LOCAL COMMENT
June 28, 2007
At noon on any given workday, professionals, blue-collar workers and students flood the streets of Michigan cities seeking their lunch. At the same time, thousands of other hungry Michigan residents appear at a local food bank -- also seeking a meal.
More than a million Michigan people -- or about one in 10 -- will rely on a food bank this year. Others will subsist on inadequate food choices that contribute to more serious health issues. Some will just go hungry.
The first hurdle is a lack of public awareness and a denial that such a critical and basic human need is going unmet in a state that has the resources to address it. The second is the difficulty of mobilizing the resources to ensure that everyone who needs help obtaining adequate nutrition gets it.
As Michigan struggles to rebuild its economic infrastructure, it cannot afford to lose the creativity and productivity of a significant portion of its population. Those who are undernourished have difficulty learning, earning and providing for a family.
We can offer educational opportunities to low-income people, but if they are hungry, learning will not be their priority. We can offer job training and career guidance, but if they are hungry, such help will be ignored. We can provide advanced health care to the elderly, but if they are hungry, their health always will be compromised.
Hunger is the first priority when people struggle to improve their quality of life and become self-sufficient.
Although Michigan's economy has been poor for several years, that is not an acceptable excuse for allowing such a large percentage of state residents to go hungry. Programs exist to help Michigan citizens who do not have enough food, but those programs often go untapped or fail to reach many people in need.
The fastest, most direct way to reduce hunger in Michigan is to optimize, improve and expand national nutrition programs available to people in Michigan. More dollars are available to provide millions of additional meals to people in need -- through Food Assistance, Women, Infants & Children (WIC), school meals and senior/childhood nutrition programs.
Recognizing, however, that government programs cannot fully address all aspects of hunger, investing in and strengthening the private/nonprofit food service delivery network would result in localized, volunteer-based services that help engage citizens in community-based solutions to end hunger and poverty. Finally, taking local action in each of our communities would have a significant positive impact.
Who should take action? Everyone can play a role by advocating for the issue in their own communities, holding local government officials accountable, engaging schools and community organizations and supporting nonprofit groups that help the hungry.
When such a basic need as hunger is not met, Michigan wastes scarce dollars on job training, educational programs and health care initiatives. We cannot afford to ignore hunger.
JANE MARSHALL is executive director of the Food Bank Council of Michigan.