Who Does It Affect?
Cultivate History & Awareness
In the United States, food insecurity mostly affects Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), who lack access to calorie dense and nutritious food. Outside the U.S., people in developing countries in Sub-saharan Africa, North Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia also experience food insecurity. While BIPOC experiences the highest rates of food insecurity, they are also affected by global food policy and practices in the United States and abroad. In the United States and Texas, underpaid immigrants make up a majority of farmworkers who are paid low wages under harsh and unsafe working conditions. The 2019 report “Sowing Justice, Harvesting Despair” describes the exploitation of migrant workers in France, Spain, Italy and Morroco.
Number of additional food-insecure people due to COVID-19 GDP shock < 250 thousand 251-500 thousand 501 thousand-1 million 1.01-5 million > 5 million Other countries
What are its problems? Prevalence of food insecurity by selected household characteristics 2020
All households Household Composition With Children <18 With Children <6 No Children <18 Married couple with children Single women with children Single men with children Household with elderly Elderly living alone Race/ethnicity of household White non-Hispanic Black non-Hispanic Hispanic Other non-Hispanic
0
10
20
30
Percent of households
40
Food sovereignty movements critique the global industrial system of mass food production, which is controlled by powerful corporations and government entities, including the USDA and its global programs. These entities encourage the industrial production of crops that are manufactured into unhealthy and processed foods. Further, the industrial food system relies on fossil fuels, devastates local ecosystems, and contributes to greenhouse gases. Alternatively, food systems in other continents still value small farmers. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 33% of global food is produced by small farmers who use only 12% of agricultural land. The International Peasants Movement (La Via Campesina) advocates for peasant farmers and agroecology, which puts sustainable farming into the hands of local farmers.
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