Dare to Ask: Can't the nation's hungry just buy a cheap burger?

By Phillip Milano

The Florida Times-Union

Question

Why is there so much attention paid to campaigns to feed the hungry? Who can be hungry in America when you can get a hamburger for less than a dollar?

Mike, 63, Sarasota

Replies

If you're that out of touch, you should go to work in D.C. -- you'd fit right in.

Donald, St. Augustine

I've been in the position where I had to choose between buying groceries or paying rent. I paid the rent and went without food. Many have to make that choice for much longer periods of time. Some are too proud to ask for help, and some, like me, don't qualify but still don't have the wherewithal to buy food. Going hungry has serious long-term health repercussions, so if you have the resources, it's appreciated if you help those who don't.

Robin, 55, female, Westland, Mich.

I work with low-income and homeless families struggling each day to feed their families. With unemployment at more than 11 percent in Florida, we have many families struggling to keep a roof over their heads, and after paying electric and water, there isn't much left for food ... There is no $1 for a hamburger, and the number of hungry children and families is growing.

Debi, St. Johns County

Expert says

It might be fun for a little while to buy cheap burgers all the time to fill yourself up. You could be like Morgan Spurlock in the "Super Size Me" documentary, who did it for 30 days straight, got seriously ill and even hurled in a McDonald's parking lot. He got a reality TV show, which is everything.

"It's possible for $5 a day to fill your belly, say with white bread, but you and your family would get sick and run up health costs. ... And your kids would do crappy in school," said Jim Weill, president of the non-profit Food Research and Action Center in Washington, which works to eradicate hunger. "Same with cheeseburgers. You can fill up for small amounts of money, but you can't function in society unless you get a minimally adequate diet."

And that's assuming you even have enough money for burgers.

About 11 percent of the American population lives near the edge of hunger, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That's about 38 million people, 14 million of them children. And those are the latest numbers, from before the recession.

It's called "food insecurity," Weill said: not having enough resources for a minimally healthful, adequate diet.

Either that, or people eat a lousy diet of cheap, high-calorie food. Or, he said, parents do things like cut their kids' milk with water to keep their bellies full. Or, the parents feed their kids and go hungry themselves.

Still, some people wonder why hungry folks own TVs, forgetting that the TV may have been bought before losing a job, he said.

"Some people, I think, may see campaigns about hunger as inappropriate efforts to improve government programs," Weill said. "But families still need enough resources to participate in the mainstream economy."

ADD OR READ MORE COMMENTS

This is your column. You can help it grow! If you like "Dare to Ask," please call or e-mail your favorite newspaper or web site and urge them to start running it. It's syndicated by Universal Press.

Phillip Milano, author of I Can't Believe You Asked That! (Perigee), moderates cross-cultural dialogue at Y? The National Forum on People's Differences. Visit www.yforum.com to submit questions and answers. Send general column comments to phillip.milano@jacksonville.com. You can also hear his podcasts or watch his TV spots.