Throughout all the nutrition courses I have taken, I’ve realized that I want to develop research and communicate information to eradicate global poverty and enhance food quality and nutrition. I was aware that hunger existed, but not to that extent as I have learned now.
Most Americans may find it hard to admit that lots of people in the US are experiencing any type of food insecurity. Some previous administrations have somehow said or led its people to believe that poverty is under control. Everyone understands what Hunger is, but some do not even realize it is there. So, its concept has faded, along with the millions of people who no longer receive government’s assistance.
Thousands of people living in the US are silently starving themselves. Poverty in the US is defined by the cost of food. Lack of nutritious food affects current health, physical, mental and social development.
There are more than 140,000 non-profit organizations that are involved in providing food assistance to people that need it the most. However hunger continues. The reason? They all seem related to a direct result of government policy. Just last year it was reported the high numbers of poor working people were looking for government assistance and standing on lines to feed their families.
Programs has been developed and implemented within the US. These programs help meet food needs among people who qualify. Since the last recession the US faced, there has been more demand for these programs. We got to advocate prioritizing policy and personal investments in food systems that grow and market healthy foods on a local level.
Health Nutrition policies has definitely made changes in the past years. Good health and health care are essential to the well-being and stability of society and the vitality of families and communities. We need programs and policies that make healthy food more available to the community. Effective policies include actions that enable policy goals to be achieved and therefore should include a means of translating policy decisions into effective programs.
I have decided to do something about this and help eradicate hunger somehow. I talked to the Associate Dean of Food Services to learn more about what Penn State is doing with recover food from the dining halls. They are actually giving these food, that instead of throwing it to waste, they give it to people in need. Even though State College is not on a high demand of people who are starving, there are still few groups that are in need. This not only has to be done around State College, but nationwide. We need to create this awareness and create better health policies to eradicate hunger, because as I said most of us don’t see it as much because hunger is silent.