Poverty and Hunger Around the World
Heather Campbell
heathercampbell@mycwi.cc
Leslie Jewkes
English 102
Sunday, May 5, 2013
MDG 1 - Eradicating Poverty and Hunger
Welcome to my blog! This blog is a complete composition of the work I did for my English 102 project. We were tasked to choose one of the eight Millennium Development Goals as our focus for the semester. I chose eradicating poverty and hunger for mine because I know what it is like to need assistance to make sure you have enough food to last the month. This project starts with a local paper on our issue, so I wrote about hunger in Idaho; what it looks like, who is helping, and what we can do to help. After that, there are two personal writings I did that tie into my MDG; a diary entry from Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games and a haiku. Then you will see the brochure of information I created, some pictures that tie in, and the interviews and letters I did for the local and global papers. That will leave the film analysis paper and the global paper, both on poverty and hunger and the impact they have in our world. Last is the final reflection followed by a combined bibliography for all the writing assignments. This project really hit home for me being a single mother dealing with the struggle to make ends meet every month. I hope you enjoy my work over the past few months. I know I enjoyed the journey.
Hunger in Idaho
College of
Western Idaho
|
Hunger in Idaho
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The problem of hunger
in Idaho
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Heather
Campbell
English 102
011W
Leslie Jewkes
|
3/12/2013
|
It
is hard to know about a problem that you probably don’t see every day, so I am
going to point out that problem. Hunger in Idaho is a growing issue with more
and more people needing assistance to feed their families. Health and Welfare’s
Food Stamp program and the Idaho Food Bank are the two biggest organizations
helping people to supplement their food sources. This paper goes over various
figures about those organizations and how many people in the state of Idaho
need assistance. It goes over the increase of applicants to the Food Stamp
program and free/reduced lunches for children at school.
Heather Campbell
English 102 011W
Essay 1 Rough Draft
February 20, 2013
Hunger
in Idaho
It is hard to miss the commercials for the organizations
promoting helping children by making money donations to help a child in Africa
receive food and clean water. Those children do need our help and donations to
survive, but what most people fail to realize is that there are children and
families going hungry in our own back yards. People everywhere are fighting
hunger. It could be a neighbor, a friend, a cousin, or even a coworker. Hunger
is a growing problem all over the world but what most fail to see is that it is
also a growing problem right here in Idaho. What most also seem to miss is that
it is not just a recent problem, this problem has been going on for a while. What
can be done to help this growing problem? Who is already trying to help and how
are they doing so? What does it mean to be food insecure and in need of assistance?
We are going to explore the problem of hunger in Idaho and what can be done to
help it.
Hunger is not just starving every day; it is being forced
to choose between paying a bill and making sure your children have dinner on
the table. It is not being able to make ends meet and needing assistance to
make sure your family has food every day. People seem to think that it is only
the extreme poor that has problems with hunger. It is not just them. A good
percentage of middle class America is also having problems with hunger. Prices
continue to go up while pay stays the same. Idaho is no different. Dick Shultz,
administrator of the State Division of Health stated “If you look at the
average family income in Idaho, you’ll see the income is quite low compared to
other states. The job market here in not necessarily the high-end job market”
(Abramsky). A study was done in the 1990’s that showed that Idaho was in the
mid-range for hunger nationwide. Less than a decade later, Idaho is one of the
worst for hunger, becoming the sixth worst state in the nation. Ambramsky also
reports that on paper Idaho is thriving. Its unemployment rate is one of the
lowest and it boasts one of the highest populations growth rates for the nation.
The problem is that jobs are not being created fast enough to catch up with the
demand for the ability to pay bills and buy groceries.
People have to supplement the lack of money with
government assistance such as food stamps and non-profit organizations and
charities like food banks. Food Stamps, also known as Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP), is a government funded program that gives people in
need extra money to be used for food items every month. Every six months they
reevaluate each person or family to make sure they still need assistance and if
the amount of assistance needs to change. Food banks are organizations that
accept donations and redistribute what they get to those that are in need. According
to the Health and Welfare, the food insecurity rate in Canyon County alone is
17.7%. Ada County is at 15.1%. In the past three years the amount of people
helped by Food Stamps has gone up over one hundred thousand, although there was
a small decline from June 2011 to June 2012.
