Hunger affects more than 49 million Americans, 17 million of whom are children. That means about one in four kids in the US worries about not having enough food. With Philadelphia poverty rates running double the national and state levels, surveys suggest that one in four Philadelphians or 360,000-plus people are experiencing food insecurity. 108,000 are children.
And here’s the result:
• Malnourished infants experience physical and mental developmental problems, which impacts our already strained health care system
• Children who are worried about having enough to eat have a harder time learning and concentrating in the classroom, which strains our already overwhelmed educational system
• Young adults who grow up in the cycle of poverty have fewer career options, straining our economy, our legal system, and ultimately our social fabric
In our documentary, The Cost of Hunger, we look at how hunger impacts one of our nation’s largest cities, Philadelphia. By following 40,000 seeds, first through the Philadelphia Prison System, then through a network of community gardens, and finally, through food cupboards and soup kitchens to feed the hungry, The Cost of Hunger explore this growing crisis and how some Philadelphians are working together to break the cycle of poverty.
Please help us tell this story. With your contribution, we can tell continue to produce this important documentary on hunger and the solutions one city has engaged in to address this growing national crisis.