这两天，很多人可能都看到了这一新闻。最近美国农业部的一份资料显示在美国，有一千七百万，也就是说14.6%，或是七分之一的美国家庭为没有足够的食物摆到餐桌上而担忧（food-insecure, struggling to put food on the table)。很多儿童会有吃不饱肚子的时候。而且这个数字随着经济危机，失业率的增加还在继续增高。
这条新闻让我震惊。 说起饥饿，吃不饱饭，我的脑子里想象的是中国的三年自然灾害，是非洲的饥民，怎么也不会和美国这个世界上最富裕的国家挂钩，特别是这个贫困人群的数量在美国的人口比例中占到七分之一的比例？简直让我感到匪夷所思。 说起来，人类从在地球出现的第一天起就在为食物而奔波劳作，以前是靠天吃饭，碰到老天不长眼，大旱大涝的年代，人们没有足够的粮食，会有饥荒，吃不饱肚子。。。 随着科学技术，特别是基因工程，水利灌溉，抗病虫害等新技术的进展，科学家研究出优质高产的粮食作物，让粮食产量成倍增长。在发达国家，吃饭早就不成为问题。 美国的农副业在这方面是一直处在世界的领先地位，是个粮食生产和出口大国。 在我的想象中，一直以为美国这样的产粮大国，早就摆脱了还有人吃不上饭或吃不饱的局面，人们只是在为能有健康食品，绿色食品而战。。。 可是这一串串数字，让人不得不相信，在美国这个世界上最富裕的国家，还有很多人在为吃饱肚子而忧愁。 调查表明，这些家庭多是单亲，低收入家庭，而且黑人，拉丁裔占很大的比例。里面有很多是儿童和怀孕的妇女。 美国是没有足够的粮食吗？是没有钱吗？ 答案很清楚，都不是。那这些粮食，这些钱都哪里去了？ 一个世界上最富有的国家，如果连自己的人民都喂不饱，花很多的人力财力去当国际警察，打那结束不了的战争，是不是有点儿滑稽？ 听说这份调查报告已经引起了奥巴马的重视，今天国会的参议院会对针对这个调查举行听证会。 但愿这一切能给美国政府敲响警钟！ THE US Agriculture Department has released bleak figures on the state of hunger in the United States, showing that more American families are having difficulty feeding their members. The annual Household Food Security report showed that in 2008, families in 17 million households - 14.6 per cent of US homes - had difficulty putting enough food on the table at some point during the year, an 11 per cent increase over 2007. The figures "represent the highest level observed since nationally representative food security surveys were initiated in 1995," the USDA said. "The fundamental cause of food insecurity and hunger in the United States is poverty - marked by a lack of adequate resources to address basic needs such as food, shelter and health care," the statement added. President Barack Obama described as "unsettling" the report which came as some 60 heads of state and government were attending the World Summit on Food Security in Rome. "This trend was already painfully clear in many communities across our nation, where food stamp applications are surging and food pantry shelves are emptying," Mr Obama said. The President said he was especially troubled that there were more than 500,000 US families "in which a child experienced hunger multiple times over the course of the year". "Our children's ability to grow, learn, and meet their full potential - and therefore our future competitiveness as a nation - depends on regular access to healthy meals," he said. The first task to reverse the trend of rising hunger "is to restore job growth, which will help relieve the economic pressures that make it difficult for parents to put a square meal on the table each day," Mr Obama said. The President also said his administration has increased help for low-income families seeking food assistance, especially those with children. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/us-department-of-agriculture-report-shows-17-million-american-families-struggling-to-put-food-on-the-table/story-e6frf7lf-1225798709906 |
