How the Other Half Eats

Priya Fielding-Singh PHD

author

sociologist

75

Interviewed __ families

4

Spent months with __ families

San Francisco Bay Area

all families lived in the….

One of the most unequal places in the country

San Francisco Bay area is the…

Radical empathy

accept limits of understanding within research

Standard American Diet (SAD)

should contain plant based whole foods with fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low fat dairy, legumes, nuts, and seafood but doesn’t have any of them

Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA)

Every 5 years the US Department of Agriculture has published the ________________

Fruits

half of plate should be…

Grains/starches

quarter of plate should be…

protein

quarter of plate should be…

low fat dairy

some of your plate should be…

Healthy Eating Index

0 (lowest quality diet)-100 (highest quality diet)

59

Average American earns a Healthy Eating Index score of…

3/4

____ of Americans eat low fruits, vegetables, dairies, oils and high added sugars, saturated fats, sodium

<1/10

____ of Americans eat enough vegetables

>1/2

___ of children eat a low quality diet

2/3

____ of adolescents eat a low quality diet

18

On average kids eat ___ tsp of sugar per day

1/7

Sugar is ____ of calories that children eat

56% to 46%

2002-2012: SAD diet fell from ____

3/4 to 1/2

1999-2016: kids with unhealthy diet went from _____

Middle/high income and white Americans

__________ see more improvement than low income, black, Mexican Americans

500,000

unhealthy eating causes _____ deaths per year

cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, cancer, type 2 diabetes

diseases caused by unhealthy eating

13

% of people with no high school diploma with type 2 diabetes

9.7

% of people with high school diploma with type 2 diabetes

7.5

% of people with more education than high school diploma with type 2 diabetes

12.5

% of hispanic people with type 2 diabetes

11.7

% of black people with type 2 diabetes

7.5

% of white people with type 2 diabetes

77

% higher chance of type 2 diabetes for black people

66

% higher chance of type 2 diabetes for hispanic people

Asian Americans, native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders

____ have highest rates and twice the risk as general population

diverging destinies

born into privilege will stay high income, born into low income will have higher rates of disease from pollutants and food and stay low income

Concentration disadvantage

prevents children from accessing opportunities to get ahead

1

Black families on average have ___ cent for every dollar white families have

Tracy

had her son Josh at 17 and had parental rights taken away

She was born into lower class and suffered from it

Josh was born 3 months premature and it caused him to have cerebral palsy

Moms

14 hours childcare and 18 hours housework

Dads

8 hours childcare and 10 hours housework

4/5

In ____ families mothers provide the food

Bakers

Black family below the federal poverty line that Priya followed for months

Nyah

Mom of the Baker family

Born in Georgia but moved to North Carolina to escape abuse, mother became a drug addict so she had to become the mother of her sisters

Sexual assault from her uncle got her pregnant (Latoya) and had to drop out of school

Sold her body to care for her baby, drug and alcohol addictions

5 million

how many americans in Section 8 housing

Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program

private landlords rent to low income families and federal vouchers cover some or all of the rent

3/4

____ of people who qualify for Section 8 assistance don’t get any

Darius

Nyah’s husband

Father of Mariah and Natasha

Died of stroke

1/3

___of single moms are raising their kids in poverty

5

__ times more single moms are raising their kids in poverty than married couples

Marcus

Nyah’s boyfriend

Didn’t support the family economically or emotionally

Health conditions

Worked as a cleaning lady but ____ caused her to stop working

Nyah’s diseases

Type 2 diabetic, hypertension, awaiting hysterectomy, slipped disk in her back, joint pain, depression, anxiety

Weathering

constant stress of racism (black women in particular) leads to premature biological aging and poor health

$300

Baker’s spent average ____ a month on food

Extra

When Nyah tried to eat healthy she ended up with ____ food stamps

Williamses

working class white family just above the federal poverty line

Dana

mom of Williamses

father was an alcoholic, ex husband drug addiction, had breast cancer, dropped out of high school with her boyfriend

Natasha and Mariah

Nyah’s children

Madison and Paige

Dana’s children

Justin

Madison’s dad who left after she was born

Debra

Dana’s mom who took care of Madison while Dana was in medical assistant school

Chris

Paige’s dad, became alcoholic and drug addict, verbal and psychological abuse

Refused drugs, tobacco, and most drinking

Dana did this to end cycle for her daughters

$360

Williamses spend average ____ each month on food

$60

____ of Williamses food budget goes to eating out

Ortegas

middle class Latinx family

Had a son named Gabriel that died of sudden infant death syndrome

Turned to God to recover

Renata

mom of ortega family

Her parents struggled to make ends meet but gave her dance recitals and everything she needed

Jose

dad of Ortega family

Amalia and Nico

Renata’s children

$450

Ortega’s spend average ____ each month on food

$200

_____ of Ortega’s budget goes to eating out

To avoid throwing out food

would go to the store 2 times a week to….

Cains

affluent white family

Julie

mom of cains

Zach

dad of cains

Jane and Evan

Julie’s children

$900

Cain’s spend average ____ on food each month

2-4

Cain’s went to the store ____ times per week

healthy living

Moms believe healthy diet leads to….

11 billion

In 2017, food companies spent ____ on tv ads

80%

____ of food ads were unhealthy

Marketing everywhere

Deals

Supermarket layout

Unhealthy foods even at non food stores

Things that draw families to pick unhealthy foods

Federal subsidies

for farms keep the unhealthy crop prices low (corn, soybeans, wheat, livestock)

Big Food

pays universities for studies to benefit their advertising

fast food, restaurants, or frozen food

All families at some point in the week got…

Wealthier families

pricier supermarkets, organic produce, more food rules and teaching moments, $12,340 on food per year, 9% of earnings

Lower income families

cheaper supermarkets, sometimes food banks, normal produce, non perishables, less food rules and teaching moments, $3,767 on food per year, 33% of earnings

Food desert

low income census tract where 1/3 lives more than a mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural) from a supermarket

Let’s Move!

Michelle Obama’s ___ Campaign raised awareness to stop childhood obesity

Healthy, hunger free kids act of 2010

step to improve school food

4.5 billion

____ dollars in federal funding for school meal programs

providing support to give lower income communities access to supermarkets in previous food deserts

Government largely focused on….

90%

____ of American households have a car

5.2

Average americans travel ___ miles to shop

10%

___ of socioeconomic diet disparities come from access

40 million

______ Americans participated each month in the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

2/3

___ of americans on SNAP are families with children

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

SNAP meaning

$1.40

SNAP gives average ____ per person per meal

Undocumented families

___________ could sometimes qualify for WIC but not SNAP