Lack of Healthy and Nutritious Food in Memphis Essay

Are there a higher percentage of the residents at Memphis suffering from lack of access to healthy and nutritious foods? Have they been mostly feeding on unhealthy foods such as food deserts? Memphis is a city in the United States, and so far it has been ranked one of the standard places lacking access to healthy foods especially in the low-income areas. Statistics show that 26% of the population at Memphis claim that they are not able to access healthy foods because of their high costs and the only option they are left with is to feed on unhealthy foods sold cheaply at most stores such as junk foods (Fidler 8). There is a need for the Memphis residents to observe healthy food habits to evade complications. This research is directed at looking at the causes of this problem and its possible solutions that have been so far implemented by the city.

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Research has proven that in 2010, about 83% of residents at Memphis had to decide whether to purchase food or rather pay utilities while 32% argued that they had to decide whether to buy food or pay rent (Fidler 9). It, therefore, means that many people lack the free access to not only healthy but nutritious food in Memphis. Hence, lack of accessibility of healthy and nutritious foods is a significant problem facing Memphis as it profoundly affects the health of its residents who mostly survive or instead prefer to feed on food deserts which are highly available at affordable prices.

Memphis has also been known to be ranked as the most food insecure city for children in America. A reason that mostly explains the fact that a high rate of unemployment characterizes the city and this ends up causing poor nutrition as well as food hardships. Most residents at Memphis struggle too much to purchase healthy foods because their income is quite low and hence they have other pending bills that they prefer to solve first. Healthy nutrition is a factor known to contribute profoundly to the healthy development of children, and hence it should be of most significant concern so that proper growth and development of children is achieved. For instance, in 2010, Memphis was ranked as a city which is characterized with food hardships, and hence this caused a chance for it to improve and secure its residents' health status (Fong, 5). Hence, food insecurity and hunger serve as a major risk and threat to the good development and growth of children's brains.

A more prominent number of the Memphis populations have been left with no option whatsoever but to feed on food deserts which are cheaply and locally available at most stores, gas stations or fast food chains. These stores are all convenient, and since their food is cheap, many people just prefer to feed on their menu which is mainly composed of deserts such as cheeseburgers and fries. Food deserts are majorly categorized as the foods which have no access to fresh components of foods. Hence, a population that relies on them may have health implications which may be dangerous to their lives. The situation of the concentration of food deserts and other unhealthy foods in Memphis is explicitly worse because of some reasons. Its poverty rate is at 28% of the entire nation, and its obesity rate is at 30% when compared to other cities in the country (Fong, 7).

Therefore, Memphis' poverty and obesity rate have been the result of unhealthy eating, and it is what majorly is affecting the country's health status at large. For instance, about 12.4% of residents at Memphis have been diagnosed with heart diseases and diabetes which pose a critical risk to them. These rates are continuing to increase because of the lack of healthy foods and poverty. Also, so many health problems are now facing the people of Memphis as a result of their unhealthy eating (Food Research and Action Center 6). For instance, consumption of food deserts leads to high level of cholesterol and sugar in the body which results in diseases such as heart attack, diabetes, stroke and even cancer. These diseases are quite dangerous to the human body as they disrupt its significant activities which in the end may cause death. Well, this is not what people think of as they consume unhealthy foods.

Most of the people just result in feeding of desserts because these foods are more accessible and at a cheaper cost. Therefore, most people end up consuming them with the thought of saving time and money, but in the real sense, this is not the case as later in their life they are likely to spend more time and money while at the hospital (Food Research and Action Center 8). Hence, it is more advisable for the residents of Memphis only to consume healthy foods as they are the only safest options for their health. Also, the city needs to come up with solutions which are going to increase the availability of these foods especially to the underserved areas and ensure their prices are affordable in a way that can attract more customers.

