APUSH blog
Dear APUSH: I have, over the past several years, become very interested in issues of poverty. Poverty is something that impacts many of the students in our school, families in our community, and people across our nation. It is also something we will talk about in our next unit - push pull factors moving people from their homes to the USA or to the cities of US, as well as it being one of the issues of the period with the rise of huge fortunes and an increasingly bigger income gap. Today we'll look at how that is affecting us today in the article "The New Face of Hunger." I would like you to read the article, then post your thoughts about it below following the guidelines from the introductory page.
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This summer I went with my church on a mission trip to Chicago. Every morning we went to a summer school program for kids in need where they get a church service, class time and a meal. What surprised me and related with this story was that lots of forms of hunger in America aren't skinny and malnourished but obese. They workers explained to us that it is because the only food they can afford is greasy fast food.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a really good point in your last sentence Jack. I have noticed that greasy fast foods are significantly cheaper than nutritious ones. For example, at McDonalds you can get a double cheese burger for a dollar while a single salad will cost you around six. Also healthy style places like Subway will cost you about ten bucks for one sandwich and when parents have to provide for entire families with limited funds, they have to choose quantity over quality.
DeleteYeah greasy fast food is cheaper than other restraunts but that is no excuse for being obese. If money is tight the best way to do things would not be eating out. You could buy healthy food at the grocery store and make plenty of meals that are good for you for a way cheaper price than going to a greasy fast food stop. Money being tight should never be an excuse for obesity.
DeleteI agree with you Jack, that trip was very eye opining. I also agree with Travis though, being short on money is no excuse. To can get good half way healthy food from the store that will feed your family for a few weeks for nearly half the price of going to McDonald's everyday for a family of four. I wish we could educate these people with these facts, who knows, maybe things would change.
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DeleteSorry, Madeleine is actually Makenzi C. I forgot to log off of my French Blog name.
DeleteI agree with you Jack. I don't understand how you can be obese and still be starving. But I don't understand how someone could feed children fast food for them to feel not hungry. Isn't like a dozen apples two dollars? I feel like i would want to find a healthy, cheapier way to feed children that are going hungry, But i know it's hard for these parents. I wish i could have been with you on the Chicago trip, sounds like a real eye opener and i would have learned alot.
DeleteIt is natural to assume that buying healthy foods from the grocery store is cheapest, however it is not. In fact, Reagan, apples can sometimes cost $1 a piece! Even though I think it is best to eat fresh vegetables, fruits, and non processed protein, all of the fresh produce goes bad, which adds to the expense. Because it won't keep as long, and it is just overall more expensive, many families on a tight budget are forced to buy the frozen meals, full of sodium sugars and few nutrients, that are 10 for $10. After all, it is better to eat unhealthy than not eat at all, which is sadly what some families have to chose.
DeleteIt is so astonishing and absolutely heartbreaking that one in six Americans go hungry. People should not have to make the choice between whether or not they will eat or pay their bills. I cannot imagine being a parent forced to send their child to school hungry. Not to mention that they too are going hungry. I think oftentimes, myself guilty too, we overlook huge issues like this in America, not purposely, but just because it doesn't necessarily affect us directly or simply because we are unaware of the reality of it. I also think the amount of food we waste and throw away here in America is ridiculous considering the number of starving people.
ReplyDeleteYou make a GREAT point with how many Americans just don't realize how much other families are struggling. Your point about families either eating or paying bills really made me think of how lucky i am to never even have to worry about food, when that all some families think about.
DeleteJetta, I completely agree with your point that we overlook issues because they don't affect us. I thought the same thing while reading this, if the issue doesn't necessarily affect us, then we don't recognize it until a story comes up that makes us reevaluate our thoughts on the subject.
