The BBC reports from Arlington, Virginia on hunger in America:
“The empty bags hide the shame of an American tragedy, a stream of hunger running through this country. These are the people cast aside by coronavirus and capitalism in Arlington, Virginia – one of America’s wealthiest counties…This food pantry [the Arlington Food Assistance Center] has seen a 45% increase in traffic since the pandemic. They give a week’s worth of food, and with more people either having lost jobs, furloughed or having reduced hours, for many of them, it’s the only way they can feed their families….
Food lines are getting longer from coast to coast….A quarter of all children in the United States are facing hunger…Donations are barely satisfying America’s huge hunger problem…only expanding federal food aid programs can take care of everyone in need. The people who are hardest hit are communities of color, households with children and people at the lowest end of the income scale – we are not all sharing this burden equally…We had a problem in this country before COVID started…income inequality, structural racism, inadequate wages, unsteady employment…The pandemic drags on, pushing more Americans to the brink of hunger and homelessness…In the world’s richest country, more of its poorest may start the new year with nothing to eat and nowhere to go.”
Needless to say, this situation should be unacceptable to all of us. It’s particularly absurd and unacceptable given how much food is wasted in this country – something like 30% to 40% of the food supply. The bottom line is we need to fix this, but sadly right now the problem’s actually getting worse, not better.
There are more people facing hunger in America this holiday season than the entire population of Spain.
This is the America you don’t see often. Our BBC report pic.twitter.com/gnPGfqApWW
— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) December 23, 2020
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