To the editor:
An estimated 473 food insecure individuals live in Wellesley. To tell the truth, one food drive at my middle school, Wellesley Middle School, is simply not enough. Food insecurity is a prevalent issue in America, an economic and social condition characterized by limited, uncertain, or inconsistent access to nutritious food necessary for leading a healthy life.
Nearly 1 out of 3 Massachusetts residents are food insecure, with the Massachusetts state harboring the highest cost of living in the entire nation. The two grocery stores, Whole Foods and Roche Brothers, happen to have the highest costs out of the 4 most common grocery chains. The expenses in Wellesley are nearly double the national average, mostly allocated due to the 318% over-the-average housing price. At a population of just roughly 30,000, you’d think that this is just canceled out by the absolute extremely abundant median income of $250,001 dollars: but you’d be wrong.
Despite the numbers showing high levels of wealth, 1,200 citizens of our town—including children, veterans, and the elderly—live at or below the poverty rate, with 39.4% of them struggling with food insecurity. That means in a room of 100 Wellesley residents, 2 suffer from food insecurity, an especially silent battle of struggle, watching others around them flourish while they are stifled themselves.
Thus, people need to take action. Food, in itself, is a very central part of human life. You need it 3 times a day, and the constant omission of meals does not only cause nutritional deficiencies, but mental anguish. Some people may have to choose between having to pay for rent, tuition, or utilities and putting food on the table, which is a very hard choice to make, considering that the absence of one or the other has the ability to cause reduced opportunities in the long term.
When the data collected reports that 85% of people struggling with food insecurity bought the cheapest food available, we can infer that when food is cheaper, it tends to be less nutritious, causing people with food insecurity to have a disproportionately higher rate of medical problems ranging from deficiency to obesity. Some people live in food deserts, meaning that a substantial source of fresh food is 1 mile away in urban communities, where many people don’t have access to automobiles, or 10 miles in a rural community. What we must realize is that food insecurity isn’t what people think it is. It isn’t starving, rather, it’s being unsure of when you can get your next substantial, healthy meal.
Personally, I have been lucky enough to not deal with food insecurity. With a rate of 2.4 people per 100, Wellesley generally has very little prevalence of food insecurity. However, this can make the minority suffering from food insecurity feel even less motivated to reach out for help, apply for SNAP, or apply for general aid, and even to go to a food relief kitchen.
People should care because constant hunger is a painful malady that comes in waves, hitting someone harder and harder the more that they think that the hunger is over. Access to sustenance is a basic human right, so everyone deserves to get help. So, If you are a member of the Wellesley town community, you can help by considering donating to the Wellesley food pantry.
Gordon Sargent
Wellesley Middle School 8th grader
