Abstract

In the United States, socio-economic status is the greatest predictor of healthcare outcome as poverty limits access to a healthy-lifestyle. Food insecurity presents itself as one of these limits in achieving optimal health. This senior independent study concerns the population at Unity, a free-meal site in the small city of Hennsville, Ohio. The study takes an ethnographic public health approach by combining anthropology and biology to investigate how food choices are impacted by food insecurity. A review of current biological research provides this study with knowledge on diets role in health and disease through focusing on four major diet-related diseases that are significantly present in homeless communities such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and oral diseases. Ethnographic field notes and interviews informs this study of the reasons for the dietary choices amongst the homeless/impoverished[1] population of Unity. This study finds that, while Unity’s homeless/impoverished population reports enjoying ‘healthy’ foods, there is a public health issue around access to adequate nutrition, with participants often reporting little choice but to consume what is most convenient. Findings also show that Unity’s breakfast program supplies more than just food as social interactions and a safe environment is given to the guests. Unity’s volunteers voice a need for positive community awareness to initiate acts of volunteering and donating ‘healthy’ food items. This study seeks to inform the wider Hennsville community of Unity’s need for better nutrition and provides a list of foods that could help grant access to adequate nutrition.

[1] Homeless/impoverished is used predominantly throughout this study in recognition of the precarious living situation many of the guests at Unity experience. However, not everyone that utilizes Unity as a free-meal site may neatly fit in either category of being homeless or impoverished. Some guests may use Unity as site for social interaction or may be on the cusps of poverty. Furthermore, much of the epidemiological research reviewed may focus solely on homeless populations or populations with low socio-economic status. Therefore, this study will indicate the appropriate population the research is about where applicable.

Advisor

Sirot, Laura

Second Advisor

Fitz Gibbon, Heather

Department

Biology; Sociology and Anthropology

Disciplines

Anthropology | Biology | Community Health and Preventive Medicine

Keywords

Food insecurity, Homelessness, socioeconomic status, nutrition, health disparity, public health, anthropology, food practices, free meal-site, community, volunteering, social justice

Publication Date

2023

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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Available for download on Saturday, January 01, 2028

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© Copyright 2023 Brianna Lyman