Hunger in America Essay

Example #1

Hunger in America can be hard to recognize. With how the economy is now, the effects of hunger are more severe. Many Americans are relying on food stamps and private organizations to help with this crisis. Millions in this nation are currently suffering from hunger in America. Half of that being from job loss.

More than 12,000,000 children suffer from food-insecure hunger because of limited or uncertain access to nutritious food. About 900,000 are hungry in the three-country Detroit metropolitan area alone. The hardest hits are the elderly, the unemployed, immigrants, and the mentally and physically impaired.

Many people may think it’s not a problem. They think because it’s not currently happening to them, it doesn’t happen at all. Everybody needs to know the truth. They need to know how many are going hungry and not being able to feed their family. Also, the government needs to help more Americans survive. Poor nutrition, health, and federal assistance are all examples of this.

In addition to this, poor nutrition is a key factor in health problems. Many people continue to suffer during this crisis. Most even when the economy improves and Americans go back to work. But they can’t do it alone. “I don’t see swollen bellies, but I do see lassitude, a lack of bright eyes and shiny hair” (Stark). In other words, from a lack of nutrition, Americans’ health is becoming a problem. Many struggling to keep their families alive.

Rather than eat meat regularly, people like Yvonne Johnson can only do so much. She like many others can only afford to give her family meat only three or four times a year. “We’re also seeing an increase in the number of children suffering from growth failure, where they are neither the right weight nor height for their ages” (Dr. Brown). From children not getting the right amount of nutrition, many things are going wrong. They’re not growing up healthy as they should be at their age.

 

Example #2 – Food Insecurity and Hunger in America

Food security is defined as “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life”. In contrast, food insecurity is limited or uncertain access to adequate food due to economic and social restraints.

In 2012, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that 14.5% (17.6 million) households were food insecure. 5.7% (7.0 million) households had very low food security, a more severe range of food insecurity in which food intake of some household members was reduced and/or disrupted due to limited resources. Furthermore, 10% (3.9 million) households were unable at times during the year to provide adequate, nutritious food for their children.

These levels have essentially unchanged since 2008 (Coleman-Jensen et al. 4). When individual experiences physiological symptoms caused by the involuntary shortage of food, hunger occurs and may produce malnutrition over time. Although food insecurity and hunger are not as severe as in the more underdeveloped countries, they are prevalent and sometimes overlooked, public health issues.

Food justice advocates assert to access to affordable food is a basic human right and achieving food security is necessary for the well being of the future of our country. To measure food insecurity levels in the United States, the U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) was established by the USDA. Since 1995, it has been included in the Census Bureau’s annual Current Population Survey. It consists of a set of 18 questions that classify households as food-secure, or food-insecure, without hunger or with moderate or severe hunger for households with or without children.

Research has shown that rates of food insecurity were substantially higher than the national average for households with incomes near or below the Federal poverty line, households with children headed by single women or single men, and Black and Hispanic.

 

Example #3 – Child Hunger in America

The United States is known as the wealthiest country in the world. But, many people can’t afford to buy food for their families, many are also homeless.

“While hunger affects people of all ages, it’s particularly devastating for children even short-term episodes of hunger can cause lasting damage.” (“Child Nutrition Programs”)

Child hunger in the United States is caused by poverty, unemployment, food insecurity, and food shortage; however, there are many solutions to this problem like FRAC strategies, food banks, summer feeding programs, and backpack feeding programs. Poverty is one of the main causes of child hunger. Most people that live in poverty can’t afford to buy food. All the money they have goes to housing bills.

Another effect is that health care is expensive. For kids that don’t get to eat have bad health. Their parents can’t afford to take them to the doctor to get them better. (“Hunger and Food”) Another reason kids live in poverty and go hungry is their parents don’t have high education or have no education. The effect is that parents can only get a minimum wage job with their skills and education level. This is not enough money to support a family with kids.

“The Southern Education Foundation found that, for the first time in 40 years, the majority of public school students in 13 southern and four western states are living at poverty levels. (“Rising Child Poverty”)

The wages are decreasing for the less educated for families with kids this is not good. Another effect is kids can’t get good education because they are hungry. They can’t pay attention and learn. This means they don’t have the required skills to get a job. (“Rising Child Poverty”)

Another cause of child hunger is unemployment. Many parents have lost their jobs due to the recession. Just like people that live in poverty, they don’t have enough money to pay housing bills and are lacking food. In some cases, the decision has to be made between electricity or eating. This causes parents to fight about money problems and this affects kids because they start to worry. (“Hungry Kids”) Food insecurity is the next cause of child hunger.