Christie Spaeth, a wife and mother of two, was able to give
an inside look of what it is like to need help with getting enough food to
support a family. Mrs. Spaeth is disabled and has been for over 10 years now.
She is unable to work and has a steady income through SSI, or Social Security
Income. Her husband is out of work right now and has been for a while due to
severe back problems and while they are both going to school, it doesn’t bring
in an extra steady income so it gets difficult for them to make ends meet. Mrs.
Spaeth has signed up for food stamps and uses the local food bank location and
other various nonprofit organizations to help get food for her family. When
asked, she confided that she “does not particularly enjoy needing assistance to
help her family, but that is why the programs are there and she is more than
greatly for the help feeding her family”. Many others like Mrs. Spaeth feel
this way. In fact, there are some people that are embarrassed to have to rely
on a program to help get food, but they overcome that embarrassment because it
is necessary.
Mrs. Spaeth and many others would have more problems than
comforts if a bill that is trying to going to go through in Washington D.C. is
passed into law. The bill, which got a full vote from senate, would cut the
SNAP budget by four million dollars and another version of the bill, the House
version, would cut spending by sixteen million (Idaho Business Review). Lisa
Davis, the vice president of public policy for Feeding America, was quoted in Idaho
Business Review to have the standing that “food stamps are immediately put back
into the local economy, which helps farmer, trucking operations and grocery
stores, among others”. The cut would mostly affect the elderly and the children
that are relying on the program. This cut could also cause a decline in the
economy that currently has unseen repercussions. One of the politicians voting
on the bill, Idaho’s own Rep. Mike Simpson was reported to have stated that
“the House version of the bill is more of a necessity than a want” (Idaho
Business Review). The bill is meant to help America start to climb out of our
deficit, but it would cause even more problems for those that are relying on
Food Stamps to feed their families.
The problem isn’t just in the Treasure Valley area
either. Kimberlee Kreusi wrote in the Twin Falls Times-News that Twin Falls and
the surrounding area is also having problems. She reported that an average meal
went up by twenty cents, which adds up to an increase of $220 a year per person.
For a family, that adds up even more and can be a devastated difference. She also reported that in 2010, 17% of
Idahoans all of the state didn’t know where they were going to be getting their
next meal. The whole state of Idaho is in trouble, not just one part or one
city or one county. It is almost a guarantee that someone you know has food
insecurity and is worried about how they are going to feed their families in
the next days.
Another problem that is arising is the rise in students
being eligible for free or reduced lunches at schools. In an AP Regional State
Report done in Idaho Falls, in 2011 nearly 50% of students were eligible to
receive subsidizing lunches. That is a large increase from 2008 when it was at
37%. Even though the increasing number of students receiving subsidized lunches
is helping the schools receive more funding and help, it also shows the
increase in poverty and hunger in the area. There are more that schools are
doing to help hunger with children. They are participating in the Backpack
Program which gives families the opportunity to receive a bag of food with
their children every week that is supplied from the local food bank.
George Prentice wrote in the Boise Weekly in an October
2011 edition that a group of twenty Treasure Valley attorneys were
participating in the Attorneys Against Hunger Challenge The challenge required
them each to live on $30 for a week which boils down to $4.30 a day, the rough
estimate of the budget of one in four Americans. One attorney, Jordan Taylor
with the Idaho State Appellate Public Defender’s Office, was reported to say
that “Our biggest challenge is to prepare healthy and delicious food”. One of
the biggest problems that coincide with the hunger epidemic is that healthier
foods cost more than the less healthy options. As a friend was quoted to say
“why spend almost $4 on a salad when a cheeseburger is only $1”. It does not
help matter that fast food restaurants have their dollar menus with cheap and
quick food, but that food is high in calories and usually smothered in grease.
