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Day 7: What is Food Insecurity?
Today we will look at what food insecurity is and what communities are affected by it. Take a look at this USDA map showing areas of low income and low access in the US and notice what communities around the country are most affected.
Food insecurity is when a person lacks consistent access to enough food to have an active and healthy life. This could be due to low wages, loss of job or other reasons to not be able to afford food. Food insecurity can also occur when a community does not have adequate grocery stores nearby with sufficient fresh produce and healthy options available- this is known as a 'food desert.' Read this article to learn more about food deserts.
Food insecurity can happen for many reasons, including job loss, low wages, medical needs, social isolation and more. Food insecurity often occurs due to compounding factors that lead to a family having to make choices like buying medicine or groceries, paying rent or buying groceries.
Check out this website and this infographic to learn more about how food insecurity can happen.
After you engage with the challenge materials on food insecurity, share with us if you think the pandemic has made food insecurity around the country worse. You can share your responses with us @LWScienceHealth on Instagram.
Want to dive deeper into the material? Links to all materials can be found at tinyurl.com/LWSHChallenge.
