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Hungry for Food or Hungry for Love?
Author(s) -
Mulquin MarieEve,
Siaens Corinne,
Wodon Quentin T.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/1536-7150.00025
Subject(s) - wonder , poverty , order (exchange) , isolation (microbiology) , atmosphere (unit) , socialization , advertising , political science , psychology , business , social psychology , law , geography , meteorology , microbiology and biotechnology , finance , biology
Despite recent progress in reducing poverty, the fight against hunger remains a challenge in the United States. Charities have set up soup kitchens in order to reach out to the poor and hungry. Unfortunately, the way in which some soup kitchens are run is not appealing. One may wonder if waiting in line for a bowl of soup provided out of a van contributes to self‐esteem. Beyond hunger, the poor suffer from isolation and a lack of respect from society. It may be worth looking at the experience of other countries that provide hunger relief in a more humane manner. In this paper, we analyze the experience of a soup kitchen in Namur, Belgium, whose cozy atmosphere has led its customers to come as much for socialization as for food.