In this land of abundance, here at the epicenter of the global obesity epidemic, it’s hard to comprehend that Americans go hungry on a daily basis. But they do.
In 2008, 49 million people in American households — one in six — went hungry or had insufficient food at some point, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported this week. The biggest increases were among households with children and people who were hungry most often. In other words, the poor. Children and poor people are going hungry in one of the world’s wealthiest nations.
The USDA study found that 17 million people in the U.S. went hungry or did not eat regularly for a few days of each month over seven or eight months last year. That’s a 45 percent increase from 12 million people in 2007. In 2008, 16.7 million children did not eat regularly at some point, up from 12.4 million in 2007.
Having enough food to eat is the most basic of issues and it’s our country’s deep shame that it is an issue at all. We help feed the world’s poor, after all.
On Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, reacting to the USDA report, urged lawmakers to reauthorize school nutrition programs.
“Yesterday, the department released a report showing that in over 500,000 families with children in 2008, one or more children simply do not get enough to eat. …
“This is simply unacceptable in a nation as wealthy and developed as the United States,” he said.
The National School Lunch Program serves 31 million children in 100,000 schools across the country; the School Breakfast Program serves about 11 million children in 88,000 schools.
Funding those federal programs is mandatory, to say the least. The question at home is: What can we do at a local level to help our hungry children?
The immediate answer, thankfully, is simple, and something everyone with a full belly can do: Support your local food bank. With donations of nutritious food, or cash.
Reflecting the harsh reality of the recession, food banks across the nation, and here at home, have seen dramatic increases in the number of people seeking help. All this before the arrival of the holidays.
Donate food, cash or time to your local food bank. Or all three. A little, or a lot. It all helps. Everyone knows a hungry child, or adult, whether they know it or not. One hungry baby or one malnourished senior is one too many, and unacceptable in a nation as wealthy as ours. Let’s back up that belief with action.
To make a food-bank donation, click here or call Volunteers of America Western Washington at 425-259-3191.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
