HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED FOOD INSECURITY OR BEEN HUNGRY AT WSU?

We believe no one should go to bed hungry – not here in the US, not overseas, not anywhere.

It’s no secret that hunger is a big problem worldwide, yet we know surprisingly little about the extent of hunger not only in the US, but right here in our own community. We want to change that. We are the Health Communication Seminar at WSU.

If you want to find out more about what we’re doing, and hopefully join us, read the other pages: about us, who the other collaborators are, what events we’re hosting, and how you can find support if you are food insecure right now, or if you want to know what’s on our mind right now, just keep reading…

WSU HAI Overview

(originally published on http://www.k-state.edu/kscc/worldhunger/blogs/11-27-12.pdf)

Wichita State University Hunger Awareness
By Michelle Dreiling

The WSU Hunger Awareness Initiative began when a small group of WSU students
traveled to El Dorado, Kansas, during the final weekend of 2009 to pack food for hungry school children in Haiti. Shortly after the devastating earthquake hit Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, that food became some of the first to feed Haitians affected by the disaster. The WSU Hunger Awareness Initiative is led by Dr. Deborah Ballard-Reisch, Kansas Health Foundation Distinguished Chair in Strategic Communication, Professor, Elliott School of Communication (ESC). WSU again responded during Super Bowl weekend 2010. More than 3,000 volunteers packaged close to 641,000 meals that were distributed in Haiti within a week. After participation in the first Kansas Hunger Dialogue in 2011, we expanded our focus to include an emphasis on campus hunger.

It quickly became clear that university communities are under-researched in this area.
Most hunger research, such as the USDA (2006) report on “Food insecurity and hunger in the U.S.”, relies heavily on census data, which does not capture university communities well. The need to research the WSU community became apparent immediately.

The mission of the WSU Hunger Awareness Initiative is twofold:
- to raise awareness of hunger
- to investigate the nature and scope of hunger at WSU
Since its inception, the theoretical foundation of the WSU Hunger Awareness Initiative
has been grounded in engaged scholarship, which Van de Ven & Johnson define as “… a
collaborative form of inquiry in which academics and practitioners leverage their different
perspectives and competence in co-producing knowledge about complex problems” (2006, p. 803). The research methodology framework was community- based participatory research, in which research is grounded in the community (Minkler & Wallerstein, 2008) and emphasizes inquiry that translates into “sustainable community-based action” (Israel et al., 2005). The intent of the WSU Hunger Awareness Initiative is to create a strategy for achieving the mission statement using the theoretical framework and methodology above; to do so within a limited budget; and in so doing to create a model program that could be replicated by college communities across the nation and even internationally. The program that emerged has been structured into a Four Pillar Model including: Collaborators, Media, Events, and Academic Research.

Collaborators
Internal and external collaborators included the upper administration of WSU and the
Elliott School of Communication, Numana Inc, Sodexo, the Global Learning Center, Multicultural Association, Student Government Association, and WSU Housing. These collaborators provided crucial infrastructure, made the many WSU Hunger events possible, and facilitated access to communication channels to raise awareness and conduct research.

Media
Social media is a critical component of this initiative:
Facebook builds relationships and increases awareness through existing networks.
https://www.facebook.com/WSUHungerAwareness
Twitter provides instantaneous updates and increased awareness of events.
@WSUHunger #WSUHunger
The initiative’s website provides depth of content and cohesion to the initiative.
wsuhunger.wordpress.com.
Traditional media exposure was also sought, with help from WSU University Relations.
Exposure included The Sunflower, coverage on KAKE TV (Channel 10) and KMUW Radio (FM 89.1), and a Web article by KFDI (FM 101.3).

Events
Special events provide opportunities to build awareness, conduct research, and attract media attention simultaneously.
● Food Drives: Students in WSU Comm 111 sections competed against one another and
in two days in 2011 collected 571 lbs of food for the Kansas Food Bank. In 2012, the
entire WSU campus collected 4,118 pounds of food.
● Numana Lunch: Students in the ESC were treated to 1 cup of Numana food, which is
what an adult in Haiti might eat in a day
● Comm Week Presentations: During 2011 and 2012’s Comm Week events, Dr. Ballard-
Reisch and students presented the initiative to interested ESC students.
● Dinner & Conversations: In these three events, the WSU community was invited to share in a meal provided by Sodexo, and engage in group discussion of their experiences with hunger.
● Hunger Survey: A quantitative survey has been designed, piloted, and released to the
WSU community in an effort to quantify hunger and food insecurity on campus. So far,
the team has over 1,000 responses.