Healthier foods cost more and as the people in your family grow in numbers, the
less money per person you have to spend. Most families have to go with the
cheaper choice.
AARP reported that roughly 6% of elderly Idahoans are
facing the risk of hunger. 1 in 11 elderly, 50 and over, Americans are at risk
which is an 80% increase in a 10 year span. Elderly are some of the worst
affected people when it comes to hunger. The majority of elderly are on a fixed
income of SSI, SSD, or some kind of retirement or pension which makes it very
hard for them to make ends meet. With the prices of things rising each year but
their incomes not rising with them, it makes things even more difficult. The
elderly have to take part time jobs and odd jobs to supplement their incomes.
They have to seek help from food banks and Health and Welfare and family to
make sure they have food for the month.
The PR Newswire did an article on The Grocery Outlet, a
well known store that sells food items and other household type items at a
discounted price, stating that they did a huge food drive to help feed those
that are facing food insecurity. With their 164,000 stores, they raised just
under $300,000 in a variety of donations to help food banks to help food
organizations in Idaho and a few other states on the west coast. With continued
efforts and donations like this, we could really help the food insecurity that
is growing in our state, in our own neighborhoods. Don’t forget that this isn’t
just a problem for those without jobs or that are in extreme poverty, even
those with jobs are struggling to feed their families.
The problem of poverty and hunger is still growing and
will continue to grow unless we find a way to stop it, or at least help more
than is currently being done. The hunger rate is growing faster with each year
as the cost of living rises but the wages don’t. Poverty and hunger go hand in
hand, work on one and the other will be helped as well. Health and Welfare and
the Idaho Food Bank are doing everything they can to help those in need and
while Health and Welfare is government funded, the Idaho Food Bank needs help.
They need volunteers and donations to keep helping those in need. As it stands
right now, the Food Bank is struggling to keep up with the demand and the need
for help with hunger. We may not be able to solve the problem of hunger
immediately, but we can over time. It will take a few years, but it will be
worth it to see our community in a better place and able to feed their families.
Works
Cited
Abramsky,
Sasha. "Is Idaho The Future?." Progressive 69.9 (2005): 28.MasterFILE Premier. Web.
25 Feb. 2013.
Idaho
Department of Health and Welfare. Facts, Figures, and Trends: 2012-2013.
Kruesi,
Kimberlee. "Report: Hunger Grew in Idaho in 2010." Times-News, The (Twin Falls, ID) 01
May 2012: Newspaper Source Plus.
Web. 25 Feb. 2013.
PR,
Newswire. "AARP Report: Over 6% of Older Idahoans Face Risk of
Hunger." PR Newswire
US 30 Aug. 2011: Regional
Business News. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.
PR,
Newswire. "Grocery Outlet Helps Feed People Facing Hunger." PR Newswire US 16 Aug. 2012: Regional Business News. Web. 25 Feb.
2013.
Prentice,
George. "ATTORNEYS AGAINST HUNGER CHALLENGE." Boise Weekly 05 Oct. 2011:
41. Newspaper Source Plus. Web.
25 Feb. 2013.
Proctor,
David. Media and Public Relations of the Idaho Food Bank. Personal
Communication.
Sean,
Olson. "Food Stamp Cuts Could Hurt Idaho Economies, Hunger Organizations
Warn." Idaho Business Review
(Boise, ID) (n.d.): Regional
Business News. Web. 24 Feb. 2013.
Spaeth,
Christie. Personal Communication Interview.
The
Associated, Press. "More Idaho Students Qualify For Free School
Meals." AP Regional State
Report - Idaho (2012): Newspaper
Source Plus. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.
Personal Writings
The first is what I believe would be a diary entry from Katniss in The Hunger Games. The second is a haiku I wrote.
