Katie Stiel
The Paw Print
The publicized image of hunger is often an urbanized, homeless member of society pleading for money, or malnourished children on a television commercial as a famous celebrity requests you pledge $10 a month to end hunger. Hunger within the San Luis Valley does not fit the criteria of urban culture or third world country hunger. Urban poverty and homelessness are visible to the community, where rural poverty and homelessness can go unseen, hidden, and at times unacknowledged.
Did you know that the San Luis Valley’s child poverty rate ranks at 30.5%, doubling Colorado’s average percentage of 17.1%? Alamosa County ranks first in child maltreatment out of 64 counties in Colorado.
In the United States, hunger is not typically caused by lack of food, but rather an absence of nutrition when shopping on a low-income budget. Hunger in the United States and specifically the San Luis Valley is measured by a lack of nutritional calories and by food insecurity. Food insecurity is defined as the inability to consistently provide nutritional food for children, oneself, a family, or community. Food insecurity may result from current public policies, food assistant programs and an economy’s proximity to access food (i.e. food markets, corner stores or community gardens). For example, out of 100 school lunch programs the United States, only 87 breakfast sites and 36 summer food programs are available. One in seven people apply, qualify and receive food assistance from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and half of the percentage are children. 50.1 million Americans struggle to put food on the table.
Hunger Education will help us move forward in our fight to end hunger in the United States. You are invited to rethink food with La Puente’s Hunger Education Week, by learning about food access, food waste, and nutrition.
Visit www.lapuenteevents.wordpress.com and learn more about our upcoming events for Hunger Education Week April 7—12.
Schedule of Events
Sunday April 7 CROP WALK at the Senior Center at Cole Park. Registration starts at 2pm, walk starts at 3pm.
Monday April 8 Screening of A Place at the Table in Porter Hall at ASU, 7pm.
Tuesday April 9 Freedom Writers Open Mic at Milagros Coffeehouse 529 Main Street, 7pm.
Wednesday April 10 Container Gardening Workshop at Milagros Coffeehouse 529 Main Street, 7pm – 8:30 pm
Friday April 12 Welcome to the Table in the SLV Water Conservancy District Conference Room 623 Fourth Street, 5:30pm – 7:00pm.
Weeklong events include hunger & nutrition books on display at the Alamosa Public Library and food waste representation installation at the ASU Student Union.
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