The Hunger Games in Orange County

Seeing beers and rats forage from dumpsters and trash cans is a scene to expect

But watching humans doing the same thing is something all of us would want to reject

We live in a land of incredible bounty

But hunger pangs are alive and well in Orange County

A quarter of a million men, women and children daily struggle to have enough to eat

No one wears an “H” on their belly that hunger pangs daily greet

Invisible to commuters in speeding cars to work or to shop

Plodding along hope fading that the pangs would for a moment stop

Children’s mental and physical development in a caloric lack harm’s way

The pangs of hunger growing stronger and not going away

Men and women depressed that for their families, food they find it hard to provide

A problem that will only increase and will not subside

Unless we as a country make alleviating hunger a priority instead

Follow the lead of Second Harvest to recover food to be tossed so full stomachs go to bed

The Hunger Games were movies of fiction but the Orange County Hunger is not a game

It is real and destructive for which we should feel shame

Shop at stores that support food banks like Second Harvest

Eat at restaurants that donate food to be tossed or divested

Give away canned foods you will not eat

Together as one hunger we have a chance to defeat

Forego that lavish expensive meal that loose fitting clothes a bulging waistline will no longer conceal

Take the dollars and donate so some less fortunate may receive a nourishing meal   

© May 14, 2019 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet