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Tag: food

  • Is Healthy Food a Right or a Privilege?

    Is Healthy Food a Right or a Privilege?

    Healthy food is something that is often associated with the words “organic,” “free range,” or “vegan” and phrases like “whole foods whole paycheck.” The implication is that your income has to be high enough to afford the high-priced goods at grocery stores like Whole Foods Market or Sprouts which specialize in natural and organic foods, or even at a local grocery store where the cost of fruits and vegetables could cost an arm and a leg, let alone the organic variety. In addition, these stores often do extensive research on where to open their stores, limiting their availability to the demographic they desire, one that will ensure maximum sales and profit. There is much evidence pointing to an outcome in which healthy food is available only to those who have high enough incomes to afford it.

    Cost of Fruits and Vegetables

    To correctly assess whether healthy food is a right or a privilege, we must first start at how fruits and vegetables are priced in local grocery stores and whether that is accommodated by the national median income of Americans today. According to a 2017 report conducted by the Economic Research Service, in which the costs for all healthy food including all forms of fruits and vegetables whether canned, fresh, or frozen, were calculated in accordance with the 2010 USDA recommendations on adequate fruit and vegetable intake for a normal adult. The USDA recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake per day are about 2½ cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit per day per adult. The findings of the report revealed the following: “An adult on a 2,000-calorie diet, we found, could satisfy the fruit-and-vegetable recommendations of the Guidelines at a cost of $2-$2.50 per day on average.”

    So, for our purposes of assessing how much it would cost to eat the recommended portions of fruit and vegetables, it would cost around $900 per year. These calculations are only for one person. So, let’s say that for a four-person household, the cost would be around $3,650 per year for adequate fruit and vegetable intake. This does not count the USDA recommendations for healthy servings of the other categories that complete a wholesome American diet. For the average American, the median income recorded by the 2015 U.S. Census was $56,516 per year. So, a family with a median income would be paying about 6.4 percent of their annual income for just fruits and vegetables. What about those families with lower incomes than the median, or those that are at or below the poverty level?

    Food Deserts – A Moral Crisis

    There is yet another issue that exacerbates this problem — food accessibility. Food accessibility is not only the presence of healthy food options based on location, but also includes important factors like affordability and food preferences. Grocery stores and specialty health food stores typically do not open for business in areas where the income levels are less than the national average. Low-income areas which do not have a grocery store or supermarket or other source of healthy, affordable food one mile or less away is called a food desert.

    The existence of food deserts in a wealthy nation like the U.S. is a moral crisis. Residents in food deserts often have to shop for food at gas stations, drugstores, liquor stores, or fast food restaurants. These areas are also called food swamps. Those who live in such areas do not have the option of eating healthy food.

    So, is healthy food a right or a privilege? It should be a right but unfortunately, for now, it is very much a privilege, only for those who can afford it. There are little to no chance for low-income families to eat healthful foods because of corporate interests that have put profit before people, that care only about their bottom line. In a press release by the CDC in 2017, it was stated that previous data collected revealed that, “high cost, limited availability and access, and perceived lack of preparation time can be barriers to fruit and vegetable consumption”.

    It is not surprising that residents living in underserved areas have poorer diets and that they are also more likely to have shorter life spans than those who have access to healthy foods. In a study by the USDA in 2016, around 12 percent of U.S. households experienced food insecurity at some point. That is roughly 40 million people. According to the Rural Health Information Hub, food insecurity is highly associated with chronic disease and poor health. The impact of poor nutrition also plays a negative role in the physical and mental health of people. Overall, the rate of food insecurity is decreasing but remains a big issue for communities across the United States.

    The Obama Administration, in 2011, got pledges from stores like Walgreens and Walmart to open in food deserts. By 2016, of the 656 stores that opened or were renovated, 434 have closed down due to lack of business. Complicating the issue is the reality that people who eat processed food and fast food with high amounts of sodium, sugar, and fat will not spontaneously switch to healthy food without being educated as to the benefits of healthy eating.

    Taking Action

    One thing is for certain: our nation’s food policies need to be reformed to address the needs of the people bypassed by healthy food providers. The USDA does provide nutrition assistance to groups underserved in our communities through their programs such as the WIC Works Resource System that brings women, infants, and children special supplemental nutrition; in addition, they provide Child Nutrition Assistance programs and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Programs.

    There are also organizations that we can support to help provide accessibility to healthy food through their programs. Amongst them are the large organization such as Feeding America and Meals
    on Wheels. There are also newer organizations that have been effective in spreading the word about food deserts and inaccessibility in rural areas especially. These organizations are committed to providing access to healthy foods through individual donations and funding.

    As Americans, we can start providing healthy foods to locals in our own communities. Starting at the community level can help tackle this issue one food desert at a time. Without the crucial availability of healthy foods, our communities cannot thrive and grow. Action steps that each and every one of us can take is to contribute to our local food banks, raise awareness about the nutritional needs in our communities, and starting a campaign for nutrition programs and classes to be offered locally that teach growing and foraging fruits and vegetables in our own backyards or starting a community garden. These steps can take communities forward, aiming to provide each and every human being with the foundations for living a more healthful life.

