Hunger In America

Words: 1069
Pages: 5

Imagine everyday wondering if you are going to have anything to eat. Envision yourself waking up every morning and wondering how you will put food on the table, this is what one in six Americans face everyday. Hunger is an issue that affects 49 million people in the US mainly due to poverty, and there are two main types of it. The least prevalent type of hunger is acute hunger/starvation, which is caused by high profile crises, however this only affects eight percent of hunger’s victims. The most prevalent type of hunger is daily undernourishment, which is often very hard to notice. Undernourishment is a type of hunger in which a person does not get the recommended daily value for months on end. Undernourishment can lead to the slowing …show more content…
In the US hunger has existed forever, however has not become a real issue until the twentieth century. The Great Depression sparked the beginning of countrywide hunger due to the loss of jobs and increase in poverty. The unemployment rate grew to nearly 25 percent causing tens of thousands of people to line up for food handouts and deaths due to insufficient foods were reported all over the country. Then, further events such as World War II resulted in an increase in poverty, leading to even more hunger. In “Hunger in America,” O’Brien states,”The Field Foundation released the report of a team of physicians it commissioned to survey the nutritional status of poor children in the rural south the year prior. The Field team found “severe malnutrition and nutrition related disease” not ordinarily present in the developed world… CBS broadcast a documentary entitled “Hunger in America” that exposed widespread poverty and malnutrition in the south and southwest United States” (O’Brien 7). This quote shows how even in back in the 20th century, hunger was still linked to poverty. Not only in the south, but all over the country people were dealing with malnutrition due to poverty and it took a study to uncover it all. Due to the issues going on in the country, the 20th century hit the US with many economic hardships leading to more hunger. Overall, even all the way from the early 20th century until now, money has been the main difference when it comes to facing hunger or having a sufficient amount of