Due to the growing problem of lack of proper nutrition and health foods, the city has decided to come up with several solutions that would help the people's health in general. For instance, the town is now improving the access of fresh foods which are healthy and affordable for people to feed on. This process is conducted through a campaign that is running through the city, and it is run by the charity so that better results can be achieved (Vaughn 9). The program majorly is directed at helping the underserved places in Memphis because they are the most significant victims of not having the access to healthy and nutritious foods for their bodies. The program addresses the sparse population and provides them with pamphlets which have detailed information on first what healthy and nutritious food entails. This kind of information offers education based on what healthy and nutritious food involves. Next is to give better but simple examples such as taking only fresh produce from the farm because it represents one of the healthiest categories.

Additionally, farmers and other local institutions of Memphis city have collaborated to bring an end to unhealthy eating. Some of the efforts carried forth are to provide or somewhat improve the availability of fresh foods and fruits as well as at affordable prices which are favorable to many people. For instance, the Cooper-Young Farmers Market and the Downtown Farmers Market have come together to initiate a program through which they can ensure that many residents can access fresh foods and fruits via the vendors. For example, they have come up with a strategy to promote the accessibility of these foods by offering a chance for a person who purchases fresh food of up to $10 to have an extra $10 green token which will only allow them to buy the fresh foods (Vaughn 11). This strategy allows many residents to access fresh foods cheaply primarily because the program offers an extra token after they have made their purchases.

The program has therefore been able to improve fresh and nutritious food consumption almost by double, and this is a significant change for the city's residents. The program has also called for willing residents who can donate more funds to it and allow it to accomplish its goals and objectives as stipulated. Another program targeted at the reduction of the consumption of food desert is the Green Machine Program whose main aim is to help residents of Memphis only to go green and consume just healthy and nutritious foods (Parker 12). The primary objective of this program is to provide free means of bringing the fresh food products to the neighborhoods which lack them. It ensures that it makes these foods available to all areas that did not have access to them before and this for some time now has resulted in a positive change. Hence, Memphis is also looking at the development of better community initiatives which are going to lead to more substantial effects within the city.

Another program directed at eliminating lack of healthy and nutritious food is to encourage the community members only to pay a sum of $20 for which they will be provided with a bag full of fresh and locally produced food products which are brought right next at their doorstep. It, therefore, ensures that more people within the poor neighborhoods can access healthy and nutritious foods at only a small cost and most importantly more conveniently because it is delivered right at their doorstep (Parker 10). It is the kind of program that is encouraging many residents to now prefer feeding on healthy foods which only offer nutritional values to them and keep them as healthy as never before. Some changes have even been realized as many people have now reduced their intake on the food deserts at stores because they soon understand that they have been making poor, healthy decisions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this research, therefore, was able to provide some solutions to the community members at Memphis city concerning their healthy intake of foods. Most of them were even happy because they could now access better and fresh foods which are 100% healthy and fit for their consumption. Most residents also promised to stick to healthy eating as they are now more sensitive to their health status. Therefore, this research was accomplished as the main problem at hand has been provided with several solutions which include the development of some programs to encourage healthy eating.

Also, consumption of unhealthy foods such as food deserts is harmful to people's health because it only leads to the development of dangerous diseases such as cancer, obesity, heart diseases, diabetes, and stroke. It is common because of the high intake of lousy cholesterol and sugar from the food deserts. Hence, it is the right time that Memphis showed more concern on what its residents consume as it could be of significant effect to their body. Also, all the residents primarily in the underserved regions should be provided with the access to fresh foods and at an affordable price that favors them. This process will, therefore, encourage them to consume only these foods because they are more convenient for their bodies as they are well packed with the most nutritional values which are essential for the health status of the body in general.

Works Cited

Fiddler, Julie. "Education, Access to Health Food is Key in Ending Junk 'Food Deserts." Natural Society. 2015.

Fong, Marie. "10 Ways Memphians are addressing Food Deserts in the Bluff City." Choose 901. 2018.

Food Research and Action Center. "Food Hardship: A Closer Look at Hunger in the United States." Food Hardship Report. 2010.

Parker, Paulette. "One Preschool aims to fix Food Deserts with Nutrition Education." State of Opportunity. 2017.

Vaughn, Kendra. "University of Memphis Public Health Student Association." Word Press. 2015.