Fasting for Hunger

Tomorrow April 6, 2011, I will be joining in the Feeding America Fast. Budget cuts have been proposed that would affect certain Hunger Programs:

Cuts to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) would mean that nearly 81,000 low-income seniors would lose monthly nutrition assistance. Cuts to programs such as The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) will reduce the capacity of food banks and local agencies to distribute food in their communities at a time when demand for emergency food assistance remains at unprecedented levels. Reductions to other low-income safety net programs that help families afford housing, utilities, child care, and other basic needs will only make it harder for struggling families to put food on the table.

-From the Feeding America Blog, March 15, 2011

I encourage everyone to take time this week and think about what other Americans, who are not as fortunate as us, are experiencing daily. Even if we just skip one meal it might help us to see how important all nutrition assistance programs are! I’ve committed myself to experiencing an entire day without food, to better understand what it’s like to be hungry. Anyone that knows me understands just how difficult this will be for me. I had to fast once for 8 hours before I had a medical procedure and I thought I was going to waste away! I was even allowed a clear liquid diet prior to the eight hour fast and all I could think about was all the food that I couldn’t eat. There are many people who are fasting for a much longer time than I am. Mark Bittman who is a food journalist, completed a four day fast, read his blog here.

Do I think this one day fast will make me a better person or American? Probably not, but at least while I am hungry I will think about everyone who struggles with this issue every day and I will have a better understanding of why all of these programs are critical to millions peoples survival.