Food insecurity has been an issue in the U.S. for decades.
While American diets are slowly improving, the diets of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients’ are still worse than Americans with higher incomes.
Access to fruits and vegetables is not the only problem. The fact is, low-income Americans do not have the time or the knowledge to cook.
As the wealthiest country in the history of the world, it is unacceptable for the 46.5 million Americans who receive SNAP to lack basic cooking knowledge.
According to a review of 25 studies done between 2003 and 2014, Americans who receive SNAP are consuming the same amount of calories as all other socioeconomic groups, but they are consuming less fruits and vegetables.
This is where food insecurity comes into play.
The types of vegetables that are widely available are tomatoes, potatoes and lettuce. All three of these veggies have much less nutritional value than collard greens, broccoli or kale, for example.
And that’s not all. Grocery stores that sell a wider variety of vegetables are in higher income areas, which are usually only accessible to low income Americans and SNAP recipients if they take long bus rides or walk to these areas.
Why do higher-income Americans have greater access to healthy foods when they have the means to travel farther to get their food?
This is a problem that does not have any immediate solutions.
The only immediate solution is to give SNAP recipients the information they need in order to buy healthier foods on a budget and learn to cook.
Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has considered incentive programs to aid SNAP recipients in making healthier choices.
The department is reportedly investing $100 million in Double Up Food Bucks, which doubles the SNAP benefits for recipients who buy fruits and vegetables from farmers’ markets.
This plan, if it goes through, is a great start. It helps people gain knowledge and eat healthier, while also simultaneously aiding American farmers, a group that has been struggling and declining in size for decades.
The USDA also has a program called Cooking Matters that teaches low-income families how to shop for nutritious food on a budget and teaches them how to cook the food they purchase.
However, this incentive program is run through states and private organizations; the USDA has no way of knowing how many people are actually benefitting from these incentives.
You might be thinking that people on SNAP who are eating less fruits and vegetables are making personal choices to avoid healthy foods.
Honestly, junk foods are more readily available than healthier choices.
Unhealthy foods are often cheaper than healthier options and, from an economic standpoint, less healthy options carry more calories for less money.
Meaning low-income Americans are getting more fuel for less money. With all the other overwhelming concerns of making ends meet, food is the last thing many people care about.
As a country, we need to make healthier choices more readily available to lower income Americans and SNAP recipients who have less time to shop and cook their meals.
We also need to make sure cooking classes are incorporated into public education in some way.
Knowledge is power, even when it comes to how and what you consume.
rcm2@indiana.edu
@RachelCMiller1