  • Growing Pesticide-free Food to Feed the People

    Growing Pesticide-free Food to Feed the People

    The earth is a creation of Allah and, like any creation, it has its rights. One of those rights is the right of the environment to be protected by humanity; this is a core obligation of Muslims. The land that has been bestowed upon us is a blessing from Allah: ”Do you not see that Allah has subjected to you all things in the heavens and on earth, and has made his bounties flow to you in exceeding measure, seen and unseen?” (Qur’an 31:20).

    Protecting the environment comes in many different forms. It can be everyday work like conservation efforts to protect wildlife or the act of planting trees to make the earth green again. Some things are harder to work on, like reducing plastic and pesticide use. Education is the first step, and we must understand what the data tells us. We tend to think of pesticides and herbicides as things used to kill organisms that inconvenience us. We use them to kill insects like mosquitoes and to prevent the growth of weeds, plants that we consider undesirable in our yards. Yet, with every spray, we are creating harm that is not readily apparent to us.

    On a global level, pesticides are used on large areas of land. This has a widespread impact on the environment. Some of the pesticide is carried off by wind or washed away by rain. As it travels to unintended locations, its harmful impact becomes more destructive. As research continues, countries in Europe and the U.S. have banned specific pesticides, and the list is only increasing.

    Contamination of Water

    The contamination of water by the use of pesticides is a very serious concern. The Qur’an mentions that all life is made from water: “Do not those who disbelieve see that the heavens and the earth were joined together, and then We separated them? And then We made from water every living thing? Will they still not believe?” (21:30).

    Pesticides seep into the soil and find their way into groundwater. Additionally, they may be washed into nearby streams and rivers. In fact, research has found that 97 percent of streams tested in agricultural and urban areas were polluted with pesticides. And around 55 – 61 percent of shallow ground water in agricultural and urban areas was polluted with pesticides. What would happen if water becomes so contaminated that it is virtually unusable? The survival of the human race then is threatened.

    Devastating Effects on the Health of Soil

    Once applied to crops, pesticides work their way into the soil, where they have devastating effects. Pesticides kill a lot of the microorganisms that live in the soil such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa and algae. These microorganisms help to maintain the structure and health of the soil. Organic matter also helps soil retain water and affects the overall health of the soil and the availability of nutrients. Without nutrient-rich soil, crops are not able to grow well.

    The pesticides are also easily carried by the wind to other, non-agricultural areas in a phenomenon known as pesticide drift. The pesticides can be carried across long distances. The distance that these pesticides can travel depends on wind speed, relative humidity levels, and external temperatures. This means that warmer summer months typically result in increased pesticide contamination of non-agricultural areas and increased concentrations in the air, which are then introduced to human and animal respiratory systems.

    Harming the Bees and Other Living Things

    Pesticide use is also directly linked to the continually declining bee population, a species that is vital to plant pollination. In fact, researchers have studied this effect, known as pollinator decline, in order to understand Colony Collapse Disorder. This disorder occurs when the adult bees disappear from the colonies without prior indicators of population decline. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released an estimate suggesting that farmers lose approximately $200 million annually due to reduced pollination. In addition to their value as pollinators, bees are mentioned in the Qur’an in the surah titled, The Bee. In verses 68-69 we are told by Allah SWT: “And your Lord inspired to the bee, ‘Take your habitations among the mountains and among the trees and [in human] habitations’” (16:68). In a hadith, Abdullah bin Mas’ood has reported Allah’s Messenger as saying: “Make use of two remedies, honey and Qur’an.” Plants, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals, including humans, have all been affected by pesticide use.

    Feeding the Growing Population

    We need to find alternatives to pesticide-based crops to help feed the growing population of this world. It is estimated that 25,000 people die each day due to hunger and hunger-related diseases. That is approximately 9 million people per year. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that 795 million people lack the necessary food to live a healthy life. That’s more than one-tenth of the world’s population. Yet in America, we waste 30-40 percent of our food, costing $160 billion annually. We are looking at 150,000 tons of food wasted daily. Abu Dharr narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “Let one of you not consider any good to be insignificant. If he has nothing, then let him meet his brother with a smiling face. If you buy some meat or cook something in a pot, then increase its broth, and serve some of it to your neighbor.” Jabir reported Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) as saying: “Food for one suffices two, and food for two suffices four persons, and food for four persons suffices eight persons.”

    Governments around the world need to act in order to control pesticide application and prevent some of its harmful and increasingly destructive side effects. Many organic farms today get high-yield crops without using any agricultural chemicals. Protecting the earth and its resources is protecting a great gift from Allah SWT. He says in the Qur’an, “And a sign for them is the lifeless earth. We have brought it to life and brought forth from it grain, and from it they eat. And We have placed therein gardens of date-palms and grapes; and We have caused springs of water to gush forth therein, that they may eat of the fruit thereof, and their hands made it not. Will they not, then, give thanks?” (36:33-35).