Dear Diary,
I went hunting with Gale again today. We managed to get a
couple of squirrels and birds today. I even found a patch of wild strawberries
to trade in town. I was able to trade my half of the catch for some bread and
even some meat for supper. Prim’s goat is still giving us a good amount of
milk. I took half the milk to the market as well. It’s hard to get good food
here in District 12, unless you are one of the well off families or have good
stuff to trade for it. The Reaping Day is coming up this week. It will be
Prim’s first time in the Reaping and she’s been having nightmares about it. I
keep telling her that it won’t be her, not with me and Gale and many other kids
having their names in so many times. I counted up how many times my name is in
the drawing this year with having to get help with food from the Capital. I
often wonder if the closer districts have this much trouble with feeding their
families, or if it’s just here on the outskirts. I wonder if it’ll ever change
and get easier for us. Maybe someone will stand up for us. I better get some
sleep, going hunting again tomorrow.
A Little Help
People
hungry now
Kindness
is needed to help
A
small change means hope
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Questions and Answers
Interview with Dr. Jan Rivero from Stop Hunger Now
Dr.
Rivero,
Thank you so much for the fast reply and being willing to help
with my paper. Email will probably work best for me as my schedule isn't very
solid right now. I saw on the Stop Hunger Now website that your organization
has helped 76 countries with food. How were these countries chosen, and is Stop
Hunger Now planning to continue branching out and helping more countries? I'm
aware that the biggest majority of poverty and hunger is in developing worlds,
but is it safe to say that every country has a problem with poverty and hunger?
I may have more questions later, as I am still working on the
research for my paper. Again, thank you for helping me with my paper. It is
greatly appreciated.
Good morning, Heather,
To answer your questions:
We do not choose countries per se. We choose organizations that
are operating internationally, though we track the countries they are in. Those
organizations must submit an application to receive our meals. They have
several criteria they are required to meet in order to be approved. Our
selection process does not mandate which countries are served, so it is safe to
say that our reach is able to extend to more countries. In fact, just last year
we added India to our list. Additional countries are added as applications are
approved.
Yes, I think it is safe to safe that hunger is truly a global
reality and not restricted to developing countries. Of course it is more
pervasive and severe in those countries as opposed to the industrialized ones.
Let me know what other questions you have. I'm more than happy
to help.
Have a good weekend,
Jan
Interview with David Proctor from The Idaho Food Bank
HC: Thank you so much
for taking some time to answer some questions for my paper. I honestly was not
expecting such a quick response so I don't have all the questions I would like
to ask lined out yet. One of my biggest questions is, do you happen to know
about how many people in the Treasure Valley area are unable to provide food
for themselves or their families and how many are signed up with the food bank
for assistance? Another question I have is, is the food bank able to help all
of these families and people with the donations they are receiving or are there
times where they fall short? I will probably have some more questions later if
that is alright, I am still trying to piece together what all I want for my
paper.
DP:
Heather, I’m going to throw a lot of information at you, so tell me if you
don’t get it.
If
you look at the second link I provided, you will see a county-by-county list of
the number of food-insecure people in each one. You can determine how many
counties you want to include in the Treasure Valley and add them up. The
definition of food insecurity is at the bottom of the page you get with the
third link.
The
first link explains how food banking works. You’ll see that people don’t sign
up with us, or with any of our partners. That’s not how food banking works,
except at the holidays when families sign up for turkeys. They get food when
they ask for it, within the limits each partner establishes. But we know from
what they tell us that they can’t meet the need they see. They can’t give
families all the food they need. For direct confirmation, I would contact one
(or more) of our partner agencies – see the fourth link.
I
hope that helps get you started.
HC: Thank you! That
should give me a good start on my paper! Would it be alright for me to email
you again if I have anymore questions?
DP: Of course. Good
luck.
