Article Summary: The New Face Of Hunger In America

For most Americans, the word poverty means insufficient access to to housing, clothing and nutritious food that meet their needs for a healthy life. A consequence of poverty is a low socioeconomic status that leads to being exposed to poor nutrition. Since food and dietary choices are influenced by income, poverty and nutrition go hand in hand. There are many important factors that threaten the nutritional status of poor people. The number one factor is not having enough money to buy food of good quality and quantity. Not having enough money can have a profound impact on the diets of low-income people. Limited financial resources may force low income people to make difficult decisions about what kind and how much food to buy. Limited

After reading the extensive “The New Face of Hunger” (Tracie McMillan), my eyes became more open to the overall issue of hunger, faced by many people today. In a few words, I was absolutely shocked by the true meaning and examples provided of what exactly food insecurity is. Honestly speaking, when I hear the word “hunger” I think of a human who has no food, living on the streets. “The New Face of hunger” brought to my attention that food insecurity is much more than simply having no food. In fact, “In 2006 the U.S. government replaced “hunger” with the term “food insecure” to describe any household where, sometime during the previous year, people didn’t have enough food to eat” (The New Face of Hunger). Not only was I able to see the harsh

Nowadays, hunger is not only linked with food it is also related to the family income level, also, it represents the feeling of starving to the time that it is disturbing or even frustrating. Oxford dictionary define hunger as “A feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat.” Indeed, most people would admit that when someone is starving, they are not performing to their absolute potential. This sense of resentment and anger when one is craving for food is prompted by a decline in the body’s blood- glucose level. In this case if the level declines, the human brain will recognize it as a threatening situation. The leading cause of hunger among

In the chapter Body and Mind, Shipler talks about food. "Food is one of the few flexible parts of a tight budget."(Shipler, 201) Other bills can not be changed, rent, utilities, phone bill can not be negotiated, and the amount is due on the due date, period. Food on the other hand can be nipped to fit what money is left over after the concrete bills are paid. "The result is an array of malnourished children in America."(Shipler, 201) When the children are hungry they can not concentrate at school, develop properly or fight off illness. This pushes these children farther and father away from hope of climbing out of poverty. If they can not concentrate and do well in school, they will perhaps not graduate, not get into college, and not get a good job. If they can not develop and fight off illness, they could be doomed to either a sickly life or a very short one. The parents are unable to get proper medical attention and even if they are able if the nutritional situation doesn't change, the medical treatment is almost pointless because the child can't survive with the constant lack of basic needs. Many children suffer from a condition know as "failure to

Everybody knows the feeling of hunger before his or her next meal. Think of that gnawing, empty feeling in your stomach. That feeling, that discomfort, is nothing compared to what millions are going through everyday in America alone. Imagine always being incredibly hungry. Imagine not knowing where your next meal will come from. Imagine not knowing if you will even get to eat each and every day. Millions of Americans, children and adults alike, suffer from those exact feelings. There are countless starving people in America, and as some of the more fortunate, we need to do something about it.

Hunger… this affects an estimate of 13 million children in America and about 795 million people worldwide. Hunger is a severe crisis that has been continuously growing in many homes throughout our community. Children and families in Laredo are suffering from this epidemic and it is important to spread awareness to end it. Personally, I believe that when you help one person, you are one step closer to changing the world. As a human being, it is our duty to recognize the struggles our community faces and help people from our community surpass these problems. A way I would help with humanitarian efforts in our community is by volunteering and sharing the stories of the people whose lives were affected. Around our city of Laredo, in the county of Webb, we have many people that would go hungry if not identified. Many of these people in our community do not qualify for social services due to the family’s being undocumented. It is the community’s responsibility to educate and find these people who might otherwise go hungry. It is a challenge where our border community needs to help and provide the basic needs for children and families in our area. I would like to work hand in hand with local foodbanks and begin to expand a community garden which would provide vegetables to people in need of food. If the community comes together to motivate our population to be aware of hunger in our community, we would all be better because of the help that we may provide

Here is food for thought: Is hunger affecting your community? Most of us wake up every day, eat breakfast, go through our usual work routine just to come home and eat dinner without a single thought of anything different. Some of us, however, wake up not knowing when or where our next meal will come. Solano County is not excluded in this situation. Behind the cities and landscapes, there is an abundance of people who cannot afford a sufficient meals for themselves. Impoverished families are facing devastating health conditions since their low wages cannot support themselves to live or eat. Even in the small agricultural land of Solano County, hunger is a severe problem that should not be overlooked.