Academic Research
The research performed by the WSU Hunger Awareness Initiative not only informs the
WSU community about the nature and scope of hunger on campus, but also provides students with opportunities to apply research and theory learned in class, as well as for students and faculty to develop their professional portfolios. The research performed through the 2011-2012 academic year has been presented locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.

The WSU Hunger Awareness Initiative team members plan to continue utilizing this Four Pillar Model in our efforts to alleviate and raise awareness of hunger in our community, and we also plan to continue sharing this model with other colleges and universities, so that they can fight hunger in their communities as well. For more information, visit wsuhunger.wordpress.com.

Hunger is a public health problem!

by Pamela O’Neal, M.A., Deborah Ballard-Reisch, Ph.D.

     Hunger is a public health problem, perhaps the most significant public health problem facing the world today. In 2000, the 193 counties in the United Nations and 23 international organizations identified eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 as their top goal. This goal was reaffirmed at the 2010 Summit assessing progress toward these goals¹. In spite of this stated worldwide commitment, hunger is a problem that is easily ignored, especially here in the U.S.

Is hunger so easy to ignore because it is so prevalent?

 In the United States:

• 1 in 6, nearly 49 million people, struggle with hunger
• 17 million families face hunger
• In 2010, 59.2% (10,064,000) of food-insecure households participated in at least 1 of the 3 major Federal food assistance programs: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP – formerly Food Stamp Program), The National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
• Feeding America provides food to 37 million people each year—up 46% since 2006
• Feeding America’s food banks feed 1 million more people each week than they did in 2006².

Is hunger easy to ignore because, except in parts of the developing world, few people die of hunger? Or is hunger easy to ignore because, aside from discomfort, we’re unaware of the consequences of hunger?

     The longer people are hungry, the more likely they are to experience negative physical, mental, and health consequences³.

     Pregnant women, who don’t get proper nutrition risk premature delivery, have low birth weight babies, and their babies are at risk for compromised physical development such as blindness, stunting and in severe cases, death^4.

• Children who don’t get enough to eat suffer from malnutrition, impaired cognitive development, low bone density (which makes bones more susceptible to breaking and hinders growth), weakened immune systems², poor concentration at school⁴, and brain damage⁵.
• People of all ages who are regularly hunger, or eat poor quality food, have a greater chance of developing, diabetes, hypertension⁶ and are more likely to have higher levels of anxiety and aggression than those who are not hungry⁷.
• Families who suffer from hunger, or do not have access to quality food, eat available, less healthy food, which causes excessive weight gain or obesity⁸.

     According to the World Health Organization,³ hunger or low quality nutrition lead to “reduced immunity, increased susceptibility to disease, impaired physical and mental development, and reduced productivity”.

Is hunger so easy to ignore because it’s not viewed as a public health problem?

     Public health is about preventing disease and promoting health in individuals, groups, communities, and countries (The American Public Health Association, 2012)⁹. Hunger would seem to fit. People who eat well are healthier.

     However, hunger is caused by a wide variety of personal and cultural dynamics that impact this view. An individual or a family may face large, unplanned expenses, like medical bills, or major repairs to a car or a house, a key breadwinner may lose her job, become disabled, or have his work hours or pay reduced⁵. Additionally, cultural dynamics also cause hunger: food deserts, or areas with little or no access to nutritious foods, unemployment and underemployment experienced by many Americans as our nation struggles to recover economically, the widespread, and the on-going drought facing the major crop growing regions in the U.S. which will cause food prices to rise this fall and winter.

     In this context, hunger becomes a bigger issue for a broader spectrum of Americans, impacting health and well-being not only of the homeless and the poor, but increasingly more often, working class and middle class families as well. These dynamics negatively impact the health of individuals and families. If they don’t have access to quality food, if they can’t afford quality food, they cannot eat well⁸. If they cannot eat well, they cannot stay healthy.

