Hunger is not just a feeling of being hungry. Hunger is a disease, a plague that inflicts men, women, and children of every city in every nation throughout the world. Hunger is not just a characteristic of the oppressed or the poverty stricken. Few people realize the severity of the global hunger issue. While some may argue that the hunger population is decreasing effectively, the blatant truth reveals that hunger has remained as much of an issue today as it has several years ago.
Political figures (in America) oppose the idea that hunger is still a serious issue among the nation. They counter the statistics of the growing population of hungry men, women, and children by presenting figures of economic growth and a decrease in unemployment. The Conservative standpoint argues that hunger is slowly decreasing because the economy is thriving and more jobs are opening. The Liberalists defend the government by supporting federal initiatives such as Food Stamps. While this may paint a pretty picture of the hunger issue, the appalling percentages show quite the opposite. Food stamps have been cut back leaving the hungry even hungrier and the adequately fed now victims of hunger.
Organizations such as The Hunger Site, Second Harvest Food Bank, and Freedom from Hunger are just a few of the ways in which people can educate themselves on this growing issue. Annual reports are published through these organizations presenting facts and figures of the hungry population both in the US and globally. Nine million people die from hunger each year. That's about twenty-four thousand deaths each day, and about one death every 3.6 seconds. Three-fourths of all deaths are children under the age of five. In the US alone, thirty-one million Americans suffer from hunger despite the historic economic boom. Almost four percent of American households went hungry, while roughly ten percent were borderline of hunger.