Letters of Inquiry
Letter
to Stop Hunger Now
To
whom this may concern,
My name is Heather Campbell and I am a college student with the
College of Western Idaho. My English class is doing a project this semester on
the MDG (Millennium Development Goals) and the goal I chose is Eradicating
Poverty and Hunger. I have to write a global paper about hunger and was
wondering if I would be able to do an email interview with someone from your
organization for my paper. We technically have to talk to experts in the field,
but I am honestly not sure who could be classified as an expert for this
problem. I was going over your organizations website and I believe an interview
with your organization would be perfect for my essay. Please let me know as
soon as possible if this will be doable for my paper. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Heather Campbell
Reply:
Hello,
Heather,
I am happy to work with you on your project. Please let me
know what will be most helpful to you. If you would like to set a time
for a google hangout or skype I am willing to do that; or we can communicate
via email. Whatever works best for you.
Best regards,
Jan Rivero
Dr. Jan Rivero
University Relations Director | Stop Hunger Now
University Relations Director | Stop Hunger Now
615 Hillsborough Street, Suite 200 | Raleigh, NC
27603
919.225.7130 cell
919.225.7130 cell
www.stophungernow.org
Together we can end world hunger.
Together we can end world hunger.
Letter to Idaho Food Bank
Hello. I
am doing a project in my English 102 class at CWI and the topic of my project
is hunger. Our first paper has to be local and I was hoping that I may be able
to do an interview either over the phone or through email (email works easier
for me because of my schedule) to ask some questions and get information for my
paper. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Heather Campbell
Heather Campbell
Reply:
Sure,
Heather. Fire away.
David
Proctor
Media
and Public Relations
Friday, May 3, 2013
The Hunger Games Film Analysis
Heather Campbell
English 102 011W
Film Analysis
March 25, 2013
The
Hunger Games
Most people have seen or read The Hunger Games. The reality that most do not see when they watch
the movie is that people are living in the conditions of District 12 all over
the world. The Hunger Games shows an
amazing example of what life is like to when living in poverty and the struggle
that ensues while attempting to feed a family when someone does not have the
money to do so.
The Hunger Games
is the story of a girl, Katniss Everdeen, who does whatever she can to feed her
mother and sister. They live in District 12; the farthest District from the
Capital of Panem, and also one of the poorest. Katniss ends up going to the
Hunger Games, a tournament held by the Capital to keep the Districts compliant
with the laws and as a reminder of the previous war. The game puts 24 children
in an arena - 2 from each District - who have to fight until only one survives
and is crowned the victor. The victor is made famous and is given many gifts, including
food and money.
The beginning of the film shows Katniss slipping through
the outer fence to go hunting. She is breaking a significant law by doing so,
but also illustrates how people will do whatever is necessary to feed their
families. People that live in extreme poverty, experience “the most severe form
of poverty such that the affected people cannot afford basic human necessities”
(Ferrante). Poverty is a problem all over the world and The Hunger Games brings this to the surface. To become a tribute
for the games, a child’s name is drawn. A name can be added more times to the
drawing if one wants to get a stipend of food for their family, but this also
increasing their chances of being drawn. Katniss commands to her sister not do
this; she says “It isn’t worth putting your name in more times” (Ross). In
comparison, this isn’t much different than the real world in that people are
doing whatever it takes to get food. Josette Sheeran, the UN World Food
Programme head stated “Never before has food been so abundant”. Lack of food is
not the problem; the problem is that people do not have the money to get that
food.
District 12 is not the only District that is going hungry
in The Hunger Games. We get a glimpse
of District 11 which looks just as bad as District 12. Another way we know that
District 11 is also bad off is by looking at one of their Tributes, Rue. She is
a very small, young girl that is skittish and she talks about a call that they
use to tell the time when on the farms. She may not say it out loud, but she
implies that food is scarce in her District as well. Over the years the number
of people that live in poverty and go hungry has been increasing greatly. An
article by Stephan A. Schwartz gave some wonderful statistics about a program
called Feeding America. These statistics are:
•
Feeding America is annually providing food to 37 million Americans, including
14 million children. This is an increase of 46% over 2006, when we were feeding
25 million Americans, including 9 million children, each year.
•
That means one in eight Americans now rely on Feeding America for food an groceries.