     The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have started to recognize hunger as a public health problem¹⁰. In 2010 they featured Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week on their website. Although the website highlighted the effects of hunger among the homeless population and gave links to information about homelessness in the U.S., it did nothing to address the problem of hunger for working people or families.

     In 2011, Feeding America released a number of Public Service Announcements starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Taye Diggs, and others that point out how hunger affects families across America, not just people who are homeless, poor, or unemployed*.

     These efforts are steps in the right direction. Hunger, as a public health problem, is increasingly hard to ignore. Because it impacts the productivity and physical and mental health of so many Americans, the impacts of hunger on the nation as a whole are significant. In order to promote the health of the nation, individuals must be healthy. In order for individuals to be healthy, they must have access to quality, nutritious food. Recognizing hunger as a public health problem is critical to promoting awareness and assuring access to quality, nutritious food for all Americans. 

References:

1. The Millennium Development Goals Eight Goals for 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2012 http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview/

2. Feeding America (2012). Physical and Mental Health. Retrieved June 19, 2012 from: http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/impact-of-hunger/physical-and-mental-health.aspx.

3. United States Department of Agriculture. (2006). Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Retrieved June 10. 2012 http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11578.html.

4. World Health Organization. (2012). Health topics. Nutrition. Retrieved June 10, 2012. From: http://www.who.int/topics/nutrition/en/

5. American Psychological Association. (2012). Effects of Poverty, Hunger, and Homelessness on Children and Youth. Retrieved June 24, 2012 from http://www.apa.org/pi/families/poverty.aspx

6. Seligman, H., Laraia,B, & Kushel, M (2009). Food Insecurity Is Associated with Chronic Disease among Low-Income NHANES Participants. Journal of Nutrition, 140, 304-310.

7. Slack, K & Yoo, F (2005) Food hardship and child behavior problems among low-income children. Social Service Review. 75, 511–536.

8. United States Department of Agriculture. (2009). Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences. Retrieved June 24, 2012 from http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/AP/AP036/AP036.pdf.

9. 4. American Public Health Association. (2012). Get the Facts. What Is Public Health? Retrieved June 10, 2012 from: http://www.apha.org/NR/rdonlyres/C57478B8-8682-4347-8DDF A1E24E82B919/0/what_is_PH_May1_Final.pdf

10. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Retrieved June 10, 2012 from http://www.cdc.gov/Features/Homelessness/

*Commercials can be viewed at http://feedingamerica.org/sitefiles/psa/src/videos.html.

Cranky In Paradise

By Jessica Freeman, Ph.D.

           As the wind gently caressed my hair, I walked among a grove of swaying palm trees, returning to my hotel room from a day of sun and ocean.           

           Along with my husband Joe, I had spent the last five days in paradise—sailing, swimming and sunning before the beginning of a new school year.

         

            It would have been the perfect day to conclude our vacation to Cozumel, Mexico, if not for the overwhelming grumbling of our stomachs, which groaned loudly over the sounds of ocean and tropical music.

            Walking through this serene place, we were hungry. Seriously hungry. Like, the kind of hungry that makes you count down to the end of your tropical vacation, as opposed to savoring every moment. It was a vacation that will live in infamy, but it also gave us a new perspective about hunger.

            We had made the mistake of booking our vacation through an online agency we hadn’t worked through before. The agency had advertised low rates, and we decided to take a gamble on a hotel with lackluster reviews.

            It was a gamble we lost.

            Though some of the amenities were alright—the room was clean, the grounds were picturesque—a list of other issues cast a shadow from the start. The greatest among them—the food.

            This was something we noticed from our first meal at the resort, and as the days passed, it got increasingly worse.  Upon arrival, Joe and I were famished, so we made our way to the hotel lunch buffet. We piled our plates with food, excited to finally eat after a long morning of traveling. But, as we sampled each of the cuisines, our disappointment mounted.

            The food was just bad. I had a burger that tasted like a rubber tire. The salad, like most of the food, was room temperature and made us nervous about the possibility of food poisoning. We soon figured out the only palatable (and possibly safe) items were dinner rolls.

            Far from the main part of town, we were 30 minutes and a $40 round-trip cab ride from any alternative. Simply put, we were stuck.

            But, we were in paradise, right? How hard could it be to enjoy the beauty of a tropical island, even with grumbly tummies?

