This is a summary of the book “How the other half eats? The untold story of food and inequality in America” written by Priya Fielding Singh PhD who is a sociologist at Stanford University. She studies the societal factors that influence people’s health.

There are prevalent assumptions about eating that grossly misunderstand the dietary choices in America. There is societal pressure to be a “good mom” which dictates family dietary choices. The food industry pushes junk food to ease mothers' guilt.  Gendered expectations create further frustrations for mothers trying to uphold healthy eating habits. Lack of time and resources often leads to unhealthy dietary compromises. Emotional stress and misguided blame affect diets across the income spectrum.

The author makes recommendations for both mothers without resources who must be prudent to buy the right foods and those who can buy healthful food but who think the choices are not good enough. Her research targets diverse families and shows that Americans’ dietary choices have little to do with personal discipline and, instead, mainly involve family budgets and societal pressures. Personal desires – whether to be a perfect mom or to alleviate the weight of poverty – shape how Americans eat.

The American diet is overwhelmingly unhealthy. The US Department of Agriculture agrees with most nutritionists that a healthy diet is made up of fresh fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy, whole grains, and lean proteins. Most Americans don’t eat this way. The Americans who suffer the most from diets lacking in nutritional value are low-income families of color. They often eat too much sugar and too many processed foods and fatty meats, leading to higher rates of diabetes and heart problems, as well as earlier deaths than more affluent people.

As the disparity between rich and the poor widens, some political figures, such as Michelle Obama, have sought to mitigate some of the causes behind this issue. However, those efforts operate on two assumptions about why some Americans eat unhealthily. First, low-income families can’t afford healthier foods and second, low-income families don’t have physical access to grocery stores that sell healthy foods.

The second assumption is false. For example, The Healthy Food Financing Initiative invested more than $650 million dollars in building supermarkets in communities that lacked nearby grocery stores. Yet, making healthful food more available brought about little or no dietary changes within low-income communities. The author asserts that geographical access was not a contributing factor to dietary choices. Most people have cars and don’t mind traveling to get the food they want.

A mother who makes ends meet lacks the resources to take her kids out for fun activities, such as visiting a water park. Her lack of financial security impedes her ability to provide for her children. She constantly denies her daughters’ requests for new clothes, electronics, or toys. This makes her feel guilty and leaves her wondering if she’s a terrible mother. However, she can say yes to junk food because it’s cheap. Buying her daughters powdered donuts or a bag of Doritos puts smiles on their faces and is often the only thing she can do to ease the hardship of poverty.

On the opposite end of the economic spectrum, an affluent mother often says no to her kid’s junk food requests. However, she can say yes to most of their other requests. She can provide her children with private school, concert tickets, summer camp and consistent, healthy dietary choices.

Intensive mothering dooms moms to feelings of inadequacy and the sense that they never do enough — that they never are enough. This behavior creates a racial and economic inequality gap concerning who gets to be a good mother. Gold standard mothering now means giving your kids every opportunity to grow and learn, buying them whatever they need to thrive and providing them with nutritious food. By those unfair criteria, only the financially secure can afford to be good moms.

The food industry pushes junk food to ease mothers’ guilt. Because many low-income Americans are people of color, food choices may also reflect racial inequalities. Americans often associate childhood obesity with being Black or Hispanic – and often blame mothers instead of scrutinizing the food industry’s practices. The author states that the dads she met did not need to devote themselves to feeding their kids to feel like they were good dads.

Single mothers who work labor-intensive jobs have greater difficulty making healthy choices. Lack of time is an issue for most working parents across economic brackets. They often face long hours and long commutes, leaving them with less time to shop for food, cook or clean. Mothers often feel they must choose between spending quality time with their kids or cooking a healthy meal. This is also true for moms who are somewhat better off, though some wealthier moms can afford to hire household help to compensate for their lack of parenting time.

The author says that as moms, we deserve to live in a society built of infinitely more empathy, appreciation, and support.” The narrative of blaming mothers will never fix these issues. The government should hold employers and corporations responsible.

 

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