An estimated 40 million people live in food-insecure households in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Around 6.5 million of those people are children. And an additional 9.7 million adults exist in a sphere of “very low” food security.
There’s no excuse for people to be ignorant of the struggle of countless Americans, including children and the elderly. That said, there is especially no excuse for a politician to plead ignorance. Or worse, to be so out of touch that they’re actually offensive.
Congressman Jim Hagedorn, a Republican from Minnesota, declared in a speech at the Noon Kiwanis Club in the town of Worthington, Minnesota, that “Nobody [in America] goes to sleep at night wondering if they’ll be able to feed their families.” Yes, he really said that. When I first read the quote, I thought it had to be fake—but somehow, it isn’t. An elected official really did say that no one goes to sleep worrying about feeding their families ... while people are routinely, chronically unable to feed their families and themselves. Far fewer can access food that is nutritionally sound.