•
Feeding America's nationwide network of food banks is feeding 1 million more Americans
each week than we did in 2006.
•
Thirty-six percent of the households we serve have at least one person working.
•
More than one-third of client households report having to choose between food
and other basic necessities, such as rent, utilities and medical care.
•
The number of children the Feeding America network serves has increased by 50%
since 2006.
These statistics show
how the problem of poverty and hunger are increasing. These merely show the changes
over the past seven years even though the problem has been around much longer
than that and has been growing for at least as long.
In The Hunger Games
the starving system of selecting and killing tributes is a punishment and
reminder to the Districts for rebelling against the Capital. In the real world
it is the product of misfortune and unfavorable circumstances. No one person is
at fault. The problems of poverty and hunger stem from many areas: food prices
rising, incomes not increasing, the gap between the wealthy and the poor
increasing, and many other areas. In order to fix this growing issue, the cause
must be fixed as well. A problem cannot be solved by only fixing a single piece
of the puzzle.
Work
Cited
"Global
Inequality And The Challenges Of Reducing Extreme Poverty."Sociological
Viewpoints 26.2 (2010): 73-83. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Mar.
2013.
Schwartz,
Stephan A. "The Coming Food Crisis The Social Tsunami Headed Our
Way." Lilipoh 17.67 (2012): 12-21. Alt HealthWatch. Web. 25
Mar. 2013.
Sheeran,
Josette. "Preventing Hunger: Sustainability Not
Aid." Nature479.7374 (2011): 469-470. MEDLINE. Web. 25 Mar.
2013.
The Hunger Games
Dir. Gary Ross. Perf. Jennifer Lawerence. Lionsgate. 2012. DVD.
Poverty and Hunger Around the World
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Poverty and Hunger
Around the World
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A look at the global
problems of poverty and hunger
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Heather
Campbell
English 102
Leslie Jewkes
May 6, 2013
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Poverty and hunger cannot be limited to one country or
one continent, it is a global epidemic that is spreading and becoming harder to
control. The Millennium Development Goals were created to try and tackle eight
of the world’s problems and make them better by 2015; eradicating poverty and
hunger being the first on the list. With help from nonprofit organizations and
those that are willing to donate time and money and food to the cause, poverty
and hunger are being taken care of to the best of those organization’s
abilities.
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Heather Campbell
English 102 011W
Global Paper Rough Draft
May 6, 2013
Poverty
and Hunger around the World
One of the biggest problems in the world right now is not
something that is televised or written about in big newspapers. It is a war,
but it is not the war in the Middle East or the war against terror; it is a war
against poverty and hunger. Poverty and hunger are usually overlooked or
forgotten about because nobody wants to think about them. Ignoring poverty and
hunger is not going to make them go away or make them better. The only way the
world can solve the problem of poverty and hunger is to make it known and do
something about it.
One
of the big questions is, what does it mean to be hungry? Missy McDonald stated
“Hunger means different things. For many people, it means eating nothing
at all for days. For others, it means not having enough healthy food for
years”. It also should be remembered that this whole problem of poverty and
hunger doesn’t stop at hunger, it goes on to malnutrition. Malnutrition means “that
their bodies are not getting the important nutrients they need to stay healthy”
(McDonald) and to go even farther; malnutrition often causes death, especially
in children. “The researchers at Columbia
University's Mailman School of Public Health found that poverty, low levels of
education, and a lack of social support, among other "social"
factors, account for as many deaths as heart attack, stroke, and lung cancer”
(Lippman). Malnutrition can cause many other medical problems and can even be
linked to obesity because more fattening foods and high carbohydrate foods are
cheaper than the healthier counterparts.
Sue Cavanaugh writes “Reducing by half the number of
people suffering from chronic hunger is one of the Millennium Development
Goals, and it is generally believed this goal will be reached by the target
date of 2015”. The Millennium
Development Goals are goals that were put together by 189 countries to try and
better the world. Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger is the first goal of
eight listed by the United Nations Development Programme. The Millennium Development
Goals were started in September of 2000 with the hopes of having reached all of
their goals by 2015.
