Hungry In America! Why Are We Letting Our Children Go To Bed Hungry?

That hunger in this country is still an issue, with all of  the money that we spend, make, squander and hoard, should be an embarrassment. That millions of children go to bed hungry every night should be more than embarrassing; it should be criminal. How can it be that before a baby can even say the words, " I am hungry", they have  to experience that gnawing feeling in their little stomachs? The hunger pains. Hunger in America reports that in 2010, 14 million children in this country are hungry. Charities and government food stamp programs continue to try to solve the problem, but every year the statistics rise.

It is always someone else's problem. As long as it does not affect your own children, the thought of food insecurity rarely enters your mind. How many times have I heard people say, "It is the parents' fault!" or "Food stamps cost too much and we can't afford them. Those people are all lazy, anyway." or  "Not my problem." 

To me, the exceptionalism of America is in doubt. If we, as a nation, cannot feed our own children, how exceptional are we?

Every one of us has a food bank within driving distance. Yet, how many of us think about donating food except during the holiday season, beginning with Thanksgiving and ending right after Christmas? If each of us who had a little bit of extra money, could see our way clear to go out, spend $20 a month on extra food and drive it over to our nearest food bank, we might be able to put a dent in the hunger problem that one in six Americans faces every single day. Think a cash donation will go to waste? Don't give cash. Give food. Think the parents of these hungry children are lazy? It doesn't matter. Your opinion, whether justified or not, will NOT feed the children.

When I was a little girl, my family was not wealthy. My father was in the Navy, and gone most of the time. My mom didn't have much money to feed us, but we never went hungry. That woman could take a pound of pasta, add some garlic and olive oil, and feed us three kids what seemed like the best meal we ever had! I remember being about 8 years old and going grocery shopping with her. She would make a few stops, picking up certain things from different stores, always following the sales. We would stop at the second or third store and she would never lock the car, leaving our groceries unguarded and unprotected. One day I said, "Mom, why are you leaving the car doors unlocked?" She looked at me and said, "If someone steals our food, they need it more than we do." That was the day I got a lesson in sharing. My mother told me that if I had a loaf of bread and someone else had none, that I needed to give half of my bread to them. It was my responsibility as a human being to look out for others, to care. That lesson stuck with me, all of these 57 years later.

It is not my responsibility to feed the world, but it is my responsibility to share, without passing judgement. All across the country, food banks are being overrun by hungry families, hungry seniors, hungry people. They run out of food. Many hundreds of food banks across the country have closed their doors.

The U.S. Congress will be debating budgetary issues for the next several months. Part of that debate will most certainly devote itself to cutting of the Food Stamp Program. Cut money for weapons? No! Cut money to wars? No! But cut money to food stamps? Definitely! That is how exceptional we as a country are. We will listen to the never-ending stories of parasites that squander their food stamp budget on steak and lobster, the stories of able-bodied Americans who would rather stay at home than work. The stories will go on endlessly and those stories will justify their votes to end or severely reduce this needed progam. The wealthiest among us will once again pass judgement on those less fortunate. And after they cast their vote, they will leave the halls of Congress and go to their favorite 5 star restaurants, eat their own steak and lobster and never give a damn about what 15 million children are eating for dinner that night. Exceptional!