13 Million American Children Went To Bed Hungry Tonight

[Jcrowley]

Child hunger in a land of abundance makes us all poor

César Chelala

is an international public health consultant and author of Children's Health in the Americas, a publication of the Pan American Health Organization

While it is normal to expect high levels of hunger and poverty in a developing country, it may come as a surprise to observe a similar epidemic in one of the richest countries in the world. The Food Bank for New York City recently reported that nearly 20 percent of children in the city rely on free food to survive. According to statistics from Bread for the World, 13 million children went to bed hungry in the United States in 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available.

There's a debate about the real extent of U.S. hunger. The direst statistics, like those above, come (it is claimed) from advocacy groups. Others claim that "the poor here aren't really poor." Another claim is that the numbers are inflated or somehow "aren't that big," given the hugeness of the whole country. We are about to crest the 300 million mark in total population, and 13 million doesn't "sound so big" up against that. Divide 13 million by 50 states and you get about 65,000 hungry kids per state. That isn't so much - is it? Still others say that "the numbers are skewed by how bad the big cities are," as if somehow we shouldn't count the situation in, say, New York, when we look at the entire country's children. If you manhandle the numbers, you can make the problem sound smaller.

While I wish to acknowledge the controversy, I'm really not at all persuaded by these cavils. In my travels around the world, I see a lot of poor children. And I would say that, ironically, hungry children in places like the Philippines or India may be less miserable than hungry children in the United States - simply because the horizons of expectation are so much lower for the Filipino or Indian children. If we have even 10 million truly hungry children in the United States, even five million, we have a crisis, and if they are the world's most miserable children - hungry while the computer age whirls about them, denied entry into that age of plenty - we have a treble crisis.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/15592465.htm

[WindRavenX]

1. The Iraq war has cost us 317B and counting

We could've wiped out worldwide hunger with that money :(

[Erika]

2. I contribute to a local school whose kids wrote essays on hunger

saying their stomachs hurt and it was hard for them to think about anything else. That is a child's need for survival talking out.

We raised money for nutritious snacks during the day.

Anyone who says the poor here aren't really poor, are inhumane idiots.

[Benhurst]

3. BushAmerica

And this be our motto: "Root, hog, or die."

The World's Only Superpower

Number One in eveything except common decency.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. I am so thankful my boys have never gone to bed hungry...

I have sometimes, to make sure they didn't, but so many kids still do. :(

[NMMNG]

The Bible has hundreds of verses directing followers to help the poor

But the Religious Right seemingly can only focus on the six they claim prohibit homosexuality. While they spend millions on the fight to get gay marriage banned and rights for gays outlawed millions of children go hungry for want of food.


The Moral Values crowd at work. :sarcasm:

[NMMNG]

5. The Bible has hundreds of verses directing followers to help the poor

But the Religious Right seemingly can only focus on the six they claim prohibit homosexuality. While they spend millions on the fight to get gay marriage banned and rights for gays outlawed millions of children go hungry for want of food.


The Moral Values crowd at work. :sarcasm:

[sandnsea]

6. Getting it right

If 13 million kids went to bed hungry TONIGHT, and not lesser numbers on any given night over the course of a year, then 13 million kids would be going to bed hungry EVERY night and thus starve. So yes, there are children who have been hungry over the course of a year. There aren't children starving in this country however; while there are millions of children dying of starvation around the world. This is an important and distinct difference. Our poverty programs aren't perfect, but they do work.

[gorbal]

7. I have had to bring my friend groceries a couple of times.

Because for some reason they wouldn't giver her food at the food bank. I hear they have been running low in some places, but I didn't know it was that bad.