Food Hunger Article Review Example

Loopstra and Tarasuk have successfully encapsulated the effect of food banks in their article titled “The Relationship between Food Banks and Household Food Insecurity among Low-Income Toronto Families”. As mentioned in the concluding paragraphs of this article, this work is one of the first attempts at finding a link between food insecurity and food banks. Table-turning revelations have been made by the use of this study, supported by ample evidence in the form of statistics.
The article is able to make an impact because in the very beginning, it states some facts that highlight the fact that the economic progress or stability of the nation as a whole does not mean that no household in that country is facing food insecurity. The article points this out by stating that “2.7% percent of households were severely food insecure in 2007-08”. After underlining this fact, the authors pose the problems that are associated with poor diet, which include, inter alia, chronic health problems.
In this context, the idea of food banks has been explored. The implementation of food banks has been a part of the policy since they were first introduced. However, the authors take us by surprise when they state that food banks are not used by most of those households in Canada that are actually food-insecure. In view of this startling observation, the research conducted is lent more importance as the reasons behind this phenomenon is explored.
The most attention-grabbing part of the article is where the results of the study have been analyzed in order to summarily list the reasons posed by families for not using food banks. The results were divided into two themes: barriers and choosing not to use. Under the theme of barriers, ‘access’ and ‘information’ have been subsumed. It is true that access is one of the main issues. For example, long lines at the food banks or the clash of work routines with operational hours of the food bank make it impossible for the concerned families to approach the food bank. However, it is surprising to know that some people cited lack of information as a reason. It is astonishing because the government needs to ensure through awareness campaigns that the information reaches the deserving families.
Amongst those who chose not to use food banks, the reasons for ‘insufficient need’ and ‘unsuitable food’ were quite common. The poor quality food offered by the flood banks dissuaded the families from opting for it. Another misconception amongst those families was that they would be able to manage without help from food banks and, therefore, there was no need to opt for them. Another reason, shared by less of the population, was the feeling of “degradation”. This is one of the natural human instincts of people who have always earned their own bread and consider genuine help from the government as begging. Their self-respect is expected to suffer if they attain help from food banks.
Perhaps, the most startling observation is that amongst the families that used food banks, there were no signs of alleviation of food insecurity through the use of food banks. One of the reasons behind this fact might be that after attaining help from the food bank, the bread-earners of the family take a back-seat, used to the notion that food will eventually arrive from the bank.
The article has offered a healthy discussion on the topic of food banks and how they have failed to date in eliminating food insecurity.