English 106 Section 2 - Charities Are Not up for the Hunger Challenge

Christen Martin

Dr. Colanzi

English 106, Section 2

October 8, 2015

Charities Are Not Up for the Hunger Challenge

        Imagine a life where money was scare and food was even scarcer. Unfortunately, that is the reality of millions of people today. Many people think of hunger and picture children in Africa with just their skin and bones showing. Hunger around the world may be an issue, however the problem of hunger is rapidly increasing here in the United States. According to the documentary A Place at the Table, fifty million people in the America struggle with hunger and food insecurity. I know from personal experience that food charities save lives. Whether it’s big name charities like Feeding America or neighborhood charities like food pantries or food banks, they all help to feed the hungry. Millions of Americans rely on these charities, and the need is growing. Without the assistance from food charities, more people would go to bed hungry. While charities are a great solution to hunger, they are not a long-term solution because times have changed, the number of hungry people has grown, and families cannot live off of charities.

        Food charities exploded during the Great Depression to help the thousands of people out of work. At the time, charities could help feed everyone without any issues. However, today there are millions of people who are hungry and charities cannot feed that amount of people successfully. The prices of food and the cost of living have risen greatly from the Great Depression, and people cannot get the same amount of food for their money. An example of this is a police officer named Adam Appelhanz, living in Colorado. He has not had a salary raise in four years. The price of food has fluctuated year after year, yet he has not been compensated for the rise in the price of living. People like Adam Appelhanz cannot get the same amount of groceries with the same salary each year. The amount of food he can get with his salary used to last him four weeks, but now only lasts him two weeks. He has to rely on Pastor Bob’s food bank to get him through the month (A Place at the Table). Charities are a great way to give food to the hungry, but the United States cannot rely on these charities as a long-term solution. The government needs to step in and take responsibility for the millions of hungry people in he country. By doing things like raising the minimum wage, people will have more money in their budgets for food, and will be able to buy more groceries.

        During Ronald Reagan’s term as president, there were 20 million people struggling with hunger. Today, over fifty million people in the United States are struggling with the same issue. The number of people struggling with hunger has greatly increased over four decades because of many reasons, like the recession for example. As shown in the document, the United States government spends more money on military forces and the government’s salaries than on food for the hungry. Charities help to provide food for the hungry when food stamps or money runs out, but the real issue is the lack of government assistance. Charities may help feed the hungry now, but they are not the best solution. More government assistance with hunger and food stamps would be more beneficial in the long run.

        Year after year, food prices rise and people cannot buy the same amount of food for their money. Today, charities cannot give enough food to provide for families. My family and I did not have to worry about food, until one day in 2011. In the early spring of that year, my mother was laid off from work. To put things in perspective, my mother salary was the bulk of income for my family. We no longer had the main source of income, so we had to turn to local food pantries. Going to these food pantries with my mother was very embarrassing for me. It was not easy living off of the food from the pantries. Everyday I knew I had one meal, lunch at school, but the rest of the day I was not sure what my family would have for meals. There is not enough food to give out to the millions of hungry people, and the food that is given out can only last so long. In my family, the food from the food pantry only lasted about a week. My parents had to rely on credit cards for buying enough food for our family of four, since the food from the local food pantry was not enough.  Unlike many people suffering from hunger, my family and I did not have to live off of charities and credit cards for long. Within 10 months my mother had her dream job, and my family and I no longer depended on food pantries and credit cards. The resources from the local food pantry were helpful, however it did not last my family long. Just like in my family, the food from the food pantries and food banks do not last long, so therefore it is not a long-term solution for hunger.