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Some Misconceptions About Hunger in the United States

Get the specifics about Hunger in the United States. More individuals right now are on food stamps now compared to any other time. Discover what can be done to ease poverty and hunger in the United States.

Five Myths About Hunger In America

Hunger in America is real. Nearly 46 million people in the United States use food stamps. Today, food stamps are called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and recipients are given a card instead of stamps. About 15% of the U.S. population receives food assistance as of May, 2011. This is according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and that statistic is about 12% higher than one year ago. Clearly stated that means, 1 in 6 people in the United States, receive food stamps benefits. This also means that 1 in 5 children also benefit from this food assistance program. Hunger in America is also correlates to homelessness in America too. The largest concentration of food stamp users or SNAP, were in California, Florida, New York and Texas. For each of those states more than 3 million people received food stamps. In order to qualify to receive food stamps, a person's income can't be more than $1,174 per month or more than $14, 088 per year. A study was done in 2010 on Hunger in America. This study was considered extremely detailed because more than 61,000 food stamp clients were interviewed. More than 37,000 agencies that supplied food were also surveyed. The report reveals that hunger in America is growing at an escalating rate in the U S The quantity of youngsters the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program serves has grown by 50% since 2006.

Some Myths About Hunger in America

Hunger in America Myth 1 - Nobody goes hungry in America.

Many people in the U.S. think hunger happens in other countries but not in their country. They think droughts or crop failures are some of the reasons why people go hungry in other countries. In fact, hunger additionally strikes a lot closer to home. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 15 percent of U.S. households now are considered "food insecure," a nearly 30% increase from 2006. This indicates that, in any month, these households may be out of funds, out of food, and thereby, will miss meals or seek aid to feed themselves and their children. Even for people or children who eat 3 times a day could end up being malnourished. This is because Americas often eat cheaper costing foods such as sugary foods or other lower nutritional foods. Believe it or not, obesity is often related to hunger. Because of poor food choices and also the deficiency of healthy food choices in many residential areas. Many people might be packing on the extra pounds, but those extra pounds are often life-threatening. More than 30% of adults in America are considered obese. More and more children are becoming obese too. Heart disease and diabetes are now the leading causes of death in America. People are dying because of eating the wrong kinds of foods which often means the cheaper kinds of foods.

Hunger in America Myth 2 - Stopping malnourishment is a humanitarian issue.

Children who grow to be obese adults, will limit our armed forces' capability to safeguard our nation. The military just lately cautioned that greater than 9 million young adults - (ages 17 to 24) weigh too much so they would not be eligible to enlist and this shrinks the list of candidates for military service. The expenses of poor nutrition drag the United States further into debt which leaves the country more vulnerable. In other words, America simply can not afford malnourishment or hunger in America anymore.

Hunger in America Myth 3 - Children are the only ones who go hungry. In reality, the person who most likely to go hungry in America, is the single, working mother who lives below the poverty level. Since Federal programs make sure that low-income kids will get free meals at their school, their single mothers, frequently have to make difficult choices amongst food, gas, rent, health care or other things for their kids. Many American women who face these choices simple go without meals themselves, especially nutritional food. Also, a growing number of senior citizens miss meals because they have to buy medicine. Many senior will not admit to needing food assistance, a 2007 study done by Meals on Wheels established that as much as six million are going hungry nearly every week.

Hunger in America Myth 4 - The food that America wastes could feed everybody. It has been said that up to 40% of the food that America produces is not consumed but thrown away. Much of it is decomposing fruits and vegetables, which is unfit to eat or not practical to collect. Many canned foods are thrown out due to the expiration dates. Unfortunately, we cannot feed everyone hungry with these kinds of leftovers. There are initiatives around the country that have made it possible to retrieve millions of pounds of nutritional food from hotels and restaurants. These food donations have feed the hungry and also provided culinary job training for people who are not currently employed. Food banks in America have given hundreds of millions of pounds of nonperishable food items, and many food activists, also called gleaners, go to farms to get vegetables and fruits that may have just been thrown away.

Hunger in America Myth 5 - Hunger is about food. The number of Americans who struggle to put food on their tables has never decreased since the advent of the food stamp program. This is due to hunger is not just about food. It's really comes down to jobs and wages. What America needs now more than ever are jobs and decent wages. What America needs more is living-wage laws, tariffs which safeguard American jobs and affordable health care. There is certainly a need for more local food production, especially fruits and vegetables. These kinds of nutritional foods can keep Americans healthy and help end hunger in America.

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Last Updated: 01-17-2013
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