This I Argue
Starving In Plain Site
Starving In Plain Site
"50 Million Americans
Exist with out enough to eat
In a nation with more than enough food." (A Place at the Table)
I grew up in Trinidad which is considered to be a third world country and, in spite of all the hardships I face there I never missed a meal unless it was by choice. I remember my mom saying to me "eat little and live long", when I asked for more food on my plate at diner time. I still would not remain hungry because, I had the option of going to get a mango, a banana or some other fruit to fill that void. Spring through summer of 1999, a year after I came to the United States, I found myself living in small room on 40th and Green street in West Philadelphia. I earned $100.00 working as a nanny two half days a week. My rent $75.00 weekly, transportation $18.00, that left $7.00 for food. For the first time in my life, I had no choice but to go to bed hungry. What I imagined America to be faded very quickly, as I looked around and found myself in the midst of people starving in plain site. "How could this be the land of opportunity when folks are starving?" I asked myself. My answer? The American government does not prioritize feeding its impoverished citizens. As such, I argue that hunger could be reduced in this country if the government would bring more awareness to the hunger issues in it's own backyard, rather than running commercials about helping to end world hunger in other nations.
What would it take for the Government to eradicate hunger in the USA and lead by example to the rest of the world that they are so quick to police? SNAP? No way! This program which was set in place in the 1930's and 40's when the country was in great depression, has merely been revised over the past seventy-four years. It does not meet the needs of the American citizens coping with food insecurity in this modern time. The program does not provide enough funding for low income residents to have adequate nutritious food for family consumption on a regular basis. Alexandra Sifferlin writes that "about 44 million Americans rely on the government’s food assistance plan, or Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides less than $5 per person, per day on average. That’s hardly enough, especially for growing children." To think that a child has to go to bed hungry or go to school with out breakfast is extremely unnecessary in a country with more than enough food. How is this acceptable in such a rich country that is quick to extend a hand to another nations with hunger issues? This program is a huge bandage with puss festering under it. The stench of this issue is like cloud of bad breath hovering over the United States and it is choking the life out of those who are already starving in plain site. The hunger issues in America seemed to have been hidden behind a curtain covering it's great wall of shame.
A Place At The Table is a powerful documentary that used personal stories to illuminate the plight of Americans struggling with food insecurity. Janet Poppendieck author of "Sweet Charity?" states in this film that" I think when people here the term hunger, they still imagine a skinny under nourished human being, they have seen the pictures of famine in subsidiaries in Africa that's the image they carry around." When it comes to hunger and starving in the world, America being the richest country in the world unfortunately is hovering at the top of a long list. In major cities in the USA like Philadelphia where the states population is now 12.8 million, in 2012 there were 1.8 million people starving. Barbie Izquierdo is a young Philadelphia mother featured in the film A place at the Table, along with forty other mothers and Dr Miranda formed the group Witness To Hunger. They went to Washington to raise awareness about starving in America. Barbie asked the questions," how do you define starving? If you did not eat for a day are you starving?" Take it one step further. Or is it when two , three days go by or a week then are you staving? Are you only starving if someone deprives you of food out of spite?
I was moved to tears when I heard Barbie's words echo at the end of the film A Place at the Table:
"Have you ever been surround by the people you love like your children but felt completely alone? Have you ever been in a hole with open doors and still feel trapped? Have you ever been in a neighborhood with constant yelling, screaming , gun shots and fighting but you're so accustomed to it that it puts you to sleep? I know what it's like to have your children look at you in your eyes and tell you that they are hungry and you have to force them to go to sleep as if they did something wrong.
Take time and learn a little from each of us because you never know where tomorrow can take you. Remember us, remember people like us, that are here in the United States that need help and are not receiving it adequately. If we switch lives for a week, could you handle the stress? If we switch jobs for a month, would you be able to live and still keep your pride? Are you aware of my hopes and determination? Are you aware of my dreams and struggles? Are you aware of my ambition and motivation? Are you aware that I exist? My name is Barbie Izquierdo and I do exist!"
If the American government continues to turn a blind eye to this subject, it will not solve the issue. Like the vagrants we ignore as we pass by and pretend not to see them, is this going to be the fate of the families starving in plain sight? Will Barbie and the forty other mothers from Philadelphia remain unseen? Will their plight remain unheard by the politicians they descended on in Washington? The politicians that where more worried about keeping the one percent happy and fat off the land? Will the government continue to line their pockets with the profit of the 1 percent or will they pay it forward to the 99percent? In the mean while don't turn a blind eye to those starving in plain site. Lobby for change. I say stop policing the world and take care of home.