            For us, at least, it became a challenge.

            It started with empty stomachs but soon turned into a black cloud that hovered over our vacation.

            First came fatigue, which loomed throughout. Without an adequate meal, we couldn’t seem to get a decent night’s rest and muster the strength to enjoy the setting.

            The fatigue led to crankiness. On what should have been a relaxing, romantic vacation, Joe and I couldn’t seem to quit quipping at one another. We argued over small things. We argued over dumb things. We were hungry, and we were tired.

            One night, my tummy grumbling after another disappointing dinner, I lay in my hammock thinking. I felt disenchantment at our vacation. But even more so, I felt selfish. This was a 5-day trip. It required no actual labor on my part. All I had to do was endure some crappy food and lay around.

            What about the 925 million people who dealt with hunger on a regular basis? As I’d learned in the last few months of working with the WSU Hunger Awareness Initiative, 1 in 7 people in the world go to bed hungry. Many of them have to hold down actual jobs, raise families and tend to other responsibilities as they face this issue.

            I thought of how hard it must be to find the strength to work when day in, day out, your stomach groans. I wondered how it must feel to look in the face of your child and know you couldn’t provide them a nutritious meal. I wondered how marriages and families survived this heavy weight.

            Still, I won’t lie: When I laid eyes on a Qdoba Mexican restaurant in the Atlanta airport on the way home, I was ecstatic. Finally, I devoured the burrito I’d been craving my entire trip—a beany, cheesy piece of heaven. It was a burrito I will always remember after a trip I would like to forget.

            But it was a learning experience, and the closest this privileged girl has ever gotten to hunger. It made me realize that for many, Qdoba is not waiting at the end of the day. It is up to people like me—and hopefully you— to help solve this problem and provide hope to those who daily go without. 

 

No One Should Be Hungry

by Shae Blevins M.A.

I was a broke college student, but I was not a hungry college student.

I remember eating Ramen noodles, premixed rice packets and canned meat because they were easy to prepare and affordable for my meager budget, but I cannot recall an instance in which I did not eat, in which I did not have money to buy food, in which I was unable to feed myself.

Unfortunately, that is not the case for every college student. Unfortunately, that is not the case for members of faculty and staff on university campuses. Unfortunately, that is not the case for every individual.

And it should be.

I wrote a graduate proposal to Wichita State University to address the issues of very low food security and hunger in students, faculty and staff existing on and off campus. I wrote the proposal because I believe that no person –broke college student or not –should be hungry, and I believe that WSU can do more for its students, faculty and staff and for its community when it comes to very low food security and hunger.

Because WSU is an urban-serving research university and because of its location within a major urban area, the university has the opportunity to develop and initiate the following tactics also outlined in my proposal.

First, I believe WSU should create and maintain food security and hunger information on campus and through various university resources.

In the six years I spent working on my degrees at WSU, I did not encounter information about food security, nutrition or hunger through any channel available to me. When I began the research for my graduate proposal, I could not find a resource dedicated to the issues. WSU needs to create and maintain a resource on campus and through university channels, such as through the myWSU portal, that address food security and hunger using the definitions provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. When information is made available, education about the issues can begin.

Second, I believe WSU should create and maintain off-campus transportation to local food assistance sources, such as to the Lord’s Diner in Wichita.

The university is on the Wichita Transit’s bussing routes, but the university’s chaotic hours of operation do not lend to the bussing schedule. In addition, students, faculty and staff struggling to budget money for food will have a difficult time purchasing bus passes. WSU needs to work with the City of Wichita and the Wichita Transit to provide discounted bus tickets to students, faculty and staff and to create new bus routes to account for the university’s class and work schedules.

The university also contracts with Designated Drivers LLC, a program to take intoxicated individuals and their cars to their houses so they do not have to drive. While the program works well for the evening and early morning hours, the morning and afternoon hours are completely wasted. WSU needs to work with the contractor to provide a taxi service for students, faculty and staff needing to get to outside food assistance sources.

Finally, I believe WSU should create and maintain additional on-campus food sources, such as Campus Kitchens Project chapter, campus gardens and a food bank, and nutritious and allergy-conscious food and drink products in campus vending machines.

