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THE FOOD SYSTEM

Food Access 101

Martin Luther King once said, “I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education, and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.” Yet today, according to the United Nations, Sustainable Development Goal 2, “End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture,” 1 in 10 people suffer from hunger.

Hunger doesn’t just mean an empty stomach—it can also mean fatigue, headaches, and trouble focusing. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, 1 in 3 people worldwide lacked access to adequate food, while soaring food prices affected nearly half of the world’s countries. Poor nutrition can weaken the immune system and is linked to chronic diseases worldwide.

In the U.S. alone, more than 24 million people, including 9 million children, are food insecure, and many do not qualify for programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food benefits to eligible individuals and families with low incomes, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which provides nutritious foods, nutrition education, and other support to eligible women, infants, and children.

Hunger does not affect everyone equally. Seniors, single parents, and Black, Indigenous, and other people of color face disproportionately higher rates of food insecurity.

Barriers to Access: Availability, Familiarity, Distance

Distance

In 2020, 80% of Southeastern Massachusetts families relied on grocery and big-box stores for food. However, nearly 1 in 5 low-income households lived more than one mile from the nearest supermarket in urban areas or more than 20 miles away in rural areas. Better bus routes and more mobile farmers markets could help close this gap.

Familiarity

Even though participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is growing, 45% of SNAP-eligible residents in Southeastern Massachusetts are not enrolled due to barriers such as language, confusing paperwork, and stigma. This also means that related programs, such as the Massachusetts Healthy Incentives Program (HIP), which provides SNAP recipients with additional funds to purchase local produce, and Food is Medicine programs, which can connect patients with nutritious foods to help manage conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure, may be underutilized.

Our goal: Get more local, healthy food into the hands of the people who need it most.

Health Equity

Food insecurity is rooted in poverty and unequal access to resources. It disproportionately affects immigrant households, people with disabilities, single mothers and families, and Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities. These barriers often compound: unsafe neighborhoods can limit access to grocery stores, unreliable transportation restricts shopping options, and limited access to nutrition education can make it more difficult to identify and access healthy food choices. Housing instability also plays a role—renters experience the highest rates of food insecurity, followed by homeowners with mortgages.

Education, socioeconomic status, and occupation also impact food insecurity.

Lower levels of education are associated with food insecurity through less literacy about healthy food choices, less understanding of the risk of food insecurity, and lower income to purchase healthful food (4). Affordable housing and housing security are essential to avoiding food insecurity. Having to stress about losing shelter due to financial instability will cause finances to be diverted from food to other necessities. Research shows that food insecurity may be highest among market renters, followed by homeowners with a mortgage and, finally, mortgage-free homeowners (6).

Food insecurity directly affects health outcomes.

The health impacts are real and wide-ranging, including malnutrition, obesity, hypertension, anxiety, depression, and cognitive decline. Structural and interpersonal racism can add chronic stress that worsens these outcomes, potentially contributing to conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as substance use disorders. (5)

Everyone should have access to healthy, culturally appropriate food. Join the Southcoast Food Policy Council in our efforts to provide access to healthy foods for everyone through joining as a member for free, joining in our food policy advocacy efforts at sfpc@marioninstitute.org or supporting our efforts at https://www.marioninstitute.org/donatetosfpc.

Resources

FOOD SYSTEM INTRO | FOOD PRODUCTION | AGGREGATION & DISTRIBUTION | FOOD ACCESS | FOOD RECOVERY | FOOD POLICY | GET INVLOVED

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