Exist with out enough to eat
In a nation with more than enough food." (A Place at the Table)
I grew up in Trinidad which is considered to be a third world country and, in spite of all the hardships I face there I never missed a meal unless it was by choice. I remember my mom saying to me "eat little and live long", when I asked for more food on my plate at diner time. I still would not remain hungry because, I had the option of going to get a mango, a banana or some other fruit to fill that void. Spring through summer of 1999, a year after I came to the United States, I found myself living in small room on 40th and Green street in West Philadelphia. I earned $100.00 working as a nanny two half days a week. My rent $75.00 weekly, transportation $18.00, that left $7.00 for food. For the first time in my life, I had no choice but to go to bed hungry. What I imagined America to be faded very quickly, as I looked around and found myself in the midst of people starving in plain site. "How could this be the land of opportunity when folks are starving?" I asked myself. My answer? The American government does not prioritize feeding its impoverished citizens. As such, I argue that hunger could be reduced in this country if the government would bring more awareness to the hunger issues in it's own backyard, rather than running commercials about helping to end world hunger in other nations.
What would it take for the Government to eradicate hunger in the USA and lead by example to the rest of the world that they are so quick to police? SNAP? No way! This program which was set in place in the 1930's and 40's when the country was in great depression, has merely been revised over the past seventy-four years. It does not meet the needs of the American citizens coping with food insecurity in this modern time. The program does not provide enough funding for low income residents to have adequate nutritious food for family consumption on a regular basis. Alexandra Sifferlin writes that "about 44 million Americans rely on the government’s food assistance plan, or Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides less than $5 per person, per day on average. That’s hardly enough, especially for growing children." To think that a child has to go to bed hungry or go to school with out breakfast is extremely unnecessary in a country with more than enough food. How is this acceptable in such a rich country that is quick to extend a hand to another nations with hunger issues? This program is a huge bandage with puss festering under it. The stench of this issue is like cloud of bad breath hovering over the United States and it is choking the life out of those who are already starving in plain site. The hunger issues in America seemed to have been hidden behind a curtain covering it's great wall of shame.
A Place At The Table is a powerful documentary that used personal stories to illuminate the plight of Americans struggling with food insecurity. Janet Poppendieck author of "Sweet Charity?" states in this film that" I think when people here the term hunger, they still imagine a skinny under nourished human being, they have seen the pictures of famine in subsidiaries in Africa that's the image they carry around." When it comes to hunger and starving in the world, America being the richest country in the world unfortunately is hovering at the top of a long list. In major cities in the USA like Philadelphia where the states population is now 12.8 million, in 2012 there were 1.8 million people starving. Barbie Izquierdo is a young Philadelphia mother featured in the film A place at the Table, along with forty other mothers and Dr Miranda formed the group Witness To Hunger. They went to Washington to raise awareness about starving in America. Barbie asked the questions," how do you define starving? If you did not eat for a day are you starving?" Take it one step further. Or is it when two , three days go by or a week then are you staving? Are you only starving if someone deprives you of food out of spite?
I was moved to tears when I heard Barbie's words echo at the end of the film A Place at the Table:
"Have you ever been surround by the people you love like your children but felt completely alone? Have you ever been in a hole with open doors and still feel trapped? Have you ever been in a neighborhood with constant yelling, screaming , gun shots and fighting but you're so accustomed to it that it puts you to sleep? I know what it's like to have your children look at you in your eyes and tell you that they are hungry and you have to force them to go to sleep as if they did something wrong.
Take time and learn a little from each of us because you never know where tomorrow can take you. Remember us, remember people like us, that are here in the United States that need help and are not receiving it adequately. If we switch lives for a week, could you handle the stress? If we switch jobs for a month, would you be able to live and still keep your pride? Are you aware of my hopes and determination? Are you aware of my dreams and struggles? Are you aware of my ambition and motivation? Are you aware that I exist? My name is Barbie Izquierdo and I do exist!"
If the American government continues to turn a blind eye to this subject, it will not solve the issue. Like the vagrants we ignore as we pass by and pretend not to see them, is this going to be the fate of the families starving in plain sight? Will Barbie and the forty other mothers from Philadelphia remain unseen? Will their plight remain unheard by the politicians they descended on in Washington? The politicians that where more worried about keeping the one percent happy and fat off the land? Will the government continue to line their pockets with the profit of the 1 percent or will they pay it forward to the 99percent? In the mean while don't turn a blind eye to those starving in plain site. Lobby for change. I say stop policing the world and take care of home.