 

Example #4 – How Can We Remove Causes of Hunger Today

At the end of World War II public officials and scientists from all over the world predicted that, with advances in modern technology, it would be possible by the end of the century to end poverty, famine, and endemic hunger in the world. Today these optimistic projections have been replaced by hopelessness and resignation as perhaps one-fifth of the world’s peoples live in absolute poverty with incomes of less than $700 a year.

The United Nations estimates that around 830 million people in the world do not have adequate access to food. An estimated 24,000 people die from hunger or hunger-related causes, three-fourths of which are children under the age of five.  Moreover, hunger exists not only in Asia, Africa, and Latin America but also in the richest nation on earth. Thirty-six million Americans do not have enough to eat, and the number is growing.

To discuss the eradication of hunger, we need first to identify some true causes. The immediate cause being improper food management; overpopulation, lack of purchasing power, ignorance and unemployment are the issues that worsen the problem.

A lot of people in this world are hungry because some people misuse and waste the world’s abundantly available food resources. The first and an obvious solution to the problem, therefore, is to stop this and to distribute them among the starving population.

World production of grain alone is over 1.5 billion tons, enough to sustain the entire world population with two pounds a day. This grain combined the current production of other foods such as meat, fruits, vegetables, and nuts is enough to provide each adult and child on earth 3000 calories a day. Sadly much of these products are wasted each year. In the US and Europe alone, farmers burn large amounts of excess crops and kill animals to raise the price of the produce, while it would have been a lot cheaper to sell the produce at a cheaper price and make a profit in quantities.

Food exploitation due to corruption is another major cause of hunger, especially in developing countries. Around three-quarters of the developing countries that report child malnutrition are busy exporting food to the developed countries. For example, during the much-publicized famine in the1980s, Ethiopia was exporting green beans to Europe. In the year 1999, the Indian government had 10 million tons of surplus food grains, which increased to 60 million by the year 2000.  Most of the produce was left in the granaries to rot in the hope of being exported.

It also stopped buying grain from its farmers, leaving them destitute. The farmers, who had gone into debt to purchase expensive chemical fertilizers and pesticides on the advice of the government, were now forced to burn their crops in their fields. The wasted food would have been enough to feed the entire starving population of India, which is about a third of 830 million worldwide.

Other causes of hunger, such as poverty and overpopulation, can be solved to some extent through education. This can be provided through opening institutions and conducting training programs in various remote regions. As the majority of hungry people around the world have little or no education, this would allow them to have better job opportunities. This will also provide them with a better understanding of the politics and conditions surrounding them. Through educating women about birth control methods and benefits of family planning, overpopulation can be controlled.

Education can also enable farmers to learn better farming techniques and food conservation.  Most organizations such as Save The Children, Feed The Children, etc, focus on small-scale projects directed toward the third world countries.  What we need is large-scale projects focusing on the global figure of starvation. We need better policies to facilitate food and fresh drinking water to starving people. Finally, we need the development of small and large industries especially in remote areas, where people are unemployed.

Hunger touches each one of us because we, the taxpayers, are helping to aid it. Not only does it touch our pockets, but also it touches our consciousness. How can anyone look at a starving child and not think about the food that they waste the day in and day out?

How can we stand by and watch people that go to work everyday like us, and probably work harder, cannot afford to feed their families? It is unfair that we live in a world where food is thrown out in the garbage rather than used to save the life of a child.

 

Example #5 – Hunger Dilemma

Hunger is a problem, not only in third world countries, but in the Untied States as well.  During the time that the United States experienced one of its longest economic growths, one in every ten households experienced hunger by a lack of food (Nutrition Concepts and Controversies).  According to a 1995 national survey 4.1 percent, or 4.2 million, of all United States households experienced hunger (Could There Be Hunger In America? 1). Of the 4.1 percent of these Americans, 300,000 are hungry children.

