Dear Steve: Please note...

My dander has been exceedingly raised by a comment left by "Steve" on Tankwoman's preceding post. The portion of the comment to which I am responding here is this: "The little guy is still going hungry in Venezuela and Zimbabwe because they are cursed with a corrupt government. Nobody is going hungry here in the USA." For Steve, and any others who suffer under this enormous misimpression, a good door-opener into the real world of real people would be to read Anurada Mittal's article Hunger in America, published just about a year ago in Common Dreams.

Although politicians talk about "poverty in America", decision-makers avoid specifically mentioning the growing, and often deadly problem of hunger. George McGovern said in 1972, "To admit the existence of hunger in America is to confess that we have failed in meeting the most sensitive and painful of human needs. To admit the existence of widespread hunger is to cast doubt on the efficacy of our whole system." Three decades later, evidence indicates that the existing system is failing a vast number of Americans.

A look at the United States reveals a wide gap between the goal of universal access to adequate nutrition, and the reality of hunger that plagues millions in this country alone. The number of hungry people in the United States is greater now than it was when international leaders set hunger-cutting goals at the 1996 World Food Summit. The pledges by United States government leaders to cut the number of Americans living in hunger-from 30.4 million to 15.2 million by 2010- are lagging behind. An estimated 35 million Americans are food insecure with food insecurity and the necessity of food stamps being experienced by at least 4 in 10 Americans between the ages of 20 and 65. That's 50% of Americans!

If Common Dreams is too leftie a source for you, not to worry - I've got more. Second Harvest, an organization whose data is often referred to by others writing on the subject of hunger in America, begins with these short facts:

Did You Know:

• One in four people in a soup kitchen line is a child.
• 30% of the families surveyed were forced to choose between buying food and paying for medical care or medicine.
• Nearly 15% of the total households served by the America’s Second Harvest Network reside in rural areas.
• Four million non-elderly low-income families said they had used a food pantry at least once during the past year.

From Bread for the World, a group that works with faith communities to ease the problem of hunger in all parts of the world:

36.3 million people—including 13 million children—live in households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger. This represents more than one in ten households in the United States (11.2 percent). This is an increase of 1.4 million, from 34.9, million in 2002. 1

3.5 percent of U.S. households experience hunger. Some people in these households frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for a whole day. 9.6 million people, including 3 million children, live in these homes.1

7.7 percent of U.S. households are at risk of hunger. Members of these households have lower quality diets or must resort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always afford the food they need. 26.6 million people, including 10.3 million children, live in these homes. 1

Research shows that preschool and school-aged children who experience severe hunger have higher levels of chronic illness, anxiety and depression, and behavior problems than children with no hunger. 2
[...]
The U.S. Conference of Mayors reports that in 2004 requests for emergency food assistance increased an average of 13 percent. The study also found that 56 percent of those requesting emergency food assistance were members of families with children and that 34 percent of adults requesting such assistance were employed. High housing costs, low-paying jobs, unemployment, and the economic downturn led the list of reasons contributing to the rise.4

Over half the cities surveyed in the Mayors' report (56 percent) said they are not able to provide an adequate quantity of food to those in need. And more than two in three cities (67 percent) reported they had to decrease the quantity of food provided and/or the number of times people can come to get food assistance. An average of 20 percent of the demand for emergency food assistance is estimated to have gone unmet in the survey cities, up from 14 percent last year.4

America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest network of food banks, reports that 23.3 million people turned to the agencies they serve in 2001, an increase of over 2 million since 1997. Forty percent were from working families.5

Plenty more information on this site, and you can check out the footnote sources. For yet more information on hunger in America, as well as ways you can help, a couple more links which can't possibly be seen as leftie pinko liberal bleeding hearts:

Farm Share and Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry

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