Jan
Rivero of Stop Hunger Now said “I think it is safe to
safe that hunger is truly a global reality and not restricted to developing
countries. Of course it is more pervasive and severe in those countries as
opposed to the industrialized ones”. It is true that developing countries
suffer the most in the crisis of poverty and hunger. Those countries do not
have the means that the rest of the world has to be able to get what they need.
“People living in extreme poverty cannot meet the basic needs for survival:
they are chronically hungry; have no access to health care, clean water, and sanitation;
have no access to education; and lack shelter.” (Tyer-Viola). Many factors can
lead to living in poverty, it is much more complicated then what is lead to be
believed.
Poverty and hunger is not a black and white, one side or
the other issue. It is not as simple as fixing one thing to solve the whole
problem. “Fundamentally, hunger is caused by poverty. If we want to reduce
hunger effectively, we have to reduce poverty and that requires action across a
broad spectrum” (Chukwumeka). Developing countries do not have the funds or the
means to feed all of their people because they do not have the necessary
resources. There are organizations that are collecting donations and giving
these countries food baskets, but that is only a small fix for a much larger
problem. Governments need to budget better and find what they feel is most
important for their country to start fixing the poverty and hunger of their
people.
As stated before, it is not just developing countries that
have poverty and hunger. Sue Cavanaugh wrote in the same article that “A total
of 882,188 Canadians accessed food banks in March 2012 — a 31 per cent increase
over pre-recession levels in March 2008” and also stated later that
“Researchers estimate that less than a quarter of food-insecure households use
food banks”. That would put over 3.5 million Canadians needing help getting
food for their families. This number is an estimate, but for a country that
most believe to be well off, it is still a staggering number. Cavanaugh also
included in her article that “The last decade saw the global price of food rise
three times faster than the rate of inflation, a situation that led not just to
increased poverty and hunger but also to "food riots" in more than two
dozen countries in 2008 and 2011”. The price of everything continues to rise.
Oil and other fuels are being used faster so they are costing more to use. Gas
prices are continually rising to keep up with demand, but the price of food is
rising even faster than that. The cost of food is rising faster than people can
keep up. Minimum wage jobs cannot support even a single person so people have
to find multiple jobs. The job market is diminishing, making it harder for people
to find work. No jobs means no money which leads to poverty and hunger.
Stop Hunger Now is an
organization that is sending packaged food and other aid to countries in need.
The organization is currently helping 76 countries and will mostly likely end
up helping more in the future. They select organizations that operate internationally;
those organizations submit an application to Stop Hunger Now to receive their
meals. Just last year Stop Hunger Now added India to the countries that they
are serving. Stop Hunger Now has packaged over 97 million meals for all the
countries and people that they serve.
The fight against
poverty and hunger is an ongoing and ever tiring battle, but it can be won.
Poverty is caused by many things and only by fixing the job market, broadening education,
creating stable living environments, access to clean water, and gender and
racial equality can we take control of poverty and hunger. The Millennium
Development Goal to eradicate poverty and hunger is close to meeting its goal
of halving the numbers, but there is much more work to be done. Organizations
like Stop Hunger Now need donations and volunteers to help spread the help they
can give. Donations do not have to be a large amount; even small donations can
help feed a family. Find a local organization and donate time, money, or food;
it could save a family. If the world can help those in need, those in need will
be able to help the world.
Work Cited
Cavanaugh,
Sue. "What's For Dinner?." Canadian
Nurse 109.3 (2013): 22-25. CINAHL
with Full Text. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.
Chukwuemeka,
O. Oteh, and Flora O. Ntunde. "Eradication Of Poverty And Hunger In
Nigeria: Issues And Options For Attainment Of Millennium Development
Goals." Canadian Social Science 7.6
(2011): 109-113. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
"Join the Movement to End Hunger." Stop Hunger Now: Welcome to Stop
Hunger Now. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
Lippman,
Helen, and Laura C. Lippman. "Is Your Patient Sick—Or Hungry?." Journal Of Family Practice 61.5
(2012): 248-253. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
McDonald,
Missy. "Solving World Hunger, One Meal At A Time." Appleseeds 11.3 (2008): 2. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.
