Threat of Hunger and Starvation Really Real in USA

Threat of Hunger, Starvation and Malnutrition is Real for African Americans
In the US, it is estimated that 40 percent of edible food is thrown away by households and retailers annually and that food waste equals about 12 percent of the total waste produced in the nation. In total, industrial nations waste about 222million tons of edible food each year, barley less than the 230 million tons of food produced in sub-sahara Africa yearly.

One of the difficult tasks that many African Americans confront in America’s new economic reality besides unemployment is survival at its least common denominator – putting food on the table. A person working full-time at the minimum wage earns $14,500 a year. The official poverty line for a family of three is $17,285. Nationally, more than 30 percent of children live in low-income working families. A large number of these families who earn less than twice the poverty line are African Americans. One in five children in the United States lives below the poverty line.
With the recent natural disasters occurring around the globe, it may be time to consider what impact this may have on the daily living of many across the nation. Tornados across the nations, droughts in China and Europe and Earthquakes as well as floods all have a major impact on what we do here in America, especially with respect to our food supply. There is already a global food shortage, and the economic crisis makes it worse for many African Americans on the lower end of the economic spectrum just to put food on the table.

The fact is that in America, hunger and race are related. In 1991 46% of African-American children were chronically hungry compared to 16% of white children. Moreover, the infant mortality rate is closely linked to inadequate nutrition among pregnant women. The U.S. ranks 23rd among industrial nations in infant mortality with African-American infants die at nearly twice the rate of white infants.
No matter what anyone says, the fact is that the possible of hunger and starvation in America is increasing and African Americans, mainly living in urban areas with little or no knowledge of farming, will be at the greatest risk. Food prices are rising, supplies are very tight and already we have seen some very intense food protests flare up around the globe this year.

The threat of starvation and extreme hunger in America is real. Low-income households already spend a greater share of their income on food per data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2006. Around the globe, Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger and it is estimated that some 800 million people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition. I just wonder what these figures among African Americans are in this current economic climate.


PS: Will add links 2morrow. I wrote this Longhand from Books and GOV. reports.