In September 1997 the United States Census Bureau released data that indicated that 36.5 million Americans, or 13.7% of the American population, had lived in poverty in 1996 (Could There Be Hunger In America).  Often families that live in poverty are also families that live with hunger.  Living at or below the poverty line puts a strain on the family’s food purchasing power.  Often money that should be spent on purchasing food is used to pay rent or utility bills.  If the Untied States, during times of such economic growth, could experience such hunger, how is hunger affecting third world countries?

There are 800 million people in developing countries that don’t have enough food to eat (The State Of Food Insecurity In the World). Of these 800 million people two-thirds of them live in either Asia or the Pacific.  Most of the 800 million people in developing countries that suffer from malnutrition are women and children.  Many of these malnourished women and children die from either infection diseases, or parasitic.  Developing countries children are the most vulnerable groups that suffer from hunger.

These children suffer from low height for their age, low weight for their age, and low weight for their height. With so many humans suffering from hunger and starvation what can one person do to eliminate this suffer? What kind of solution do we need to prevent an increase in the number of hungry people?  Are there solutions at the present time that could reduce these numbers?  How can we feed so many hungry people and still protect the earth?

According to the population division of the United Nations, the human population will increase in the year 2025, to reach 8.47 billion people (Eco World).  One can only assume that by the year 2025 the human population will exceed the earth’s natural resources and its capacity.  The number of humans on earth will greatly threaten the human race as a whole, by placing increased pressure on the environment with more people using more resources.  With the population growth increasing so rapidly can we control it, or will it control use?

One must first understand that the population growth is a great contributor to poverty and hunger, and vise versa. As the populations grows so does the hunger, and so increases the poverty level. The first step is to control population growth, by doing so we can start to relieve poverty and hunger.  What can be done to slow the population growth, which in turn will help to lower the numbers of hungry humans?

There are several contributing factors associated will the population growth rate, and poverty.  The first step in slowing the population growth is to start to eliminate poverty. One way of reducing poverty would be to improve the standard of living of people that live in poverty. There are several factors that contribute to poverty such as, lack of health care, lack of education, and lack of family planning. All of these factors greatly increase a person, or family’s change of living in poverty.

As families receive better access to health care, this in turn will help to keep the number of children that are born into the family down. Also, with better health care families will have access to family planning, which will help to decrease the number of children that need to be cared for by the family. Both family planning and better health care are important requirements for families that live in poverty. Existing members of the family will have increased health, and the family can forgo the experience of unwanted children.  In families that experience poverty, family planning is one of the last things that is thought about, the family is more worried about were the next meal will come from, not how to plan not to have children.

One of the greatest ways to reduce the poverty level, and consequently reduce hunger, is to increase the education levels of people that live in poverty.As society educations both male and female children, the fertility rate begins to decrease.

The education of both males and females also increases the wealth of families, which in turn can greatly help to reduce the poverty and hunger levels within families.  As young women become educated they learn how to plan for families, how to improve their nutrition, and how to better care for both themselves and their family.

All of these improvements will help to improve the family’s standard of living, and thus will decrease the poverty levels, and lower the population growth rate.

The rate of population growth in the developing world is a very real concern and will have consequences long into the future.  While population problems are more serious in the developing countries, the impact of each birth on the planet must be a primary concern for all humans.  A child that is born in a country where energy and material usages are high thus places a greater burden on the Earth’s resources than a child born in a poorer country.

The pressure to grow more food and crops leads to improper clearing of land.  This improper clearing of land can result in degradation, loss of topsoil, and erosion of land, as well as atmospheric and climate changes (Nutrition Concepts and Controversies).

There is a powerful and growing force that is threatening the quality of life on earth, that force is people.  The more people the more materials and resources are used, attacking the environment with ever more machines, waste, and chemicals.  Are there ways to improve our methods of producing our food, or improving the machinery we use to produce that food?

Producing our food supply is one of the greatest strains that we place on our earth.  In order to grow crops of food, farmers clear forests and wetlands, which in turn changes the Earth’s eco system.  This clearing of land endangers the Earth’s animals, birds, and vegetation.  As more and more food is need, more and more land is cleared to grow needed crops of food.

These crops are fertilized to assist the farmer in growing a high-quality crop.  As farmers fertilize the soil this fertilizer runs off into streams and rivers, which in turn pollutes these rivers and streams, and endangers the aquatic animals and plants in the rivers and streams.  With the demand for more food comes the demand for more crops and so to will more and more fertilizer be used to grow these crops.  What technology can be used to enable our farmers to grow and maintain crops and fields in a more environmental friendly manner?

