[Today is post #9 in our annual, summer Guest Writer Series. Note that the opinions expressed may or may not be held by the Intramuralist.]
How can so many people be going hungry in a country that throws away so much food?
When we think about hunger, our thoughts typically jump to third world countries. And world hunger is an important issue. But hunger is an epidemic right here at home.
The statistics are staggering: 48.1 million people in the United States are food insecure. I say food insecure instead of hungry because we’re all a little bit hungry from time to time. Food insecurity means insufficient access to enough food to live a healthy active lifestyle. And that’s 1 in 7 people in America, the world’s only “superpower.”
Even worse, that number includes 15.3 million children; 1 in 5 children in the United States of America does not have enough food to eat. And a child who doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from has such a harder time succeeding in school and growing up to become a productive member of society. They are doomed to a live a life of poverty through no fault of their own. They just lost the lottery of what zip code into which they were born.
But here’s the kicker: this country throws away 40% of the food we produce, over 35 million tons of food annually. Over 1 billion pounds of fresh produce are plowed under each year, never harvested. This would be enough food to feed everyone.
Read that again. The only thing we need to do literally to end hunger in our entire country is to quit throwing away food that could still be eaten by someone in need.
Fortunately, there is already a network of two hundred food banks and tens of thousands of food pantries that will do the hard work of distributing this food to people in need. They currently distribute 4 billion meals per year. But they need another 4½ billion meals. And we’re throwing that food way.
To clarify, a food pantry is a room at a church or community center where a hungry person can get a grocery sack of food to take home to their family. A food bank is a large warehouse that collects food by the truckload and keeps the food pantries supplied. When you support a food bank, you are supporting hundreds of food pantries.
And let’s clarify one more thing: those dates on the sides of packages don’t mean very much. Most call them “expiration dates,” but there isn’t anything that “expires.” Except for baby food, there is no USDA or FDA standard for food product dating. It’s more of a “freshness date,” in that manufactures want that food to be at its very best condition when you eat it, because they want you to buy it again. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with it the day after that date. So I call it the “donate date.” Food banks know how long food is safe to eat past those dates.
What can you do to help? It will take three things to end hunger – food, time, and money.
Wherever you buy groceries, ask what they do with outdated product or gently dented cans. It is a crying shame for that food to be thrown away. Patronize those who donate them, or keep after them until they do. Meat can be frozen on its package date, is still safe to eat, and can be donated. Fresh produce is usually pulled when it starts to turn, and food banks and pantries would gladly sort through it to rescue what is still good. Not only will the store be helping a great cause, it will save them disposal costs, and they get a special tax deduction donating food for hunger relief.
Food banks typically have a few dozen staff and need thousands of volunteers. And pantries are always thrilled to have additional help.
Feel free to support my food bank. But I’d love for you to support your food bank. For us, every $1 contribution provides 5 meals for people in need, which means $20 provides 100 meals, and $200 provides 1000 meals. For $150, you can feed a child every weekend for the entire school year.
If you’d like to learn more about hunger, visit my food bank’s website, riverbendfoodbank.org. To find your local food bank, go to feedingamerica.org.
But this is not like cancer, asking for your support in hopes of finding a remedy someday. We already know the cure. All we need to do is to commit to never throwing away food that can still be eaten by someone in need.
Together we can solve hunger. ™
Respectfully…
Michael P. Miller
Executive Director
River Bend Foodbank