Hunger and the Economy—the Far-reaching Effects of Child Hunger

Looking back on the summer of 09 in my later years, I will most likely remember it as being the summer of Michael Jackson, rain, and babies.

Having disappeared to FL to welcome my niece into the world, and then to TX for work – because what other reason would I go to Texas in July, next week I will be in CT with my best friend to meet her son.  Speaking to her on the phone, she mentioned how it was getting on her nerves that lately when people meet her son Benjamin Luke they keep asking,

Are you a Star Wars Fan?

Why?

Think about it?

She asked me.  I thought about it.  Moments went by.  Then I asked,

Why?

Obie Wan Kanobie and Luke Skywalker

Seriously?

I could have sat there for a million years and never would have put that together.  It’s not like she named her kid Han Luke! Maybe you are the Star Wars fan if that’s the first thing you think of when you hear Benjamin Luke.  And yes, I spelled Obie Wan phonetically so if it’s wrong forgive me.

I’m very excited to meet baby Ben next week.  All these babies, made reading this all the more sad to me.

A new report—Child Food Insecurity: The Economic Impact on Our Nation—focuses on the impact of food insecurity and hunger on child health, growth, and development, and also details the economic effect of child hunger in America. The results may surprise you.

The report’s author, John Cook, Ph.D., of the Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, a nationally-recognized expert on child hunger, says that there are lifelong consequences of child food insecurity: “The impact of child hunger is more far reaching than one might anticipate. Child food insecurity creates billions of dollars in costs to our society. Child hunger affects a child’s health, education, and job readiness.”

The study explains the long term impact child hunger can have on the American economy:

• Child hunger first causes health problems. Hungry children are sick more often, and are more likely to suffer physical, emotional, and developmental impairment.
• Child hunger then leads to educational problems. Under-nutrition before the age of three changes the neurological architecture of the brain and central nervous system, harming a child’s ability to learn. Hungry children have lower academic achievement.
• Ultimately, child hunger leads to workforce and job readiness problems. Adults who experienced hunger as children are not well-prepared mentally, emotionally, physically, or socially to perform in a work environment.

I am very lucky to have all these new happy and healthy babies in my life.

CLICK HERE to donate to Feeding America in celebration of Benjamin Luke and my new neice, Rose and the kids in your life.

Sorry for disappearing.  I was in Texas working for a week.  I learned three things:

1. Hurricanes are a singular drink.

2. If at 3 am someone asks you if you want to go to ‘Chacos’ say-  Yes.  Trust me, you have to see this.

3.  What one is able to pull off at 23 is vastly different than at 32.  But hey, I was on time to work every day!

I came home to NYC to see an ad for a new show on Lifetime called Drop Dead Diva.  Where the premise is that a hot supermodel is like hit by a bus and has to learn some valuable life lessons when she wakes up inside the body of a ‘brilliant, thoughtful, plus-sized attorney.’

Really?  I super enjoy the way they carefully placed thoughtful in there.  Like they are phrasing the shows premise as if it were a blind date. Texas has sucked the funny right out of me so again all I can say is – a model that gets hit by a bus and wakes up ‘inhabiting a plus-size frame’ which I’m assuming translates to wakes up as a fat chick. The horror.

Really?

Happy 4th of July! What a stellar weekend.

In a completely foul mood most of last week, my ill humor was not improved by getting poured on (again!) while waiting in the standby line for Shakespeare in the Park with friends.  We got drenched, my new shoes were soaked and dirty, there were line cutters, stinky people, and my mood went from foul to apocalyptic.  Then a wondrous thing happened.  Shakespeare.

Living at working at Shakespeare & Company in the Berkshires right after college created a lifelong love for outdoor Shakespeare.  This production of Twelfth Night was divine and reminded me what an absolute gift it is to witness inspired theater.  I was also struck by the power of the live audience.  At the end of the play, the fool Feste sings a song which goes a little something like this:

When that I was and a little tiny boy,

With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,

A foolish thing was but a toy,

For the rain it raineth every day.

At the last line, the actor playing Feste subtly cocked a solitary eyebrow and an entire theater of drenched New Yorkers (one of whom I am sure crankily shoved me on the subway that very day) burst out laughing.  The goodwill in the air was tangible. And through a combination of hundreds-of-years-old wit and one well timed present day moment, I was part of something larger.

I have a friend, Shakespeare Dave, who once told me,  “Where else but New York can you be alone amongst millions of people?” Growing up a solitary person, I often thought about Shakespeare Dave’s words and pondered if I chose New York because I secretly craved lonely.   But moments like that burst of shared laughter by hundreds of soggy New Yorkers is the real reason I have made this city my first true home.

I have another friend, Carmelita Tropicana, my cultural ambassador of sorts who was horrified to hear me describe my experience at art museums being one of me wandering around like this:

Picture.

Picture.

Picture.

Oohh, Pretty Picture!

I thus have begun a quest to educate myself in the mystical, and for me, often intimidating land of art and artists.  Kicking my horizons up a notch, if you will.  Recently I joined 1stfans, a socially networked musuem membership with the Brooklyn Museum, in an attempt to find a network of folks both with a passion for art and a willingness to put up with my infantile (but growing!) knowledge.  As my favorite villains on Star Trek: TNG the Pakleds would say, “I’m not smart. Make my ship go.”

As you can see, they are an accepting group.  There are monthly 1st Fans events at Target First Saturdays and they are all hip with the Facebook and the Twitter.   I spent the 4th of July at this month’s First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum and it was a blast.  The 1st Fans enjoyed a special  ice cream social on the roof of the museum which was wicked fun.  Somehow the whole world turns into a magical place when you view it from a roof.  The sugar rush helps too!

Then later that night the entire parking lot turned into a huge dance party.  As a massive American Flag spread out over the dancing crowd, I again found myself part of something larger.  Only Shakespeare could best describe how I felt dancing this 4th of July:

Oh wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful, wonderful! And yet again wonderful, and after that, out of all hooping!

And that brings us to Sports Night.  Whaaa? Stay with me here.  Not the ESPN sports show but one of my favorite television shows of all time that was created by Aaron Sorkin.  I often think of the episode where Felicity Huffman/Dana is blown away by the power of theater and rushes back wide eyed to share her experience.  I often wish Sorkin had picked another show besides The Lion King but the sentiment is sound.  Check it out below, there is a bit about dead bugs but it gets good I promise.

I didn’t know we could do that.  Did you know we could do that?

When I forget something usually reminds me.