I Was Hungry: Cultivating Common Ground to End an American Crisis

by Jeremy K Everett

Hunger is one of the most significant issues in America. One in eight Americans struggles with hunger, and more than thirteen million children live in food insecure homes. As Christians we are called to address the suffering of the hungry and "For I was hungry, and you gave me food . . ." (Matthew 25:35). However, the problems of hunger and poverty are too large and too complex for any one of us to resolve individually.

I Was Hungry offers not only an assessment of the current crisis but also a strategy for addressing it. Jeremy Everett, a noted advocate for the hungry and poor, calls Christians to work intentionally across ideological divides to build trust with one another and impoverished communities and effectively end America's hunger crisis. Everett, appointed by US Congress to the National Commission on Hunger, founded and directs the Texas Hunger Initiative, a successful ministry that is helping to eradicate hunger in Texas and around the globe. Everett details the organization's history and tells stories of its work with communities from West Texas to Washington, DC, helping Christians of all political persuasions understand how they can work together to truly make a difference.

Genres: Nonfiction, Justice, Poverty, Spirituality, Social Justice, Christianity, Politics

176 pages, Paperback

Published August 20, 2019

Reviews

[Rissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was Hungry 3.5⭐️
We start by following disasters and the wreakage , the devastation that hit so many cities for so many months and even years after the initial hit.
He shows how God helped and even through the diasters God had a plan even if it meant that we needed to tear a few things down.
Then we move onto his life and how his life was changed by God and influenced him in everything he did.
Also how he was hungry to tell others about God and help others and show grace. It was a sweet story.

“I was Hungry you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.” Matthew 25:35-36

Thank you so much to Baker academic and Brazos Press via netgalley for sending me an ARC copy of I was Hungry by Jeremy Everett. This will be released on August 20, 2019.
All opinions are my own.

[Meredith Broadwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I was eloquent so that I could do this book justice. The author opened my eyes to an epidemic I am ashamed to say I was unaware of (like, how could I not know??). Although I wept through sections of the text, the author presents incredible hope and beauty in this book. His account of people working together from different groups (faith, socioeconomic, democrat/republican, private/public sector, etc.) and what they were able to accomplish is staggering and inspirational.

The only "con" is that there isn't much said about what individuals can do to support this cause (aka a stay at home mom with 3 littles and little flexibility). He spends a fair amount of time discussing what leaders and organizers can do. But... I only meal plan a week at a time because I can't predict what will be happening for the rest of the month. My skill set lays elsewhere. But this book fired me up, it opened my eyes, and if I'm not more compassionate after this then shame on me. For now I will raise my tiny humans to be compassionate, as they view all people as valuable because we are all made in God's image.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeremy K. Everett's book I Was Hungry, although a non-fiction book, pulls the reader into its pages. Everett shares numerous stories of his experiences working to end hunger primarily in Texas. The stories he shares are gripping and are important to show the depth of hunger, poverty, and suffering that exists in the U.S.A. The stories also set the stage for the important information Everett shares regarding how disparate groups can join together to help end hunger in America.

Everett provides a blue print for exactly how community-based organizations, churches, and government organizations can work together to accomplish what no organization can do individually. This blue print has been developed and honed through Everett's own grass-root experiences and service on the National Commission on Hunger. He shares the mistakes he has made and what he has learned so that others may benefit from his experiences. While Everett definitely writes from a Christian perspectives, individuals of other faith backgrounds or now faith background can benefit from his experiences. He specifically encourages varying groups to talk together and build relationships in order to find common ground and create a better America instead of demonizing others and having a "win" at all costs attitude.

Everett does not sugarcoat the difficult issues or the hard work that it will take to end hunger. Many of his stories will make you angry, but the same stories and the stories of communities who are making a difference will inspire you to take action in your community.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book via NetGalley. I was not obligated to provide a positive review. All opinions are my own.

[The Book Distiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this as an ARC book from NetGalley, primarily because the topic is of great interest to me, and this author has lived on the front lines (and taken practical steps) of combating hunger in his community, and then addressing poverty.

[Jen Venuso · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Jesus once fed five thousand people in a deserted place, but Jesús did it every day.”

