You have all types of food markets in Sacramento from natural and organic food markets to generic supermarkets, small, specialty food stores for those on specific diets, and natural food sections of supermarkets. Do Sacramentans have too many or too little choices in food? Niche food markets like niche newspapers are doing wonderfully filling the need for specialty, imported, gluten-free, or ethnic foods in Sacramento.
So why is there so much insecurity about foods? It's because people want to know which foods are best by tailoring the foods to individual health needs. At the same time, people are going towards food based on taste. We want clean foods free from toxins and vermin, foods that don't have to be recalled.
Are the food prices too high in Sacramento? Do people long to grow their own food in communal gardens? The climate in September 2010 appears to be all about food insecurity. See the Sept 1, 2010 American Dietetic Association's news release, "Action Needed to Eliminate Food Insecurity in the U.S."
People want to match their diets to their genetic signature and expression, body shape, even body measurements. Apple-shaped versus pear shaped in the contest between low-carb and low-fat diets. How do you become more secure about foods?
Yet with high prices, upscale imported foods and grocery items, wild-caught fish sections of food markets, farmers' markets, and produce delivery of organic foods to your home as well as the Internet delivery services on food items from milk substitutes to raw foods, you still have food insecurity.
Mainly, people want healthier foods, foods free from insecticides and vermin. But who's secure in Sacramento or anywhere else nowadays as food prices rise and food recalls gather steam? In Sacramento you have the Whole Foods Market, the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, numerous farmers' markets meeting in parking lots of shopping centers, hospital parking lots, or in public parks. With all this food choice, why are some inner city neighborhoods in Sacramento lacking even a large chain supermarket?
You have the imported food stores, natural food sections of supermarkets, and the ethnic groceries--Asian, Hispanic, and any other specialty grocery store of the various groups in Sacramento-- Middle Eastern, Greek, Armenian, Kosher, or whatever community needs imported foods. Is the city's food supply about more choice or about food insecurities?
Maybe there are so many choices, you want to know which food is healthiest for you? In some neighborhoods in Sacramento, you can't even find a major supermarket chain store. People there may buy snack foods from convenience stores or grow produce in urban community gardens. Some areas of this city have fewer choices when it comes to food. And don't forget the local food banks to feed the hungry.
Food Insecurity in the USA
The American Dietetic Association has published an updated position paper on food insecurity in the United States, calling for funding for food and nutrition assistance programs, increased nutrition education and efforts to promote economic self-sufficiency for all households and individuals.
The paper calls access to food "a basic human need and fundamental right," defining food insecurity as "limited or intermittent access to nutritionally adequate, safe and acceptable foods accessed in socially acceptable ways."
According to ADA's position paper, food insecurity is prevalent throughout the country: More than 49 million people living in the United States experienced food insecurity in 2008. In addition, 5.7 percent of all households representing 17.3 million people including 1.1 million children, had "very low food security," defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as "multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake."
ADA's position paper was written by registered dietitian David H. Holben, professor of nutrition and director of the didactic program in dietetics in the School of Applied Health Sciences and Wellness at Ohio University.
The paper, published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, represents ADA's official stance on food insecurity in the United States:
It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that systematic and sustained action is needed to achieve food and nutrition security for all in the United States. To eliminate food insecurity, interventions are needed, including adequate funding for and increased utilization of food and nutrition assistance programs, inclusion of food and nutrition education in such programs, and innovative programs to promote and support individual and household economic self-sufficiency.
"In children, adolescents and adults, negative nutrition and non-nutrition-related outcomes have been associated with food insecurity including substandard academic achievement, inadequate intake of key nutrients, poor health, chronic disease risk and development, and poor psychological and cognitive functioning," according to ADA's position paper.
Households receiving food from emergency food providers such as pantries, kitchens and shelters "appear to be particularly vulnerable to food insecurity," according to ADA's position. However, nearly 70 percent of food-insecure households do not use a pantry, "despite knowing of availability of one in their community."
ADA's position recommends "adequate funding for and increased use of food and nutrition assistance programs, as well as innovative programs to promote and support economic self-sufficiency...Registered dietitians and dietetic technicians, registered can encourage clients to access existing programs providing food and nutrition assistance, social services and job training as an immediate intervention. RDs and DTRs can also partner with key stakeholders in the community to build local food systems and reduce hunger."
The American Dietetic Association is the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. ADA is committed to improving the nation’s health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy. Visit the American Dietetic Association.
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