The Civic Expression Award, sponsored by the Maurice R. Robinson Fund, recognizes six teenagers whose artistic and literary works explore political and social issues. Through films, sculptures, essays, and expanded projects, the students who received the 2021 Civic Expression Award show an awareness of the issues affecting their communities. Their exploration of these issues and the history surrounding them, as well as their recognition of their civic responsibility to find solutions in respectful and innovative ways, earned them this prestigious award, which includes a $1,000 scholarship for each student.
Want to apply for this scholarship next year? Learn how to get ready for the 2022 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards or sign up for a reminder on September 1, when the 2022 Scholastic Awards open for entry!
The 2021 Civic Expression Awardees are:
Lina Eid, Drew France, Dorianne Hines, Jennifer Huang, Miguel Rincon, and Jiahe Wang
The Pantry Paradox: Food Insecurity as a Threat to the Meaning of American Citizenship
Drew France, Critical Essay. Grade 11, Newark Academy, Livingston, NJ. Civic Expression Award
Since March of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted every household in America in some capacity, but what most fail to consider is the other plague that is simultaneously disrupting millions of American households: food insecurity. As of 2009, more than 50 million people in the United States lived in a household classified as food insecure. Today, food insecurity is one of the most destructive nutrition-related public health issues in the U.S.[i] The United States of America is a country that had a 1.4-billion-pound dairy surplus in 2017 (and proceeded to dump millions of pounds of milk onto fields as an effect), and a country that continues to discard billions of pounds of food each year[ii], so how is it that millions of Americans are still going hungry in a country that has an overabundance of food? To understand modern food insecurity, one must first understand what it is and where it stemmed from. In simple terms, food insecurity is hunger; it is the lack of access to nutritious and affordable food. Food insecurity in America can be traced back for centuries; Americans have been food insecure since the birth of the nation in the 18th century. Throughout the Gilded Age, poor working conditions, the lack of government regulation, and low salaries caused many workers to be food insecure as they did not have the means to provide meals for themselves and their families. During the Financial Panic of 1893 and the Great Depression in the late 1920s, food insecurity rates rose once again due to the high reported rates of poverty and unemployment. Modern food insecurity can be traced to Depression farms in the 1930s and New Deal policies. Redlining in American cities and communities resulted in the emergence of the grocery gap: a phenomenon existing in impoverished communities where it is easier to buy high-calorie, processed foods than fresh fruits and vegetables[iii]. Over time, these disparities only grew, and due to Covid-19, they continue to rise once again. Today, neighboring communities face completely different obstacles; one may be a food oasis and the other, a food apartheid (“apartheid” refers to the idea that food insecurity is primarily a result of failed policy and is not naturally occurring). Food security is a fundamental right that every American and every human deserves. No human should live in fear that they do not have the means to provide adequate meals for their family. No human should have to sacrifice their own meals to provide for their children. No human should be denied their fundamental rights.
The existing disparities between food insecurity rates and access to food in different communities are massive, and it is only growing larger. Imagine a city housing two communities, only miles apart, which face entirely different living circumstances. One community is the home to many migrant farmer families living food insecure. Some families can only afford to eat one meal a day, and many have developed diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma as a result. Most do not have access to health insurance, and all medical expenses must be paid out of pocket. A few miles away from here, another community has access to an abundance of farmer’s markets and grocery stores. Families living here have more than enough food to eat, and there is no lack of fresh fruits and vegetables.[iv] This is the disparity of food insecurity between communities in Santa Barbara, California, and many other American cities and towns. This disparity exists as a result of the relationship between food insecurity and income. The considerable price difference between unhealthy and healthy food and high-calorie processed foods and fresh fruits and vegetables is unaffordable for many. Americans must sacrifice their health either by eating very few nutritious meals on an irregular basis or unhealthy, high caloric meals. It is also important to note the disparities between food insecure people in terms of race. More than 21% of all black people were food insecure or lived on the edge of hunger in 1999, and 20.8% of Hispanics, in contrast with only 7% of non-Hispanic white people, were reported to be food insecure.[v] Low-income and non-white neighborhoods have more fast-food restaurants than their counterparts. As a consequence of this grocery gap, low-income minority groups tend to consume fewer fruits and vegetables and have higher rates of obesity than their counterparts. These disparities between different groups of people concerning food insecurity can cause problems of their own. Food is essential in understanding the construction of personal and social identities, perpetuating racial stereotypes. Throughout history, black figures on food such as Aunt Jemima have become corporate trademarks, portrayed as offensive and subservient figures. These stereotypes of the black community have been harmful, and in some cases, have contributed to the disparities around today among black and white communities’ food security rates[vi]. To combat these disparities, national and local policies have since been created to address food insecurity and target geographic and economic access to food. Through federal national benefits (such as S.N.A.P.) and tax incentives (such as the Healthy Food Financing Initiative), food has become more available to these target communities[vii]. However, with food insecurity rates on the rise as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, these federal programs cannot address all aspects of food insecurity or reach all that are food insecure. Food environment, the availability of food stores in a community, also affects the diet of low-income Americans, and few legislations and programs combat unjust food environments. In urban and rural areas, where food insecurity rates tend to be highest, smaller food stores, convenience stores, and fast-food restaurants are in excess, while supermarkets and farmers markets dominate suburban communities[viii]. The disparities between food insecure and food-secure communities are significant, and they present pressing issues. They complicate the meaning of citizenship, as these disparities between communities complicate the American ideal of equality. When some Americans live in extravagance while others live insufficiently, the idea of equality in terms of American citizenship becomes convoluted.