One form of technology that farmers can use to assist in safer and more environmental friendly crops is integrated pest management (Nutrition Concepts and Controversies).

Through the use of integrated pest management, farmers rely on crop rotation, and natural predators, rather than chemicals and pesticides.  Our great-grandfathers used some of these methods, before chemicals and pesticides were widely used.  By greatly reducing the amount of pesticide that is used in growing crops, so too are we reducing the amount of pesticides that run off and pollute our streams, and rivers.

Another method of agriculture technology is the rotating of crops.  By rotating crops this improves the quality and quantity of the crop.  Alternating nutrient-devouring crops with nutrient-restoring crops reduces the amount of fertilizer needed by farmers, which in turn reduces the price of crops.

These technology changes will not only improve the environment, but will also improve growth in farming.  This growth can reduce food prices while increasing farmer’s incomes.    Agricultural development and growth can reduce the poverty level by providing gainful employment to rural areas, were jobs are needed.  Technology can help, but how can all people make a difference in the fight against hunger?

Over the years the United States government has instituted programs geared to help ease hunger.  During the 1960’s and 1970’s the United States government implemented programs such as the Food Stamp Program, Women Infants and Children (WIC), Community Food and Nutrition Program, and several other programs to help the fight against hunger (Hunger And Food Insecurity).

Of all these programs, one in every six Americans received some type of assistance to feed either themselves, or their family.  Every though the United States Government spends $40 billion annually there are still people that suffer from hunger.  How can each and every person make a difference?

There are several ways in which Americans can help to ease hunger and make a difference in the life of a hungry person.  One way for a community to make a difference is for a community to establish a local food pantry.  By establishing a food pantry, families in need of food would have a place to receive much needed food.  Local food pantries are designed to assist families in need of food.  A family can receive food from a local pantry whether the family receives food stamp, or other government assistant programs, or not.

Several times a year our local Boy Scout Troop conducts a local food drive.  The Boy Scouts go from door to door to collect donations, either in the way of food, or money.  These donations are given to the local food pantry, to help and assist members of the community.

Along with Boy Scout Troops local Super Markets greatly help to supply these local food pantries with food.  Around Thanksgiving, and Christmas, most super markets have food barrels, or bins set up in the front of their stores.  The food that is collected, by these markets, is donated to food pantries and other food assistant programs to help fight hunger.

Although Thanksgiving and Christmas are times when food supplies are low, it would be nice to see markets have food bins out all year long for people to donate food to.  Food is needed all year long, not just during the holiday season.

Just think what a difference it would make if every time you went to the market you purchased one or two extra items and placed them in that food bin for the hungry.  Now just think what a difference it would make if every person, that had the ability to do so, made this same donation weekly, now that could make a difference.

 

Example #6

Every day an estimated 24,000 people die from hunger or hunger-related causes. Three-fourths of these deaths are children under the age of five. One may wonder how this can be living in a country where it seems so much food is wasted every day. Food restaurants and grocery stores throw away food every night before closing. Many Americans waste food every day within their own homes. With so much “leftover” food in American, how is it that an estimated 800 million people around the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition?