DeleteSydney Kossow, W6
ReplyDeleteReading this article was eyeopening i think. The story about how a mom tries to send her kid to school hungry so he will eat the free food they are eligible for kind of hit me hard. Reading stuff like this makes me way more thankful for stuff that i wouldn't be thankful for normally. My problem is, that it takes sad stories and lifestyles like this for us to recognize and talk about the struggles around the world that some of us don't have and think of.
Sydney, you make a great point that we should be more thankful for the things we have at home. We should all make it a point to be thankful every day for the roof over heads, food in our bellies, and the clothes on our backs.
DeleteYes, Sydney I agree with you that the story where her the mom has to send her kid to school just for them to receive food is very touching. I also agree with Stephanie that we should open our eyes more and see that we are not as lucky as some around us.
DeleteI like what you said at the end about how it is sad that we have to read or hear something tragic for us to realize how lucky we actually are. The fact of the matter is we need to be more attentive and be able to feel what we felt when we read this without hearing and reading these stories.
DeleteSydney, I agree with you that this story is eyeopening and does makes people realize how lucky they are when even though they take it for granted.
DeleteCole L. M3
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article I really started to think about how I fit into this problem and how it affects me. Although I do not have a problem with getting enough food I know that many people, in all parts of the world, struggle with this problem. Just talking to students at Central it is easy to see that people very close to us have this problem and struggle with it every day. We all need to stop and think about this issue and what we can do to help solve the problem.
Cole, you make a good point. It's a shame that people are still starving from hunger even in today's age. Even with our advanced technologies and modified crops, hunger is still an issue in developed and undeveloped countries.
DeleteKinsey Barton, M3
ReplyDeleteTo be completely honest i feel kind of guilty after reading this! I eat way more than I should each day while some families are struggling to get enough. I complain about have 3rd lunch each day, and now i realize people in other places don't even get a lunch at all. Taking into account how lucky my family is, not having to live paycheck to paycheck, and not relying on other families to help bring in food makes me feel very privileged. Going hungry can happen to anyone, skinny or fat, and we should all really appreciate what we have when he sit down to eat.
I agree. After reading this I felt bad because I eat as much as I want everyday. This reading makes me want to help people who are not blessed with money and food. I now feel very thankful that I am able to eat everyday and grab a snack whenever I want.
DeleteI'm with you Kinsey! We all live pretty darn selfishly without even realizing it. We see a ton of struggle in Salina, but nothing compared to some other areas. It really makes you take a step back and look at the big picture in life. We really should all be thankful
DeleteKnowing that so many people in America go hungry every day completely breaks my heart. I could not even imagine having to watch my mother scrape the left overs off of my plate that I didn't eat. It completely baffles me that people with millions of dollars don't donate more to causes like this. Even if I made as much money as Beyonce and Jay Z does I still would not buy Kim Kardashian a 1 million dollar binky as a baby shower present. So much of Amereica's money is just thrown away and wasted on material items and nobody will open there eyes and see that there are starving babies in the world that would be grateful for just twenty dollars out of that million just for a meal.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the exact same thing. There are enough people in America who make enough money that if they donated their money or bought food to donate then the hungry wouldn't be hungry. There aren't enough people who think about others. A lot of people are selfish and a lot of times money makes them worse, not better.
DeleteI remember when I was younger I don't remember ever really having food problems, then my parents got divorced. My mom got engaged after a few years to a man who made pretty good money. I didn't realize it at the time but we were pretty well off. We were never hungry and always had extra snacks. Then he lost his job for medical reasons and they started to fall behind on the bills. We still never went hungry but we didn't have as much as before. We moved out of that house and into a new place without him. We don't have as much as before but we get the bills paid and still have snacks in the pantry. Even when we were struggle and loosing our house mom always bought enough food.
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ReplyDeleteAmerica has been built up over the years as being one of the greatest countries in the world, if not THE greatest country, but when issues such as mothers sending their children to school hungry arise, we are being shown into a new light. My family hasn't has any issues with hunger or not being able to feed each other, but it has reared its head before, such as when my dad had to go into surgery for testicular cancer. This is an issue that I may not have major experience in, but I know it could be a major issue later if not now.
