Mariana Chilton with Agueda Pacheco Flores

Chilton suggests that the solution to food insecurity lies beyond providing food itself and will have to take both a political and spiritual approach in fixing this crisis. Drawing on 25 years of research, programming, and advocacy efforts, Chilton argues that food insecurity is created and maintained by those in power. To demonstrate her point, Chilton calls back to the original wounds suffered in this country — through a history of colonization, genocide, and enslavement. Drawing on intimate interviews she has conducted with many Black and Brown women, Chilton sheds light on the experience of hunger as linked with trauma and gender-based violence, violence with the natural world, and with ourselves.

The Painful Truth about Hunger in America not only reinvigorates our commitment to uprooting the causes of poverty and discrimination but also points to a more generative and humane world where everyone can be nourished.

Mariana Chilton, PhD, MPH, is a Professor at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health and Director of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities, a research and advocacy center focused on addressing hunger and economic insecurity. She founded Witnesses to Hunger, a movement amplifying women’s voices in the fight against poverty, and leads the Building Wealth and Health Network, which promotes entrepreneurship in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Her work on food insecurity, trauma, and human rights has influenced national policies, and she has advised Congress, Sesame Street, and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Chilton’s research has been featured in major media outlets, including The Washington Post and CBS News.

Agueda Pacheco Flores is a Seattle-based freelancer with a focus on culture, arts, Southend communities, and the Latinx diaspora. Her work has been featured in The Seattle Times, The South Seattle Emerald, Remezcla, and more. You can find her on X @AguedaPachecOH.

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