Hunger: A Recurring Theme in Multicultural Literature

Hunger was a recurring theme that was depicted in all of the readings and movies that were read and viewed throughout the course of American Multicultural Literature. The era of hunger ranged from the 1930s in Angela’s Ashes (McCourt, 1996) to 2003 In America (Sheridan, 2004) and from Afghanistan in The Kite Runner (Hosseini, 2003) and Osama (Barmak, 2003) to Ireland in Angela’s Ashes (McCourt, 1996) to the United States in the remaining text and videos. Hunger, or the modern term ‘food insecure,’ continues to affect millions of people worldwide and leads to education, socioeconomic and health issues.

When one thinks of hunger they picture a thin, gaunt, emaciated person or youngsters with a pot belly with ribs showing and skeleton arms; today’s hunger may well still be this picture but also includes those people that are obese. Hunger is not having enough food to eat, perhaps not know where your next meal will come from, however is also not receiving the vital nutrients needed to not only sustain life, but also for quality of life. “The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 795 million

A Place at the Table believes that there is plenty of food for everyone; however due to economic reasons the food it not processed and distributed appropriately. U.S. Farm Report (August 2015), agrees that there is food available to feed the hungry. This report highlighted that farmers have maximum quotas for production and that any surplus must be destroyed (not given to the hungry) in order to maintain market value; this is despite the fact that the U.S. imports 40% of its, in this case, cherries--fruit that could be eaten by the hungry, less imported to the U.S. and left for others throughout the