1. Well, first we must define the word hunger. Hunger, in this case, is not just the rumbling in one’s stomach that most of us feel if we have not eaten for a few hours. For this purpose, hunger is defined as “a condition resulting from chronic under-consumption of food and/or nutritious food products. It may be precipitated by an inability to obtain sufficient quantities of food to eat or a failure to consume adequate quantities of nutritious food products, regardless of the ability to obtain sufficient food supplies.”
2. The problem of world hunger is not that there is not enough food produced in the world. “World production of grain alone is over 1.5 billion tons, enough to supply the entire world population with two pounds a day.”
3. This grain combined the current production of other foods such as meat, fruits, vegetables, and nuts is enough to provide each adult and child on earth 3000 calories a day which is what the average American consumes.
4. Americans are not the only ones who waste food. People all over the world are doing the very same thing. And the thought it seems that America has too much food, we Americans have hungry people living right here in our own country. The world hunger problem lies within the changing environmental conditions, population, and most of all, poverty.
   This paper will discuss the causes, effects and possible solutions of world hunger. There are three major causes of world hunger, changing environmental conditions, population, and poverty. The environment, of course, is the major element in the production of food in most countries across the globe. The environment in which one lives decides what types of food can be produced and how much of that food can be produced. The weather or climate in any particular environment can change and affect what people eat and how much of it they can eat. One change in the environment that adversely affects agriculture is soil erosion. “Some one-third of the world’s cropland is losing topsoil at a rate that undermines its future productivity.”
5. Topsoil is a major factor in growing most crops. It is the richest part of the soil and contains minerals and nutrients that most plants need for survival. Too much soil erosion begins a chain reaction leaving the land susceptible to drought. And as we all know, very little food can be grown on dry land. Drought not only affects plants but as a result of lack of plants and water and in many cases, extreme heat cattle are starved or die from thirst. This loss of organic matter in the land results in runoff after rainfall and increased runoff and rainfall allows for flooding. A flood, like a drought though they are opposite, wipes away crops or kills them because of the overabundance of water.
   People can attempt to produce food by planting and caring for their land and animals, but Mother Nature has the ultimate say and humans are unable to predict what she will do next. The next two causes of hunger we will discuss together because they coincide, population and the poor.
   The population is an issue not because there are too many mouths to feed, as was stated earlier, but because the hungry people of the world are the majority who have large families and continue to increase them, thus creating hungry children. “Poor people have large families for many reasons…Reasons for security for their old age. Reasons for additional help on the land.
   Reasons concerning the cultural preference for sons. Reasons related to the laws of inheritance. Reasons dictated by traditional religious behavior. And reasons of personal pride”
6. These are all reasons why poor people all over the country continue to have large families generation after generation despite their economic condition. The majority of the hungry live and work in rural areas. Why are poor people affected so much by hunger? The answer would be seemingly simple, that they are just unable to afford food. But let us examine more closely other reasons the poor across the world are so stricken with hunger.
   Many of the poor around the world are tenant farmers and do not own the land in which they work and live.
7. These tenant farmers are many times paid very little for the service they provide to the owners and are unable to purchase the food in which they helped produce. Those who do own a small plot of land for farming their land still need money to do so. To care for the land for the benefit of food production a farmer needs tools as well as other materials and resources, all items that cost money. “Adequate nourishment for a family depends upon its ability either to produce enough food for its own needs or to earn enough money to buy the food-or some combination of the two. Without this ability color the family hungry.”
8. Malnutrition is the most common effect of hunger. Malnutrition is “a term indicating an impairment to physical and/or mental health resulting from failure to meet nutrient requirements. The insufficiency of nutrients may result from the inadequate nutrient intake or from interference with the body’s ability to process and utilize nutrients.”
9. Malnutrition causes many health conditions such as stunting of growth, tissue wasting, cognitive and behavioral deficits, or starvation. The lack of vitamin C that a hungry person does without can cause scurvy, loss of teeth, and a weakening of the immune system. Lack of iodine in one’s diet can cause crippling or mental retardation. The lack of vitamin A in one’s diet can cause blindness.
   In its worst cases, malnutrition leads to death, especially in children. “In Latin America and the Caribbean, studies indicate that malnutrition is the primary cause of or major contributing factor in 60 percent of deaths of children under the age of five.”
10. Malnutrition hits hardest on the children because they are still growing and developing immunities to disease and developing strong healthy bodies. For a malnourished child, common illnesses such as measles and diarrhea can lead to death. Seventy-five percent of the people that die from hunger every 3.6 seconds across the globe are children under the age of 5. Hunger affects adults as well by weakening their immune systems and making them weak suspecting them to sickness and disease, which will later lead to death. The solution to ending world hunger does not lie in money or any other one answer. There are many ideas and “solutions” being applied today, yet hunger remains. In terms of dollars, the United States has been the world’s largest donor of foreign aid.
11. The U.S. Marshall Plan of 1948 was the first government foreign-aid program. General George Marshall outlined the plan stating: “It is logical that the United States should do whatever it can do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world…Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist…”
12. The Marshall Plan put major emphasis on grants and loans for the repair of industrial plants and infrastructure. The plan succeeded in many ways. One example is that by 1951 Europe’s overall production rate had risen 37 percent. The four-point plan, the first major plan for the third world country soon followed the Marshall Plan and provided support to small technical assistance projects for some developing nations.
13. Since the Marshall Plan in the late 40s, the U.S. has continued to help countries through foreign aid policies. However, foreign aid does not just come from countries it can also come from private voluntary organizations. Most often these private organizations such as “Feed the Children” and the “Christian Children’s Fund” focus on small-scale projects directed toward the third world countries. Another solution to the problem of World Hunger is through education. The majorities of poor and hungry people around the world are illiterate or have little education.

