Today is Hunger Awareness Day

If you are one of those people who rely on the mass media to know what is going on around you, then you may not know that today is Hunger Awareness Day. If you did not know, well, now you know. I just read a USDA estimate that 96 billion pounds of food are wasted each year in the United States. This occurs in the midst of an estimated 35.1 million Americans that are food insecure; meaning their access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources.

For many people it is hard to conceive of the fact that hunger is a problem in the United States given the so called opportunities that exist. This image of plenty is perpetuated by media outlets which often frame hunger and poverty as problems that are only characteristic of Africa and other countries out there. To the extent that people have bought into this fiction, I have on many occasions heard friends say, "oh do not throw that food away, there are kids starving in Africa." True, there are kids out there. But, there are also kids starving in this very country. Hunger, poverty, and homelessness are alive in this island of hope that is the United States.

So next time you think of throwing things away or wasting food, think, not just of the kids in Africa, but of the silent millions who go hungry everyday in this country. Charity begins at home and so does change. It is only when we can begin to conceptualize hunger and poverty as a universal problem stemming from the unjust distribution of the world's resources that we will appreciate that, indeed, change must start here. It is no good trying to fight a war abroad when the house in which we live is on fire. And yes, I said it, America needs help too.