Not all poverty is visible.
 | By Max Strasser International Editor, Opinion |
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Sometimes, poverty and inequality are obvious. The last time I was in Los Angeles I saw homeless encampments on the side of the highway, a few miles from Beverly Hills; nearly every day in London I notice the painful contrast between crowded apartment blocks in the shadow of skyscrapers. |
But some aspects of poverty are much less visible. You can’t usually see into people’s empty pantries and refrigerators, much less their empty stomachs. |
That’s why I think the photo essay by Tamir Kalifa that ran in Opinion this weekend is so important. Tamir, a photojournalist based in Austin, Texas, visited nearby San Antonio, where he interviewed and photographed some of the thousands of people who lined up at a mega distribution site set up by a food bank there. |
They are powerful portraits of Texans who, amid the pandemic and the shutdowns, found themselves in need of support — small families and people of all races, many of them wearing masks, waiting in their cars or standing in line. Other images show the food bank’s workers and the crates of apples, the sacks of carrots and onions. |
These photographs show the reality of a country where, as Tamir reports, “38 percent of households reported moderate to high levels of food insecurity” during the pandemic. Telling a story like this through photography can be as persuasive a form of opinion journalism as any writing. |
This isn’t just an American story. Arif Husain, the chief economist for the United Nations World Food Program, wrote recently in our pages that more than a quarter of a billion people around the world may be facing acute hunger by the end of this year. |
Last month, our columnist Charles Blow sent a powerful reminder when he wrote about growing up poor and hungry. He exhorted readers as they order “salmon fillets and truffle oil from your online grocery store” to try to remember all those who are hungry right now. |
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Here’s what we’re focusing on today: |
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