The existence of the hunger-obesity paradox complicates how American policies address hunger. In 2010, the American community with the highest reported food insecurity rates, the South Bronx district of New York City, also had the city’s highest obesity rates[ix]. This is the hunger-obesity paradox: the idea that both hunger and obesity coexist in many Americans. Due to industrialization and urbanization in the 19th and 20th centuries, many Americans migrated from rural America to American suburbs and cities. As Americans mass-migrated, their knowledge of growing and preparing fresh, healthy foods diminished. During the post-World War II era, America began to produce more highly processed foods due to its newfound popularity. Canned, processed, shelf-stable, and microwavable meals would become common in American households following the 1950s[x]. As the types of foods available for preparation changed, so did the average American diet. For many low-income families, highly processed foods became the only option for supplying enough food for themselves. Under these difficult circumstances is where the hunger-obesity paradox exists. In the South Bronx district of New York City, the Health Bucks program encourages people to spend their S.N.A.P. food benefits at farmer’s markets where every $5 spent results in an additional $2 benefit[xi]. Although programs like this can help combat food insecurity, they are not sufficient enough. It is unreasonable to assume that someone living in poverty would have access to transportation or the time to get to a farmer’s market, as they are most commonly located in areas that are inaccessible to those living in food environments similar to the South Bronx. Like the Health Bucks program, food justice legislation, which fails to address food availability in low-income neighborhoods, is ineffective. It is not until America changes its perception of hunger that effective policies can be enacted. Not only should citizens have the right to be free from hunger, but the right to adequate access to nutritional, affordable foods. Legislation must combine efforts to increase accessibility and affordability to truly be effective.
The severe consequences of food insecurity complicate American ideas of equality through divisions in the existing health community. Pregnant women who are food insecure are at higher risk of congenital disabilities. Food insecure households are at higher risks of lower nutrition intakes, anemia, mental health issues, being hospitalized, and poorer general health. Due to the high presence of the hunger-obesity paradox, food-insecure Americans are more likely to have conditions such as Type 2 Diabetes and high blood pressure[xii]. A 2009 C.D.C. study estimated that annual obesity-care expenses in 2008 were at $147 billion, as much as 9 percent of all medical costs, and nearly doubled the 1998 estimate[xiii]. Hunger has always increased the likelihood to suffer from medical conditions, which causes food insecurity to impact other aspects of a person’s life, such as their ability to work. In an effort to fight hunger, food security and health security have been added to the list of national security issues, resulting in more awareness and promoting the implications of new programs to supply healthy food and healthcare to those who do not have access to it[xiv]. Despite these efforts, it is essential to note that some food and health campaigns and foodservice providers are profitable businesses in disguise. Many American food banks marketed as humanitarian non-profits are linked to big for-profit businesses because of their existing partnerships between private food aid and large corporations. These sorts of schemes, sometimes unintentionally, promote food security as a biopolitical project rather than a national health crisis with severe consequences[xv]. The effects of food insecurity are real and pressing; until all food-insecure citizens have access to the care they need to combat existing health conditions, this crisis cannot be overcome. Health care is a crucial aspect of fighting existing food insecurity.
Access to an adequate standard of living is a fundamental human right. When living food insecure, one does not have access to this right. When a citizen does not have enough to eat, they are at a much greater risk to experience health issues, which can lead to an inability to work, resulting in decreased income. Food insecurity is cyclical in nature, and those who are living food insecure are not given the right resources to break out of this cycle for themselves and their children. America is a nation that prides itself on being the land of the free, a country where everyone is equal. The reality that the existing disparities between communities allow one to continually turn a blind eye to the other is truly paradoxical. There is a lack of accessible and affordable food in America: this must be acknowledged before it can be resolved. This is because of the disparities between American communities that jeopardize the American values of equality. Americans must begin to acknowledge the existing disparities between communities, change their perceptions on hunger, recognize the risks and severity of food insecurity, and acknowledge that food security is a right that every American should have access to. Only then can America begin to develop effective legislation that tackles all aspects of food insecurity to alleviate and remediate the problem.
Sources:
Carney, Megan. The Unending Hunger: Tracing Women and Food Insecurity Across Borders. Oakland: University of California Press, 2015.
Cessna, Jerry. “Dairy Data.” USDA ERS – Dairy Data, 2020. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/dairy-data/.
Dimitri, Carolyn, and Stephanie Rogus. “FOOD CHOICES, FOOD SECURITY, AND FOOD POLICY.” Journal of International Affairs 67, no. 2 (2014).
Dolnick, Sam, “The Obesity-Hunger Paradox.” The New York Times. Mar 14, 2010.
Gottlieb, Robert and Anupama Joshi. Food Justice (Food, Health, and the Environment). Cambridge: MIT Press, 2013.
Gundersen, Craig, Brent Kreider, and John Pepper. “The Economics of Food Insecurity in the United States.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 33, no. 3 (2011).
Mary Rizzo, Review of Witt, Doris, Black Hunger: Soul Food and America. H-1960s, H-Net Reviews, 2005.
Reuters, “Millions Still Going Hungry in the U.S., Report Finds.” The New York Times. Sep 10, 2000.
Image credit: Jiahe Wang, Altarpiece of Hypocrisy, Sculpture. Grade 12, Stuyvesant High School, New York, NY. Civic Expression Award