Understanding Hunger-I

According to the Global Hunger Index, 25% of the world’s hungry is in India. What does that mean—being hungry?

Does it mean that some man or woman or child or a large group of people have not eaten, seen food for days together, eyes sunken, skin pressing translucent on the ribs, legs and arms turning into sticks literally, of people dying--a macabre sight that sends a quick “oh my” sigh through your lips?

No, it does not. What it means most often is “food insecurity.” Food insecurity is a technical term to denote that you do not know when your next meal will come from. So you get your lunch, but not sure if there will be dinner, or you have meals for today and tomorrow but do not know if there will be food after that.

So you don’t exactly become emaciated nor do you die immediately, but rather like the sea waves your mind and body ebbs and rises till life is an unending journey of search for the next meal—a fear, a stress, a pain, a pain in joy of having food now and maybe not again, a detachment, an alienation from all other things worldly—just that search for the next meal. But you live, you live. Yes, you live.

In India, we have enough carbohydrates to eat—plenty, plenty of rice. What we don’t have is pulses. We would have had pulses and variety of vegetables, if instead of growing only single cash crops, we spared some land for veggies and for other crops. If you want to read more on Hunger facts in India, do read Oxfam India reports here.

Wish we read more about Gandhi's associate J.C. Kumarappa whom Ramachandra Guha fondly refers as "The Green Gandhian." Try his book on "Why the Village Movement." He writes on how each village can set aside land to grow crops for the village to be nutritionally self-reliant. If you are in Sevagram, do visit collections his works and experiments at Magan Sangrahalaya (you can visit the site here).

And those who think only India or the Global South suffers from hunger, let me state the facts. I have spent many years in New Mexico, United States and had the opportunity to work for the New Mexico Collaboration to End Hunger through University of New Mexico's Research Service Learning Program. At the time I was working, every 4^th child was hungry in the state and it was one of the most food insecure states in the country. 

This young man who served with Food Not Bombs told me how as a child he would tighten his belt at night so he would not feel the hunger pangs, about the food he would receive at the Sunday church, and how, since, he wore donated clothes, people did not know that he was very poor and had no food to eat. And I heard stories of children who fainted at school on Monday morning. You see, children got free meals at school during school days but on weekends had no or little food. For more stories on Hunger in New Mexico, please click here.

One never knows looking at a child if s/he is hungry! S/he does not need to look ragged, or skin and bones or dirty. If s/he is unable to focus, loses energy rapidly, does not play much, is irritable and crabby, you may want to check is s/he is food insecure—chronically hungry.

How do we feed the hungry? In India, I have noted that people sometimes give old, stale leftovers away. I have heard the excuse—oh, they will eat it and that way this food won’t go waste.  In United States, I saw food programs where the hungry received food packets containing packaged and processed food items and high sugar foods. These food items have the potential to create havoc with the hormones and digestive system. Are we giving food to just give food or are we “feeding” the hungry?

The best policy is to give fresh, warm meals to the hungry. That nourishes the mind, the body, and the soul. The joy of preparing meals with love and serving them with enthusiasm and personal care is an unmatched feeling. Of rolling fresh chapattis, or bringing rice to boil, of carefully preparing the dishes—spice when you need it, of care that it does not overwhelm a several times hungry stomach, that it is nutritious without being bland, a prayer that this food would warm body and soul. 

In United States, Bread for the World is doing some great work and in New Mexico, I have witnessed with admiration the efforts of Project FeedHood, Roadrunner bank, and the Bread New Mexico to feed the hungry. In India, while there are many groups, the one that I have personally watched in action is Mata Amritanandamayi Ashram's efforts to provide warm, fresh meals for the hungry and homeless. For more info, please click here.

The point is, just because somebody is poor we don’t need to give them “poor” food—“Oh they are poor. They can eat this!”  Just because they are poor does not mean their tongues don’t have taste and their heart has no soul. Give them food that satiates your stomach and brings a smile on your lips and energy and focus to your brain. That would help them find a job or keep a job, focus in the classroom, dream and aspire. That would help 25% of the world’s population to not worry where and when their next meal will come from.

Do you know of a place that serves warm, fresh food to the hungry? Or do you serve the hungry? Please let me and our readers know about it.

This week I had the honor of writing a guest post on "Etiquette of Volunteering" in Rachna Parmar's honest and socially-conscious blog Rachna Says. If you want to know more about volunteering, do read the article here.

To learn more about Food Security, click here 
For extensive resources and information on Hunger, please visit www.worldhunger.org 
If you are on twitter, you may want to follow @JosetteSheeran, @FeedtheFuture, @WFP, @Devinder_Sharma

[The issue of hunger is a very complex one. Please watch out for my future posts on how lack of kitchen or gas contributes to hunger, chronic hunger, when poor become obese and  other issues]