What is Hunger? What is Poverty?
Hunger is a condition in which people do not get enough food to provide the nutrients for fully produtive lives; and poverty is not having the means to afford basic needs such as clean water, health care, clothes and shelter. Hunger and poverty are all factors that affect our community especially since the economy is making it harder and harder for families to survive. Hunger affects one out of every four children in Utah. Hunger and poverty often effects families because the food budget is usually used to fix the car, pay a higher heating bill, pay for medical prescription or other basic family needs.
Frequently, poverty comes as a consequence of life’s unremarkable tragedies such as low paying job, illness, job loss, divorce, or disability. All these factors can devastate a family’s ability to support itself. Regardless of the cause, most families struggle against their situation. There are more than 246,000 people living in poverty in Utah. This means that a family of four is living on an income less than $20,000 annually. This is also a national wide issue. There are 502,000 people living between 100% and 200% of poverty meaning that a family of four is living on less than a $40,000 annual income.
