Healthcare is a basic human right and everyone should have access to healthcare services when they are in need, without having to suffer financial difficulty or hardship. No one should get sick or die because they are poor and do not have access to healthcare, safe drinking water, nutritious foods, education, adequate housing and safe working conditions.
When people face discrimination or financial difficulty, their physical and mental health suffers as a result. Keep in mind that most kids in poor neighborhoods of America grow up on a bag of chips and Cheetos, with little or no nutritional value. In the meantime, processed foods or junk foods that are re-arrangement of corn or high fructose corn syrup are being subsidized by our tax dollars while our organic farmers and healthy food producers have to pay hefty USDA organic fees.
Access to nutritious foods should be the fundamental rights of Americans, regardless of their income:
However, the recent research suggests that the poor in America and UK are dying a decade earlier than the rich. The top 1% in America owns 43% of wealth while the income and benefits of the working class has been cut. The organic food growers and local food producers get penalized with hefty USDA organic fees and as consumers we get penalized when paying for healthy food at the cashier.
In the meantime, toxic foods and junk foods made with GMO corn are subsidized with our tax dollars. The poor in America eat unhealthy foods high in fat, sugar and salt like Cheetos and Dr. Pepper, simply because they cannot afford broccoli and sweet potatoes. Parents from poor families always say “yes” to their kids’ request for junk foods since poor parents can only nourish their kids emotionally.
When it comes to your health. your zipcode matters more than your genetics:
The recent study suggests that kids who grow up in low-income communities are twice more likely to die before they reach adulthood compared to kids who grow up in affluent families.
“We currently have a perfect storm of factors that can impact on health, and that are leading to poor people dying younger. Working income has stagnated and benefits have been cut, forcing many working families to use foodbanks. The price of healthy foods like fresh fruit and vegetables has increased relative to unhealthy, processed food, putting them out of the reach of the poorest.” says Majid Ezzati from Imperial College London.
With the cost of healthcare spinning out of control, we have to make healthy nutritious foods affordable and available for low-income communities. And when it comes to the health of our children, access to nutritious healthy foods should be considered a right, and not a privilege.