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Opinion - Is Food Scarcity Inescapable in the Richest Country in the World?

With so many people starving in the United States, one can only wonder if the situation is avoidable.

By Cohen Harvey, December 26, 2020

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Currently, there is enough food in the world to feed every single person on the planet at least 2500 calories a day. Despite this abundance, however, 2.3 million people in America currently live in what is considered a food desert. Although hunger is and has always been an unfortunate reality of life, the hunger we see today is a figment of our current economic system and isn't a reality we have to accept.

A food desert is a region where people do not have access to the resources needed to supply themselves and their family with a healthy diet. The presence of said food deserts disproportionately affects the working and lower class members of our society. These extremely important members of our society often work more than 60 hours a week to make ends meet and then can't even supply themselves with a healthy and balanced diet, not to mention the 12% of the U.S. population relying on food stamps for subsistence.

In a world with an abundance of food, one might wonder why such a situation exists. Food deserts are undeniably a byproduct of our greedy economic system and can be solved. We clearly can feed everyone and there is no scarcity of food since we produce more than enough food to feed them all. The greatest reason we don't do this is because it is profitable to create artificial scarcity at the expense of human quality of life. Everyone deserves food and anyone with human decency can agree on that, and there is no ethical justification for society to have prioritized wallets over human beings.

Everyone can recall their mother telling them not to waste their food that they had been pushing around their plate because there are starving children in Africa who would be so grateful to receive it. She had a point. Thirty percent of food that is produced for human consumption ends up ends up wasted. This is food that could have gone to those that are starving.

Some might be willfully ignorant to the fact food insecurity is a very real issue in the United States, assuming that because we are a developed country we aren’t afflicted with such a barbaric issue, and say that it is remedied because we have food stamps and soup kitchens. These seemingly noble philanthropic pursuits enable our current corrupt system to keep creating these artificial situations of scarcity which leave people undernourished and hungry.

The mode by which most working Americans sustain themselves cannot work without theft. Because workers produce more than they get paid for in wages, they only end up getting compensated much less for their labour than what it’s actually worth. After being paid meager amounts by their superiors which are barely enough to subside in, they can cash their check and stock their pantries.

Because they were paid pennies on the dollar for the true value of their labor, however, they may not have access to healthy, organic, and non-GMO versions of foods. Since these disadvantaged yet ever-so hardworking Americans cannot stock their pantry with nutritious foods, they are left to consume prepackaged and heavily processed food products being that it is the only thing they get their hands on. This in turn leads to a myriad of health complications down the road and an overall decrease in their quality of life, and hefty medical bills they might not be able to afford.

What makes these people any less deserving of a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life then those born with a silver spoon in their mouth? Does a panhandler not deserve to go to bed with a full stomach, but a trust fund baby who has not worked a day in their life does? Does a hardworking fast food employee deserve to take home food from work as dinner, while some corporate big-wig who sits on their behind all day gets catered lunch with the rest of the office?

Assigning greater societal value to a luckier or more privileged individual over others who may not have been granted the same luxuries is morally absurd, especially when you stop to consider the abundance of food that exists in our world. While we might try to put a Band-Aid on the bleeding gash that is the current state of affairs with charities and welfare, the only true solution is a total rework of the way we distribute food. Eliminating the motive of greed in the way we manage food in the US will in time disappear many of the avoidable hardships and unfortunate situations it has caused and will secure a well-fed, happier and country for all.

Cohen Harvey is an author and frequent contributor for Young Patriots Magazine.