Cleaning out the refrigerator may be a common weekly routine for many — tossing out wilted lettuce, spoiled milk and old leftovers. But for more than 1 billion people worldwide, they would be thankful to have those items to eat much less throw away.
In the United States, more than 35 million people receive less than the 2,100 calories an average person needs each day to be healthy. These Americans are what experts call “food insecure” — unsure about where they might get their next meal. They are neighbors, friends and family, but many hide their need, causing many people to be unaware of their struggles.
And of that more than 35 million, about 12 million are children.
In Alabama, nearly 200,000 children are food insecure.
And of the more than 4.5 million households in the state, 11.9 percent suffer from food insecurity.
Along with funding for school lunch and breakfast programs (see story, this page), the state receives $82,129,896 in annual funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and $34,613,004 a year in federal funding for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).
Nearly 135,000 women, infants and children receive WIC services each month (a food package averaging $50). CACFP serves more than 45,000 people per day.
Three other federal programs for nutrition funding also exist and are among the various programs that one in five Americans use sometime during the year.
Those three are the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formally known as the Food Stamp Program; The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and The Commodity Supplement Food Program (CSFP).
These programs are funded through the federal Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act, more commonly known as the Farm Bill. The funding coming from the Farm Bill is good for five years each time the bill is passed by Congress. The most recent version was passed in 2008.
SNAP supplements low-income households with monthly food benefits that can be used like cash at authorized stores.
Alabama received $663,901,057 in SNAP benefits in 2008. In July 2009, 725,619 people participated in SNAP, an increase of 24.2 percent over the previous July.
TEFAP provides food for distribution through emergency feeding organizations such as food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens (see story, this page).
Alabama received $3,832,302 in TEFAP commodities in 2008.
CSFP is primarily a senior adult program, providing nutritious food packages each month to qualifying low-income senior adults.
Some women and children up to age 6 also participate. It operates in 32 states but not in Alabama.
Alabama does have hundreds of senior adult meal programs such as Meals on Wheels.
“Hunger has no face and no personality,” said Cheryl Jackson, founder of The Giving Movement, a nonprofit organization headquartered near Dallas. “It has no respect for one type of person. It is the working poor and the people devastated by an unexpected loss.”
While many people believe the hungry are mainly the habitually unemployed, Texas Hunger Initiative Director Jeremy Everett said that rarely is the case.
“The overwhelming majority of SNAP-eligible families are employed. They just need supplemental help to keep food on the table for their families,” he said. “I’ve heard of people pulling up in (Cadillac) Escalades to food pantries because the month before, they were the executive of a company. With our economic situation, a lot of families’ most basic needs are not being met.”
Hunger is linked to many circumstances. Among the greatest is poverty. Susan Edwards, director of the Baptist Crisis Center in Midland, Texas, said some families would rather keep utilities running than buy groceries.
“When all else fails, you have to get to work, put gas in the car, pay your bills and insurance and wear appropriate clothes to work. So food becomes an expendable item,” she said.
If food insecurity — particularly among children — is ignored, it will create turmoil for the future, experts agreed. Hunger causes long- and short-term problems, including impeding learning and contributing to problems with intellectual development. From health and physical concerns to emotional issues, malnutrition causes stress to the mind and body.
Alabama Baptist churches and associations are working to find ways to combat hunger in their areas. For information about how you can get involved, contact your associational office.
(Bread for the World, ABP, BP contributed)
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