Food provisioning strategies, food insecurity, and stress in an economically vulnerable community: the Northern Cheyenne case

Abstract

Living in poverty is associated with high levels of protracted stress associated with health problems. Economic and food insecurity are particularly poignant aspects of poverty and condition the work of securing basic daily needs of families. Recent studies suggest that levels of stress increase as family food needs rise. This paper presents new findings which clarify the relationship of food provisioning to stress levels, by examining actual food provisioning strategies and food insecurity among the Northern Cheyenne Indians of southeastern Montana. Results clearly show that stress varies by types of food acquisition strategies. Contrary to our expectations, more complex strategies, including relatively unpredictable and cumbersome food provisioning activities, are not linked to higher stress levels in our analysis. Controlling for food security levels, households using a combination of local programs and informal subsistence sources are the least stressed, despite the demands of managing a large number of food sources. Households primarily using Food Stamps are the most likely to experience high levels of stress. Interviews with Food Stamp recipients show that potential sources of stress include inadequate allocations of Food Stamps, difficulty achieving and maintaining eligibility, challenges to complying with paperwork and appointment requirements, as well as personal obstacles and community barriers to making food stamps last. Analyses indicate that contradictions between local cultural norms for food provisioning and the realities of food insecurity in this context promote strategies emphasizing greater independence from federal food programs.

Barriers to Food Security and Community Stress in an Urban Food Desert

“…With respect to the relationship between food insecurity and stress, several researchers-e.g., [34,37,38] -affirmed that food insecurity was a chronic source of stress that increased stress levels, especially among economically and socially vulnerable populations. Whiting and Ward [38] asserted that food acquisition strategies served as direct sources of stress.…”

“…Whiting and Ward [38] asserted that food acquisition strategies served as direct sources of stress. They discussed that as economically vulnerable households utilized more diverse and less stable sources of food, stress levels increased.…”

Mapping Food Insecurity in Metro Atlanta

“…94,147,155,156 Increased stress arising from food insecurity also contributes to poor physical and mental health outcomes. 52,157,158 As Hadley 154 explains, "Insecure access to food generates stress because of the social and biological value of food, and stress in turn increases the likelihood of developing common mental disorders" (p. 86). Furthermore, stress can encourage people experiencing food insecurity to seek out and consume nutritionally deficient, energy-dense foods (i.e., comfort foods).…”

Food Availability in the Heartland: Exploring the Effects of Neighborhood Racial and Income Composition

“…; Helling and Sawicki ; Nord et al. ; Thomas ; Whiting and Ward ; Wrigley et al. ) are used to assess the availability of and accessibility to healthy foods in differing “neighborhoods” or “communities” according to the socioeconomic composition of a particular area.…”

“…The descriptive data produced by these and other methodologically mixed studies (Bader et al 2010;Helling and Sawicki 2003;Nord et al 2010;Thomas 2010;Whiting and Ward 2010;Wrigley et al 2002) are used to assess the availability of and accessibility to healthy foods in differing "neighborhoods" or "communities" according to the socioeconomic composition of a particular area. Other important factors in determining food availability and accessibility include household size and members' ages, residential density, median age of the head of household, real differences in consumption patterns (Helling and Sawicki 2003:71), historical demographic trends in particular areas, residential turnover, population growth, amount of vacant space that could serve as food store locations, and neighborhood location relative to other "types" of neighborhoods.…”