Cafeteria Tales: Have you ever been hungry?

I can still remember the beige colored lunch trays that our small town school cafeteria used, and that there was a fresh baked roll for each child every day. You could smell bread baking during morning recess! I remember being teased at lunchtime because I liked spinach (“Ewwww. Debbie likes frog guts!!!”) and that a lot of kids hid food they didn’t like in their empty milk cartons so the lunch lady would think they’d cleaned their trays enough to be excused for recess. I remember standing in line trying to hide my pink lunch ticket in my little hands, hoping no one would notice the color that would reveal I was on the free lunch program.

I also remember a skinny little boy that the kids called “Caveman” because of the way he ate. I think his name was Charles, and even if it wasn’t that’s what I’m going to call him in this post.

I sat across the table from Charles a few times and it was never pleasant. He would plop his tray down and dig in. And I mean, literally dig in. He ate with his hands and shoved food in his mouth as fast as he could. He ate like a caveman, hence the nickname.

It wasn’t until years later when I recalled him to a friend in conversation that I realized he was probably really hungry. Could that have been the reason he couldn’t wait to sit down? Could that have been why he ate with such desperation and gusto and even ate his spinach? I bet it was.

The realization that Charles most likely ate that way because he was super hungry made me ache for him. He probably had a pink lunch ticket too, but that lunch might have been his only meal of the day. And to make things even more hurtful, his school mates called him Caveman.

There were times during my childhood when my mom had a tough time making ends meet, but there was never a time – never – that I remember being hungry. {Thanks so much for that, Mom!}

You know how sometimes it seems like all of a sudden you keep coming across information about a particular subject over and over and over? That's how I've been lately where hunger is concerned. My friend Audrey recently told me about a live Owl Cam and I've been obsessed with watching these baby owls and their mother. One day while I was watching, I scrolled down on the website and noticed that the family whose house happens to be the owl's nesting place is promoting "Give a Hoot About Hunger" - a campaign in Oklahoma that raises awareness about hunger and collects donations for a local food bank.

I Googled "Hunger Statistics in Arizona" and was shocked and saddened by what I found - that Arizona's hunger rates are higher than the national average - 19.1% of Arizonans are food insecure, compared to 16.4% nationally, and  29.9% of Arizonan children face hunger, compared to 22.4% nationally. Right in my own backyard! Oh sure, I donate a few canned items during the holidays, but nothing for the rest of the year. I felt so ashamed I clicked the button and made a monetary donation.

How could I continue to do nothing now that I know the facts?
Do you know the hunger statistics on your piece of the planet?
How can you help?
♥