When people mention hunger, one will most commonly think of third world countries that suffer from starvation. When I google imaged hunger, pictures of starving children in Africa appeared. It is not only third world countries that are suffering. There is hunger here in the United States that just goes unnoticed. Due to the recession, 14.6 % of American households, 49 million people, were food insecure at some point during 2008. This is the highest number since the survey was first taken in 1995. With such high numbers, there is clearly a number of people seeking help from local food banks and soup kitchens. However, there has been a drop in donations from companies that are on a tight budget. The Capital Area Food Bank, in Washington D.C., delivers around 25 million pounds of food to 700 nonprofit agencies each year. The Capital Area Food Bank also reported a 91% increase in calls to its Hunger Lifeline last year. There are two very important things that we as citizens of the United States can do to help the hunger here in our country. There are three hunger-related bills that discuss ways of saving food and helping those in need. The Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Extension Act would extend a tax incentive for farmers to donate extra food to charity. School Food Recovery Act would allow schools to donate extra food to food banks. The third bill is a bill to amend the National School Lunch Act which serves more than 30 million children nationwide. Senators are looking to include the Hunger Free Schools Act to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles in the school lunch program and serve an additional 3 million children. The other important thing we can do to help prevent hunger in the United States is that we can donate food, money and our own time at local food banks. There are even programs here at Merrimack College where students can volunteer at local soup kitchens. The Merrimaction group goes to the Lazarus House and Bread and Roses once a month to serve in soup kitchens to feed the less fortunate. President Obama made a pledge to help end childhood hunger by 2015 and to do so, the administration and Congress must provide funding and support for food banks and nutrition programs. We can do our part as students by getting involved in our school community volunteer programs and by checking out websites such as http://feedingamerica.org and http://www.foodlifeline.org
Monday, September 27, 2010
Hunger in America
When people mention hunger, one will most commonly think of third world countries that suffer from starvation. When I google imaged hunger, pictures of starving children in Africa appeared. It is not only third world countries that are suffering. There is hunger here in the United States that just goes unnoticed. Due to the recession, 14.6 % of American households, 49 million people, were food insecure at some point during 2008. This is the highest number since the survey was first taken in 1995. With such high numbers, there is clearly a number of people seeking help from local food banks and soup kitchens. However, there has been a drop in donations from companies that are on a tight budget. The Capital Area Food Bank, in Washington D.C., delivers around 25 million pounds of food to 700 nonprofit agencies each year. The Capital Area Food Bank also reported a 91% increase in calls to its Hunger Lifeline last year. There are two very important things that we as citizens of the United States can do to help the hunger here in our country. There are three hunger-related bills that discuss ways of saving food and helping those in need. The Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Extension Act would extend a tax incentive for farmers to donate extra food to charity. School Food Recovery Act would allow schools to donate extra food to food banks. The third bill is a bill to amend the National School Lunch Act which serves more than 30 million children nationwide. Senators are looking to include the Hunger Free Schools Act to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles in the school lunch program and serve an additional 3 million children. The other important thing we can do to help prevent hunger in the United States is that we can donate food, money and our own time at local food banks. There are even programs here at Merrimack College where students can volunteer at local soup kitchens. The Merrimaction group goes to the Lazarus House and Bread and Roses once a month to serve in soup kitchens to feed the less fortunate. President Obama made a pledge to help end childhood hunger by 2015 and to do so, the administration and Congress must provide funding and support for food banks and nutrition programs. We can do our part as students by getting involved in our school community volunteer programs and by checking out websites such as http://feedingamerica.org and http://www.foodlifeline.org
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People in the United States are going hungry as much as people in third world countries are. I agree that our government should do more to help these people that live within our county's borders. More people now are going hungry than there were ten years ago in our country. However, budgets are tight right now and the economy is in rough shape, so it is hard for businesses to make donations to suffering food banks and soup kitchens. The government has been working hard to make sure more food is available at prices people can afford today. Farmers are being offered tax incentives in turn for their donation of excess crops. As important as this is, the government should also be taking more initiative in creating jobs so that these hungry people can become employed to support themselves and acquire food the traditional way. The biggest thing we can do as American individuals is donating money, food, and time, but some people going to the food banks are capable of finding jobs and cheating the system out of valuable supplies in high demand.
