No excuse for hunger in North Carolina, Asheville Citizen-Times (8.25.11)
Maybe we can’t solve the problems of world peace, curing cancer or global warming, but one problem we can and should overcome is hunger. How big is the problem? North Carolina is ranked 11{+t}{+h} among states in children with food insecurity. One out of four children often is not sure where their next meal is coming from. “Food Hardship in America 2010” reports the Winston-Salem area is ranked the worst metro area in the country for hunger; 35 percent of the families with children and 25 percent of those without children report not having enough to eat at some point during the year. The study reports the Greensboro-High Point metropolitan area is 17th worst in the nation. We’re not talking about some third-world nation, but right here in North Carolina.
This is shocking news. Most of us don’t grasp the severity of hunger because it doesn’t affect us and we aren’t looking for hunger problems, but those who operate food pantries and soup kitchens increasingly tell of empty shelves and longer than normal lines of people needing help, not just in our larger cities but throughout the state. While the unemployed obviously need help, a rapidly growing number of working families are seeking food assistance.
Teachers, especially those in primary grades, frequently report children who haven’t eaten or have eaten little since receiving the free or reduced price lunch provided in school. The best teacher in the world isn’t effective when children’s tummies are grumbling, especially on Monday mornings after a long weekend with little food. Programs like “Backpack Buddies” attempt to help by sending students home with food over the weekend but too many children admit their parents or older siblings steal food from the backpacks to eat or sell for cash.
We don’t have a supply problem. The problem is distribution. Food is not and should not be a political issue, nor is it one for government to solve. Ensuring that all people, regardless of color, nationality, sex, age or circumstance have enough to eat is a spiritual issue. Every known religion, every society in history, even bitter enemies have willingly shared food with those who don’t have enough.
The recession has no doubt exacerbated hunger problems, but that is no excuse for allowing our neighbors to go without food. The food hardship report should be a wake-up call to all of us. Each of us has a part to play in ending hunger. We have wonderful Food Banks and other great organizations like the Salvation Army and church-sponsored food pantries and soup kitchens that help with distribution. Whether we take food to neighbors, give cash, volunteer time or provide cans of commonly used staple food items to a food pantry, every bit is needed.
To be sure some might “game” the system, seeking help they don’t need, but anyone who suffers the embarrassment of showing up in a food line ought to be helped. The real embarrassment is that our state is listed so high among states where hunger is a problem, one list we certainly don’t want and hope not to be included on next year. These are troubled times but there is no excuse why people go hungry in North Carolina. We can and should stop hunger now.
Tom Campbell is former assistant North Carolina State Treasurer and is creator/host of NC SPIN, a weekly statewide television discussion of NC issues airing Sundays at 6:00am on WLOS-TV. Contact him at www.ncspin.com.