Providing these people with education would allow them to act successfully in the job market, and allow them a better understanding of the politics and conditions surrounding them. In this way, education may also provide population control by educating women about birth control methods and family planning.

Education may also enable farmers to learn better farming techniques and food conservation. World hunger affects everyone on our plant, not just the poor or those living in third-world countries. Hunger touches each one of us because we, the taxpayers, are helping to aid it. Not only does it touch our pockets, but also it touches our consciousness. How can anyone look at a starving child and not think about the food that they waste the day in and day out?

How can we stand by and watch people that go to work every day like ourselves and cannot afford to feed their families? It is unfair that we live in a world where food is thrown out in the garbage rather than used to save the life of a child.

 

Example #7

Hunger in America is not a food issue; it is an economic issue. There is plenty of food to go around. If people are starving or undernourished it is because of their stupidity not for going and collecting public assistance. Every person can get a job if they choose to work. Poverty is driven because people have little or no education. Social back round and pockets of poverty areas also contribute to the poverty issue. Another driver that increased year over year is the single-parent household. Each year the number of children born to parents out of wedlock is increasing. Eliminate poverty through education and Hunger in America will go away.

There have been many programs and legislation over the last few years and decades to address the war on poverty and the need to provide education for those who will be able to support themselves. The two issues that best address the problems of food insecurity are The Hunger Relief Act of 1999 (S. 1805) sponsored by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), joined by Senators Jim Jeffords (R-VT) and Patrick Leahy

(D-VT). As well as its companion bill in the House (H.R.3192) sponsored by James Walsh (R-NY) and Sue Kelly (R-NY). Another great program is the Welfare Reform Act that addresses in detail Education and Training.

The Hunger Relief Act of 1999 addresses food insecurity. This is done because it targets Food Stamps improvements to insure adequate nutrition assistance for at-risk groups such

as elderly, children and low-income families. The USDA identified that in 1998 there were over 6 million adults and over three million children that experienced hunger.

Poverty has driven people to be hungry. It is not uncommon for some to make choices whether to eat or have shelter over their head. Hunger takes its toll whether through health risk, slow development, lower test scores and lower grades in school.

Although I have identified poverty as the driver, I must state that in America someone can be identified as living in poverty and be a millionaire at the same time. The government criteria are to look at a person’s income and the total cost of their living expenses. A person that owns a business with over a million dollars in income and assets and shows $16,530.00 in salary would be entitled to Food Stamps. Although there are restrictions on owning homes and cars it is not uncommon for people to have all assets in the name of their company.

The Welfare Reform Act has come up with many recommendations as to how to rectify poverty through education. The most common is the Human Capital Approach; this would advocate education and training to prepare welfare recipients for jobs that will eventually help them leave poverty. Education and training is not the last resort, this is to be used to make people more marketable in the workplace. The welfare reform Act provides Adult Basic Education (ABE). The basic education could be a General

Education Diploma (GED), or vocational training that would them a specialized skill set.

It is common knowledge that education, skill set, and work experience will lead to higher-paying jobs.

If there is one there must be many thousands of programs nationwide to train and develop people to be more productive in the workplace. In New York City Mayor Giuliani has instituted a program that mandates welfare recipients to work for the MTA transit system as porters. Large companies such as Burger King and Bell Atlantic also have programs that will train and employ ex welfare recipients.

Although education is the key to getting a job or a higher paying job. Many people still fight poverty because flipping burgers or pumping gas will not support a family in the year 2000. Many people have become dependent on the welfare entitlement that they have become used to over the years. It is not uncommon to see second and third generations receiving welfare. The education has to start early and not after someone is on welfare.

Poverty is in most cases restricted to certain? Poverty Areas?. The areas in many cases are restricted to extreme poverty areas. If we use New Your City as our example, you could be walking in the 80?s (the Upper East Side) past brownstone homes that are worth over 3 or 4 million dollars. If you were to go twenty blocks north you would be in Harlem where the same brownstone would be abandon or worth maybe $100,000. 00.

