Problems Of Hunger In America

Many people here in America are hardworking and resourceful, but an insecure economy can have a long-lasting effect on a diverse group of people. One of the greatest manifestations of this is the inability to consistently afford a healthy diet. In a report by done by researchers in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ‘in 2011, 14.9 percent or 17.9 million people in America were food insecure (Coleman-Jensen, Nordic, Andrews, & Carlson, 2012).’ Although many different organizations such as the “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” or the SNAP food stamp program has set out to eradicate hunger, by giving assistance to low income participants, to help them afford food, it does still exist in many different people’s lives, at one point or another. While many other underdeveloped countries have harder times with hunger, many of them, due to socioeconomic difficulties, hunger still causes many problems for different people in America.

Hunger, by definition is: “A feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat (Oxford dictionary, 2013),” and is usually a direct result of poverty and the ability to afford food. Although hard to believe, hunger is an issue that is very sensitive to many people here in America, because it signifies shame to many, from a social standpoint. But statistically, having the national median income of roughly 53,000 dollars annually (United States Census Bureau, 2013), shows that the economy can be very burdensome to many people sometimes, with having added expenditures, like cable and cell phone bills along with your daily gas, electricity, and water bills, and can sometimes overwhelm some people and leave them with empty pockets. For example, Mississippi’...

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... Poverty is known for having some well noted, negative outcomes to those dealing with the issues they are facing. There are many who suggest, that being poor causes people to commit crimes; either out of desperation, or bad-mindedness, some people are thought to break the law. Many people ignorantly assume that criminal activities are some ways poor people in urban areas, survive, and that the underprivileged people are the main cause of the majority of crimes. While there are higher instances of crimes in urban areas, it is only because there is a much larger population compared to that in rural or suburban communities. “The Federal Bureau of Investigations” data consistently shows a steady decline in all major criminal activities since the 1990s, mainly due to, more structure in both the law and police systems in America (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2010).