Those in our community who struggle with hunger aren’t always who you think they are. That’s something we say a lot at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, and we see the evidence all around us.
A recent study by Feeding America shows 46.5 million people in the U.S are served each year by its nationwide network of 200 food banks including Atlanta’s. Those served include 12 million children and 7 million seniors. That’s 1 in 7 Americans who turn to food banks each year for assistance.
In Atlanta, the report shows, more than 755,000 clients a year rely on our 600 partner agencies for food assistance across our 29-county service area. These are working families who just can’t make ends meet. These are folks struggling with medical issues and choosing between a doctor’s visit or prescriptions and the food they’ll eat that night. These are our neighbors who have to decide if they’ll pay the electric bill or buy food.
The Hunger in America study shows that each year, about 76 percent of the people served by the Food Bank have to choose between paying for food or utilities. A full 79 percent of households surveyed reported using multiple strategies for getting enough food, including eating food past its expiration date, watering down food or drinks and pawning or selling personal property.
That’s a lot of energy and time spent trying to cover the basic need of getting enough food to eat.
This month is national Hunger Action Month – a great opportunity to once again raise consciousness about ending hunger in our community.
Many of us disagree on the causes of hunger, but we can all agree we want a prosperous economy, a strong workforce and a good education system for our kids. So I would say that if we truly want to prepare our future workforce, build into our kids the muscle they need to succeed in life, and nurture a community that fosters growth and prosperity, we need to feed people.
Food is not only a basic need, but a transformational tool to bring communities together to create, grow and develop a healthy place to live, work, succeed and enjoy.
Not having enough food is a distraction that keeps people from doing the things they need to do to get up on their feet and stay there. If they can’t get basic needs met adequately, they won’t have time to work on things that could truly better and improve their lives in lasting ways.
So food is that tool. Improving access to food is the key to helping the larger community succeed and prosper. And helping get more food into the hands of those who need it truly makes a measurable, visible difference — not just in the lives of those who feel fed, but in the fabric of our neighborhoods, schools, municipalities, governments, leadership and community.
Hunger is an issue that, unlike others, collaboration and collective effort can truly change and even fix. We here at the Food Bank see progress every day. It is an issue where a community can come together and make a real difference.
In honor of Hunger Action Month, I urge you to look at the ways you can help improve food access throughout metro Atlanta. Support your local food pantry, come volunteer with us, make a donation and help raise awareness that having enough food truly matters.
Coming together as a community, we can get people fed, and we can look forward to seeing the progress that comes when hunger ends.
