Just as the season of feasting gets under way, Thanksgiving through New Year's, we disturbingly learn (news story, Nov. 17) from the research of the U.S. Agriculture Department that 49 million American households "struggled to put enough food on the table in 2008." This equals 14.6 percent of U.S. households, an increase of the 2007 figures "when 11.1 percent of U.S. households suffered from what the USDA classifies as food insecurity, not having enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle." In 2008, 16.7 million children were classified as not having enough food, 4.3 million more than in 2007.
The article revealed that researchers blame the increase in hunger on a lack of money and other resources. Imagine that! Nowhere is there mention of the effects of the two immoral wars we are engaged in costing trillions of dollars and how this money could be used for welfare of those among us who are hungry due to unemployment, illness, lack of training and education. It would seem the U.S. can't have guns and butter. Shucks!
What will research regarding hunger reveal for 2009?