America is often viewed as the country of wealth and excess, especially when it comes to food. Due to high obesity rates throughout the country, oftentimes people from other nations believe that there is no such thing as hunger in America. Sadly, this is just not true. Millions of children and families in America are either hungry or starving, and this isn’t a new development. Hunger has been prevalent in the lives of many Americans throughout history. From the early days of the first pilgrims to the Great Depression, American adults and children have known physical hunger. In the novel Black Boy by Richard Wright, Richard feels this common American hunger, but he also feels deeper hungers that influence him on a greater level. Throughout his

food information into their school curriculum. Jamie Oliver declares (2015) “My wish is to create a strong sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.” He hopes that every child should learn to grow and cook fresh nutritious foods at school in order to fight childhood obesity. Oliver would like to see school throughout the US add nutritional foods and its values to every school’s curriculum. There are other celebrities that are doing what they can to combat childhood hunger. Jeff Bridges founded his End the Hunger Network which is a foundation to combat hunger. Mr. George Clooney, has found his foundation called Realizing the Dream which help combat hunger in America. The JBJ Soul Foundation founded by Jon Bon Jovi exists to help combat childhood hunger in America. Numerous other actors are using their name to help combat childhood hunger locally, nationally, and universally. Borognone states (2011) celebrities such as Jeff Gordon, Jessica Alba, Christina Aguilera and Bruce Springsteen are helping combat childhood hunger in America. These and other actors whom are too many to mention have an evident passion for helping

Food insecurity, or the lack of access to enough food for all members of a household, is something that exists in every part of America. In fact, some 49 million Americans struggle to provide regular meals for their families. This isn't due to lack of food available as it might be in more improvised countries. No, in the land of plenty, it is instead due to a prevalence of poverty, resulting in the inability for many families to afford to purchase the available food. One Virginia church witnessed this need in their community and decided to do something about the problem.

For the nearly 13 million kids in the U.S. facing hunger, getting the energy they need to learn and grow can be a dayin, dayout challenge.Kids who don’t get enough to eat — especially during their first three years — begin life at a serious disadvantage. When they’re hungry, children are more

USDA (2014) study estimated that 48.1 million people, including 32.8 million adults and 15.3 million children in the United States lived in households that struggle to afford an adequate diet. The health of individuals affected by food insecurity can become compromised as some rely on less expensive and less healthy food which results in the development of chronic illness including mental illness (Seligman, Laraia, & Kushel, 2009), (Leung, Epel, Willett, Rimm, & Laraia, 2014).

Most people are fortunate enough to have three, healthful meals every day. Although, this is not typical for everyone in America. 1 in 6 people in America battle hunger every day. A majority of these people have children to care for. Children who struggle with hunger are more likely to have academic or behavioral problems. Typically, parents with children often encounter some form of unemployment at some point. Sadly, because of these exasperating issues up to 5,000 people starve to death each year.

Many low-income families face many struggles to feed themselves. The reason for this is that they don’t have a good enough income to have nutritious food in their cabinet. Low-income families mean a low amount of nutritious food. Even with the government food assistance program, the government gives the low-income individuals as low as $3 per day (A Place at the Table). This is still not enough money to buy healthy food. How can they afford healthy food when one pound of fresh apples is $1.57 and one pound of fresh broccolis (with florets) is $2.57 (Fruit and Vegetable Prices). This is unreasonable; fresh fruit and vegetables cost more than what the government assists. What’s more, with low-income and a family to feed, many poor families relied

Poverty can result in a lack of proper nutrition and balanced diet. According to this study, nearly 12.6 million households in the United States lack money for food expenses. Within that, almost 4.6 million households have one or more family members that are living with no food. Young boys, girls, and adults that live in these households lacking enough food expenses tend to also lack in vital nutrients and vitamins. Often, parents of these kids will be busy working to provide for their family and won’t have time to make healthy home cooked meals. Food is the last thing on their mind. Considering there is less adult supervision, eating habits are not monitored, as a result they choose fast food which is easy and cheap(How Does Poverty Affect Education?). These foods are filled with higher fat contents and carbohydrates rather than rich fruits, vegetables, and protein. Due to the lack of ingestion of various food groups and increase of unhealthy diets, many health concerns arise. Obesity, heart disease, and diabetes are all prominent concerns for diets like