ReplyDeleteI started thinking about the fact that this could become a problem later, and it really hit home for me. I know that what I dream of doing isn't going to make me a millionaire, and that starting out will be the hardest part. If I get to do what I want, I'll love my job but that doesn't mean I'll be taken care of.
DeleteI also thought about it affecting us later, and that made me think of when my dad quit his job as a teacher at sacred heart because he was looking for a job at Central, and how we were really scared that there was a possibility of him not getting the job. How if he didn't get the job, we would have nothing and we would go to bed hungry for quite a while. THAT hit home for me as well.
DeleteWhy should we pay prisoners who are in there for a terrible reason and pay for there food when we can help with the people out in the streets. We pay millions of money for people that are in prison when we can do something better for the homeless get them shelter and a place were we can feed them. I know that Casey's when people don't buy some food they throw it away shouldn't that go to the homeless?
ReplyDeleteWhile I do agree about the prisoners thing, but there is also the facts that the money isn't just going to the prisoners, but don't you think that if we moved some of the money from prisons into different "change" groups that it would be of better use? Just so the prisoners don't get riled up.
DeleteIt is sad to think about all the hunger that is just right among us. It really opens your eyes to what we take for granted. Just being able to open the snack drawer and grab something out whenever i want is something that I need to start being way more thankful for. America really needs to open their eyes to this too. It is ridiculous how much food is wasted in the average house and in restraunts.
ReplyDeleteTravis, I agree with you there is a lot of food wasted in restaurants and at house holds. I know Casey's and many other gas stations and fast food restaurants waste a lot of there food if nobody buys it.
DeleteThe most surprising stat to me was the fact that one in six Americans go hungry. I know that there are people who are hungry in the US, but I often forget how active starvation is in America. I have always been told that America is the greatest country on the earth because of democracy and freedom. I think this idea that America is so great is blocking most Americans ability to see the major problems that arise in our country, such as hunger. I think if more people concentrated on helping make more Americans aware of the constant hunger, more people would help the hungry and this problem would hopefully get smaller.
ReplyDeleteJD, I agree that people in America often forget about the problems of hunger. I think that if we want to solve this problem we will have to come together and beat this issue as a country. The idea that America is the greatest country is debatable, but if we can solve our problems like hunger, we can prove our greatness beyond a doubt.
DeleteReading this really makes you realize how lucky many of us are to never have to wonder when our next meal is coming. Due to this lack of food issue, adults are reaching out to food stamps to support their families. It makes sense that the bigger cities such has California, Illinois, and New York have the highest participation in food stamps. Because these cities are so big and due to the atmosphere they live and everyday life this is obvious. To qualify for food stamps you have to make $31,005 for a family of four.
ReplyDeleteJera i completely agree with you about how we dont realize how lucky a lot of us are. As you said, most of us dont worry about what our next meal is or if we might even have a next meal. I think some of us need to be a little more appreciative of what we have.
DeleteReading this article made my heart go out to people with this problem. The strangest, and saddest, part was that most of the people the article talked about had jobs, cars, and houses, but they had to constantly worry about keeping their kids fed. Hunger is not a problem that commonly comes to mind when thinking about the U.S. and that lack of awareness is it to be an even bigger problem. Without being aware of the problem, nobody can fix the problem.
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DeleteI absolutely agree. Most people do not realize the US is starving and I believe this is so because obesity is increasing prodigiously. I believe these two go hand-in-hand because of the increasing fast food locations. It is cheaper one night to pay $6 and order off the dollar menu at McDonalds than to spend $20-45 on a healthy, home-cooked meal. And because we are trading quality for quantity we are paying for it with our health.
I like the point you had about the lack of awareness. I don't think people know enough about it to really make a change. Everybody sees it in different places and feels for it but in America people think there is no problem with this and there is.
