Thread: 20 Facts: Child Hunger & Poverty That Will Break Your He

20 Facts About Child Hunger And Child Poverty That Will Break Your Heart



May 12th, 2011
74 comments
many links on this post

Did you know that nearly half of the 44 million Americans that are on food stamps today are children? Did you know that more than a fifth of all U.S. children are living in poverty and that a fourth of all U.S. children are enrolled in the food stamp program? Did you know that most of the people that starve to death around the globe are children? In 2011, child hunger and child poverty are major problems in the United States and they are at epidemic levels in many areas of the world. The facts that are you are about to read are tough to stomach and they are meant to break your heart. Most of us need to be touched on an emotional level before we will take action. As I have written about previously, the world is on the verge of a horrific global food crisis. Unless a miracle happens, there is not going to be nearly enough food for everyone in the world in the future. We all need to prepare so that we will be able to feed our own families when that time comes and so that we will be able to be generous and share with others in need.

The food stamp program is the modern equivalent of the old-fashioned bread lines. Today, the number of Americans on food stamps is absolutely exploding. Despite claims that the economy is "recovering", the number of Americans relying on food assistance just continues to increase.

Many food retailers have seen food stamp usage soar to unprecedented levels. Just check out the following quote from a recent article posted on the website of a local Pennsylvania news station....

“The trend started about three years ago and it has increased significantly we have some stores up 40% from last year,â€

I agree - the facts are heartbreaking. Yet our government continues to waste money on useless "projects" while ignoring the needs of our most vulnerable citizens. Yet, it's not just children. The number of seniors going hungry is increasing as well.
---------------

JACKSON, Miss. — Addie Mae Payton waits every Thursday for the Meals On Wheels man to bring her lunch.
"It's things like chicken, rice and vegetables that I can heat up in the microwave," says Payton, 85. "You get full off of it, you sure do."

Even with about 5,000 such programs across the country, about one in nine seniors are at risk of hunger because of factors that include poverty and limited mobility, program officials say.

"They're the hidden hungry," says Enid Borden, president and CEO of the Meals On Wheels of America. "It's a national problem with community implications."

The most recent Meals On Wheels study on the issue, conducted in 2009, showed Mississippi had the highest rate of residents 60 to 90 at risk of hunger at 12.3%. South Carolina ranked No. 2 at 9.8%.

The problem has continued to grow since then, Borden says, exacerbated by the nation's economic struggles.

James P. Ziliak, director of the Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky and co-author of the Meals On Wheels study, says the rate of senior hunger has been climbing nationally over the past decade, with as many as 5 million seniors facing hunger.

Although programs that address senior hunger also are on the rise, Ziliak says the growth hasn't been enough to compete with the growing need.

An AARP Public Policy Institute analysis of data released last fall showed that between 2006 and 2008, the percentage of poor and near-poor seniors who were hungry more than doubled, from 4.7% to 10.1%.

"Our programs are the answer, but it's a very large problem," Borden says. "We can do better."

Sandra Narron of the Neighborly Care Network of Pinellas County, Fla., which serves about 1,000 seniors knows that firsthand.

"We still have 200 to 300 people on our waiting list," she says. "We just don't have the funds to do it

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/mind-s ... rvey_n.htm