14 June 2007

Today's Meme

Today's meme is completely contrived crises. For the American entrant, I nominate (and it's a doozy) the problem of hunger in the United States:
Hunger and Food Insecurity in the United States

One of the most disturbing and extraordinary aspects of life in this very wealthy country is the persistence of hunger. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that in 2005:

* 35.1 million people lived in households considered to be food insecure.

* Of those 35.1 million, 22.7 million are adults (10.4 percent of all adults) and 12.4 million are children (16.9 percent of all children).

* The number of people in the worst-off households (previously called “food insecure with hunger” and now called “very low food security” households) rose in 2005, from 10.7 to 10.8 million.
If you look very closely, you'll see that the most remarkable thing about hunger in the United States is that no one is actually hungry.

5 comments:

Oroborous said...

I've long maintained that one needs to be insane, drug-addled, or a young child to starve in today's America - although over the years I've managed to encounter over a half-dozen people who are willing to vigorously argue that point.

All well-fed, by the way.

Which I guess is typical. My experience has been that it's those who have never known want who cannot conceive of how the poor get by, and that people who have experienced poverty are far more understanding of how very little is really required.

Brit said...

At least all the hunger would explain all the obesity.

Harry Eagar said...

Oh, if you know where to look, you can find hungry people. Billy Spong found some in eastern North Carolina and lost his place in the Senate for it.

David said...

In 1973.

Bret said...

harry eagar wrote: "Oh, if you know where to look, you can find hungry people."

Yeah, North Korea is a good example.