Poverty and Hunger: Who are We?
The front pages are full of evidence of failed policy across the world. In the San Francisco Chronical, a study confirms that poverty is bad for you. The NY Time describes a global food shortage. Our global policy is driven by avarice. How can we move to globe that serves the people who live on it.
Study spotlights bleak effects of poverty
Friday, April 18, 2008
Oakland -- A black child in West Oakland is much more likely to be born prematurely and into poverty than a white child in the Oakland hills. In school, he's less likely to read at grade level and more likely to drop out.
As an adult, he's more prone to diabetes, heart disease, cancer or stroke. And he can expect to die nearly 15 years earlier.
Illustrating the profound societal impact of chronic poverty, a new report released Thursday by the Alameda County Public Health Department documents health disparities by neighborhood, income and race. It highlights a widening social, economic and health gap in the county - as poverty goes up, life expectancy goes down.
"The data are overwhelming," said Dr. Tony Iton, the county's public health director. "It is shocking. It is not unique to West Oakland. You see it in Bayview-Hunters Point, in Richmond, in Cleveland and Detroit."
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Across Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger
Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesIn a garbage dump in Port-au-Prince, people recently scavenged for food. More Photos >
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Hunger bashed in the front gate of Haiti’s presidential palace. Hunger poured onto the streets, burning tires and taking on soldiers and the police. Hunger sent the country’s prime minister packing.
Haiti’s hunger, that burn in the belly that so many here feel, has become fiercer than ever in recent days as global food prices spiral out of reach, spiking as much as 45 percent since the end of 2006 and turning Haitian staples like beans, corn and rice into closely guarded treasures.
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