When you look at hunger in other countries in comparison to the US, our hunger is minimal. Nonetheless, if you are a person experiencing hunger that is little consolation. In our Head Start program it is evident each day that there are children who suffer from hunger. They usually are very hungry in the morning, eating extra food we may have. The same is true at lunch. Some of our aide staff also suffer from hunger because they do not have money to purchase groceries. To compensate, most will buy and serve more carbohydrates because that food stays with a person longer. Too much of this kind of food can cause obesity without exercise.
Families and individuals take advantage of food stamps and an outreach program that we have in the community. This program, FISH, gives food, clothing, and items for the home to needy families. People also go to local food pantries in churches or go visit relatives who will feed them. The only fresh fruit that they get is the fruit that is served during the day. When there are workshops and food is left over, as was the case today, they bring ziplock bags and tupperware containers to take food home to their families. Luckily our Head Start program helps families without a medical home to find one. We also refer families without dental insurance to FAMIS, a dental insurance program for families with young children.
Another issue we have discovered this year as we seek to provide our children and families with nutrition education is the lack of a grocery store in the poorest section of Williamsburg. The only stores available are convenience stores which charge higher fees and contain a great deal of food that is not healthy for them. Many of the residents in this area of town do not have transportation either. The nearest grocery store is 5 miles away. They can take a bus, but the groceries they would be able to carry wouldn't be groceries enough for the week. Depending on the length of the bus ride, they would not want to buy foods that need to be refrigerated or frozen.
I chose to study hunger in India because recently a community group had a Stop Hunger Now campaign. We raised enough money to feed 15,000 people a meal. In other countries around the world a meal costs as little as 25 cents to make. That is amazing considering a happy meal is probably about 5 dollars here in the US.
There is a great deal of hunger in India. Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is working to improve conditions there. The issues that are faced there include diet quality, illness, appropriate health care, and poor sewage. Even before a child is born, women who become pregnant can be malnourished, especially if they are young. When the child is born, the mother is unable to nurse because she does not even have enough nourishment for herself. The health care workers in India are working to educate women about good nutrition during pregnancy and after birth as well. As we discussed earlier, the water quality is not good in this country either which causes a great deal of illness and death.
The government is slow to move in getting education and food necessary for the children to survive. People do not have the energy to pursue making changes because all of their energy is used in finding drinkable water and good food sources. There are also not enough workers to help educate people about good nutrition.
It is unfortunate that any people have to go hungry, especially considering how many restaurants and grocery stores throw away food each day. There are also storehouses of food in the US that could be used to help. Of course, just giving people food does not help the problem overall. The families must learn to grow their own food so that they know it is good. Because of the poor sewage conditions that might not be able to happen.
I know I should not complain about being hungry. I can't even imagine what true hunger is. I can and do try to help by donating to our local food bank, working there when I can, and helping to feed people around the world.
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Menon, P., Raabe, K. & Bhaskar, A. (2009, July) Biological, Programmatic, and Sociopolitical Dimensions
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Hunger is a huge problem all over the world. It is unfortunate especially when we see how much waste there is in the United States. It is nice that your program goes above and beyond to help those in need. I can not imagine going hungry, not knowing where the next meal will come from or even when there will be another meal. Thank you for your personal support and services for those who are less fortunate.
ReplyDeleteFor the past 2 years, Carol, I started working at a Head Start center where they serve children breakfast and lunch (some stay for dinner, when needed). It is so obvious that some children are hungry, as you watch them gobble up the food in front of them, asking for more. I believe your program goes "beyond" what is expected, and I commend them for that. I think we all need to do more of this.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first year that the center gave families turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas; the parent responses were unreal to observe (and I'm basically a visitor, working there about 10 hours a week, so what I see is very limited). However, it was obvious that without the school's help, these families would not have had a turkey (it isn't the turkey, it's the food, obviously).
What bothers me, more than anything, is the waste that is going on in supermarkets and restaurants. I watched a televistion show about wasted food on the Food Network, and Carol, I could not believe how much food was thrown away.
Thank you for helping with this issue; we each need to do our part.
Hi Carol, I miss having you in my discussion group. I wanted to comment on your remarks about saving food. In the Montessori curriculum, learning about ways to conserve resources is a really big deal. When my daughters entered Montessori school, I learned that scraps of food, such as apple cores and bits of sandwiches, from lunch boxes, were never thrown away. Instead the children put food scraps in a special can dedicated solely to containing food scraps. The teacher (Ms Berit) would then take the can home and feed the scraps to the chickens belonging to her community. The eggs laid by the chickens were a natural food source shared by the community. That teacher and I, now are not only colleagues by very good friends. When I asked her about her idea of feeding food scraps to the chickens, she told me that she cannot stand to see food, any food, thrown away, an act of immorality. I think this is, in part, due to her upbringing in Norway during WWII. Along with Germany's occupation of Norway, came severe food shortages. Most families made sure that whatever food they could get ahold of went to their children, and anything left over went to adults. Berit is under the impression that during the war her mother became malnourished. I can only imagine what the impact would be to see your mother loose weight and become malnourished in order to feed the children. If my career path takes me to having my own school, I will have a "chicken bucket" in the classroom. There will also be chickens in the play yard to feed the food scraps to. Then there will be eggs to gather, and as a result, more food to share or sell. Thanks for your post about hunger... so real and relevant.
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