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12/11/2004:

"Hunger in America"

by Anuradha Mittal
December 10, 2004 marks the 56th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which established universal standards and aspirations for human dignity. Inspired by the belief that human dignity requires freedom of expression and freedom from poverty and hunger, the UDHR proclaimed the interdependence and indivisibility of civil-political and economic-social human rights. Regrettably, 56 years later, original commitment to human rights interdependence remains in rhetoric only. The U.S. is no different.

Today, as the U.S. integrates the language of "human rights" into international diplomacy and politics, it continues to spurn social and economic human rights guaranteed by the UDHR. The United States faces a hidden epidemic. It is striking Americans of every age group and ethnicity, whether they live in cities or rural areas. And despite the diversity of targets, those suffering in this silent epidemic have two things in common: they are poor or low-income, and they are increasingly going without enough food.

Although politicians talk about "poverty in America", decision-makers avoid specifically mentioning the growing, and often deadly problem of hunger. George McGovern said in 1972, "To admit the existence of hunger in America is to confess that we have failed in meeting the most sensitive and painful of human needs. To admit the existence of widespread hunger is to cast doubt on the efficacy of our whole system." Three decades later, evidence indicates that the existing system is failing a vast number of Americans.

A look at the United States reveals a wide gap between the goal of universal access to adequate nutrition, and the reality of hunger that plagues millions in this country alone. The number of hungry people in the United States is greater now than it was when international leaders set hunger-cutting goals at the 1996 World Food Summit. The pledges by United States government leaders to cut the number of Americans living in hunger-from 30.4 million to 15.2 million by 2010- are lagging behind. An estimated 35 million Americans are food insecure with food insecurity and the necessity of food stamps being experienced by at least 4 in 10 Americans between the ages of 20 and 65. That's 50% of Americans!
Full Article: commondreams.org