The Pre-Existing Condition of Food Insecurity: How Structural Racism Causes Food Inequality and What the Biden Administration Can Do to Resolve It

BY KIRA TRAYLOR

Food is an essential aspect of human life. Without it, the very existence of humanity would perish. Yet, it is not a right all are afforded. Throughout the United States, countless pantries, kitchens, and dining rooms are displaying one of America’s most dire health crises: food insecurity. Nearly 17.7 percent of the United States population, approximately 6 million people, qualify as living in a food desert, an area that has limited access to affordable and nutritious foods, with people of color and impoverished individuals being disproportionately impacted.¹ Latinx people and African Americans are 1.38 times and 2.49 times more likely than White Americans to not have access to a full-service grocery store in their neighborhood, respectively.² What has led racial and ethnic minorities to be disproportionately impacted by food insecurity? What can be done to remedy this pertinent issue?

HOW IT BEGAN

The issue of food insecurity is inextricably linked to wealth. The median household income in the United States is $68,145 but drops to $40,258 for African American households. ³ Within low-income, predominantly minority communities, there is often a stark contrast between the number of supermarkets in comparison to non-minority communities. For instance, Detroit, which consists of an 83% African American and 6% Latin population, contains no major supermarket chains.⁴ Furthermore, in Washington D.C.’s two lowest-income neighborhoods, which are also predominantly African American, there is one supermarket for approximately every 70,000 residents.⁴ Conversely, the District’s two highest income and predominantly White neighborhoods have one supermarket for every 12,000 residents.⁴

These observed disparities in access to supermarkets are not a product of natural settlement patterns but are manifestations of deliberate housing and economic policy changes. Prior to the adoption of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, a series of programs, financial reforms, and regulations to remedy the ramifications of the Great Depression, the majority of Americans lived in urban areas.⁵ However, after its implementation, the settlement patterns of the United States shifted drastically. One of its policies, The National Housing Act of 1934, offered low-interest home loans to middle-income White Americans, enabling them to move to the suburbs.⁴ Subsequently, businesses, including supermarkets, followed these families out of urban cities and into suburban areas, thus forcing racial and ethnic minorities to travel further, have fewer choices, and pay more for food.⁴

African Americans were not afforded access to these low-interest home loans due to a process known as “redlining.”⁶ Appraisers in the private sector labeled Black neighborhoods as “bad credit risk,” leading to African Americans being denied from receiving federally-backed home loans.⁷ Thereafter, these neighborhoods were purchased by White Americans and resold to Black families “on contract,” and thus these families were not guaranteed full ownership of the home until it was paid for in its entirety for 2-3x the price at which they bought it.⁷ Oftentimes, if merely one late payment was made, Black families would lose the loan immediately and the White homeowner would repeat the process perpetually.⁷

The injustices endured by Black Americans in regards to homeownership were not an isolated incident that occurred during the 1900s. Another poignant example can be observed following the 2007-2008 recession’s housing crisis. The Great Recession’s root cause was the increase in predatory mortgage lending of subprime loans, loans with high-interest rates and fees.⁸ Financial institutions sought out borrowers to accept these loans in pursuit of higher profit margins.⁹ More often than not, Black Americans were targets for these loans. Studies have found that even when credit was controlled, Black borrowers possessed a much higher chance of receiving a higher-cost and higher-risk loan than White borrowers, culminating in the fact that 8 percent of African Americans completed foreclosures in comparison to 4.5 percent of White Americans from 2007-2009.¹⁰

In the United States, homeownership is associated with a means to generate wealth. Therefore, these structural forms of racism, redlining, and the lending of subprime loans to African Americans are explanatory of the disparity in the average net worth of Black and White families: $17,150 and $171,000, respectively.¹¹ This conspicuous inequality of wealth culminates in America’s segregated food landscape of today.

Effects of Food Insecurity

The scarcity of supermarkets within low-income, predominantly-minority neighborhoods forces those residing within them to resort to obtaining food from convenience stores or fast-food chains.⁴ These food options are typically entirely processed, consisting of an abundance of sugar, salt, and fat.¹² Thus, lack of access to nutritious food leads to higher rates of type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke, and hypertension, with these rates exacerbated among racial and ethnic minorities.¹³ Furthermore, these higher rates of obesity can affect access to healthcare, as there is a widespread issue of weight bias in medicine that dissuades many patients from seeking out help, worsening the effects of their condition.¹⁴

The pernicious manifestations of food deserts incrementally occur out of sight, slowly leaving those affected with debilitating illnesses and the blame placed on themselves rather than the governments that have the agency to reverse the effects. Supermarket corporations are given the liberty to choose where to establish stores, with the motive of profit leading them to avoid lower-income communities that predominantly house Black and Latinx families. This calculated and deliberate effort to leave these neighborhoods stranded with few means to support themselves is representative of the greater problems of little-to-no government oversight of the food industry. It is through unearthing these forms of slow violence that the issue of food inequity, and the greater issue of systemic oppression, can be remedied.

What the Biden Administration Can Do to Resolve This Issue

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the number of food-insecure households, with current estimates declaring 42 million Americans as food-insecure.¹⁵ Through bolstering and expanding eligibility for social safety net programs, food insecurity can be dramatically reduced during Biden’s term in office.

A key safety net program that must be expanded is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program. Those eligible for SNAP benefits receive an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card, which functions similar to a debit card, and are awarded funds each month that they can use at authorized food stores and retailers.¹⁶

The effectiveness of SNAP benefits in alleviating food insecurity has been long-established; research has shown that SNAP recipients are 30 percent less likely to suffer from food insecurity than those who are eligible but do not receive benefits.¹⁷ Currently, the Biden Administration has pledged to increase the standard SNAP benefit by 15 percent, establishing a solid foundation for subsequent policy changes.¹⁸

A report found that over half of the 46.5 million clients of Feed America, the largest U.S. hunger-relief organization, make difficult choices between paying for housing or food. Thus, through decreasing housing insecurity, Americans will be able to gain greater access to healthy foods and decrease the disparities among races in regards to food insecurity, as they will have more income to spend on food. A crucial goal should be to reinstate the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which holds cities accountable for discriminatory housing practices.¹⁹ Additionally, allocating more funding to the Housing Choice Voucher Program, otherwise known as Section 8 housing, will increase the number of those who are eligible to receive housing, alleviating some of the economic burden placed on food-insecure individuals.

The Biden Administration rests in an integral position, with Democrats controlling the house, senate, and presidency. The new administration must wield this tool at their disposal to enact necessary legislation that alleviates many of the issues contributing to food insecurity.

About the Author

Kira Traylor is a current sophomore at Harvard College and a senior editor of Harvard Health Policy Review. She is interested in exploring policy and grassroots methods to alleviate food insecurity, racial health inequity, and more.

References

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