According to Feeding America‘s 2012 Hunger in America Report, 1 in 6 Americans live in a food insecure household. That equates to roughly 50 million people. And, 1 in 5 children live in a food-insecure home. This is a harsh reality that is finally making it into the limelight via due to Upworthy’s infographic shown below.
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I don’t know about you, but these statistics scare me. But, what frightens me even more is the suggestion towards the end of the infographic that simply donating a few dollars or volunteering your time is going to solve the problem. Pardon my outrage, but food insecurity is a complex wicked issue and there are no simple solutions. Why didn’t the infographic include suggestions such as comprehensive policy change, starting with passing a better Farm Bill, encouraging coordinated advocacy efforts and supporting equitable job creation?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=f4LuipQzXqA
As the film trailer of A Place At the Table highlights, “charity is a great thing, but it’s not the way to end hunger.”
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Thanks for making the connection between social change and policy change. I find, especially with the issue of hunger, that charity is primary focus. And while charity is necessary to help folks out TODAY, if we want to end hunger and food insecurity (which we can!) then we need to do a lot of STRUCTURAL change, and changing public policy is major! Thanks for this post.
Yes, structural change and policy change are so important to ending hunger and food insecurity. For a while I did not understand the full connection, but the more research that I do, the clearer the connection is. So, it’s good to know other people see it as well.