On Nov. 4, we were all witnesses to the momentous election of Barack Obama, whose simple campaign theme of change fed hope to millions of Americans hungry for new leadership and a reason to become engaged in the governance of their nation.
Millions rejoiced here and around the world as the United States made history and, to a certain extent, redressed it. It was a moment to savor, a moment you knew with certainty you would one day be asked, and able to recall, with utmost clarity.
In cities across the country, a multicultural celebration broke out like champagne corks on New Year’s Eve. People of every shade and every age, the rich and the poor, college kids and high school students, parents and grandparents shouted approval. And when he spoke later that night, Obama gave credit to those celebrants. They, he reminded us, the millions who worked for him, believed in him, and voted for him, and not he, deserved the credit.
In many ways, Obama gave a somber address. He was trying to prepare us for the difficult days ahead.
Our nation, we now know with assuredness, is hungry for change. And our nation, we also know, has millions who are simply hungry.
In 2007, more than 36 million Americans, including 12 million children, lived in homes in which food on the table was not a blessing they could count on with any regularity. These households could be simply listed as “food insecure.” In close to 4 million households, the cupboard was bare, and these families were forced to feed themselves with emergency food assistance at least once if not multiple times during that year, according to figures from Feeding America, formerly known as America’s Second Harvest.
These people are not strangers, faceless and abstract. They are our neighbors, our co-workers and, perhaps, even members of our family.
Hunger’s pain is felt in communities both red and blue, urban and rural, young and old, white, black and brown. Feeding America, which provides nutrition to about 9 million children and 3 million seniors, has charted an increase in poverty and hunger that extends beyond the urban borders and into the suburbs. In 2006, an estimated 4.2 million households had experienced hunger in communities and neighborhoods in which someone could comfortably assume its residents are well off.
Hunger, unfortunately, has no borders.
Hunger has transcended demographic barriers. With the economy in crisis, more people losing jobs, more Americans behind in mortgage or rent payments, expect that many of our fellow citizens — your neighbors, office co-workers, church members — will be forced to use their local food bank to help put dinner on the table.
