You might think that America with a highly developed economy would have no issue with hunger, but you will be shocked by lots of findings. The myth of hunger, stating that ‘there’s a hunger crisis in other parts of the world – not in America’ should be shattered because of the statistical evidence of the presence of hunger in America and anecdotal experiences of families facing hunger in the United States. Even if the media has failed to help disseminate information about the immense presence of hunger in the country, the society needs to create not just awareness of the presence of hunger, but to ensure more people provide profound solutions in order to resolve this crisis. Lack of knowledge of situations surrounding hunger is the main reason for the presence of hunger in America. Hence, due to the lack of information on hunger we should all go out and get ourselves more informed.
A lot of statistical evidence of the presence of hunger in America is very alarming. Allison Weber provided an article on Feeding America that states that “37 million people face hunger in the United States”. If the United States has over 37 million hungry people among its population, it shows that hunger is not just present, but the rate of hunger is alarming due to the statistics because that means one out of ten Americans is hungry and this implication on the state of New Jersey shows that one out of five people is hungry. The statistics of hungry people in America, is more than the population of other countries like Canada, Poland, and Malaysia. This shows how high, people are hungry in America. The presence of ‘food desert’ which means areas that have limited or little access to supermarkets or nutritious, food also contributes to the presence of hunger in America. It is estimated that more than 23 million people are living in a food desert in America, according to a report prepared for Congress by the Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture. The city of Camden in New Jersey, America, is a good example of a food desert city because according to Alex Law who wrote an article ‘The Most Severe Food Crisis in New Jersey’, there are over 80,000 residents in Camden city, with just one supermarket to provide for the whole city. People have to walk over one mile to get healthy food like organic foods to eat. Larry Milmore, another reporter, did a short video of how he had to walk over five miles to get organic food also in Camden.
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The lack of awareness of the presence and formidable problems posed by food desert has largely prevented the efforts of community activists, entrepreneurs, and government officials to help create more food options for food desert areas. Presence of food desert shows that people who might have the means like money or food stamps to buy affordable and healthy food options have limited or nonexistent access to those foods. Even the limited food there can have access to is unhealthy because most of them are processed foods; with a series of mechanical or chemical operations performed on them with high sodium, high cholesterol, high sugar, and fewer nutrients. Lack of unhealthy food has a drastic side effect on the health of people, thus making millions of people hungry in America.
Moreover, not only do food desert shows the presence of hunger but food wastage contributes a lot to the presence of hunger in America. America has more than enough food to feed everyone in the country, but this abundance is accompanied by tremendous waste. By estimates, nearly half of the food grown, processed and transported in the United States goes to waste. While 37 million people struggle with hunger in the United States, at the same time seventy-two billion pounds of good food goes to waste each year in America, which is equivalent to $165 billion each year—and more than enough to feed every hungry person in the country (Lauren Flick, CNBC). Food wastage is majorly caused by the ignorance of people about the situation of hunger in the country because lack of knowledge of how people are suffering from hunger makes people trash food without a second thought.
The myth of hunger stating that ‘there’s a hunger crisis in other parts of the world – not in America’ has blindfolded people to waste food because people feel no one is hungry in the country and do not know that even a can of food will go a long way for a hungry person. That is why I am always shocked by the contents of trash cans in the country, leaving the hungry people with no choice than to dive their hands into those trash to get something to eat. So, if you know that your neighbor or someone out there is hungry will you waste or trash some of the good food you feel no one will eat?
The act of people wasting food only deprives other people or someone somewhere of food to eat leading to hunger in almost everywhere in America, and due to food waste being widely practice, which shows the presence of hunger in America. The lack of knowledge of the situation of hunger in the country has initiated wide practice of food waste in the country. I once went to Trenton Area Soup Kitchen to assist as a volunteer after reading articles and seeing videos on hunger in America just to assist in the fight against hunger. During my service at this place, I noticed that a significant portion of people being served are the elderly, physically challenged, mentally ill, and few suffering from substance abuse. This made me realize that they are not lazy or do not want to work, but their current situation does not permit them to work in order provide for their needs. What shocked me the most was the familiar face I recognized, who works as a cashier at a supermarket I regularly visit. So, I approach her, we exchange pleasantries and she showered me with lots of appreciation for my help, but was forced to ask her if she had been fired or what could have brought her to the place, she laugh and said: “I have been eating here with my family for many years now and my check is not enough to pay the house bills”. So, after much discussion with her and other people, I came to realize that some people work but still cannot afford to put a meal on their table due to other expenses, and they still do not qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, formerly known as Food Stamps from the government. If not for my participation, I would not have known of their situation. This brings me to the point that lack of knowledge of the crisis has hidden lots of things about the situation of hunger in the country. Indeed, SNAP is a solution to hunger in the country, but these benefits are not always enough to solve the crisis of hunger in families in this country. Nearly one-third of households on SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, still have to visit a food pantry to keep themselves fed, according to data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Beneficiaries still have limited food consumption, usually by skipping meals, to make it through the month. This can be clearly seen in the anecdote of the Williamsons family carried out by Pam Fessler on a live radio on NPR Newscast about ‘A Daily Fight to Find Food: One Family’s Story’. This SNAP benefits are considered not enough because about $126 is the average SNAP benefits provided by the government for one person, which works out to about $1.40 per meal. So, my question is ‘Can you live on $4 a day?’. Now we see that prior to reading this paper, the lack of this information made us feel that SNAP beneficiaries are well taken care of, so now we know that is not the case. SNAP beneficiaries are not free from hunger, showing there is hunger in the country and more help is needed towards this crisis.
In conclusion, before migrating to America, my peers and I in Africa, where hunger is well-known, learned from a young age that the best way to forget about hunger and get a better future is to migrate to a developed country with no knowledge of hunger. America topped the list because of the social safety nets provided by individuals, organizations, and the government. Contrary to the belief of most people like me when I was in Africa, hunger is present in America with over 37 million hungry people with lack of access to food, high housing costs, rising food prices, tremendous food wastage, and unexpected expenses. The media, who always shows hunger crisis of other countries, ignores their obligation to help disseminate this information to tap into a long-held distrust of claims of hunger in America, create awareness and attract people to help reduce the hunger situation in the United States. Since the media does a horrible job doing a positive job then I employ people to go out and get more information by participating in social activities involving hunger or volunteer in any soup kitchen of food pantry. One of the simplest ways to combat hunger in America is to initiate more food donation. A can of food may seem like a small step, but even a small step can make a huge difference in someone’s life. Everyone can also rescue food before it winds up as trash, and we need to make sure that it reaches those who most need it. If everyone does their part to spread the word, prevent food wastage and assist in any form, we can all make a significant change towards hunger. Together, we can build a world where meals are shared, everyone has a seat at the table, and there is always enough food to go around.
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