In a strange case of coincidences, I put a batch of apples in the dehydrator yesterday and later on while channel surfing came across a program on RFDTV about the Invest an Acre organization. The program featured a pair of Howard Buffets at the Nebraska State Fair promoting the Invest an Acre group in order to eliminate hunger in Nebraska. The previous evening while I was manning my station in the La-Z-Boy I opened up the AARP magazine and they had a little investing advice from Warren Buffet, who is worth something like $55 billion, and an article featuring Bill Clinton, his vegan diet and his foundation battling childhood obesity. The magazine also presented a couple of interesting facts:
The median net worth of Americans under 35 is now $3,662.
Ages 55 to 64? $162,065 in net worth.
I'm not sure where exactly I'm headed with this post but indulge me for a minute or two while I get my thoughts in order. The Buffets are trying to ensure that everyone in Nebraska is food secure (Apparently they tried to go national at first but it was a little more than they could effectively handle). They mentioned that as many as 100,000 children could be going to bed hungry tonight and every other night just in Nebraska alone. Bill Clinton is trying to curb childhood obesity and all the medical issues that brings along with it. I realize you can be food insecure and overweight, so the two are not mutually exclusive. It's a lot more complicated than skinny kids and fat kids.
According to the AARP magazine, the median net worth for those under 35 is less than $4,000. After a quick internet search it seems as if in 1968 dollars, I would have been worth more than that when I was a senior in high school - at least until I bought my Sprint. How can you get to that age and have basically nothing? It's no wonder people are going hungry. And apparently, things aren't much better on the other end of the spectrum. How are you going to retire at age 66 when you're only worth $162,000 at age 64. Social Security can't be looking too secure or social, for that matter.
Is this where education comes into play? I've got a good education and I'm a skilled craftsman. I also feel it's incumbent upon me to take care of myself and my wife. I also feel I need to provide for her if I should leave this earth first. So yesterday, I was picking apples off a tree I planted and popping them into the dehydrator. I also started another batch of peach wine from a tree that I planted myself. I also had a big fat juicy tomato out of my garden for lunch. Education, or just the way I was brought up? We never had much when I was a kid. I never went hungry but it was probably closer than I realized. Mom always had a garden and canned and the Old Man hunted - more for enjoyment than food, but it never went to waste. I took 3 years of voc-agriculture in high school but I don't remember any particular instruction about feeding ourselves in time of need. I do know my grandmother lived through the depression and when she was an older lady living on her own after grandpa passed, I'd get the call to take her to the store long before the cupboard was bare. She didn't really care about possessions but she didn't want to go hungry. I'm not in any danger of going hungry but I do feel the need to take part in feeding myself.
In addition to teaching the skills necessary to make things, should we be teaching people how to feed themselves? Schools used to offer Home Economics classes. Some still offer Family and Consumer Sciences but I don't know what the curriculum covers, to be honest with you. Is all this hunger due to the breakdown of the traditional family? Are student loans the reason so many young people have basically a zero net worth? Many of them might be happy to have zero, actually. I don't see the Common Core or STEM classes being the cure for the hunger problem. Likewise, I don't see the Buffets or the Clintons eliminating the problem either. I'm sure what they're doing is very worthwhile and necessary but what's the real answer? Is everyone just too far removed from the food source? Can't find an app for growing green beans on the Smartphone?
I don't have an answer here but education has to play a part in it someplace. There is no reason that in a country with more than 5 million millionaires, any kid should be going to bed hungry - that's assuming he has a bed someplace, of course. Somebody, some place needs to take a good hard look at what's going on in this country and change a few things. Do we need more algebra in the curriculum or would we be better served by a class in canning and food preservation? Maybe look to the Alvin C. York Institute in Tennessee as a model. Every kid needs to learn some skill that they can support themselves with and a few life skills that they can feed the family with. In the meantime, don't forget the food pantry.
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