Schwartz-Nobel, Loretta. Growing Up Empty: The Hunger Epidemic in America.

Essay by patunyaUniversity, Bachelor's April 2004

download word file, 7 pages 3.7 1 reviews

Downloaded 51 times

Schwartz-Nobel, Loretta. Growing Up Empty: The Hunger Epidemic in America.

New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc. 2002 (248 pages)

First, I would like to give my opinion of whether this book was worthwhile at the beginning of this book review. Because I believe this is one of the most moving books written today about the problem of hunger in America. I also believe that this book should be required reading for every "elected official" who has the power to end the needless tragedy of hunger in America. This is a very well-written, well-researched book based on real people with real stories not just about numbers, trends, stats, or theories.

Growing Up Empty is a chilling account of the struggle to get enough to eat that confronts far too many Americans, especially children, in what is considered to be the wealthiest country in the world. In her book, Ms.

Schwartz-Nobel tells the stories of men, women and children who are confronted with the tragedy of hunger in their lives. In a country where dieting is an art form, people still have a very difficult time believing that there are people in our great nation who cannot afford to eat. Tragically, the problem of hunger in America is still very misunderstood and has not made any major improvements over the past twenty years. Growing Up Empty was written as an update to her first book about hunger, Staving in the Shadow of Plenty which was written in the early 1980's. In Growing Up Empty, she explores the personal dimension of hunger (especially children) in the United States today and the different faces of hunger in each of her chapters; such as, Hunger and the Middle Class, Hunger and the Working Poor, Hunger and the Military, Hunger and the Homeless, and...