A National Shame

I find it unconscionable that in 2023 America, more than 44 million people cannot afford to buy food for themselves and their families.

Food insecurity, as it is called, has been one of the causes about which most care for decades. My church in California used to have 'food barrel Sunday' collections of non-perishable food once a month. I donated through the government's Combined Federal Campaign every paycheck to the local food bank. I never miss an opportunity to donate food to any food drive of which I become aware. I donate once or twice each year to my state's largest food bank, which provides food to smaller food projects throughout the state. I also donate a couple of times each year to Meals on Wheels, which provides hot meals and companionship to the elderly in their homes.

Yesterday my city's police and fire departments collected food donations at several grocery stores in the city. When I dropped off my bag of groceries, I chatted for a couple of minutes with one of the firefighters. He said the response had been good. As I talked to him, I noticed a woman and her son of roughly 10 years old hand two cans of food to one of the firefighters. 

I buy canned goods such as soup and vegetables throughout the year when they are on sale. I do the same with boxes of cereal and packages of pasta. Then I add some of my stock of non-perishable food to the bag. 

I live in a state that is rather poor, and food insecurity is a real thing for many. One in every seven people faces hunger. One in every five children faces hunger. 

Our schools now provide free breakfast and lunch to every child, with a focus on providing locally produced and nutritious food. During summer months when schools are not in session, some school districts offer sack lunches for students. Others send children home on Friday with enough food to get them through the weekend.

This is what we need -- creative ways of ensuring that our children have enough food to grow and to learn. 

I saw a story on the national news yesterday about a 17-year-old Iowa farm girl whose parents allowed her to take 1/2 acre of their land to grow fresh produce for the local food bank. Fresh produce is always needed by food banks. This young lady crew tomatoes, green beans, peas and lettuce.

The next year she expanded her mini-farm to a full acre and added more than a dozen new crops.  She gave more than 7,000 pounds of fresh produce to nine local food banks. Next year she hopes to expand her farm to 2 acres and donate produce to a dozen groups. Others are getting on the bandwagon by donating seeds for food crops.

This is a wonderful example of what an individual can do to help ease hunger in our nation. We can't all farm a couple of acres of land, but I believe each of us can do something. If we can't donate money, maybe we can pick up an extra can of soup or vegetables when on sale. Maybe we can volunteer at a food bank. 

It continues to sadden me to realize that the United States still has so many people struggling to provide food to their families.

So I ask my readers, during this season of giving thanks and throughout the year, to please remember our less fortunate neighbors and do what you can to help.

Hunger in America

That one in every six people in America -- the richest country on Earth -- struggles with hunger is totally unacceptable. In 2010, 17.2 million households were food insecure, the highest number ever recorded in the United States, according to the World Hunger Education Service. More than 50 MILLION Americans don't have dependable, consistent access to food due to limited financial resources, according to the non-profit organization Feeding America.

In my state of New Mexico, nearly 40,000 people seek food assistance every week. Some 381,690 people in this state struggle with hunger, according to Feeding America. The small food pantry where I volunteer provides groceries for the equivalent of 2 million meals, feeding more than 200,000 individuals, each year. The elderly and children are most at risk of going hungry due to lack of resources. One in five kids lives in a family that struggles to put food on the table. Food-insecure children are 30 percent more likely to be hospitalized and are 1.4 times as likely to repeat a grade, according to Feeding America.

Why is there no public outcry about this? Why are we so complacent about the lack of one of the essentials of life -- food --  to 50 million of our citizens? Why is this situation acceptable? Why are there no protests in the streets? Why is there no congressional investigation into the suffering of millions of our people? Why is it acceptable for our government to spend billions of dollars on aid to other countries, while our own citizens go hungry? Farmers are paid not to grow food, while people suffer from lack of nutritious food. 

People receive food through a patchwork of programs, both government-funded and private. Some school districts send home backpacks of food with needy children each Friday, so the kids will have something to eat over the weekend. Some provide free or low-cost breakfasts, in addition to lunches, during the school year. Many of those who receive food assistance are the working poor, who despite working one or more low-paying jobs, are unable to afford enough food for their families.

I volunteer in the food pantry kitchen every week for 3 hours, working with other volunteers to package food for distribution. Some weeks we sort and package eggs. At other times, we bag donated bread or tortillas, mushrooms or carrots, flour or sugar. The kitchen volunteers are all women in their middle or senior years, and the work can be hard and back-breaking. One volunteer will soon turn 85 years old! But nobody complains. We are doing our small part to help feed the hungry. And we all are passionate about ending hunger in America.

But this is a problem that cannot be solved by the small, private food pantries, or even by the large food banks, which are struggling to meet the increased demand for food as donations dwindle. This problem will be solved only when we start to really care about helping our most vulnerable citizens receive the food they need. 

I take advantage of sales at local grocery stores to buy canned vegetables and soups, or dry pasta and cereal, to donate. I know that groceries are expensive, and I know that I am blessed that I don't have to worry about feeding myself and my daughter. But just think what a difference we could make if 1 million of the people in this country of 330 million bought one extra non-perishable food item and donated it to a local food bank or pantry. That would be 1 million more cans of food!  This might not solve the problem of hunger in America, but it would surely put a dent in it.

A friend, who herself sometimes needs food assistance, recently gathered her friends and family and made 117 homemade burritos with ingredients she bought herself. They then took the burritos, along with bottles of water, and handed them out to homeless people in town. Similar grassroots efforts can be found throughout the country.

In some communities, people are encouraged to plant an extra row in their gardens and donate the food to a local food bank. In other areas, volunteers 'glean' or remove the fruit and vegetables remaining after the harvest. Wouldn't it be wonderful if more people donated the extra fruits and vegetables from their home gardens? More grocery stores and restaurants now are donating food, rather than throwing it into the trash. Every donation helps.

But we need more involvement, more donations of food and money, more on-going food drives, and more volunteers. But what we really need is greater awareness of the problem of hunger in America, more people to speak out against this failure of our society, and a greater commitment on all levels to do something about it.