The Campus Kitchens Project is a hunger-relief program aimed at feeding those in the local community that suffer from very low food security and hunger. WSU needs to work with the CKP to develop the program on campus. However, this type of program takes funding and support from the administration and commitment on the part of students, faculty and staff dedicated to its success. Initially, I believe a successful chapter would be able to create meals for hungry college students, faculty and staff. Eventually, the university can provide food for the community.

Campus gardens and food banks will benefit the CKP chapter at WSU as well as students, faculty and staff suffering from very low food security and hunger. One campus garden exists on campus, but it is not well-monitored and many plants are not given the time and patience they need to develop nutritional produce. WSU needs to revamp its efforts with its current garden and create more gardens across campus. In addition, WSU needs to create and maintain a campus food bank program where all students, faculty and staff can participate in donations to those in need. If the campus food bank produces too much food –a beautiful problem –then extra donations can be made to the Kansas Food Bank.

Campus vending machines are filled with sugary soft drinks and refined-flour-filled snacks. Students, faculty and staff with gluten, lactose and nut allergies are often out of luck when approaching a vending machine on campus. WSU needs to stock nutritious and allergy-conscious food and drink products in its vending machines as well as post nutritional information on the vending machine for each product.

Space here is limited. My graduate proposal goes into greater detail as to how the university can accomplish these initiatives, and I hope the administration reads my proposal, considers it and makes steps toward initiating it.

No one should be hungry.

A state university, especially a state university in the middle of a major urban area, should be able to make real change when it comes to very low food security and hunger in its community and on its own campus.

 

People in Kansas aren’t hungry! Are they?

by Pamela O’Neal, M.A.

All images courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (12)

When we Kansans think about hunger, the picture of starving people in other countries comes to mind. After all, we live in the breadbasket of the United States. We have acres and acres of fertile crop and cattle grazing land. In 2010, there were 6,000,000 head of cattle in Kansas (1) that produce 2.4 billion pounds of milk each year (2) and 5.4 billion pounds of red meat (3). In 2010, 8,000,000 acres of crops, including 360,000,000 bushels of wheat were harvested in Kansas (4). In 2010, 2,853,118 people lived in Kansas (5). So, there are over twice as many cows and well over three times as many acres harvested as there are people in the state. People in Kansas aren’t hungry. Are they?

In their 2006 report, the USDA advanced that food insecurity, “Exists whenever the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or the ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways is limited or uncertain” (6). The Feeding America website, FeedingAmerica.org contains an interactive map of the United States, Map the Meal Gap, that allows users to click on a state and obtain up-to-date hunger statistics all the way to the county level.

To give some perspective, in 2010, 48.4 million people (14.5 %) in the United States experienced hunger or food insecurity. In Kansas, 428,490 people (15%) were hungry at some point in 2010 up from 14.3% in 2009. In Sedgwick County, the numbers are worse; in 2010 77,210 (15.9%) experienced food insecurity. Wyandotte County in the northeast corner of Kansas had the highest rate of food insecurity in 2010 at 31,610 (20.3%). An interesting scenario develops when we view the state of Kansas in terms of food insecurity. All of the counties, except one, with the highest rates of food insecurity are in the eastern half of the state while most of the beef and milk production is centered in the western half of the state. The western half of Kansas also hosts the counties with the lowest food insecurity rates. In Stanton County, in the southwest corner of the state, only 180 people were food insecure in 2010 (8.1%). Lower food insecurity rates in western Kansas may be due in part to the sparse, rural population, the number of feedlots and grain produced in the area.

Hunger is a solvable problem, but it requires diverse strategies. Healthy food needs to be accessible and available to everyone. Below are some programs that address hunger and food insecurity. The Kansas Food Bank distributes nearly eight million pounds of food each year and is located at 1919 East Douglas in Wichita (7). Harvesters is a food bank located in the northeast corner of the state that serves 26 counties in eastern Kansas and western Missouri (8). The city of El Dorado has donated 2.4 acres of land, coordinated by Numana, Inc., to build a community garden where local citizens help plant and harvest fresh fruits and vegetables (9). The Summer Food Service Program, created by the United States Department of Agriculture provides two nutritious meals a day to school age children during the summer (10).

General Mills products offer customers the ability to enter product codes at OutNumberHunger.com. Entering each product code leads to a $0.65 donation to the local food bank. Still hunger in Kansas continues and in the current economic situation appears to be getting worse.

