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Hungry zombies need more than just a piece of chocolate

Francisco Miraval

A recently launched TV commercial shows a zombie entering an office, while two employees, somewhat confuse, look at him. When the zombie is very close, one of the employees calmly gives him a chocolate bar. After eating the chocolate, the “zombie” turns into a normal person.

The message is clear: when you are hungry, you stop being who you are and you become a zombie. You can only go back to being normal if a compassionate and friendly hand offers you some food, even a small chocolate bar.

I must confess I do not like the dehumanization of those suffering from hunger, or the trivialization of hunger and food insecurity. At the same time, I must also confess I like the fact that even on a TV commercial you can learn that, when you see a person transformed by hunger, the best thing you can do is to share whatever food you have.

Hunger is a real problem, but, in my opinion, we may not be fully aware of the dimensions of the problem. I have statistics saying that every day 20.000 to 30.000 children die of hunger around the world.

All those deaths could have been avoided, except for the fact that there are many barriers to deliver aid and those trying to help sometimes make inexcusable mistakes, even when they have the best intentions in mind.

In Colorado, where I live, there are 900,000 people, or almost 20 percent of the state population, suffering from hunger or food insecurity, that is, they do not have anything to eat, or what they eat is not nutritive, or they do not know where and when they are going to receive the next meal.

In spite of those numbers, when Hunger Free Colorado did a survey several months ago, only 3 percent of those polled said hunger was a reality in our society.

Part of the problem is that sometimes we see hungry people as less than human, like zombies or monsters ready to do anything to find food. In fact, hunger is truly dehumanizing, because, being such a basic physiological necessity, hunger affects not only our body, but also our emotional well-being.

Hungry children cannot learn, because they cannot focus or think clearly. Hungry employees cannot perform adequately. In that sense, they all are like the zombie in the commercial, thinking only about food.

But there is another level of dehumanizing, that of those who, having more than enough food, do not share it with those that need food. I wonder which “monstrosity” is worst, if becoming a zombie due to hanger or not sharing food with those in need.

We need to be realistic and understand that a chocolate bar is not the solution to hunger. Also, we should not confuse hunger with the desire of eating something in mid-afternoon. But we also need to understand that, as it is shown in the commercial, those suffering from hunger are people just like us, waiting for our friendly, helping hand.

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