Much of the poverty in America is because of racial or ethnic makeup. In today?s society as in the past a large number of Blacks and Hispanics live in these designated poverty areas. Because these areas are limited to pocket areas, most are in metropolitan areas as

well as in the south. In the designated poverty areas unemployment and woman raising families with no husband is the biggest challenge.

As one travels throughout America you will pass roadside stands, diners, restaurants, and endless fast-food eateries. Hunger in America is not because of a lack of food. It is because some people have a lack of money. When you have a lack of money you are now experiencing poverty.

 

Example #8 – interesting ideas

If you want to see real hunger in America just go to any food bank and take a good look at the people. It is heartbreaking, I have seen a 16-year-old thrown on the streets with an out of wedlock baby crying for milk. An 84-year-old man crying because medicines took all their income and he got no food that day after having none for days before that. I know people, elderly who eat dog food, I know these things because I help there. How far do you think $51 in food stamps goes?

That what he got monthly for himself, his wife and her sister all in the late 70’s to 85 years old. Do you think that’s fair? Is it right? They were white! Yes, we have hungry people in America and it will only get worse. Our foodbank runs out of food weekly so a long line of people never gets any help. Yes, we have many problems in America but hunger should not be one of them. They can not work they were not lazy or fat just old.

---

It annoys me though that people pay more attention to Hollywood and Tabloids that portray America as rich and every American citizen lives in Bellair mansions and drives porches… and only the poor live in trailers and have 3 teeth and marry cousins.

That’s how people outside the US see it isn’t it.

People do struggle here. Before my husband got the job he has, we would go days without eating much more than bread and butter or even an apple and just drinking water from the faucets. Thankfully, his job is what we need and we do okay but knowing our struggle and what it felt like, we do our best all the time to help others in need.

No one needs to go hungry! I have a friend in Kentucky who has wound up in a trailer because bills and such got too much and their paychecks were minimal. They have to now take their two girls to her mother’s so they would have a decent meal and she is always looking for free samples of things just to keep them going until they go shopping again for the bare minimal.

---

Some are parents who should not have the responsibility for caring for a termite. They may be given money or food stamps, and some will exchange such things illegally for drugs or alcohol.

Some people do not budget well. Money gets wasted early in the month, and there is no food on the table by the end of the month.

In other cases it is not getting the available help, mostly from not knowing about it, or not applying until it is too late. There is Angel Food Ministries that provides large boxes of food to families through churches for a $25 donation, or demonstrated need, which will last a person for a month, or a family for a week. Or, they can be given several boxes. There are food pantries that also give away free food to the needy.

Even at that, there are usually emergency shelters or soup kitchens that will feed the hungry. For children, that is one reason the school lunch program exists, expanded in some areas to include free breakfast for school children.

Long term effects of malnourished children:

• Mental/intellectual problems
• rickets – calcium/vitamin D – bone loss. Problems with childbirth later
• Scurvy – loss of teeth, loss of bones, more prone to infections and disease.

---

There is hunger in America and some ppl. try to turn their backs and forget about it but it is still there, donate to a local mission or the Salvation Army to help these ppl. out and not just for Christmas, do it when you have spare change or when your taxes come in, or donate your spare time to help, whatever you can do to help these people, these Americans and yes there are some who are homeless or have no food or have children, and they are in every city in the US and it is very sad, I pray for them every night and do what I can to help.

---

I live in Houston, and there are many soup kitchens here, too. A lot of soup kitchens depend on donations from average people. The economy right now is probably such that a lot of people who normally do give to food drives and the like probably aren’t able to give as much as they would like to because food prices alone are quite high. I mean, just go to the grocery store.

My grandparents have had to choose between buying their meds or buying their groceries. Everyone (but the super-rich) are experiencing some really hard times. Hopefully, Obama will change that. I think that for those who are extremely poor, there will always be places they can go to to eat. It is just a matter of getting there.

---

There has been progressing, but there are still those are hungry. Poor in rural areas, for example, can’t necessarily get to the local city food banks.

Thanks to our economy, you will see lots of things, like hunger, homelessness, poverty, crime, illness, etc. rise.

We can give our selves credit for progress, but we cannot give ourselves a pat on the back for a job well done. Some social programs are abused, and some people need them that do not have access. While we have something in place, it is far from perfect or adequate.