Solution to Hunger in America
A Solution to Hunger in America
Donta Bellamy
Trident Technical College
We live in a nation where a large percentage of its inhabitants suffer from economic hardship and are left with no other option but to pick and choose between certain necessities over other fundamental needs due to a lack of financial resources. Many of these people are forced into having to choose between taking their life-saving medications and being able to eat for that day, while others simply have no choice at all. These people simply have no other choice but to go hungry despite the copious amounts of food produced in this nation. Some of the primary factors responsible for this heartbreaking predicament stem from a lack of consistent public awareness outside of the quick fix Band-Aid approach during Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday food drives and other short-term feeding campaigns coupled with an inadequate job market for both the unemployed and the underemployed which causes poverty. Insufficient and inconsistent charitable donations to assist those in need are also contributing factors along with the physical and financial barriers which prevent general access to food to a large population of children, the elderly and the disabled. Another high profile reason for this wide spread problem is due to the direct relationship between the increase in the cost of fuel and how it affects the price of food. Hunger is an equal opportunity destructive force which gives no preference to sex, age, race, religion or educational background. Food insecurities in the United States alone affect an outrageous percentage of citizens in the world’s most affluent nation, afflicting millions of Americans on a daily basis. In 2010, about one-third of food-insecure households (6.7 million households, or 5.4
Donta Bellamy
Trident Technical College
We live in a nation where a large percentage of its inhabitants suffer from economic hardship and are left with no other option but to pick and choose between certain necessities over other fundamental needs due to a lack of financial resources. Many of these people are forced into having to choose between taking their life-saving medications and being able to eat for that day, while others simply have no choice at all. These people simply have no other choice but to go hungry despite the copious amounts of food produced in this nation. Some of the primary factors responsible for this heartbreaking predicament stem from a lack of consistent public awareness outside of the quick fix Band-Aid approach during Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday food drives and other short-term feeding campaigns coupled with an inadequate job market for both the unemployed and the underemployed which causes poverty. Insufficient and inconsistent charitable donations to assist those in need are also contributing factors along with the physical and financial barriers which prevent general access to food to a large population of children, the elderly and the disabled. Another high profile reason for this wide spread problem is due to the direct relationship between the increase in the cost of fuel and how it affects the price of food. Hunger is an equal opportunity destructive force which gives no preference to sex, age, race, religion or educational background. Food insecurities in the United States alone affect an outrageous percentage of citizens in the world’s most affluent nation, afflicting millions of Americans on a daily basis. In 2010, about one-third of food-insecure households (6.7 million households, or 5.4
Cited: Harper, M. (2009, July-August). Witnesses to hunger. Afterimage, 3 7(1), 3+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.stacks.tridenttech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA205863237&v=2.1&u=trident_ttc&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w Coleman-Jensen, Alisha, Mark Nord, Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2010." ERR-125, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Econ. Res. Serv. September 2011. http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/err125/