I didn’t realize we were food insecure when I was a kid, but as an adult looking back, I see the signs. That government cheese is one of them—though I was less impressed by the package itself and more by the bright orange color of the cheese. When I was little and my parents were still together, we were health food people, so artificially colored food just wasn’t part of our lives.
There were other signs too. I remember my mother taking a picture of our refrigerator after a big grocery trip and hanging it on the fridge with the caption “happiness.” At the time, I didn’t understand it. I do now. We ate a lot of spaghettios—which I loved as a kid—but looking back, these weren’t foods that aligned with my mother’s taste or values. They were what she could afford.
My mother did everything she knew how to do to keep us clean, fed, and safe. Food insecurity creates chronic stress that takes a real toll on parents’ and caregivers’ physical and mental health. That stress contributes to illness and shorter lifespans—the effects are measurable and real.
I heard Trevor Noah say on a podcast yesterday: ‘What always shocks me is how America will have third world problems with a first world budget—it always blows my mind. I am shocked that the issues that Americans have are the same issues that South Africans have with the budget that America has.‘
He’s right. We can do better. Please consider supporting your neighbors and your food bank—whether through reaching out, making meals, donations, or advocacy. If you want to brainstorm ways to help, I’m at xanthe [dot matychak [at] gmail [dot] com
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