People are becoming more and more open when talking about race. But what about class? What about money? No one really wants to talk about how much they pay to go to school, how much financial aid they are receiving, or how much they get paid.
I mean we do, but not as often as we should. I'm not saying you should go around telling the world how well off you are or how hard you work everyday, but be conscious of how other people are getting by.
The 2016 meal gap trends report states that the gap in NYC in the year 2014 was approximately 242 million; that's how many meals were missed from insufficient resources. There has been an overall increase among the five boroughs since from 2009 to 2014. Among this population are children and students.
It's sad enough that people are not able to have 3 healthy meals a day. Yet, it's even more disappointing how much food gets wasted everyday. You can see this taking place on many college campuses, especially at NYU.
A conversation about food insecurity came up while I was at a Design Thinking event with NYU DFA (Design for America). The person who mentioned food insecurity started a project called NYU Freedge, which you can read more about here.
She has done a lot of research regarding food sustainability and has found that many students are not able to eat full/healthy meals due to high rates in the city, whether you're buying groceries or getting a quick bite for lunch. Meal plans offered by the university are also too expensive and, in most cases, usually come to a waste, which then ends up being a waste of money. Luckily, for some people, they can just say, "my parents are paying for it anyway."
When it comes to money I become very self-conscious. I can't eat out as often as some of my friends do, or take the train all the time. I know some of my friends may be reading this and saying through the screen, "but you have a job!" Yes. And I have two. But I also need to save money.
I am in no way considered poor, and I could easily ask my parents for money but I choose not to do so, and I choose not to take it when they offer. Often times, I've had to pay my own tuition bills and housing deposits because, sometimes my parents couldn't; having three kids in college at the same time isn't easy! And I know many students who are working and paying their tuition on their own, and I truly admire that.
A lot of students I've met don't realize the privilege they have that they can still receive allowances, and to be honest, I pity those people. There are so many individuals working so hard just to get by, not even knowing what their next meal would be.
Yet, some individuals have the audacity to sit at a restaurant, order a meal, and consciously decide to only eat half of it. This is reality.
This problem, of course, can be blamed on the individual, on the government, on race/discrimination, but not many people consider issues of class/the economy(or maybe I'm wrong). But, I hope everyone takes a moment to think about how others are, literally, surviving. And don't be afraid to speak up about it whichever side you're on the spectrum.
(You can find more information about food insecurity in America here).