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DISTRICT 2010 
 
There are far too many problems in this world, the United States and 
even Texas for which we have no solution.  The problem of hunger 
however, does have a solution…eat.  It is one of the few problems that 
we can identify, and also know how to fix.  There are some problems 
associated with hunger that we also know how to solve but have a great 
deal of difficulty organizing and implementing the solutions.  I see the 
“We Can End This” challenge as a multi‐level challenge that not only 
seeks sources of food provision and collection but also one of 
communication, coordination, participation, distribution, generosity, 
and understanding.  I have no fancy graphics, or highly advanced 
technological concepts to offer with my response to the challenge, but I 
do offer some basic notions that may help to bring about hunger free 
communities in Texas.   
 
There are numerous programs, projects, organizations and cooperative 
volunteer efforts in place throughout the US designed to alleviate the 
pain of hunger, and many of the responses to the challenge reflect most 
of the efforts already successfully operating.  Texas alone has some 
3600 plus agencies addressing the issue.  Many suggest methods for 
people to grow their own food on rooftops, in their yards or in 
community gardens and supplying seeds and instructions for this 
purpose.  Others suggest a means to better communicate food 
distribution locations, promotional ideas and coordination between 
cooperating organizations such as food banks and food producers.  
From adopting families in low income areas and establishing support 
relationships to training students to cook meals and add to the stock of 
available food via a meals on wheels for everyone in need program. 
There are a lot of suggestions.  Good ideas, just like gleaning fields for 
fresh produce or collecting leftovers from restaurants, these suggestions 
add to the food stock and help make more available to people in need, 
but do they address the three components of the Texas challenge? 
 
New ideas for ending hunger are hard to come by, but new ideas for 
producing food sources seem fairly abundant.  Suppose for example, 
every farm family and every gardener in Texas were asked to plant a 
row for hungry people in their home gardens, contact a central registry, 
deliver the produce to a specific location or arrange pick up for

distribution by food banks.  For that matter, why not ask all farmers for 
half an acre or an acre be planted for this purpose?   How about 
“Rabbitat for Humanity” with pairs of rabbits provided to families to 
raise and multiply?  Rabbits can be sold to buy food or eaten.  Sounds 
kind of cute and crude at the same time, but it is a method of food 
production that most anyone can do almost anywhere.  Similar to Heifer 
International, pairs of animals could be sent to families to raise and 
utilize depending on their location along with feed for the animals.  City 
people could potentially raise rabbits but cows and chickens would be a 
bit impractical, except for rural families.  A bit on the third world side 
but then hunger is, in the minds of many Americans, a third world 
problem.  Like farmers and gardeners planting a row or an acre to help 
end hunger, ranchers could be asked to raise a cow or hog for the same 
reason.  There are lots of ranches in Texas, and that could mean a lot of 
protein for hungry people.   
 
My point is that there are many potential ways to add to the stock of 
food available for people in need, and I have not even mentioned 
collaborative efforts with food giants like Tyson and grocery store 
chains, or buying farms and ranches outright for the sole production of 
food for people forced to choose between paying for food or their rent 
or medical care.  There are also a number of organizations with the 
resources to gather, store and distribute food such as the food banks, 
food shelves, and other community groups.  But none of this is new, nor 
does it answer the problem posed in the challenge. 
 
THE CHALLEGE:  Create hunger‐free communities, Humanize hunger 
using data, Accelerate local action and advocacy.  
 
Ultimately the three challenges are one.  Each one leads to the other.  If 
you are able to utilize the data to humanize the hunger issue, which in 
essence is advocacy, it should lead to an acceleration of local action 
resulting in hunger free communities in Texas and eventually a hunger 
free America.  For purposes of this challenge, lets divide Texas into 
communities, some with denser populations living in cities and smaller 
populations in rural areas.  Since Texas has at least 19 food banks, each 
with its own coverage area, lets use each food bank area or district as a 
community we wish to make hunger free.  Assume that there are no 
hunger free districts/communities in Texas.  Based on the Texas Food

Bank Network report of 2006, some 2,064,300 people needed 
assistance, or 418,700 per week received assistance.  Numbers like 
these are not precise and may not include thousands more who need 
help, but do not seek it out or will not accept it.  Four years later and a 
major recession means that the number of people in Texas who are food 
insecure with or without hunger could be 3,000,000 or more.  Although 
this is a hypothetical number, lets use it and say that to make Texas 
hunger free, 3,000,000 will need to receive some form of assistance 
provided by some 4,000 agencies and faith based groups in the 19 
districts.   That is a lot of food and a lot of preparation, distribution and 
storage.  It is also a large number of people who will face the stigma of 
being poor in America. 
 
