Food Inequity and Poverty

A major cause of food inequity is poverty. Poverty is the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine the quality of life. Most people in poverty do not have sufficient money, food or education to know which foods to consume and this leads to undernutrition, then little resistance to infection, leading to illness and disease, preventing a person from working, thus having little money, food and the vicious cycle continues. The lack of support and poor methods of distribution prevent the impoverished from gaining food. A factor which also affects the food availability and distribution is geography and climate. People in poverty may not have access to fertile land to grow crops. Government policies also overlook ethical considerations, thus only rich people benefit from distribution. The exploitation of aid also prevents the poor people to receive what they deserve.

Through the above information, it can be seen that food inequity is closely linked with people in developing countries, especially those who are in poverty. Although to a different degree, poverty and food inequity is also evident in affluent countries. Poverty in affluent countries is about participating in the life of the community as much as having a roof over your head and enough money to feed your family. It can be characterized by exclusion or marginalization from the rest of society and is related to inequality.

This poverty in an affluent country can be seen through the Indigenous Australians. The Indigenous Australians were forced to relocate from the economic life of the nation to remote areas. The destruction of their traditional ways of living and poorly organized set up of their relocation lead them into poverty. They have limited job opportunities as they are in remote areas and are economically disadvantaged. Their groceries are evidently higher priced than those in the city. Due to their geographical isolation, they have limited access to education and their poor educational outcomes and very high unemployment affect their social marginalization. They are unable to benefit equally from mainstream services, such as those in the areas of employment, health, education and housing, as they are insufficiently accessible or they have adapted to cultural needs. They then become caught in a “poverty trap” where they are dependant on government payments. 55% of income for the indigenous Australians is from government payments; where as only 13% is derived from government payments for non indigenous Australians. Their poor education, low rate of labor participation, low income and welfare dependence prevent them from accumulating capital or making investments, and leads to inter generational poverty.

Food inequity is an immense issue which desperately needs to be considered by authorities. There is enough food to feed everyone and action needs to be taken to ensure that 10 million people are not dying unnecessarily every year due to chronic hunger!