DeleteAfter reading "The New Face of Hunger," it's very startling to see a moderate percentage of Americans still starving, even with being one of the most industrialized and technology-advanced countries; we are still facing the same problems undeveloped countries have. Most Americans don't have a clue this is an issue in modern-day USA, but by raising awareness there may be a solution to America's hunger.
ReplyDeleteI knew from your preparation in class, and noting this article was about hunger, I would have a hard time fighting back tears. While reading this article I couldn't help but remember my childhood and what life was like living without my mother; we were all hungry. Day-in and Day-out we fought for food, and on those long summer days we would get in trouble for eating breakfast or lunch because whatever was in the kitchen my father planned on using as supper and would not have been cooked until he finished his second job at 9p.m. My new life has improved and I have spent my days feeding those who cannot.
ReplyDeleteI think that this article is showing really how bad this problem is in America. Everybody says we need to help people is other countries and this article clearly shows we need to help our own. The story I found most interesting in the article is the single mother that got the money and made a food garden out of it and taught herself to go find food for her family. Most people just buy the cheapest food they can find that is not healthy and this family is putting health first in all the problems they are having.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Cortney. I found that the single mother taking her children to find there food was astonishing and surprising because you would not suspect that you would think that they would take advantage of the food stamps and spoil themselves but end up not doing so. She ends up helping her kids stay healthy even though they are struggling.
DeleteAfter reading this article, it makes me sad for all the people in America who are going hungry; but it makes me even more sad for the obese people in america. With so many people starving each day it seems nearly impossible for people who are struggling nearly as much to become obese. There is such a variety of people in the United States its hard to wrap my head around it.
ReplyDeleteI agree Harrison, all of the obese people in America today is changing the values that we have and who we are as people.
DeleteMakenzi C
ReplyDeleteMany American's feel that America is number 1. We often feel that we are the model for all other countries, and if they aren't like us we must help them. This article proves why America needs to focus on Americans. We have problems too, and the fact that so many people are struggling to get food is unacceptable. Now, I don't think the government should just hand out food here and there, but I think there needs to be more programs open to people with food insecurities that will teach them how to get the most out of your money, like how to plant gardens.
I agree with your point that many Americans feel that we are simply better than other countries, and I think that that mentality contributes to our poverty problem. We are ashamed of our problems, so we ignore them and hope they go away. We then instead focus our energy on being the savior of all the other countries, who we believe to be less fortunate and in need of our charity and democracy.
DeleteNash J W6
DeleteI agree with your point that America doesn't prioritize Americans first. We spread our attention and funds around the world without fixing our own internal problems.
After reading through this article I have realized that there is alot more people who are under food stamps than you may think. I think it is very shocking to see that so many people are under food stamps. So many people dont have the luxuries most kids have. Many kids struggles like one part of the article said a boy goes to school without breakfast with his mother hoping he would eat the free breakfast provided for him. Personally, it saddens me to see this happening to America. This is a huge issue in America today.
ReplyDeleteHaley, I agree with you. We take so many things for granted. Some kids have nothing. We should always take time and be grateful for what we have, and try to give back to those who don't.
DeleteI never realized how much the hunger problem has changed over the years. We think of it as homeless people scrounging for food but now a days its people with seemingly normal lives that pretty much have to ration their food so they know they'll have enough for a month or so. And they can't just tell their kids "sorry, we can't eat tonight because we ate too much yesterday." I think it's sad that we have so many people starving in the riches country in the world.
ReplyDeleteI think it's not only interesting how, as Greene brought up, people don't care about things that don't affect them, but this raises a topic I find more interesting. How we care about things that don't affect us in OTHER countries more than things that don't affect us in OUR country.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a good point!
DeleteThe issue of hunger in America has always taken a backseat, since the kind of hunger we deal with here is not an obvious one. Here, those who go hungry don't live in destitute conditions or eat tree bark. Here, people have houses, cars, phones, jobs, and a seemingly middle class life. The most interesting thing to me in the article was how these people appeared to be living normal lives. I think that the outward appearance of people who get food stamps and eat at food drives is probably the biggest reason why the issue is rarely addressed.