What it all really points to is that perhaps the problem is not just finding 
and distributing food, but recognizing that hunger is directly related to 
the economic situation of millions of Americans, and the misperception 
of a majority of Americans that NO one could possibly be hungry in this 
country.  And the even larger misconception that those seeking 
assistance are merely taking advantage of the opportunity to receive 
Free food and are lazy rip off artists.  These misconceptions result in the 
stigmatization of the people who are in need, and the very idea of 
receiving assistance.  People who are in need but will not pursue 
assistance are caught up in the stigmatization and choose hunger over 
the possible embarrassment of being seeing as a beggar or rip off artist.  
No one wants their friends, neighbors or even family to see them as 
some sort of welfare king or queen.  Thus the % of people in need 
accepting assistance may never reach 100%, unless something changes.   
 
My Pitch. 
 
Peter Singer proposes that the way to end poverty is to simply cause 
people to realize that they spend their money on things they do not 
need.  He believes that if everyone were to only spend their money on 
what they need, and give the remainder to various agencies designed to 
address poverty, there would be no more poverty in the US or in the 
world.  He is probably correct but the chance of such a thing occurring is 
slim and none.  Money, or lack of it, is the main reason people go hungry, 
but getting people to share their Hard earned wealth will not happen 
until there is a change in perception, a change in the very attitude

society has adopted with respect to being poor.  Although some of the 
problem of hunger today will be eliminated as jobs become more readily 
available, and unemployment rates drop, there will still remain millions 
of people in dire situations needing help. 
 
 So change the attitude and begin an anti‐stigma campaign on a state 
wide basis that utilizes every communication mechanism available from 
TV and radio to Facebook and U ‐Tube.  We are an information hungry 
society and the means to communicate ideas is greater than it has ever 
been.  Take advantage of it and use the facts as we know them.  Most 
people would not even consider it possible that one in six families in the 
US are food insecure and hungry.  They know that there is a large 
unemployment rate, and that a recession is taking place, and the 
economy is in trouble.  But they do not know the real implications of 
these facts, they have no face to put with them, no voice explaining the 
problem.  Certainly there are PSA addressing the problem and most 
agencies and organizations are on the net, but is there an all out 
campaign, a War on Poverty, Hunger and Stigma?  That is the first step. 
Declare all out war.  It is true that the war on poverty did not succeed, 
there is still poverty and the war on drugs has no chance, but using the 
new communication technologies may make the difference. 
 
Establish central command to coordinate the campaign and also 
coordinate all food collection and distribution.  The Food Banks are 
already doing this to a point and have communication links to each 
other.  Use the Texas Food Bank Network as the central communication 
center and coordinator.  When one food bank is short on certain items, 
and another has an excess of that item, the Network can shift supplies as 
needed because it will know where the food is and what the needs are.  
Advocate at all levels, locally and statewide, and convince legislators, 
business organizations, educational institutions and national 
representatives that they cannot sit back, and must speak out and be a 
voice for ending hunger, and not just on Texas Anti‐Hunger Day, but 
every day till the job is done.  The advocacy must be complete, and 
include attacking the stigma associated with being hungry, where food 
is available, appeals for more, and exactly how people can help.  It 
should be holistic, with the need for jobs and helping to find 
employment that will help to make a hunger free state sustainable.

Recruit famous voices to communicate the needs, the facts, and the 
action people can take.  Use NFL and NBA stars, TV personalities, movie 
stars and recording artist from Texas, college students and athletes, 
former and current politicians as voices and faces associated with anti‐
stigma and achieving a hunger free state.  Make it a war for Texans, and 
by Texans.  Is Oprah from Texas?  In particular, recruit people who are 
utilizing the services to speak for themselves, in a positive fashion 
regarding their situation and against the stigma.  The voices of these 
people are the most significant and will not only empower them but also 
those who hear and see them.  This is way to dispel the myths, and the 
stigma.  
 
Each district will need to coordinate its distribution, collection, 
preparation and storage and continue with all collaborative efforts and 
pursue all avenues to increase food availability.  Data from each district 
will also need to be collected and centralized to access progress.  The 
numbers should be a bit odd, because if the anti‐stigma component is 
working, numbers of people utilizing food banks etc should increase, at 
least temporarily.  This would be a good sign.   When the majority of 
people in need are receiving assistance, hunger free districts should 
emerge, even though the food is being supplied and people are still in 
need.  At this point the emphasis on the holistic approach of job training, 
finding employment, assisting with day care and myriad of problems 
faced by people in poverty will need to be addressed through the 
collaboration with agencies and organizations and businesses already 
working together on food provision and anti‐stigma.  It is and will 
remain an on going project that may never end, but eventually the 
numbers of people who are hungry in Texas should be dramatically 
reduced.   
 
Voila! Local action and advocacy is accelerated, the problem of hunger is 
humanized with people and data, and hunger free communities are a 
reality, at least in theory.

�ݺ�ߣ

District 2010

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