I ♥
food…I love to prepare it, I love to share it, and I especially love to eat
it! And chances are, if you read this
you probably too; because let’s face it, my prose isn’t Faulkner-esque and the
entire idea of a food blog isn’t exactly new.
Like
many of you, I enjoy watching the Food Network.
I enjoy it so much, that I often watch it while I’m at the gym. I find it engaging enough to distract me from
the sluggish countdown timer on the treadmill, but not debilitatingly so;
unlike certain cable news channels whose pundits spout opinionated headlines
faster than Kobe Bryant can sling homophobic slurs.
I don’t know
if it was the Christmas advertisements or holiday baking shows, but for some
reason I was particularly touched by one of the newest spots this season. It was nestled between the
latest-testament-to-consumerism-Lexus-ad and one of the ubiquitous Pillsbury
cookie commercials, and the spot sponsored by the AARP seemed very, very out of
place. In the ad an elderly woman stands
in the express line at the grocery store not out of convenience, but because
that’s all she can afford.
(for the
complete ad see the link below)
The
cynics out there might be thinking “duh, it’s supposed to touch your
emotions…” Normally, I would consider
myself to be one such cynic. But for
whatever reason, the carefully constructed wall of witty sarcasm that surrounds
my emotional core was penetrated by this cunningly conceived cruise missile of
homely grandmotherlyness. For the
remainder of my trek up an imaginary Mt. Kilimanjaro, I couldn’t get the image
out of my head.
My
standard, post-workout websurfing/ veg-out session kept taking me to a number
of websites addressing a starving America.
I was shocked. How could America
be starving when I have to try not to eat?!
As it
would turn out, I was simply living a cocoon of blissful ignorance.
The fact
is that as many as 16.2 million children under the age of 18 live in food
insecure households (meaning they did not have access to a consistent food
supply). This number may not seem like
much in a nation of over 400,000,000 million people, but it is approximately
22% of our nation’s children. For those
who failed middle school math that’s almost 1 of every 4 children. In America 48.8 million people live with
chronic food insecurity, or 12.2%, or more than 1 in 10 Americans. *Statistics
are based off of estimated population of 400m Americans, and can be seen in
full at
And
here’s some good news for my fellow residents of Alabama, we have one of the
highest rates of food insecurity in the nation.
Wilcox County, near the state capitol in Montgomery, actually tips the
national scales with 38% of households living with some degree of chronic
hunger. Yippee we finally managed to
beat our state rival, Mississippi…but not in a good way.
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| Photo courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress Farm Security/ Office of War Information Collection |
This
isn’t a Red State vs. Blue State, urban concentration vs. rural sprawl, or rich
town vs. poor suburb issue. It affects
all of our states. It concerns all of
our communities. In every corner of this
country a sizeable portion of your neighbors are literally starving. After all the best feed state in America,
North Dakota, is just as republican and rural as Alabama.
By now
some of you are probably wondering, “How can the U.S. have both an obesity
epidemic and a problem with food insecurity that statistically affects the same
segments of our society?”
While I
will leave the debate regarding national food policy to New York Times
columnist Mark Bittman, I will say that the general principle is the cheapest
most affordable food isn’t always the best for you. Take Taco Bell for example, I would be hard
pressed to make a healthy, nutritious taco for under $1.00. (I concede that this should be considered common
knowledge, but for the sake of this argument I made the editorial opinion to
include it).
Unfortunately
due to the current economic situation in the U.S., individuals suffering from
hunger at more at risk than in previous decades. And at a time when assistance is needed most,
our politicians and leaders are ignoring the greater problems facing this
nation. Yes, Iran, Egypt, and Syria are
important issues that do affect our national security. Yes, a long-term, mutually agreeable solution
to the debt crisis is in the best interest of every American. But we should never let these complex issues
and concerns over shadow the simple and immediate problems we face on a
day-to-day basis.
If the
353,000,000 Americans not suffering from hunger each donated $2.00 to their
local food bank, we could feed the entire country for a single year; that’s a
whole year with productive students; a whole year with productive members of
society; a whole year, free from the fear of hunger. I find it fitting, if not eerily ironic, that
a WPA poster in my dining room proclaims “America’s Answer! Production.”
So in
the true spirit of America, I say “Damn the politicians and their politics,
full speed ahead!”
 |
| Photo courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress Farm Security/ Office of War Information Collection |
How we
as a nation approach such challenges, defines us a people; and it has been said
that the true measure of a society’s development is how it cares for its least
fortunate members.
I
concede that one could make the argument that many of these individuals are
responsible for their own plight, and we shouldn’t be concerned with their
betterment. But if such thinking impacts
a single child, I personally would prefer to err on the side compassion and
feed the children…even if this means buying a few meals for habitual drug
users.
I admit
that this posting has been rather verbose and pretentiously preachy. It is not my custom, nor is it my desire to
intertwine politics with food (I find that doing so gives me severe
indigestion!). I do thank for you reading
it to its conclusion. If this posting
improves even one person’s awareness of this tragic issue, then it has
accomplished its purpose.
I
promise to return to posting beer reviews, detailing my favorite recipes, and
sharing exotic foods from around the globe in the very near future. And while I hope postings of this nature will
be few and far between, I personally felt that this was worth sharing. After all how can my friends and neighbors
“explore the culinary world” with me if they are starving?
Author’s Note:
After writing this piece, I have decided on
my New Year’s resolution for 2012. I’ll
let the readers figure it out J
