By Sherita Mouzon, Community Engagement Assistant

In a world with so much abundance and unlimited resources, why are people still going hungry?

Food should be a constitutional right just like the right to bear arms. Is it too much to ask from our government to feed us? Are we, the American, people not good enough? Or maybe it is the color of my skin that dictates how the government wants to feed me and my family. We cannot access healthy, organic foods, especially in the ghetto, which everyone knows are food deserts.

Why is it that all Americans do not have the same access to healthy foods? Why can we eat only high calorie, salty, diabetes-promoting foods just to survive? Are we not worthy of the same life-sustaining, healthy foods our fellow human beings have access to?

Policies are being put in place to have a bigger effect on Black people. It is bad enough that we have to deal with discrimination, poor maternal care, lack of decent housing, dirty neighborhoods, and inadequate social programs. Now, on top of all that, we must also face food discrimination and food insecurity. With the pandemic we saw job loss, trauma, gun violence, inflation, and more. It is too much to bear!

Of all the millions and billions of dollars given to other countries, the space budget, and the military budget, etc., why can't our government give more to the food budget? No one in 2022 should go hungry. If we can support a space station, oil rigs, and aircraft carriers then we damn sure can combat hunger! Give everyone an ACCESS card. Stop limiting the food families can buy. Let people purchase hot food. What's the big deal? Everyone should have access to food. To eat is a basic human right.

To have freedom of choice is to walk in any supermarket and be able to buy your family heathy organic foods to ensure better health outcomes. That would be nice. I will continue to dream that impossible dream.