7.3 Reading: ‘Foodways’ and ‘food deserts’

·       According to the author, ‘food ways’ is defined as rich way of life of individual in determine which type of food they desire to eat, this could be based on cultural orientation, social and economic food practices, habitual and desires – Food ways can influence food consumption and disparity.

 

·       ’Food deserts was described as those communities or area where people live with little available produce and other foods commonly regarded as healthy. A neighbor lacking without access to healthier food are refers to as food deserts. And these communities in the study were referred to as high pro communities to food related disease such as diabetic, obesity, etc. such communities are normally low income neighborhoods flooded with Africa-America and people with colors.

·       What do the authors identify as the primary barriers to healthy food access?  The author described food barrier as the ability of the low income population to access food due to cost. He urged that high number of people living in the food deserts are knowledgeable of healthier food but employed many strategies to get cheaper food from long distance supermarkets. At the same time, the author revealed that the low income communities unintentionally spend more on commodities that are sold in their neighborhoods, they pay high medical cost due to the disease related from eating unhealthier food. According to the result from the food disparity in America, one can associate food desert to racism and class where more Africa- American access to healthier food is minimal.

·        These findings categorically informed that food barrier is as a result of cost, accessibility and availability. Again the disparity could be caused by racism and class. I have little knowledge of data availability of food desert and food ways in Africa and other continent, however, I am on the opinion that cost will emerge as the root cause of food barrier on global perceptive followed by other factors.

·       On the global perspective, the impact of global food disparity is malnutrition, very prominent in the southern countries and obesity waging war in the Western countries especially America. The concept of food accessing healthier food may vary by regions, as the author pointed out that many of the respondent are educated on healthier food however, in the many southern countries like sierra Leone, few populations may be knowledgeable on healthier food even though they may be consuming it

The richer countries do spend a lot of money up keeping their population in their obesogenic environments, this sound opposite in the case of taking care of malnourished population in Africa where only children under age 5 receives food supplement for undernourishment from foreign aids.  Sierra Leone for instance receives school feeding fund from the World bank, UNICEF and others. The adult population are neglected. This apparently explain the context of global food injustice. The economic cost of malnourishment in global south is resulted to underdevelopment and high death rate as many governments cannot afford to take care of their undernourished criticize in terms of food, medication and social services. The root cause of the food way in such communities may generally due to cost of healthy food, accessibility, and availability. (eg healthy foods like vegetable and plant protein seems to be costlier in Sierra Leone than food with high carbohydrate content).

The concept of food way could be more important in trying to address healthier food availability in the food desert communities.  

I will try to look for such article relating to Africa. Interesting