Hunger in the U.S.

Hunger is the major cause from poverty in America. Over the years it has been becoming worse. There are many families who, because they have no money, lose their homes and don't have any food to feed their kids and the rest of their family.

The site "Food Research and Action Center" is a site that informs people about fighting hunger in America. For 2008, the site lists some bullet points on facts about the problems, issues, and statistics of the increase of poverty, and therefore, hunger.

• Hunger and Poverty:
  
• 14.1 million children, or 19 percent of all children under age 18, were poor – a larger percentage than any other age group. This was an increase from 2007, when 13.3 million children (18 percent) lived in poverty.

• 6.3 million (8.5 percent) of all children under 18 lived in families with incomes below 50 percent of the federal poverty level – that’s an annual income of $11,000.

• 21.3 percent of related children under age six in families lived in poverty.

• 9.7 percent of all Americans 65 and over, or 3.7 million elderly, were poor. This was unchanged from the previous year.

• The poverty rate for non-Hispanic whites was 8.6 percent, 24.7 percent for blacks, 23.2 percent for Hispanics, and 11.8 percent for Asians.

• 46.3 million did not have health insurance, an increase from 45.7 million in 2007.

• Median income fell to $50,300, a drop of 3.6 percent from 2007.

These statistics are scary. People in our community and around the world need to step in and try to help out. There are many ways to help out, and one of them is to take any extra food that you don't want and donate it to your local Food Bank by going to the site "Feeding America" and at the top there is a tab, "Find a Food Bank" and find one in your area.

Hunger and Human Development

"Children in the United States have the highest poverty rate of all age groups." Isn't that sad to hear? That little children who were just born into this world and haven't done a thing yet, are the ones suffering the most?

The site "Bread for the World Institute" is a very factual site that has a lot of information about poverty and hunger in America. Like I said, infants are suffering the most, and here is some key bullet point facts one should know about this issue and how hunger and poverty is affecting infants, and even young adults:

"Hunger and Human Development" - Infants (12 months or younger) that did not receive WIC benefits because of access problems were more likely to be underweight, short, and perceived as having fair/poor health than were WIC recipients.

• In children aged 1-5, food insufficiency is associated with high prevalence of fair/poor health and iron deficiency, and with greater likelihood of experiencing stomachaches, headaches, and colds.
  
• In children aged 6-11, food insufficiency is associated with low arithmetic scores and the likelihood of repeating a grade, having seen a psychologist, and having had difficulty getting along with other children.
  
• In children aged 15-16, food insufficiency is associated with depression, having had thoughts of death, a desire to die, and having attempted suicide.

People need to step in and help. It is sad to see that infants and young adults face these problems because of hunger and poverty. People don't realize the affect is has on the younger generation. If this issue keeps on going and doesn't get solved, the younger generation won't be as successful in life as we were hoping for them to be.

Hunger Across America

The issue of hunger in American sometimes goes unnoticed. Well, I believe everyone knows about it, how there are many people in the world who suffer from poverty and don't have any money to go out and buy themselves some food, which in their case they face hunger.

The site "Feeding America" let's people now about the many problems in America associated with hunger. Here is a little bit of information people should know:

"Hunger 101" - "Right now, millions of Americans are struggling with hunger. We all know and are in contact with people affected by hunger, even though we might not be aware of it.

These are often hard-working adults, children and seniors who simply cannot make ends meet and are forced to go without food for several meals, or even days. Most of us simply have no idea. It’s time to educate ourselves about America’s hunger problem."

People should be aware and "educate" themselves about this issue. It is a big deal. It may not be affecting you, but a lot of people in this world are suffering for something they couldn't even control themselves.

Gastric Bypass Surgery For Young Teens?

Young teens are becoming too obese for their age these days. Some are so bad that they are in the need of Gastric Bypass Surgery, this is depressing. The procedure they are going to recieve is the Lap Band Surgery, where they make your stomach smaller with an adjustable band around the stomach where one can change the size of their stomach depending on how much food they should intake. It is adjustable because it may take a few adjustments before knowing how tight or loose the band should be for the particular patient. I think this is really sad that young teens are in need of a surgery like this. This just goes to show that our youth aren't being fed with healthy foods and probably more with fatty foods, such as fast foods like McDonalds. Parents should see this as a warning for their own kids. Do they really want their kid to become so overweight that they are going to be in need of a gastric bypass surgery at that age? It is not worth it. Kids should be fed in a more healtheir way at their age specifically; it'll make a difference in their lives to come.

Attack of the Doritos!

MIND BREAK!!!

This was one of my favorite commercials from the 2010 Super Bowl 44 and I thought it was worth showing. It gave me a good laugh:

Poverty in America

Poverty has been a major issue in America, even today. Poverty can lead to hunger, malnutrition, and even infectious diseases. People around the world struggle from this depressing issue, and there are ways to help. Donating to nonprophit organizations are very charitable and helpful for the people in need, for example, your local food bank.

Poverty.com is a site where you can learn a lot about poverty and the effects that come from it. In this site, and Iwould like everyone who reads this to do this, you are able to print out a letter to send to your government regarding International Aid. Every letter sent out contributes to the 0.7% in International Aid. I am going to do this, and I hope you do too.

Here is a video of the effects of Poverty and what it does to the lives of Americans:

More Problems for the People in Haiti...

Haven't the people in Haiti suffered enough? Now they are dealing with more problems.."Second wave of misery brings diarrhea, infections and malnutrition." It sucks to see more people die from other things, they were just hit with the huge earthquake and lost many people, and now this. I can only hope American can step in and try to fight off these sicknesses and aid the people of Haiti with medication for the infections. Maybe the people in American can step in a little more and donate more food to help stop the malnutrition. Many people have donated a lot of money, and sent over a lot of things, but it just seems more things keep happening to them. I would want to spend some of my time there helping..but I have school. And I am hoping all of thise will clear up before I have time, because I don't want this struggle for the people in Haiti to last any longer.

The Purpose of the Contra Costa Food Bank

For my community service, I serve my time at my local Contra Costa Food Bank; they have a purpose:

Mission: "The mission of the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano is to alleviate hunger and provide an efficient, coordinated system for collecting and distributing food that reduces food waste and increases public awareness regarding hunger and food security issues in Contra Costa and Solano counties."

What We Do: "The Food Bank is a centralized warehouse that stores and distributes donated and purchased perishable and nonperishable food items. We distribute food directly to low-income people at community sites and make food available for other nonprofit organizations serving the ill, needy and infants."

I want to be a part of this mission. There are many people out there in the world who have lost their jobs, especially in this economy, and no longer have any incoming money to purchase food to eat. Food Banks step in and help out those people by giving them food. I want to help people. Knowing that what I do can make a difference in someones life just makes my day.

It can be sad because some people are embarrassed to go to Food Banks and get food. They shouldn't be. They are there to help people, that is their job. I would love to help distribute the food, to see the emotion on the persons face that I have helped, but packaging everything is just as good. I know that what I am doing is helping change the lives of other people.