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D.U.Quark

Abstract

Food insecurity, a state of not having sufficient access to quality nutrition that inhibits one’s

livelihood, has become a growing national issue as a result of socioeconomic inequities, the COVID-

19 pandemic, and the state of the national economy, among other issues. Although governmental food

assistance programs significantly improve food access and quality issues, many food insecure

individuals still suffer from malnutrition as a result of a lack of access to nutritious food because

healthier foods have a much greater cost than those considered unhealthy. As a result, many opt for

unhealthy options at the supermarket in order to get more total meals from their benefits and avoid

being hungry for an extended period of time. While this solves their short-term hunger, it presents a

cascade of potential long-term health problems, often in the form of non-communicable diseases

related to poor diet such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes, which threaten the lives of

those financially unable to easily make healthy dietary choices. In Pittsburgh’s Hill District, the local

community has been without a grocery store for the better part of the last 30 years (all years but 2013-

2019), which has created a need for bus transportation to grocery stores. Unfortunately, utilizing the

bus as a consistent method of transportation is likely too expensive to be feasible for food insecure

populations. An annual bus pass, according to Pittsburgh Regional Transit, costs $1072.50, and

individual rides cost $5.50 round trip at the full rate.1 For individuals making necessary, critical

decisions on how to most effectively spend their money, this added constraint brought upon by bus

transportation costs presents a direct hindrance to the health of Hill District residents. In order to

promote better health and well-being for this population, a reduced rate or free of charge bus

transportation system is necessary to ensure better nutrition, health outcomes, and livelihood for food

insecure residents in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.

School

School of Science and Engineering

First Page

61

Last Page

66

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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