We eat while others go hungry

‘According to recent estimates, over 34 million people in the U.S., including 9 million children are food insecure.”

That quote comes from a dairy industry report on hunger. It also says, “The USDA defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life.” I simply call it hunger. Almost 10 percent of Iowans live that way. That means 300,000 people, as unbelievable as it sounds. They look like us. Every day, you and I talk to one of them. Most are employed in low paying jobs. They work, despite what conservative members of the Legislature and the governor seem to believe. Their solution is “get a job.” Most hungry have one. What they don’t have is food.

It is not just knee-jerk liberals who understand that.

A dairy industry publication says,

“America’s farmers wake up every day with one purpose, and that is to feed people. We want all Americans to have access to culturally appropriate, affordable, nutrient-rich foods, including dairy foods, to help reduce food and nutrition insecurity and improve health equity. And that commitment has never been more critical.”

Not all Iowans are indifferent. Since 1983, the Free Lunch Program in Iowa City, a nonprofit organization, has, six days a week, served lunch to those who need one. FLP survives on donations, grants, and volunteer workers. I spend a couple hours there regularly, as part of a Johnson County Democrats group. It, like some church groups, gathers a couple dozen of us for two shifts. The first prepares the food and the second serves it. My specialty is slicing radishes and tearing lettuce for salads. I would ask the governor to come help, but only to tear the lettuce. She could cut herself dealing with the radishes.

Hunger is diminished for some by food pantries which provide food to take home for preparation. Free Lunch is currently the only one serving a hot meal. Obviously limited to feeding just a few, it does feed about 700 people a week.

When I volunteered recently, the menu was sloppy joes, salads, hard boiled eggs, potato chips, and ice cream. I was struck by the number of people who said “thank you” or “I appreciate this.’” One man said with obvious excitement, “This the first ice cream I’ve had all year. It was as if he had won the lottery.

Another man who spoke as well as I, a college graduate, came at the end and I asked if I could join him. He had suffered a brain injury and could not work. He said he came as infrequently as he could because he didn’t want to take food from others. I asked him about the other people there. He said most worked, a few had addictions, some were homeless. (I had already figured out that those with backpacks must have all their belongings on their backs. He confirmed that.) These grateful people are not freeloaders, not leeches, as our callous governor thinks. They are like us, but hungry.

For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat.

Norman Sherman of Coralville has worked extensively in politics, including as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press secretary.