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate to read how people in our own country are suffering from hunger today. I feel that when most people hear the word “starvation” they think of countries such as Africa, and do not realize the citizens in their own country are in desperate need of help. I myself was surprised that 49 million people were “food insecure” in 2008. I think it is important that we volunteer our time and efforts to helping those in need. There are many ways to get involved, such as volunteering at a soup kitchen, donating money if possible, and giving food to food pantries. Throughout high school, I volunteered at my town’s food pantry and it felt good donating my time and efforts to help those in need. I think it is great that Merrimack College presents opportunities for students to help out in local soup kitchens; every person can make a difference. I believe that the three bills discussed in the blog should be passed, because I feel as though they could really help the hunger problem.
ReplyDeleteWe have a huge problem with hunger and we should try to fix it here first even though we are known for helping other countries out there and people depend on us. I feel so bad for the people that can't have food all the time while people throw away extra food while people are starving for food. it is horrible, but it the economy and the government.
ReplyDeleteI’ve known that hunger has been an increasing problem in our nation but it is affecting many more people than I ever would have expected. It is true that when someone brings up the topic of world hunger the mind flashes to starving children in underdeveloped countries like the ones seen on the “Feed the Children” commercials. Though those children do need help, there are families in this country who need our help too. Neglecting the starving families here becuae our country is depended upon by other nations only makes the hunger problem worse. We need to help those who need it most that live here before we can help others who live in other places.
ReplyDeleteIt is a valid point though that there are people here that will try to take advantage of food services when they are perfectly capable of supporting themselves. It is these people who make it more difficult to get to those who truly need help. With the economy in such a mess however dividing funds among organizations has become difficult and less help is sent out. This country needs to dig itself out before any true progress can be made in any area.
It is devasting to hear how hunger tends to go "unnoticed" when a staggering 49 million people claimed that at one point they were food insecure in 2008. I believe passing the three hunger-related bills will ensure that those in hunger will be able to receive the help that they deserve. The most important thing is to get involved. In high school, my chemistry professor conducted a food drive and between his two chemistry classes he donated over 1,500 cans and assortments of food to a local pantry. As Natalie stated, there are numerous opportunities even for Merrimack students to get involved. Even though our economy in a recession, finding a large sum of funds to be able to provide food for Americans should be a top priority. No one should go hungry. However, I agree with Hannah; we need to help our country first because many countries depend on us for help and resources. It only takes one person to make a difference.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe that America is having an issue with the economy and therefore causing hunger across the country. We as a country need to do something about this as a priority; its not that I or anyone else doesn’t care about the third world countries who are suffering more than we are, but we must take care of ourselves before we take care of others. If we are not in a good economical and hunger status and we help other countries before ourselves, we will suffer even more. I feel as though the United States sometimes doesn’t have its priorities set right. It would be extremely beneficial if the three bills were to be passed for the citizens in need and there needs to be some sort of thing done. I am however very concerned about where the money to fund these will be coming from. Even as a middle class citizen, the budgets are tight enough with out the extra taxes for this bill. Some families cannot afford to do that at this time. If these were to be passed how would this effect the citizens who are not starving?
ReplyDeleteHunger is an issue that surely gets over looked when it comes to many world agenda's. Poverty affects so many Americans and during the recession, hunger became a more glaring concern. How could a country like American face an issue such as poverty and? The root of this problem originates with the ideology of greed. The distribution of wealth in this country is not reaching those who are in need of aid. This fundamental aspect of poverty has a clear correlation with the issue of hunger in not only America, but through out the world. Hunger is a truly despairing account of how an essential good such as food can be limited or unobtainable to certain people in this country. I believe it is our duty to help the poor and hunger in any way possible. There are plenty of ways to assist in this matter such as helping at soup kitchens and or donating money and food to the homeless. When looking at poverty and hunger from the perspective of my own situation I can only imagine the feeling of going without food for a day. Food is a necessity. And the many Americans that go without this necessity, which clearly gives off a negative outlook to our countries ideals. I consider myself an extremely fortunate person because I have been blessed with an opportunity to achieve my goals. The issue of poverty is an awful circumstance that affects so many Americans, which shows the flaw within the system.