I was disappointed with the book because of quotes like that. I don’t have much opinion re: Everett’s political and social strategies, since that’s not my wheelhouse. I wanted to like the book and learn from it. But I am much more apt to listen to and find value in solutions that place Christ and his cross-work at the center. Instead, I got the general sense that the author finds social change to be the goal rather than the result of Christianity. Rather than credit physical efforts as a reflection of Christ’s work, he (perhaps inadvertently) compares them, resulting in some embarrassingly irreverent quotes.

As a stay-at-home-mom, I find more helpful suggestions in the topics of hospitality and community building. For that I enjoy authors such as Pohl, Butterfield, Chester, Pratt & Homan, Wrobleski, and Nouwen, who tend to be more theologically robust (though each of them are from radically different traditions) than Everett.

[Courtney Haworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent glimpse into not only the life and work of Jeremey Everett, but also the inception of Texas Hunger Initiative (now the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty). The stories are engaging and moving. Jeremy uses real examples from his own life throughout the story to explain how he began his journey in anti-hunger work and why he continues that work today. Jeremy’s passion, humility, and drive are woven through the pages of this book. Highly recommend.

[Jennifer Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was Hungry: Cultivating Common Ground to End an American Crisis by Jeremy K. Everett is a deep look into the American hunger crisis in which millions of Americans go without food daily. Most of the hunger crisis is due to food insecurity, the lack of access to enough healthy food to live a healthy lifestyle, in which inadequate food is experienced episodically. For example, the food supply is fine for a family at the beginning of the month but soon runs out before the month is over. Everett confronts what we know about the food crisis in America as many families must face the decision whether to buy food or pay bills with food usually loses. Poverty is an extremely complex issue. He claims that Americans often think the poor are just lazy people who are looking for a handout. Everett puts forth that many of Americans that suffer from food insecurity are working families who are underemployed, having jobs that do not pay enough to cover all expenses. However, Everett doesn’t just point out the problem and say deal with it. He offers a plan, from his own experiences, on how we can come together as a nation to end hunger in America. He highlights where plans have succeeded and where plans have failed and how they could be improved.
I was Hungry is an interesting read with statistics I have heard before. Roughly 39.7 million Americans live in poverty with 12.9 million children living in food insecure households. He is critical of all politicians, church leaders and Americans who seem to be more content to bicker. He says, “Our political system has become toxic, with both sides preferring to cast stones at the other rather than coming together to find common ground for the common good.” While I agree with him that something needs to be done, unfortunately, not everyone agrees. He claims that the image of the “Welfare Queen” is a myth and while many people on SNAP food stamps are working families, the myth exists because there are examples in the real world. He also claims that the “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is a myth as well because it “does not apply to people who cannot afford boots.” More and more, the news media is carrying stories of the very people he is describing doing just that. They go from homeless to Harvard. Students who live and go to school in disadvantage areas are getting full ride scholarships to very prestigious schools. These students may be the exception; but to call it a “myth” when there are examples out there is shortsighted. Everett does come off, at times, as condescending and self-righteous at times, which he acknowledges, so I applaud that, he does presents a very real problem in our nation and offers real solutions and how we can come together as a community and a nation. I highly recommend I was Hungry.

I was Hungry:
Cultivating Common Ground to End an American Crisis
is available in hardcover, paperback and eBook.

[Danielle Veldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I get the sense that Jeremy Everett is somewhat conservative politically, so it was refreshing to read what I would consider a basic primer to understanding hunger, asset based community development, and the gospel call to justice from that angle, as conservatives are too often missing from the table. For people that are in social services the overall concepts will be familiar. Sometimes I felt he over simplified his explanation of social movement structures or didn't go deep enough in discussing systemic inequity, but the book is a good introduction for many. I appreciated the way he wove his personal story and experience throughout. he is clear about what he has been able to accomplish and also humble about the lessons hes learned to get there which is a good reminder about the time it can take to build understanding and effect change. I was particularly convicted by the chapter about building bridges across political divisions, sectors, etc...It's easy, especially today, to demonize people with political views or economic agendas that end up hurting communities in poverty. Everett shares specific examples of committing to building relationships with those in power for years and eventually seeing the fruit. Hard work, but needed.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century we have made great strides against world hunger and profound poverty. And yet, here in the United States, we still have a significant percentage of people, especially families, which remain food insecure.