ReplyDeleteYou never realize how many people go without food until articles like this are brought up. Grace C. made a really great point about how these people are, on the surface, look like they are living normal lives. I also feel that if people who are suffering from this issue had a different appearance, like the pictures you see of people that are in the same situation in other countries, then this issue would be more widely addressed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kirsten's point on how this topic isn't more widely spread. If it weren't for my APUSH teacher then I would not know a thing about how hunger has become even worse. We need to change the wages in jobs so people can support there families.
DeleteAs a Cashier/ Courtesy Clerk at Dillions, I see families come in with WIC and Food Stamps. I have been scanning and bagging items for these people and I have seen instances where people can not pay for the food or they have to put back certain items. We have a stereotypical image in our head about what people should look like. Looks are not always a direct indicator of wealth or social status. We only see what we want to see. It is easier to see in other countries because it doesn't affect us, but when it hits home we are shocked because its not as "common".
ReplyDeleteI believe it is very sad when we read articles about hunger, and how people live off very little money. I find it very surprising that the U.S has increased its hunger rates by over 25% since around the 90's. The U.S. is supposed to be one of the richest countries in the world, yet we have people on the streets begging on the streets for food. The U.S. isn't the only country with this problem, this is a worldwide problem.
ReplyDeleteReading this article is heartbreaking because I know that there are so many more people in the world than just in this story. It is sad how many kids come to school hungry and don't have food to go home to at night.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more! people are hungry all around us and we don't even know. it makes me feel horrible about the things I complain about on a daily basis that are so simple and taken for granted.
DeleteThe more I read of this article, the more I realized how damaging stereotypes are when it comes to complicated issues. When most Americans think hunger, or food insecurity, they think skinny minority. They don’t think overweight white people. This preconceived image prevents people from seeing the real face of the problem, as well as what needs to be done to solve it.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, it makes me mad for the people who are left feeling hungry. It also makes me appreciate my life and what I have. I don't want my children to go hungry and have to scavenge for every last meal. I would feel panicked and sad that I couldn't feed my own kids. But yet some of the hunger is classified in the obese section. I don't understand how you can be obese and be starving at the same time. Hunger is something worldwide and It is something that is hard to fix in a short amount of time. - Montre, R
ReplyDeletereading an article about something i know nothing about personally makes the idea hard to grasp. Personally I've never known hunger, the feeling i get when i haven't eaten Doritos in a while is not hunger. People are hungry right here at home I don't have to travel millions of miles and visit foreign counties to find it and yet i do nothing about it to help and it makes me feel =bad about my selfish ways I call normal.
ReplyDeleteNash J W6
ReplyDeleteI understand that hunger is a problem in certain areas of America, but I didn't feel that this article really expressed this. It says that its possible the eat well cheaply in America, but it takes know-how. This makes it seem that people don't eat well simply because they aren't smart enough to.
After taking vacations to some bigger cities, it's heartbreaking to see all the homeless and hungry people on the streets. We all complain and are greedy when it comes to possessions, and I think I can speak for everyone in this class, in that we have never experienced the agonizing pain of never knowing where are next meal will come from day after day. We complain about gross school lunches, when compared to the rest of the world ( and a TON of people in our country) we are so so lucky and blessed.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting. I think that world hunger stems of survival of the fittest. Natural selection will take course. The smartest, the richest, the most healthy humans will take the food and use it. But the impovrished people will not be able to get the supplies needed to nourish their bodies in a healthy manner.
ReplyDeleteI can not believe that there is so much world hunger in the united states. I mean 1 in every 6 Americans go hungry. I think that the most eye popping stat in this article. I cant imagine the thought of having to wonder where your next meal will come from or having to decide whether to pay the bills or pay for food to feed yourself and family.
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