America’s Paradox of Plenty: How the Holidays are Highlighting Hunger, Poverty, and Waste
December 2, 2009 | Ashley Michelle Papon
Empty Fridge, Empty Stomach
Around the holidays, most American homes become the picture of indulging, with buffets of glazed hams, ladles of yams and scoops of mashed potatoes. Yet for scads of Americans, reality conflicts with the gluttony of the holidays. It’s the best-kept secret in America: people are going hungry.
It’s certainly a problem to chew on. Progressive web blog The Final Call estimates that one in four Louisiana children are facing food insecurity, a euphemism for hunger. Governmental doublespeak aside, the finding underscores the report from The New York Times revealing that hunger has reached a 14-year high.
More distressing, additional information reveals that more than two-thirds of families with children have one or more full-time worker, prior to the start of the recession. The endgame is that millions of Americans were already struggling to provide their children with the basic nutrition prior to the economic crash that has defined the last few years.
And the problem isn’t getting any better, largely because the solutions seem so static. Sarah Silverman may have just wanted a few cheap laughs when she suggested selling the Vatican (though the late Mother Teresa allegedly criticized the equally-late Pope John Paul II over the sprawling quarters, chiding him “Think of how many homeless you could fit in here!”) but there’s no denying that a strong solution is necessary for such a entrenched problem.
Well, depending on who you ask. Robert Rector, of the Heritage Foundation, dismissed the significance of American hunger, insisting the numbers were misleading and that “few of these people are hungry.” His stagnation for progress lead to Feminist publication, “bitch,” to hand Rector the Ye Old Douchebag decree.
“Well, thanks for letting me know who’s really hungry and who’s not,” author Sara Stroo sarcastically opined last month. “For a while, I was worried about people trying to live on $133 per person, per month, but now I know I was foolish.”
For the countless Americans going to bed hungry, the denial of a very real problem is no laughing matter, especially in light of recent reports that up to 40 percent of all food produced in America is ultimately wasted. Livescience estimates that around 1,400 calories worth of food is discarded per person each day.
The waste of so much food in light of a growing starvation problem highlights America’s paradox of plenty. The wealthiest nation is also the most obese, a reality that is creating a facade in the fight against hunger. Rector himself characterized the majority of hungry America as poor and overweight, dismissing the idea that the obese needing more food as “silly.”
Used to emaciated, third-world citizens with swollen bellies, the dwindling population occupying the middle and upper echelons of wealth point out that a hunger epidemic would have more obvious victims. Instead, obesity has masqueraded as a problem of plenty. However, there is a glaring error in the logic of naysayers.
Marcia Meyers, a social policy professor at the University of Washington, said most of America’s poor “are not on the verge of literal starvation,” but lack access to high-quality foods. In other words, many of Americans currently without food security are actually lacking access to more nutritious options like fruit and vegetables. It explains why so many underprivileged are hungry and overweight.
Last month, President Obama vowed to end child hunger in the United States by 2015. But the question of how to accomplish such a necessary goal weighs heavily on advocates for sustainable development.
Obviously, many of the most critical solutions are out of the reach of the typical American taxpayer. The doubling of unemployment in the last year, the highest in a quarter-century, has certainly impacted the ability of people to give to the rest of the tired and the poor. And when it comes to hunger, it tends to be in clusters. In other words, a grand rethinking of economic policy, social guidelines, and even housing distribution will ultimately be critical to dismantling the wall permitting poverty and hunger.
Since most college students won’t ultimately grow up to be the policymakers, domestic solutions are just as important. While everyone can feel generous tossing pennies into the Salvation Army tin, very few charity dollars immediately benefit the intended recipients. Students can address both hunger and food waste by donating their unconsumed leftovers to food pantries and homeless shelters. Bringing about an end to food waste has other benefits; wasted food in landfills is one of the greatest contributers to the creation of methane gas.
Going forward into the remainder of the holiday season, Americans would do well to think beyond their plate with every bite they take. Students can be a critical part of change in the fight against hunger. Investigate the Student Life office on campus to find out about organizations that are committed to ending world hunger, or consider joining FeelGoodWorld.org, an organization dedicated to ending hunger “one grilled cheese at a time.”
Inspired by this post at The Huffington Post.
