Editorial: Take social justice home for holidays

Forty-nine million people went hungry last year. To be clear, that's not a worldwide or regional tally. These particular 49 million, pained by what the Department of Agriculture downplays as "food insecurity," do not live thousands of miles away in a Sub-Saharan African desert or a remote mountainous region of Southeast Asia—though hunger surely plagues these areas, too.

These 49 million people all reside in the United States.

The number of American families who lacked access to sufficient food in 2008 was the highest it's been since the federal government started keeping tabs on national hunger trends in 1995, the Department of Agriculture reported Monday.


14.6 percent of households in our country struggled to feed their kids last year.


Between hurriedly packing duffle bags and rushing to board flights home for Thanksgiving break, it's easy to push these ugly realities and unsettling statistics to the back of our minds. But what if we took social justice home for the holidays?

Thanksgiving break for some means five days lounging on the couch stuffed from second helpings of pumpkin pie and watching "Boy Meets World" re-runs. While hibernation is no crime, it won't help solve America's hunger crisis.

Savor a chunk of your holiday hiatus, resting for finals and enjoying the company of family and old friends. But don't let movies and Xbox eat up all of your time off.

Bag lunches at a local food drive. Volunteer with your little sister at a homeless shelter. Drive leftover dinner rolls to a nearby church.

If you're staying in town, contact Seattle's Fraternal Order of Eagles in West Seattle, the YWCA on Cherry Street and 29th Avenue or Northwest Harvest on 7th Avenue and Cherry Street to see how you can help provide free meals or beverages to deserving members of your community on Thanksgiving.


Seventeen million families had a tough time feeding their kids in 2008.

If your family wasn't one of them, don't just count your blessings this year. Distribute some of those blessings to some of your neighbors strained by the recession.