Mother Nature shows us abundance and yet ‘man’ on the planet go hungry.
The year is 2014, should this be happening? Should there be such a thing as world hunger?
In my humble opinion it seems that we Americans are charged with solving ‘world hunger’ and fail to care for those hungry in America.
click here for the 10 States Where The Most People Go Hungry
Am I an expert on hunger in America? no
Yet while I was a sheriff with the Metro-Dade Police Department I assisted Barry University in a research for Coalition for the Homeless. In efforts to understand the impact it had on the community, vagrancy and crime.
To this day I am still baffled about homelessness in America and have come to understand that for some… it IS a lifestyle choice.
back to hunger… a dilemma.
In America the term used for hunger is: food insecurity (noun) defined as: the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. “more than 800 million people live every day with hunger or food insecurity as their constant companion” .
(like if we change the word the problem would go away?)
I have traveled throughout America and have taken some detours off the main path… and that was when I understood the illusion.
You see, I was raised for the first few years of my life by both sets of grandparents… in the Caribbean island of Dominican Republic – where back in the 1960’s starving kids would greet tourists with hands stretched out, bare-feet and worm-filled bellies sticking out – begging for pennies to bring back home so mom or dad could buy bread, rice – beans… to cook.
I remember years later, my mom and dad traveled back and we lived there for a couple of years; when it was dinner time little kids would knock on our door begging for food, they would say things like: “sir – ma’am, can you spare your scraps?”
Today you can travel to the island and no longer will you see beggars at the airport and very seldom do you see them on the streets.
back to hunger in America. I believe people really don’t want to discuss it.
(here are some statistics)
America is suppose to be the strong country, the one that helps world hunger.
Yet more and more Americans are on food stamps than ever before. (see Article by Washington Post over 47 Million Americans on food stamps) 
… and that is where the APATHY comes from.
I believe that many Americans feel that ‘the gov ern ment’ is already providing a hand out and that the big band aid will cure this ‘situation’.
Others think that because they gave to some charity organization on Thanksgiving that… the problem is solved.
For 5 years I volunteered at Camillus House soup kitchen (Mother Teresa visited Camillus house back in the 1960’s)- anyways, there are soup kitchens all across America.
Does this solve the problem? Between food stamps- (govy helping) and soup kitchens- it is only PART of the solution. One would be inclined to ask: “What else can be done?!”
Is it human nature to take advantage of systems? How to distinguish who needs help?
Could it be that by providing aid -DEPENDENCY is created?
An orange has many seeds, one seed will give one tree that will bare many fruits. Nature seems to tell us that there is abundance. Yet why is there poverty?
Should people be empowered so that they can become self-sustainable?
Should the people on food stamps only be allowed to buy milk and cheese and vegetables?
Should soup kitchens keep a community garden and require people to learn to grow food and provide classes on how to process, cook and store food in exchange for food and/or shelter?
Through observation, I also learned that hungry does not mean homeless; and poor does not mean hungry.
Some of us humans, make some poor choices all out of vanity.
All this and I have not touched on the topic of ‘growing old and being hungry in America’. In Delaware there are senior citizens eating cat food because they can not afford regular food. (news article here)- The sad part is, that as a police woman in Florida I have been witness to seeing that.
and… veterans? I have not even touched that.
This link will say it all as stories depicting “A Face of Hunger in America” -where remarks are not being allowed entry in the Congressional Record regarding hunger in America.
This is not to discourage people to volunteer at soup kitchens or to make donations to food banks – the solution will not come from just one action, nor one program, nor one country. It will take mass effort yet, the solutions is a seed inside each one of us and it will take place when we are ready to evolve in that direction.
Every action taken by each one of us is important. Even to honor how each one of us dispense food in our home is important. So many of us throw food out – without thinking twice about those less fortunate. Or worse yet, allow food to perish in our refrigerators or pantries. (this could be a bigger sin then someone cursing in my opinion)
I believe the solution is multi-faceted. It is so deep that it may involve massive education on money management, household management, food preparation and storage.
I am no less frustrated then when I first started writing this post, as one being on this planet I have participated in soup kitchens, donated to charities, through The Helpful Hands Foundation conducted food drives, helped stock up local food banks… I am no closer to a solution. Deep inside of me I want to believe that I have made a difference… even for one day for one person. Like many others have.
Although humans may be bad at some behaviors, we are good at others, including coming together and finding common solutions that protect all of us. In time surely we can find a way to eliminate world hunger… Mother Nature is bountiful.
Find a food pantry in your state: http://www.foodpantries.org