ReplyDeleteAlthough many comments have already been said on this article, this one most obviously reflects social justice so good job writing it! I, like many others, agree that the government should pass at least one bill so more people in the United States have an opportunity for obtaining food. Although Obama is trying to help end childhood hunger by 2015, I believe that this will unfortunately not happen. Congress provides funding for a lot of things. If they are not providing enough attention to a hunger problem within our own country now, I do not think they will do it anytime soon. Some other bloggers mentioned that the United States needs to help itself before other countries. I just want to emphasize that help needs to come from all or at least the majority of citizens, not just the government. Even with a rough economy, people can donate their time to help soup kitchens or food pantries. If it was you going hungry everyday, wouldn't you want someone there to help you?
ReplyDeleteI think it's true for most of us that we haven't had much exposure to the hunger problems many of our fellow citizens are facing. The distance we tend to have from the problem keeps many people from helping out as much they might otherwise. I know in my school many people only donated food during food drives if an extra credit incentive was offered. I think Americans should start trying to help their own as much as they can, and I think we can all improve. I'm definitely guilty of not thinking about the unfortunate situations many people are suffering through since I'm fortunate enough to not have those kinds of worries in my own life. As far as America helping America before other countries, I agree, but I think as a fairly wealthy country we should definitely try to help other countries as much as we can after we tend to our own citizens' needs. Unfortunately, problems like hunger and homelessness continue to persist and I think for them to ever be fully resolved, the entire country needs to make a conscious, philanthropic effort to help those in need. As other bloggers have responded, Merrimack offers many programs to volunteer and help out at local soup kitchens. Being students, this is one way that we can start to get involved and become advocates for those who are suffering.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the government should do more to help out those countries in hunger right now. However, with the economy looking bad, I think that the community should help out those poor people. We should do something, like going to a food pantry, have a canned food collection during the holidays, help out in soup kitchens, and more. Americans should be aware of this and help out somehow.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this is something that really hits home because as she said all we really see in the news or on commercials is the plight of the people in Africa. I have seen first hand what kind of poverty there is in the United States. It is sad that we look to the third world countries first sometimed before we look at ourselves and help us out. I feel that the government doesnt really do enough to make sure that the poor in America are taken care of before we export that aid to other countries.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I'll say awesome article! Hunger is definately one of the major issues out there that has to be addressed. I'll agree that hunger in countries need to be fixed, but the only problem is that only a certain percent of the population actually does help. It is true that the government does provide support by donating food to non-profit organizations, but the food they get can only feed so much people before it runs out. The main issue here is that there is not enough people who will take time from their busy schedule to help with this cause. Often they are too "busy" and get caught up, but if people were to actually help, then Obama's proposal of ending hunger might actually happen.
ReplyDeleteI believe the United States should stop trying to be friendly to every other third world country that is suffering from starvation and start worrying more about our country's own problems. I feel however, that once we solve our own hunger problem, we then can move on to help out other countries. Every day there are commercials with starving children from other countries, there should be commercials with the people who are starving from our country to open up America's eyes.
ReplyDeleteAs horrible as it may sound, I believe that we should pay a little more attention to the hunger problems in America and try to help ourselves before we can help others. If all of our effort goes to feeding other countries, as admirable as it is, we might start neglecting the needs of those in our own country. I agree with Mike Riordan and that once things are settled in our own country, then we can help others in need. In my opinion, we need to help ourselves before we can help others. I think that many people are unaware of the fact that Americans are also starving and in need of help. I think that there should be more advertisements to raise awareness of this growing problem.
ReplyDelete