- . Digg It
- . Sphere It
- . E-mail This
- . Save to del.icio.us
- . Permanent Link
Splitting the Tab for Hunger
We're paying too much to feed the hungry
Last weekend, I went to a barbecue at a friend's house. He said we should feel free to bring something to grill, and that he'd have alcohol, "of course." Something about that "of course" made me buy a little extra food. I showed up with a pound and a half of steak, a quart of potato salad, four ears of corn, two large peppers, a quart of strawberries – and a liter of non-alcoholic lemonade. This was way more food than I could eat. Turns out, everybody else brought more food than they could eat. And my friend had food for us too. It was a lovely party, but I couldn't help feeling bad about all the leftovers.
Something similar is happening on a much larger scale across the United States. A recent study on the economic impact of hunger, released by the Sodexho Foundation, shows that as a country, we're spending around $90 billion a year to cover what researchers call the "cost burden" of hunger: government programs and charities to feed the hungry, plus all the hidden costs like lost work hours, poor school performance, depression, suicide, and other health care needs. Every person in the United States ends up chipping in about $300 a year ($22,000 over a lifetime) – yet 35 million people still go unfed.
The study's researchers, from Harvard, Brandeis, and Loyola, believe that by adding $12 billion to current federal spending, we could feed every single person and shave as much as $60 billion off the total cost. The researchers don't present a specific plan for how to make this happen. Instead, Sodexho Foundation President Steven J. Brady writes, "We hope that this landmark study will help the nation engage in a more public dialogue about the true cost of hunger, and the concrete steps that we can take to make America a hunger-free nation."
Something similar is happening on a much larger scale across the United States. A recent study on the economic impact of hunger, released by the Sodexho Foundation, shows that as a country, we're spending around $90 billion a year to cover what researchers call the "cost burden" of hunger: government programs and charities to feed the hungry, plus all the hidden costs like lost work hours, poor school performance, depression, suicide, and other health care needs. Every person in the United States ends up chipping in about $300 a year ($22,000 over a lifetime) – yet 35 million people still go unfed.
The study's researchers, from Harvard, Brandeis, and Loyola, believe that by adding $12 billion to current federal spending, we could feed every single person and shave as much as $60 billion off the total cost. The researchers don't present a specific plan for how to make this happen. Instead, Sodexho Foundation President Steven J. Brady writes, "We hope that this landmark study will help the nation engage in a more public dialogue about the true cost of hunger, and the concrete steps that we can take to make America a hunger-free nation."
What People Are Saying…
Leave a Comment