Better Education For A Better Future

People begging. People weakening. People suffering. Imagine you were on the streets with no money, scrummaging for scraps, begging for just one more piece of food. Imagine starving for days without money. Imagine suffering from sickness, being helpless. Imagine eating from the dirty streets of the city, ready for anything, with the hope of sparing one more day of life. Hunger. One small word, yet a significant meaning in the eyes of the suffering. 

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, more than 34 million people suffer from hunger in the United States. Of that population, 9 million of the people suffering, are children. In the state of Texas alone, 3,720,710 people suffer from hunger, 1,395,890 of them being children. In various locations throughout the world, a child dies from hunger every 10 seconds. People suffer from hunger all over the world, but why? What is the cause of this threatening hunger, that is making people suffer throughout the globe? Education. Investing in better education will help reduce world hunger.

Statistics show that people suffer the most from hunger in the southern region of the United States. This includes the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama to name a few of the states where people suffer from hunger the most. The Food Research & Action Center reports that the rate of food insecurity in the South is extremely high at 11.4 percent of the population. This is followed by 9.9 percent in the midwest, 9.7 percent in the west, and 8.8 percent in the Northeast. Why is it like this though? Studies show that racial discrimination is one of the leading causes of hunger. A very large number of the population in the South consists of people of the African American and Latinx races. Additionally, data from the Food Research & Action Center has shown that the majority of the population facing poverty and suffering from hunger consists of African Americans(19.8%) and Latinx(16.2%). Why would these two races suffer the most from hunger? Lack of employment.

Many people face obstacles when it comes to employment due to racial discrimination and lack of education. In the Southern region of the United States, many people are unemployed, leading to increasing cases of suffering from hunger. In Texas itself, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people unemployed is 579K. That would explain many of the hunger cases that are being caused in this area. However, racial discrimination is not the only factor affecting hunger. In fact, there is a much bigger issue that is contributing to the problem of world hunger. An issue starting right from childhood. Lack of education. 

Many people of the African American & Latinx race have not been provided with enough education to be able to pursue jobs and be employed. The literacy rate in just Texas alone, is 81 percent of the population. Without the necessary education and skills, people are not able to get great jobs or even a job at all, leading them to a future of hunger and suffering. Investing in better education will help reduce world hunger. How can we do this though? The answer may sound simple, but it’s not. Taxes. If the general population starts paying a little bit more in taxes, and the government uses the money to invest in better education for everyone, hunger in America will be reduced. Better education for everyone means more people being skilled, which leads to more people being employed regardless of racial discrimination.

Some people may think that the extra effort and taxes are not worth it due to the fact that the South may not offer as many high-paying jobs as some places, such as California or New York. Yes, there are not many high-salary jobs in the South, but the reason that there aren’t is because there are not many people who are educated and skilled in order to pursue those careers. If we invest in better education for everyone, the employment rate will go up along with the number of available jobs with a high salary. 

Investing in better education may take a little bit of effort, and it may be expensive, but it is morally the right thing to do. Everybody must be treated equally, as a person. We cannot continue to live in a world where our people are suffering, without a meal to survive. Food is a right, and we must ensure that everybody has an equal chance to a good meal. Investing in better education will help make sure that everyone has access to what they need in order to reduce hunger in America.

                                                            Work Cited

“Food Insecurity in Black Communities.” Feeding America, feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/african-american. 

“Food Insecurity in Latino Communities.” Feeding America, feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/latino-hunger-facts#:~:text=Latino%20Hunger%20Facts,food%20insecurity%20than%20white%20individuals. 

“Hunger in America.” Feeding America, feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america.

“Hunger & Poverty in America.” Food Research & Action Center, 13 Oct. 2022, frac.org/hunger-poverty-america#data. 

“Laus Home.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, bls.gov/lau/.

U.S. Literacy Rates by State 2023, worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/us-literacy-rates-by-state. 

“What Is Food Insecurity?” Feeding America, feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/food-insecurity.