As a father of two Louisiana kids, this troubling statistic shook me up tonight.
It’s a horrible thought to come to grips with, especially when you weren’t experiencing things that were nearly this bad in our state. The sad truth is that one in five Louisiana children are hungry. That 20% of our kids are hungry is hard to wrap my mind around. When reading about the incredibly saddening living conditions in third-world countries, you expect to hear these types of statistics.
Maybe I have been oblivious, but my heart is breaking for our kids.
The reasoning for these troublesome statistics, which lead the entire nation, is quite eye-opening. Essentially, it all boils down to one thing. Money. While Louisiana leads the nation when it comes to malnourished and hungry children, Louisiana also has one of the lowest wage statistics in the country.
Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, broke it down best by saying, “Hunger in Louisiana and America is not about food access, it’s about affordability. When people don’t earn enough to pay for their rent, to pay for their childcare, to pay for their gas to get to work, they don’t have enough money left over for food.”
What he said next really opened my eyes, saying, “And people can say they are against hunger all they want, they can do turkey giveaways, but if they oppose raising the minimum wage, if they oppose increasing the cash food safety net for low-income people, we need to be clear they’re pro-hunger.”
The sad truth is that those who generally oppose wage increases are the ones who will never have to worry about providing food for their family.
Hopefully, Louisiana can find a way out of this hole we’ve built for our children.