Rivero, Jan. Personal Interview Communication.
April 12, 2013.
"The Millennium Development Goals Eight Goals
for 2015." Millennium
Development Goals. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
Tyer-Viola,
LA, and SK Cesario. "Addressing Poverty, Education, And Gender Equality To
Improve The Health Of Women Worldwide." JOGNN: Journal Of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing 39.5
(2010): 580-589. CINAHL with Full
Text. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.
Monday, April 29, 2013
A Journey in Language
I
have always believed English to be one of my strongest subjects throughout my
years in high school and the time I have been in college so far. Coming into
English 102 I discovered that while I am good at English, I still have things
that need to be worked on. This semester has shown me my strengths and
weaknesses and I have learned so much about my writing, research, and also
myself that I know I am ending this semester not only a better writer, but a
better person as well.
This semester we were faced with a project that would
encompass the whole semester and almost everything we wrote was for this
project. When I discovered that we had this huge project that dealt with real
and very serious problems in the world right now, I will admit that I panicked.
My first thought was, there is no way I can pick one of the eight topics and
spend the whole semester writing about it and be able to find information for
all three of the major essays. I was proven wrong very quickly. When it came time
to write the local paper, I found more information than I thought was possible,
and it invigorated me.
I learned this semester that one of my strengths is that
I am able to write argumentative papers rather well. I find that writing an
argument is easier than writing a straight research paper. We did need a lot of
research for our papers though. I am very picky about the research I will use
in my writing because I want to make sure it will fit with my paper. That is
one thing that I learned and had to develop over this semester, and that was learning
how to tell if a source is credible and if it is worth using. I know I can use
the skills I gained for determining credible sources in my future because the
two career paths I am looking at are forensic science and being a curator. Both
of them are research intensive and you have to make sure your information is
correct in every way.
One area that I know I struggle with is citations. I can
never seem to cite sources correctly in text or in the work cited page. I do
believe that I have gotten better at citing over the semester, but I know it
still needs improving. I can never remember all the little rules for citing,
like if there is no author what do you put for the in text citation? I also
seemed to have issues with point of view and context in the beginning of the
semester. In the rough draft for my first essay I put a lot of “you” and other
third person words instead of keeping it broad and more formal. By my third
essay I was able to keep them out fully and keep it a strictly formal essay. I
also had an issue with contractions in my first and second essay and by the
third essay I was able to remember to write the words out fully.
Another thing that I learned how to do this semester that
I found very intriguing was the film analysis. I had read things on the
internet about “deeper meanings” in movies but those were usually conspiracy
theories like “Disney movies have subliminal messaging to make our children
more aggressive or sexually aroused”. I am not saying that these theories are
fully incorrect, but they never seemed to have enough evidence to support the
claim. This semester I learned that movies do have deeper meanings, but they
usually are not as abstract as the theories about Disney movies. I ended up
finding that if you really look at The
Hunger Games, you will see more than just a sick game for the Capital’s
enjoyment, but you can see true poverty and hunger and the striving to feed
yourself and your family and being willing to do whatever it takes to make sure
they have food. There is a real global issue that was brought to light through
a book and movie for people’s enjoyment.
I cannot say that I had this semester easy or that I was
able to pass every assignment with flying colors, because that would not be
true. This semester was a struggle and it challenged everything that I thought
I knew about English and how to write. I learned new things and was able to
improve on things I learned years ago. I was able to work on my weaknesses to make
them even a little stronger. I was able to push myself and branch out and take
steps to becoming a better writer and learn crucial techniques that I had never
thought to be that important before. There is nothing better than being able to
say I struggled, I got mad and I even wondered what the point was; then I
opened my mind, I learned, and I am better for it.
Bibliography
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