by Katie Le
It has been more than a month since our campus food-packaging event, and to be honest, the high that I got from helping that day has faded. While I wish I could make more of a difference, it seems as if volunteering and donating is not enough, especially around the holiday season when the need is even greater.
Every year around this time, I like to help out with the Lord’s Diner here in Wichita, serving food to the homeless, needy, and hungry. And every year around this time, I’m always stunned at how many children walk through those doors, from toddlers to high-schoolers, grateful for a warm meal.
According to Feed America, food assistance has become the new normal www.feedingamerica.org because 54% of clients are categorized as those who have visited a food pantry for at least six months or more during the past year. That’s in addition to the 36% of clients who are “recurrent” or have visited a food pantry at least every month within the past year.
The same study by Feeding America acknowledges the beginning of “the perfect storm: food prices are going up, food manufacturers are facing their own squeeze in thise tough economy, and are responding as one would expect in the market, seeking greater efficiencies, which means fewer donations. Charitable contributions are also harder to come by as more Americans feel the economic squeeze. State and local governments are cutting back on social services.”
The economy has been, and will continue to have major impacts on hunger and food assistance programs, there’s no doubt about that. But it also has changed who the food insecure are.
An article by USA Today wrote, “…a growing number of other once-thriving middle-class families didn’t expect to find themselves qualifying for – and needing – the support of federally funded food assistance programs. After job losses, home foreclosures, mounting debt and bills, some can no longer afford to pay, families like theirs have become part of the new face of hunger in America.”
And these aren’t just statistics. Stop by your local food bank or soup kitchen, and you’ll see a lot of families there, some you might even know. After our “Dinner and Conversation” event on October 22, I had the opportunity to talk with a handful of different people who have or grew up relying on food pantries. Their stories are real, and they live right here in Wichita.
These portraits of hidden hunger have been slowly emerging for years now. “The recession has pushed 2.4 million more children into poverty. Seventeen million children are food insecure… one in six American’s don’t have enough food,” wrote an ABC World News report.
The recession has hit the middle class hard. Most people who are in the middle class are struggling, and are beginning to experience what it’s like to be poor and food insecure. Before the recession, 26 million Americans were on food assistance, and now the number has grown to 46 million.
That’s a lot of families. That’s a lot of children. That’s a lot of neighbors and friends who don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
So while we may think we have a handle on how hunger looks like, take another look around. There’s a new face to hunger, and it’s a face you’ll likely recognize.
WSU Hunger Awareness 