VOA标准英语2015 New York City Faces Epidemic of Working Hungry

New York City Faces Epidemic¹ of Working Hungry

NEW YORK—

It's Christmastime at the South Bronx apartment of Jose and Oleyda Gutierrez.

While their spirits are high, their food budget is low. The household's sole income producer, Jose works at a restaurant for minimum wage plus minimal² tips.

"The money we make is not enough,” he says. “We cannot afford to buy enough food because at the end of the month, sometimes even at the end of the week, Thursday or Friday, the refrigerator is almost empty or sometimes completely empty. We cannot afford to have meat or different things. We have basic things like beans, rice, milk, eggs. We want to have something else like a little treat. It is not possible."

The federal nutritional³ "food stamp" assistance program, or SNAP, helps the Gutierrez family with some basics. A report released earlier this month by the White House Council of Economic Advisers⁴ showed that the program is highly effective in reducing food insecurity.

However, more than 48 million people in the United States live in food-insecure households, including more than 15 million children, according to the advocacy group World Hunger.Org.

In New York City alone, 1.5 million residents cannot adequately feed themselves and their families, reports show.

And, with the potential for significant cuts looming⁵ in the federal budget, some fear a nutritious⁶ diet may be a thing of the past for more and more of the country’s working poor.

Working ‘not enough’

"Even though they are working, they still need food stamps because it's not enough,” says Philomena Acebedo, coordinator⁷ for the New York City Coalition⁸ Against Hunger. “Whatever they earn, they have to pay their rent, and, whatever they have left, it's not enough to put on their table."

In West Harlem, the poor and the hungry line up outside the Food Bank for New York City's community kitchen and food pantry.

"We serve families,” says Margarette Purvis, president and CEO of the food bank. “And to be in the city, most of those families are going to have to work, and they do. They work every day. They work hard for their living. Unfortunately, they don't make enough to actually cover the rent and the food and the child care expenses."

Across the city, Food Bank for New York City distributes 120 free meals every minute. Previous cuts to the federal nutrition program two years ago cost the city 5.3 meals a month. Many of those meals were targeted for working families.

Tough choices ahead

Still, the White House says that in 2014, more than 2 million children benefited from food stamps, impacting their lives well beyond their childhood years. The study cites benefits for health, education and economic self-sufficiency. In New York, the benefits have been available to 400,000 preschool-aged children.  

Meanwhile, back in the Gutierrez apartment, Christmas is very much on the minds of the two children. Paying for the holiday is on the minds of their parents.

"Most of the Christmas [gifts] they want, I know I cannot afford all of them,” Jose Gutierrez says. “But I'm going to make sure they're going to have a Merry Christmas.”

While he plans to buy gifts for his two youngsters as soon as he gets his next paycheck, he's worried it won't be enough to buy gifts and put food on the table.

1 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

2 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

3 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

4 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

5 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

6 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

7 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。