A Day of Fast

Today, on November 15th, "thousands of people around the nation will join together in one simple act to help end hunger. On this day people of all ages, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds will" (Oxfam America, 2007) either fast for the entire day or skip a meal. How simple an act no?

This day, the Thursday before Thanksgiving, a holiday in which the act of eating is taken to a level of excess in America, we should reflect, think about global hunger and poverty. Did you know...

• Hunger is considered to be the most extreme form of poverty? You can't even meet the basic human need of food.
• 854 million people across the world are hungry
• One child in every five seconds dies of hunger
• 35.5 million people in the United States live with hunger on a daily basis
• Research shows that preschool and school-aged children who experience severe hunger have higher levels of chronic illness, anxiety and depression, and behavior problems than children with no hunger.
• Countries in which a large portion of the population battles hunger daily are usually poor and often lack the social safety nets we enjoy, such as soup kitchens, food stamps, and job training programs. When a family that lives in a poor country cannot grow enough food or earn enough money to buy food, there is nowhere to turn for help. ( facts from - www.bread.org)

Hunger is a very personal thing to me...having visited India on a regular basis, I have seen first hand the tragedy that is a person not having food to eat, its like the person is just a shadow, half of themselves. Food is such a basic need that I as a member of the human race cry at the idea that there are people out there who do not even have this, who have nothing to sustain themselves, that they starve to death.

Just think, in this country, in the middle-class, when we are hungry, we go to the kitchen, we visit the store, imagine not having that option, living with the pangs in your stomach, seeing food but not being able to touch it, the need for food grows but you can't assuage it - how terrible is that, so painful, like torture. Next time you're hungry, instead of going to the pantry, simply wait for a mere two hours as your hunger grows and just suppose that was your day to day living - how awful a feeling it is!

Please consider skipping a meal, fasting for a day, or even just not wasting food but eating everything that is on your plate the next time you eat, in honor of those who are hungry. Perhaps the money you save from missing a meal can go to a food charity and fight against this horrible epidemic and we can foster a more hopeful future.

Charities Combatting Hunger (just a small sampling of the numerous good people out there trying to help)
www.oxfamamerica.org
www.secondharvest.org
www.capitalareafoodbank.org
www.feedthechildren.org