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https://theconversation.com/if-only-they-made-better-life-choices-how-simplistic-explanations-of-poverty-and-food-insecurity-miss-the-mark-190430>
"The way we perceive poverty, hunger and household food insecurity is shaped by
media, government policy, public relations, advertising and personal
experience. But one persistent strand is the notion that poverty and food
insecurity are the result of poor personal choices and priorities.
Over time, this view can come to be seen as “common sense”, influencing our
understanding of how and why people go hungry. But is it accurate? Does a focus
on individual failings – and individual solutions – mean New Zealanders are
missing the bigger picture?
Our three research projects (recently published together) looked at the
experiences of families who don’t have enough to eat. We spoke with people
struggling with food poverty and asked why this might be tolerated in a country
that produces so much food.
We found that, contrary to popular belief, parents went without food in order
to feed their children, that many had good nutritional knowledge, and that
mothers in particular worked very hard to protect their children from knowing
the extent of the poverty and hunger within the home."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
