Climate change will starve forgotten corners of the United States of America. Food insecurity is not a new concept in America. Sadly, one in nine Americans are considered food insecure which means they do not have access to enough food to have an adequate diet. The fragility of our food infrastructure in America can often be highlighted by the vulnerabilities of the food supply chain and the food scarcity that exist despite efforts to close the food insecurity gap.

Where does climate change play a role in food insecurity?

Every aspect of the food system is impacted by climate change for better or worse, but often for worse. As a primary care doctor, I know that food insecurity is an important social determinant of health that influences the health outcomes of my patients and my community. Food access plays a vital role in prevention and treatment of chronic medical diseases. So when climate change threatens the basic need of having access to food in my community, in America, and across the world, we can not stand by as climate change has the potential to starve us. The food system is threatened by climate change because of the increased temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, and land and water contamination risks. Additionally, disruptions in the food supply chain increases and worsens food deserts that negatively impact our most vulnerable populations and communities on a daily basis. A notable disruption to highlight is the 2022 infant formula shortage. Briefly, Abbott Nutrition recalled multiple brands of powdered formula products due to bacterial contamination. This exacerbated a shortage that already existed because of the COVID pandemic. Imagine an extreme weather event taking out a large food manufacturer’s factory or transportation route. We are always one bad event away from a terrible disaster. Climate change has the potential of multiple disasters stacking on top of each other and compounding the infrastructure problems that already exist, including our food supply chain and food deserts. We see the chaos that occurs when we can anticipate a hurricane or snow storm. We see the bulk purchases and lockdown plans people start implementing. But can we keep doing that type of damage control everywhere? And if so, for how long and to what capacity. Because it seems like we are struggling and stretched.

Will there be enough food in the next climate crisis?

The impact of climate change is gradually building up in communities across America, causing negative consequences in daily life and health. The idea of more hangry and hungry people fuels that concern for starvation, desperation, and in some circumstances death. The extreme heat, the frequent floods, the changing lands, the droughts, are not without their impact on our food system. Our food deserts are the forgotten corners of America that fight for access to food on a daily basis. But they also have to endure the consequences of policies and infrastructure in the communities that challenge their access to healthy foods and basic needs. Food deserts are not only lacking food access but often unable to provide food for themselves because of contamination and environments that are not suitable for food growth and development. So these communities rely on a food system that barely provides them enough food and could be upended at any point due to a climate crisis.

Primary care goes beyond the clinic and medical office.

Doctors are concerned about the food their patients have access to and consume. As well as the food they are not able to access. Nutrition influences every aspect of someone’s health so the idea that climate change is going to worsen food access and the social determinants of health shines a light of the health disparities that are connected to every aspect of a person’s life. Food is essential in more ways than one and we do not need to starve to death in order to know that we need food. Climate change may make starvation more of a reality than what we want to believe. We need to act now as everything is impacted by climate change.

Asking to address food insecurity is a tall ask but a necessary one.

Asking to strengthen the infrastructure of the food system is a basic need, not a “would be nice”. Asking to combat climate change by decreasing green house gas emissions and increasing clean energy is more than decreasing extreme weather events, but creating a better and more reliable environment for food growth, development, creation, and transportation. Asking for access to quality food goes beyond how climate change could negatively impact access and highlights the essential need to address food security, food deserts, and the vulnerability of our food system and vulnerable communities. Food justice is climate justice. Food justice is environmental justice.