instead, many homeless works only part time, receive no benefits and are only making minimum wage while supporting a family, even when working full time some incomes are just not enough.
America Is Hungry Martin Luther King once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Hunger, though it may not be widely known, is an ongoing issue in the United States. It is known everywhere that obesity is a huge problem in America, but the opposite is also true. Many people living in the United States, especially in the South, live in food conscious homes. No one should be in hunger in the United States.