There is no place for hunger in the world. There is no place for hunger in the United States. And there is certainly no place for hunger in Kansas. It is obvious that the food is available. We need to look no further than our state. We produce more than enough food to feed everyone in our state. The Kansas Historical Society boasts, (11) “Today Kansas is a leader in wheat, grain sorghum, and beef production, feeding people around the world”. With resources such as these, there is no reason for any Kansan to be hungry.

References:

1. United States Department of Agriculture (2010). Kansas Fact Sheet. Retrieved June 17, 2012 from http://www.ers.usda.gov/StateFacts/KS.htm

2. Kansas Department of Agriculture (2011). Kansas Dairy Industry Prepares for Emergencies. Retrieved June 17, 2012 from http://www.ksda.gov/news/id/377

3.Kansas Beef Council (2012). Kansas Beef Facts and Economic Impact. Retrieved June 17, 2012 from http://kansasbeef.org/CMImages/Kansas/Kansas%20Beef%20Facts%206-2012.pdf

4. United States Department of Agriculture. (2011). Kansas Agriculture Statistics. Kansas Wheat History. http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Kansas/Publications/Crops/whthist.pdf

5. United States Census Bureau. (2010). Kansas 2010 Census Results. Retrieved June 17, 2012 from http://2010.census.gov/news/pdf/cb11cn63_ks_totalpop_2010map.pdf

6. United States Department of Agriculture. (2006). Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States: An Assessment of the Measure. Retrieved June 22, 2012 from

7. Kansas Food Bank. (2012). Welcome to your Kansas Food Bank. Retrieved June 17, 2012 from http://www.kansasfoodbank.org/

8. Harvesters. (2012). Hunger Knows No Season. Retrieved June 17, 2012 from http://www.harvesters.org

9. City of El Dorado. (2012). Numana Gardens. Retrieved June 17, 2012 from http://www.360eldorado.com/CivicOrganizations/numanagardens.html

10. United States Department of Agriculture (2012). Summer Food Service Program. Retrieved June 17, 2012 from http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/summer/

11. Kansas Historical Society (2012). Agriculture in Kansas. Retrieved June 08, 2012 from http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/agriculture-in-kansas/14188

12. All images courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from http://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/sets/72157622194433159/with/3903033365/

The Price of Silence

by Jack Brand

In the past academic year, the Wichita State University Hunger Awareness team has been researching the nature and scope of hunger among the WSU community.  Two of our foundation questions are; “Have you ever been hungry?” and “Do you know anyone who has been hungry?”.  After reading my teammate, Darnell’s recent blog (see immediately below), I am reminded of how important these questions really are.

They are important for two reasons.  The first pertains to our ability to protect ourselves from food insecurity.  The second pertains to our ability to help those around us, or even to perceive that they need help.

I can definitely say that I know people who were hungry. My grandparents and great grandparents faced the great depression. I was raised on their stories, and I grew up with a keen appreciation of how bad things CAN get as well as receiving practical advice for how to cope with bad times.  For example, my grandmother told me that if I was ever really broke, to work in restaurants where they would feed you.  This advice stood me in good stead both when I was without a home myself, and when I had to help a friend who couldn’t afford a place to live.

More importantly, I wasn’t floored by the situation I found myself in.  I knew that I could adapt, because as my grandmother put it, I came from a family of survivors. My grandmother’s legacy included confidence that I could reverse my situation, skills to do so, and more importantly the understanding that this is something that can happen to people.  Instead of being overwhelmed by shame or fear, I addressed the situation I found myself in.

Returning to the two questions we ask when researching hunger, what if a person found themselves in a food insecure situation but didn’t have that legacy to fall back on? This is a too common situation when food insecurity carries a stigma.  Hunger becomes a silencing issue.  When that happens not only do people not ask for help, but adapting to the situation they find themselves in becomes a traumatic experience as they not only struggle to find their way by trial and error but struggle with feelings of shame and isolation. This has proven all too common in our research.

During the great depression, hunger was not a taboo topic – it was simply a reality.

Those two questions of whether someone has been hungry or knows someone who has been hungry are vital.  When we don’t have an understanding of food insecurity learned either firsthand or through the experience of family or friends, we are much more vulnerable. In allowing hunger to become a taboo topic, I believe we have lost a lot of our power to combat it.

