The “Not So Invisible” Enemy

Welcome to the United States of America in May of 2020, where tens of thousands of pounds of potatoes are left to rot in a field while thousands of cars line up for hours to receive food donations to feed their families. Major meat producers struggle to keep their employees from contracting a deadly virus and dying while they are told to return to work or we will have a major disruption in the food supply system.

One third of the food grown across the world goes to waste according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). That is one in every three carrots, cucumbers, apples and heads of lettuce grown. While we continue to waste food on an alarming scale, the reliance on a fragile food supply system comprised of a small network of large-scale meat suppliers has shown its cracks.

Hunger is virus we have allowed to exist in a world that has a vaccine at its disposal. As the United States deals with over 20 million people filing for unemployment in the last 4 weeks alone, we are confronted with a sobering truth: far too many people are invisible. They are the statistics who flash across your screen on the nightly news. They are the numbers that you read on an article telling you the financial costs of staying at home. There is no face associated with the invisible, just a number that makes up a life. These invisible human beings are waiting in line for meals while…