In I Was Hungry: Cultivating Common Ground to End an American Crisis (galley received as part of early review program), Jeremy Everett tells his personal story and the story of the work he did in establishing the Texas Hunger Initiative (THI), bringing the lessons he learned from emergency management in the wake of Katrina to the various and oftentimes competing non-profit organizations dedicated to providing food for the hungry in Texas.

The author is able to provide a lot of great stories about developing a wider range of connections so that more people would get access to the food resources available to them. The author does well at inspiring those with a faith background to find ways to help support such initiatives through financial support and volunteering.

The author’s main goal, however, has no doubt proven all the more elusive since he wrote the book (it was published in 2019): he knows both liberals and conservatives believe hungry people should be fed, and he outlined how he attempted to work with people and institutions across the spectrum, from left and right, non-profit and corporate, private and government, to come together and all use their various strengths to coordinate responses which would mean more people would get fed.

I say it has to be more elusive because it is not as if partisanship or performative cruelty in government has subsided over the past five years. Nevertheless, the author does well to remind all of us of Jesus’ words about the final judgment in Matthew 25:31-46: did we feed the least of those among us, and thus feed Jesus, or did we not do so? This shouldn’t be a partisan matter.

[Polly Rosenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeremy Everett talks about persuasion, collaboration and finding common ground in working with people on different sides of the political and religious aisles in the fight to overcome poverty and hunger in this country. This is a book about how to do that. I found his insights about using persuasion rather than shaming and belittling others in power to do the right thing very enkightening. Everett says that our growing populist movement has pitted the impoverished against each based on white vs. those of color. I had an aha moment when he called out liberals who shame and blame (such as showing pictures of uneducted whites with protest signs misspelled and laughing at them - my example). No wonder they hate white liberals who look down their educated noses at them as they sit in their comfortable homes with their liberal ideas. That is my conclusion, not Everett's. Is that any worse than making fun of disabled people or locker room talk about women? I am just saying that Everett gave me some revelations about myself and called me to seek understanding and common ground when trying to get things done with people of different political persuasions.

[Hayoung Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was a down to earth account of community organizing and the Christian commitment to food justice. as a soon to be Truett student myself who has encountered many of the local community dynamics narrated in the book, it was humbling and encouraging to learn that Waco has a rich heritage of faithful Christians reckoning with violence, poverty, racism, and inequity. this is a great read if you are looking for practical incarnations of Christian community building, collective impact models, and bipartisan policy making all tied up with a recognizably Gospel-centered understanding of generosity and friendship

[Robert Conder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to enter into the mission field. The mission field is right outside or door of our house and church. We are all called to serve. Not only are we called to address hunger but it also is a book about addressing our biases. Too often we form opinions of others without getting to know them. It is not a book that will give you a quick fix but it is a book how all of us can work together. As the book shows, we must not be divided but must find common ground.

[Marnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Jeremy Everett wishes to impart on the reader the responsibility we all have to care for one another. His premise is that feeding the hungry is the first, obtainable step in improving society overall. In an easy-to-read narrative, he talks about his experiences, without being preachy. He shares his struggles and some community triumphs.

[Martin Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very challenging..

How do we live among the poor?

[Nancy Motto]

very, very thought provoking.

[Alysa Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding! A must-read.

[Elizabeth Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great combination of theology and practical tips for hunger ministry.

[Benjamin Gatton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really good anecdotes.

[gracie girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Very motivated!

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a good perspective on the issues of hunger in America and the ways that entire populations of people can fall through the cracks. Everett has a lot of experience in the field, not just in oversight, but in really getting involved at ground zero and thus his knowledge is all the more valuable.

I found it particularly interesting in how he noted the need for charities working in similar areas to work together, rather than compete for funds as sometimes the lack of communication could create areas that multiple charities work with and areas which none of them reach. Everett also proposed creating community areas in areas of poverty to allow the community to come together as well as making sure there is access to food, ie grocery stores and etc and I was shocked to hear there were communities where there wasn't access to local groceries due to stores moving to other areas.

Overall it gave me a lot to think about and challenged me in preconceived ideas I didn't realize I held. A short book with a big impact.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.