That’s why I became involved in the WSU Hunger Awareness Initiative.  I believe knowledge is power.  If you have first or secondhand experience with food hunger, you can empower us to fight it. Will you share your story?

A Starving Society

by Darnell Lee

            According to the World Food Program, “there are 925 million undernourished people in the world today.” That means one in seven people do not get enough food to be healthy, and lead an active life. Hunger and malnutrition are in truth the number one risk to the health worldwide; greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. As a society we Americans sometimes take for granted the opportunities and blessings life has offered. We struggle day to day, working night and day, to sustain a living that is convenient and comfortable; but yet we don’t really struggle at all. Now I don’t know all the facts about Hunger around the world or anything, but I do know there some starving people in the World. Who not only need the nourishment of food, but of faith and abundance also!

            When my Grandmother was living, we would go visit her in Louisiana. Talk about a person that loved cooking, she adored the craft and was blessed in the kitchen. Our favorite desserts would be prepared ahead of time; “Coconut Cake for my dad, Caramel Cake for me, Tea cake cookies and her fried chicken. She’d swear that her chicken was nothing but the grace of God. And it smelled and tasted so heavenly! You could literally smell the aroma as you traveled up the road to the driveway. And you better be early because everyone was coming; even the neighbors who always claimed to be cousins, but never proved that identity. Although they were not family, they were welcome at all times. As you came through the door she would say, “Sit down!” That usually meant two things, come learn something and get ready to eat; between her and my mother I turned out to be a pretty good cook. There was never a time in her house food was not on the table, never a time when we did not know where our next meal was coming from, never a time when the fridge looked bare. Although this is a fond memory from my past, some recollections have a gloomier story to tell to them.

It is amazing what a mother will do for her children. Even if it means starving herself so that her kids do not go hungry; or walking blocks and blocks only to make it to the free food pantry and find that it is closed. Existing in this world has its good and bad aspects; that was a lesson learned early on in my life as a child. I can recall times having little of nothing to eat. That pack of roman noodles or a mustard sandwich would be an imaginative steak dinner for the moment, until about the third bite; then reality would set in. Nights going to sleep with a churning stomach and a hunger headache, created a feeling of insomnia. While this may be a more empathic recap and a really different story than the prior story over my Grandmother’s chicken excitement, it is also reality; a minuet portion of this reality!

Sometimes we lose focus of the world we live in. I mean we all live in one world, creating different lives; only to remain stagnant in our own personal environment. Overlooking or simply negating this growing crisis solves nothing and we all should be acknowledged. Experience shapes our reality, as well as our personhood. Some people are blessed to have never been hit by the affects of hunger. While others struggle daily, unsure of what is to come next in their lives. Ignoring the problem only negates people’s experiences, basically corrupting their reality. I challenge people to stand up and look outside the box. A box figuratively referred to as our own personal lives; it doesn’t even have to be far. Hunger is an everyday occurrence, and is constantly growing right under people’s nose; and the majority of people will never take a second look. Right outside of our front doors, literally in our own backyards; is someone in need. It may be that little girl with a swollen belly from being hungry for days, or the man with the sign; hoping someone is caring enough to stop and take a look into his reality.

On a recent mission trip with A1 Men’s group, we delivered food to needy families and homes. Some of the conditions that others suffer are unveiled when you take a deeper look into their situations. What we were doing for the neighborhood and other surrounding areas didn’t create a major impact to me until our last stop. A friend I had not seen in years lived in a small shotgun house, with her four children. The house was in such bad condition, as we walked up the porch steps you could feel the foundation shift. Her children all shared a room, there were no groceries, and you could smell the mold as we delivered more and more products. It can be the family down the street, or the country that can not receive the resources; everyone deserves a helping hand. Those starving people we spoke about previously are everywhere; all it takes is a step away from your own personal being to enter someone else’s reality. Undernourishment negatively affects people’s health, productivity, sense of hope and overall well-being. A lack of food can stunt growth, slow thinking, sap energy, hinder fetal development and contribute to mental retardation. The challenge is simple; let us stop turning a blind eye to the masses that need support, lend a helping hand; and start looking toward a more fulfilling future.