The 1st Congressional District of PA is the 2nd hungriest in the nation!

In a recent front-page article published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia is cited for being the 2nd hungriest district in the nation, second to the Bronx. I'll post the link at the end of my schpiel, but I wanted to spend some time reflecting on what this means.
In a survey done by the Food Research Action Center (FRAC), 500,000 Americans were polled and one of the questions was "Have there been times in the past 12 months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?" In this district (which includes North and South Philly as well as Chester), 36% of households said yes. The national average was 18%. Of the 500,000 polled, 1 in 4 households with children experienced food insecurity between January 2008 and December 2009.
At St. Francis Inn, we see the face of hunger in the 1st Congressional District, and we do our best to meet those needs. But this study shows us that it's more than children not getting enough food and waiting in line to eat, that it's a significant problem this region is facing and the effects of which will be felt for years to come. The article interviews the executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger (link also posted below), who discusses longevity of this issue, saying that hungry children now, create a weak labor force twenty years from now, with kids that are cognitively, physically and emotionally delayed because of the lack of adequate nutrition they experienced in childhood.
What are the solutions? It's hard to say. But that doesn't mean the issues shouldn't be addressed, that people shouldn't be held accountable, that steps shouldn't be taken. In a project I am doing for graduate school, I will be joining the efforts of GPCAH to address the childhood hunger issue in Philadelphia. But you can check out the GPCAH website to see what they're doing to combat hunger, specifically childhood hunger, in the Philly area.

Inquirer Article

Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger