In its latest effort at word manipulation and obfuscation, our government would have us believe there is no hunger in America. That’s right. Among the many words no longer to pass the lips of federal officials is “hunger.”
Then what are we supposed to call those pangs that come from an empty stomach? According to the USDA, it’s just “Food Insecurity.”
Of course, feelings of insecurity about food can come from trying to decipher nutrition labels. For those of us who worry more about what we shouldn’t eat, trans fats and pesticide-laden produce, real hunger isn’t an issue.
The Agriculture Department withheld its annual report measuring Americans’ access to food, usually released in October, until after the elections. This prompted some to say the administration was playing politics with hunger, er, the lack of food security.
The Household Food Security Report says that in 13.5 million households there was no food to put on the table at least part of last year. That’s 35 million people or about 12 percent of all Americans going without even bread or rice or beans. Whatever they choose to call it, that’s hunger.
When toddlers scream, Mommy, I’m hungry; when children go to school with blood sugar levels so low they can’t keep their eyes open till lunch, that’s not food insecurity.
If you Google “Hunger U.S.” you get 30 million listings, some redundant, some out of date. Google “Food Insecurity” and you get the USDA.
If we have a booming economy, why are so many folks hungry?
Well, cut taxes for Exxon Mobil, then make it up by cutting food stamps. This approach does have a long tradition. But not since President Reagan officially named ketchup a vegetable to cheapen school lunch programs, have we seen such blatant abuse of language to minimize political fallout.
I was lucky. I grew up in a household where my sisters and I could be picky about what we ate. Liver? Smuggle it out to the Great Dane. Brussels sprouts? The dog would bury them. If we were caught, we got a lecture about the “starving Armenians.” We had no idea who they were or why they were starving nor did we care. If we felt a hunger pang in the night, we raided the fridge. There were no consequences if caught. We were definitely not food insecure.
Years later, I was amazed that my husband was so strict about our kids cleaning their plates. He grew up during the Depression and never forgot, going to bed hungry.
When his mother took care of our toddler son and remarked that he was a picky eater, I wondered what she was talking about. She said she never worried about cooking what everyone liked, only about having enough to fill them up. Her husband had lost his furniture business and had no work but hunted and fished to put meat on the table. The kids (four of hers and five of his) were sent out in the fields around their rented San Padre bungalow to pick dandelions and other edible greens. Somehow they scraped by without “going on the dole.” There were no food stamps, but they did accept things like bacon fat from more affluent neighbors.
It was a struggle. My husband left school early to get a job, making him the breadwinner of the family. On his days off he went fishing and hunting, maybe so he wouldn’t have to pick greens.
After we married, I realized he had this strong sense of being a good provider for his family. He knew what it meant to be self sufficient, and our kids picked that up. Unfortunately, they have little compassion for those who can’t provide adequately for themselves and their families. Hungry? Get a job. Homeless? They must want to live on the street. Getting a government aid check? They’re just welfare queens. My daughter once saw a woman paying for groceries with food stamps and noticed that her nails were professionally manicured. How could I explain that, she wanted to know.
Well, of course, I couldn’t. My starving Armenians are her welfare queens. But then, my kids didn’t grow up hungry. Or even food insecure.
Google Hunger U.S. and read it for yourself. Then let’s all donate to America’s Second Harvest or a local food bank while we wait for new lawmakers to step up and tell it like it really is.