Hunger in New York City and Beyond

Posted on 22. Dec, 2009 by in Podcast

Jill Lester from The Hunger Project discusses the global food crisis with host Lonnie Isabel. Photo by John Smock.

[audio:http://cdn.journalism.cuny.edu/blogs.dir/60/files/2009/12/20091221_Reporters_Notebook_EP06_BOUNCE_02_small.mp3]

Hunger is surging in New York City and the rest of the world.

Whatever the causes–the global recession, global warming, political turmoil, fuel prices adding to the cost of food production and distribution–this winter has been the season of empty stomachs and malnourished families. More New Yorkers than ever are heading to food pantries for the first time.

According to the United Nations World Food Program, more than a billion people, about one in six, don’t get enough food to be healthy and about 20,000 people die of starvation each day. But–hunger is not confined to South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the two regions with the most persistent problems. Around the U.S., hunger is at a 14-year high and people are using food stamps at record levels. New York City advocates for the hungry say demand at food pantries and soup kitchens has increased 20 percent this year, with many more people coming who had never asked for a meal before. About 1.3 million New Yorkers are “food insecure,” meaning they have no idea where their next meals will come from.

Hunger is more than the absence of proper food. It is the primary symptom of poverty and a soul debilitating condition that deflates a sense of independence and hope for the future. Children particularly suffer from poor health, poor school work, and a sense of hopelessness.

The goal of cutting hunger in half by 2015 now seems unattainable.

In this podcast, Kerry Birnbach, who works on policy research at the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, and Jill Lester, president and CEO of The Hunger Project, working to fight hunger in 13 of the hardest hit countries, talk about the problem and offer possible solutions.

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