10.8 Going Deeper
Elizabeth B. Pearce
Now that you have explored food access, food quality, food production, water safety, and sanitation, this page has some additional resources for you.
First, there are some resources that the authors used but could not fit into the chapter. If there was something that really piqued your interest and made you want to learn more, it may be listed in this table. This is also a resource for students who may have an assignment to research a particular topic or who need to identify a topic for a final project. Scan through “Want to Learn More?” if you are interested.
Next, you will see a set of reflective questions. You may be assigned these questions as a chapter review, or perhaps you will be using them as discussion questions in class. These questions are designed to help you apply the chapter concepts, develop your sociological imagination, reflect, and use an equity lens. Look over the “Reflective Questions” if you’d like to explore your own thinking more thoroughly.
After that, you will see the same list of key terms that appeared at the start of the chapter. They may help you with your additional exploration or research.
Finally, some chapters include activities that the instructor may use in the classroom.
Want to Learn More?
- To learn more about food deserts or to access an interactive map that displays different ways of viewing food deserts, read NPR’s article “How to Find a Food Desert Near You” and follow the link to the USDA’s Food Atlas.
- Click here to read Voices from “Hunger in Oregon” for short descriptions from Oregonians who have used SNAP.
- To read more about how to find lead in your home environment and the effects of lead on children, click here for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s infographic.
- To see additional perspectives and proposed solutions to these social problems, watch LaToya Ruby Frazier detail the experiences of the low-income residents as well as a creative solution. She was hired to document the unfolding crisis in Flint and relates her history growing up with environmental racism in Philadelphia to the crisis.
Reflective Questions
- Reflect on accessing healthy food. What kinds of access do families have in your community? Consider locations of grocery stores (not including convenience stores) as well as public transportation systems.
- What role do government crop subsidies play in nutrition?
- What role do government tax breaks and food banks play in food insecurity?
- What influences families’ food purchases? How does what you’ve read relate to your own family’s experience with food?
- What are the factors that affect a family’s access to safe water and sanitation?
- What role does the government play in the water and sanitation system?
- How would you improve water access and sanitation in your community if you had the chance?
Key Terms
- Environmental justice: an intersectional social movement pioneered by African American, Indigenous, Latinx, female, lo