Applying Racial Equity to U.S. Federal Nutrition Assistance Programs - Flipbook - Page 11
Ending hunger: applying a racial equity lens
As explained in greater detail in an earlier Institute resource,25 ending hunger is not just about ensuring access to food. It
means addressing the underlying conditions that lead to hunger. This is why looking beyond food security measures to the root
causes of hunger is so important.
Reducing vulnerability to hunger includes ensuring that everyone (1) has access to enough food; (2) has access to essential
nutrients; (3) is financially capable of buying enough nutrient-rich food, and (4) is able to choose foods that are culturally appropriate.
In other words, ensuring that individuals and households have the income and assets necessary to survive, thrive, and save for
the future is essential to ending their vulnerability to hunger. Merely ensuring that everyone is fed, without regard to whether
the food is nutrient-rich and/or without ending the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck, is not “ending hunger” as Bread for
the World Institute defines it.
Figure 2: Communities of Color Experience the Impacts of Structural Racism Every Day
Consequently, the barriers that communities of color disproportionately face include…
STRUCTURAL RACISM
Housing Segregation
Which Created
Concentrated Poverty
Which results in...
The Racial
Wealth Divide
Which results in...
Food deserts
Transit deserts
Low tax base for
schools, parks, and
other public entities
Higher exposure to
predatory lenders
Environmental
racism since families
are exposed to...
Environmental
toxins
Lead paint
in housing
units and
drinking water
Higher exposure to
fast food advertising
Employment
Discrimination
Which results in...
Job segregation
Less assets to
fight poverty
Over-Policing
Discrimination
in Healthcare
Which results in...
Which results in...
Being 10x as likely to
be incarcerated as
whites in some states
Wage divides
Being 18x less
wealthy than white
counterparts living
near the poverty line
Disproportionately
working in the
10 lowest paying
occupations
which have...
Low pay
Less assets for future
opportunities,
including retirement
and education
Higher probability
of falling into
deep poverty
Less benefits
Inflexible
scheduling
Higher unemployment
rates
Lower promotion
rates
Parents losing jobs
from incarceration
Racially biased
medical care
Families going into
debt from...
Bail bonds
Court fines
Over-ticketing
Higher probability
of going to
under funded
healthcare facilities
Loss of
income while
incarcerated
Loss of life, in the
case of police killings
THESE BARRIERS MAINTAIN HIGHER FOOD INSECURITY LEVELS AMONG COMMUNITIES OF COLOR
NOTE: These realities apply for communities of color living in cities, reservations, rural areas, metropolitan areas and suburban neighborhoods.
SOURCES: Racial Gap Learning Simulation Policy Packet; Ending Hunger in Communities Where Its Most Likely; Mass Incarceration: A Major Cause to Hunger;
2018 Hunger Report: Jobs Challenge, pgs 90-91; 2017 Hunger Report: Fragility
A BREAD FOR THE WORLD INSTITUTE SPECIAL REPORT
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