Poverty and Food Insecurity Issue and the SNAP Program - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Poverty and food insecurity are related in a very close manner. This has become a major global issue which has affected not only poor countries but also some of the most developed countries in the world. As a result, it is an issue which needs to be considered in a more serious manner because the already existing solutions have not been useful to the people who have been affected by the problem of hunger and food insecurity. In the United States, food insecurity has been an issue that has remained adamant. Although food insecurity is a global problem, it affects the United States in a very critical manner. According to the World Hunger Education Service (para 2), in the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis which lasted in the year 2010, over seventeen million households in the united states were left with food insecurity, not being able to provide enough food, of sufficient nutrition for their families. This was an increase from the figure in the pre-recession days. For instance, the number of households with extreme food insecurity rose from 4.1% in 2007 to 5.4% in 2010. This leaves a total of over 6.7 million households in severe food insecurities in the U. S. In such cases, children are the most affected and in 2010, the number of children affected by severe food insecurity increased by at least five percent. As Edin and Kefalas (89) say, children from single mothers are many times as likely to be affected by severe insecurity. Yet three out of four children are from the poor and not the affluent thus increasing the risk of children from the poor families to suffer higher levels of food insecurity. It is estimated that for food insecurity to be fought completely, food production should have doubled by the year 2030. This is a big challenge for most nations around the world and United States of America has not been spared from this challenge. Instead, these programs have been geared towards making food affordable to the people who face the challenge of food insecurity.  With this trend, it has become harder for many Americans to be able to access food. Subsidized food, as provided by the SNAP Program cannot be the solution in the long run due to the fact that it only creates more depend people who end up being a burden to the economy. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More