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Good Food For All PDF
Good Food For All PDF
How the Farm Bill Can Make Sure Everyone Has Access
to Healthy Food
Fact Sheet March 2011
s consumers become more aware of the impacts food production has on our health
and environment, its becoming clear that our food system is broken. The system
fails many low-income consumers in even more fundamental ways, and growing
numbers of Americans struggle to feed their families healthy food on a regular basis.
The earnings of all but the richest families in America have
been stagnant for the past four decades,1 which has made
it harder for many families to put healthy food on the table.
In the short term, government food assistance programs
need to be strengthened so low-income families can afford
healthy, nutritious foods, not just the cheapest options. We
also need to strengthen programs that will increase access
to good quality food.
In the long term, people need opportunities to earn a living wage, and our nations social safety net must include
a broader array of anti-poverty programs. For both farmers
and consumers at all income levels to thrive over the long
term, families need the opportunity to earn a decent living
so that they can afford their own healthy foods.
in city neighborhoods.5 During the 1980s, cities lost supermarkets, even as more grocery stores opened than closed
nationwide. By 1995, the gap between the poor and rich
urban neighborhoods had widened, with 44 percent less
retail supermarket space in the poorest 20 percent than in
the richest 20 percent.6 The loss of retail stores typically
leaves low-income consumers with few options either
travel further to reach a grocery store or shop at a convenience store in their neighborhood, with fewer, more
expensive options.7 Several studies of low-income peoples
purchasing habits show an association between lack of access to supermarkets and fewer purchases of healthy foods.8
Advocacy groups, local governments and the federal
government are leading initiatives to encourage supermarket chains to invest in low-income neighborhoods and
convenience stores to increase the types of healthful food
they sell.9 Nonetheless, the trends toward bigger, suburban
supermarkets continue, worsening the public health crisis
of limited food access in food deserts.10
All sectors of our food system are increasingly dominated
by a small number of large corporations, worsening these
food access problems. In retail, just five companies account
for 56 percent of grocery sales, four companies control 85
percent of the meat processing, and one company controls
40 percent of milk sales. This extreme concentration of
power creates huge barriers to the development and maintenance of independent grocery stores. This accelerates
food deserts and helps to drive Americas family farmers out
of business.
The 2008 Farm Bill directed the USDA to conduct its first
comprehensive study of food deserts. It also provides
funding for the Community Food Projects grant program,
which assists community groups in expanding access to
local, healthy foods, as well as the Senior and WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Programs, which provide vouchers for
low-income consumers to use at farmers markets. We need
to protect these gains, but we must do more.
Prioritizes safe workplaces and fair wages for all laborers in the food system.
Join us in the movement to create a Fair Farm Bill. Learn
more, take action and get involved at www.foodandwaterwatch.org/fairfarmbill.
Endnotes
1
Shaw, Hannah, and Chad Stone. Tax Data Show Richest 1 Percent
Took a Hit in 2008, But Income Remained Highly Concentrated at the
Top Recent Gains of Bottom 90 Percent Wiped Out. Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities. October 21, 2010.
2
Hagstrom, Jerry. Undersecretary Kevin Concannon: No food stamp
cut expected. The Hagstrom Report. Vol. 1, iss. 18. February 2,
2011.
3
Nord, Mark, et al. Household Food Security in the United States,
2009. USDA Economic Research Service Report Number 108. November 2010 at iii.
4
CNNMoney.com. Food stamps offer best stimulus study. Moodys
study suggests extending unemployment benefits, increasing food
stamps fastest ways to stimulate economy. Available from http://
money.cnn.com/2008/01/29/news/economy/stimulus_analysis/index.
htm. Accessed February 10, 2011. January 29, 2008.
5
Eisenhauer, Elizabeth. In poor health: Supermarket redlining and
urban nutrition. GeoJournal. Vol 53. 2001 at 127-128.
6 Ibid. at 128.
7
USDA Economic Research Service. Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their
Consequences. Report to Congress. June 2009 at 71.
8 Ibid. at 78.
9
See U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [Press release]
Obama Administration Details Healthy Food Financing Initiative. February 19, 2010; The Food Trust. Pennsylvania Fresh Food
Financing Initiative Encouraging the development of food retail in
underserved Pennsylvania communities. Available from http://www.
thefoodtrust.org/php/programs/fffi.php. Accessed October 15, 2010.
10 Eisenhauer at 128.