To me affordable healthy food should be a basic human right. This is not the case though. Around the world many people still die of starvation and many people in the U.S. deal with hunger. Since I think healthy food should be a right I have been drawn towards food deserts and food environments. I did my graduate thesis on food deserts in Denver based upon these interests. From this research I also learned about options in the U.S. that are available to low income families to help with providing food. One of these is called SNAP (previously known as food stamps). This program gives low income families a certain amount of money on a debit card based upon their income, that they can use for food. They can use it to buy food that they want, so it is not always healthy but it does help with the food as a basic right part. Some farmers’ markets even accept SNAP cards now.
The current issue with SNAP is that it is part of the dreaded Farm Bill and recently there is talk of removing it from the Farm Bill. The issue with this is that it would cause them to be its own entity and would require its own funding. With how our government and economy are running currently it is very unlikely for the program to be continued if it is not attached to the Farm Bill or if it does go on, it will be drastically reduced. With food security in America already being an issue, this would only make it worse. Top this with rising food costs, and the whole idea of food as a basic right will never be reached. I am not one to say the Farm Bill is great but I do think SNAP needs to stay a part of the Farm Bill unless other funding is secure.
