Summary
Hunger problem, income gap, race discrimination, poverty in rural regions, and COVID-19 outbreak have severe effects on the hunger problem. For instance, the income gap directly impacts the hunger problem through citizen’s wealth-income ability. Additionally, race discrimination also significantly affects the issue, leading to most territories comprising African Americans and Hispanics experiencing poverty and food insecurity (Galer-Unti, 2019).
Furthermore, poverty in rural regions such as Mississippi and Alabama reduce the individual’s access to food near the United States’ urban areas. Moreover, the COVID-19 outbreak similarly impacted famished actions due to the loss of job opportunity. Therefore, the ravenous issue affects the industrial macro-operations at large. The hunger problem exists comprising theoretical perspective escalating the consequences. However, there are possible solutions to alleviate the problem, including proper use of government revenue to feed the people and eradicate racial segregation.
How Hunger Problem Emerged
The hunger problem arose when the food shortage crisis progressed continuously in the United States. For instance, Mississippi and Alabama’s highest food insecurity rates proved the hunger conflict as the arising issue (Wolfson & Lueng, 2020). These areas are densely populated and since there is little food to share, food scarcity is experienced. Numerous factors have contributed to the current hunger problem in the United States. Among them are the income gap, race discrimination, poverty in rural regions, and COVID-19 outbreak. As a result, the economy has been left devastated and unstable. Firstly, the income gap has widely contributed to the phenomenon.
The difference in individuals’ wages is significant, rendering the low-income citizens poor and unable to afford a decent living. Secondly, racial discrimination has also played a significant part in the current food situation. Citizens are racially segregated during food distribution and economic development (United States Department of Agriculture, 2020). Furthermore, poverty in rural regions of Mississippi and Alabama affects an individual’s access to food from a grocery store near the United States’ urban centers. The COVID-19 outbreak similarly facilitates the conflict due to the loss of job opportunity it induced.
Understanding of the Theoretical Perspectives
After reading several materials and conducted studies on the theoretical perspectives surrounding this phenomenon, I have understood that sometimes the hunger levels are not only based on the income levels, but racial discrimination or poverty levels, on the biological, psychological and political perspectives. Hunger strikes have recently increased as it has been utilized to effect social change or further an agenda.
For instance, by examining the current hunger strikes from a comparative perspective, they have been tactically used to seek change against the state by citizens, especially, from the low-income category. Moreover, several themes and explanations have surfaced regarding hunger strikes, including appeal to the individual with absolutely no power, especially when political opportunities are few. Additionally, the information has helped me understand the significance of hunger strikes for low-class struggles and its importance in national protests’ dynamics.
Furthermore, the government must realize which theoretical perspective to work with to achieve food security fully. Going by the socialist perspective of famine’s current state, all human needs’ satisfaction is not easy to achieve. On the one hand, since socialism focusses on economic provision and satisfaction of human wants, it is incapable of fully providing food security. As much as capitalism results in irrationality and injustices, its feasibility can clearly be understood from a productive perspective. Therefore, the government should tax those individuals that can afford to pay and wisely use the revenue to provide for its citizens.
How to Alleviate Hunger
Creation of more job opportunities for unemployed citizens in the United States alleviates hunger. All the qualified and trained individuals from various institutions should be offered jobs to earn for a leaving. Vacancy should be created to enable every citizen to get an income (Galer-Unti, 2019). The money acquired will enable them to buy enough food, thus eradicating hunger. The entrepreneurs should also develop more business ideas to get a source of income to survive. Apart from creating job opportunities, the COVID-19 ailment should be controlled and prevented to eliminate its spread leading to inadequate nutrition.
Its continuous spread leads to more money used for treatment at the medication center than using the same money to buy food (‘Food Security’, 2019). Preventing COVID-19 would portray good use of money to treat the disease and use it for food purchase purposes.
Development of infrastructure in the rural areas eliminates hunger. The ministry should construct roads and railways in remote areas to stimulate the grocery products’ transportation from the urban areas to rural areas for use (Wolfson & Lueng, 2020). The vehicles and trains can transport the fruits and vegetables, dairy products; as proteins should be moved to the remote areas in Alabama to help feed the starving individuals.
Thus, proper transportation methods would promote less expense in petrol utilization, reducing the cost while eradicating poverty. Additionally, the agriculturalists should promote activities such as farming and irrigation to ensure hunger alleviation. These agricultural projects would lead to large scale farming for home consumption and sales marketing (Feeding America, 2020). The practice would improve the living standards of individuals, leading to a better socio-economic status. Similarly, the activities will eliminate food insecurity since all grocery products and nutrients will be made available.
Furthermore, “Community action” programs run by respective location authorities would create awareness to all individuals on the importance of a healthy diet. It also improves the efficiency and effectiveness of promoting better coordination to various authorized programs to help the poor. The authorities present would ensure that all are educated on the consequences of lack of enough food in the body enabling personnel to strive harder to avoid food insecurity (Wolfson & Lueng, 2020). Rural societies will apply high specialized assistance procedures and entrepreneurship practices to avoid hunger in the United States. The banks offering loans application opportunities to agriculturalists and savings would decrease hunger in the United States.
Possible Solutions
One major possible solution to alleviate hunger is healthy lifestyle promotion. Individuals should strive harder to improve their health status ensuring proper food intake to avoid starving at all costs (Galer-Unti, 2019). Another possible solution is to provide agricultural education through training and technical skill development to engage them in better leisure practices and implications (Institute for Policy Research, 2020). Moreover, effective financial means reducing expenses at the initial stages of production, proper storage, and product and services transportation eliminates hunger. It leads to efficient distribution and selling, and marketing of particular food items.
Conclusion
To sum up, hunger has been a major problem in the U.S. However, there are possible causes to alleviate: the income gap, poverty in rural areas, the outbreak of COVID-19, and racial discrimination. The theoretical perspectives study leads to the assumptions of the hunger existence continuity fostered by the COVID-19 pandemic issues. The pandemic spreads at a high rate; hence most people experience food purchase uncertainty due to unemployment. Creating more job opportunities for unemployed citizens in the United States is the critical solution that eliminates hunger pangs. One of the possible solutions includes healthy food promotion.
References
Feeding America (2020). The impact of the coronavirus on food insecurity. Web.
Galer-Unti, R. (2019). Hunger and food assistance policy in the United States. Routledge.
Institute for Policy Research (2020). COVID-19 Impact Survey. Web.
United States Department of Agriculture (2020). Food Security Status of U.S. Households in 2019. Web.
Wolfson, J. A., & Leung, C. W. (2020). Food Insecurity During COVID-19: An acute crisis with long-term health implications. American Journal of Public Health, 110(12), 1763–1765. Web.