If we have learned anything from this last presidential election it’s that poverty continues to be an ignored concept by president-elect Trump and by U. S. politicians. Although both avoid using the word like a naked man avoids a poisonous snake, poverty is integral to the current reality of the U.S. socio- political landscape. The selection by president- elect Trump of the richest cabinet in the country’s history doesn’t bode well for the poor in America.

Poverty is a state of deprivation in which people lack the usual or acceptable amount of money or material possessions to live with dignity. In 2015, using this concept, 43.1 million Americans (13.5% of the population) lived in poverty. Although children are 23.1 percent of the total population, they constitute 33.3 percent of the poor population. A 2013 UNICEF report stated that the U.S. had the second highest relative child poverty rate in the developed world.

Poverty and food security are closely related. In a food secure household its members have access at all times to enough food for an active and healthy life. In 2013, when child poverty levels were record high, 16.7 million children were living in food insecure households, unable to access the nutritious food necessary for a healthy life.