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Food Insecurity Is a Growing Problem Affecting People Around the World and in the United States; Dazzling Phenomenon Happening in Earth`s Orbit. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired December 06, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: What`s up, sunshine? Hope you`re feeling good this Friday, Fri-yay. I`m pumped to finish this week strong with you and
fuel our minds one more time before we head into the weekend. I`m Coy Wire, this is CNN 10, let`s go.
We begin today talking about the rising threat of food insecurity, an issue that persists in the U.S. and around the world. Food insecurity is not
having consistent access to enough food to meet one`s basic needs.
And around the world, the U.N. estimates that to be the case for 868 million people, with more than one-third of those cases, 342 million
people, being severely food insecure. Those numbers increased by a million people since the U.N.`s last global report on food crises in 2023.
Conflicts in the Gaza Strip accounted for most of those facing imminent famine, in addition to conflicts in Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, and Burkina
Faso. The U.N. projects those numbers will increase by another million people being affected next year.
And in the U.S., a growing number of families are struggling to put food on the table. A USDA report showed that more than 47 million people were food
insecure last year, a slight rise from the year prior. The report attributes the spike to inflation and rising food costs.
And the rollback of relief programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, which boosted support for things like SNAP benefits and free school meals for all
students, has left families with fewer resources to help put food on the table.
CNN`s Natasha Chen gives us an on-the-ground look at the impact this growing need is having on local food pantries here in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a happy Thanksgiving.
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is not video from the pandemic. This is a line this week of people waiting to receive
food at a church in time for Thanksgiving.
CHRIS MERREL, FOOD PANTRY CLIENT: I have to do it. And that`s the way it goes.
CHEN (voice-over): Chris Merrel has been coming to this Pasadena, California church every week for several years.
MERREL: My wife won`t even come because she`d be embarrassed.
CHEN (voice-over): He`s a retired mechanic living on less than $700 Social Security per month. He never thought he`d need help from a food bank, and
he`s not alone.
MERREL: Never seen a line that long before. This time it was all the way up and down the street.
ANA DURAN, FOOD INSECURE: Lines are getting crazier.
CHEN (voice-over): We first met Ana Duran two years ago when her home in Riverside, California saw inflation at almost 10%, even though inflation
has cooled now to about 2%.
DURAN: Or I have to get up at least, you know, like I said before 6:00 to be there by 6:00.
CHEN (voice-over): Duran still goes to weekly food distributions. Two years ago, she told us she was turning in recycling and selling jewelry for
extra cash while working as a part-time caregiver. She`s continued to do that, selling what little jewelry she has left.
DURAN: I only have like two or three more pieces that I have for as a backup resource.
CHEN (on camera): The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank says they`re tracking about 10% ahead in the amount of food distributed compared to last year.
They`re serving 900,000 people a month right now near pandemic levels.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can`t turn nobody away.
CHEN (voice-over): In New York City.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re some days you don`t know where your next meal is coming from.
CHEN (voice-over): City Harvest says visits to city food pantries and soup kitchens are at the highest level on record, even higher than the
pandemic`s peak. In Chicago, Common Pantry says they`re serving 26% more households per month than last year. Across the country, 85% of food banks
in a Feeding America survey reported similar or higher demand for food assistance comparing this August with last August.
(On camera): Why do you think that is when inflation has actually cooled quite a bit?
MICHAEL FLOOD, CEO OF LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: I think what we`re seeing here in Los Angeles is the cumulative impact of inflation. Food
prices are about 25% higher than they were pre-pandemic.
Now the unemployment rate has come down. We would expect the demand for food assistance to decrease, but that`s not what has happened.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Pop quiz, hot shot.
Which planets in our solar system do not have a natural satellite or astronomical body that orbits them?
Mercury and Venus, Venus and Saturn, Mars and Earth or Jupiter and Neptune?
Answer is Mercury and Venus. The only two planets without natural satellites like moons.
An astronaut recently captured video of objects in space of what he called cosmic fireflies. Now scientists have been making some fascinating
discoveries while studying space, but occasionally the intriguing phenomena they find have some less than stellar explanations.
CNN`s Jeremy Roth shows us that that was the case with these cosmic fireflies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An astronaut aboard the International Space Station recently shared an out-of-this-world sight of what he dubbed
cosmic fireflies. But there`s more than meets the eye to this eye-popping celestial sight. Astronaut Don Pettit is no stranger to surreal scenes
spotted from his orbiting ISS perch and shared to his socials.
This latest trippy video could inspire all manner of astrophilosophical and existential questions if the true explanation wasn`t so vanilla. Pettit
explained that what looks like cosmic fireflies are actually scores of Starlink satellites glinting and gleaming in the sun as they hover above
the Earth. SpaceX has sent thousands of the internet communications satellites into orbit, with even more in the works, sparking a debate
amongst some astronomers on what their impact may be on future celestial studies. In the meantime, though, hey, they sure are pretty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: All right, so you might have noticed that a bunch of big movies were released around Thanksgiving break. You may have gone to see one or two
yourself, Wicked, Moana 2, and Gladiator 2. Those were the top grossing movies last month, and they were all released just before the holiday.
Now, it`s no secret that production companies release their hit movies around the holidays and in the summer, but it turns out there`s an even
more design behind releasing multiple blockbusters at the same time. CNN`s Lisa Respers France lets us in on the movie studio marketing strategy
behind filling up those seats in the theaters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN REPORTER: Glicked, Gladiator 2, and Wicked, making it one of the most successful pre-Thanksgiving box office weekends in more
than 10 years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Glicked.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Glicked.
FRANCE: We agree with this? We are Glickaday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s Glickaday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We like Glickaday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We like that.
FRANCE: Now, it`s giving us echoes of the cultural phenomenon of Barbenheimer. Companies releasing movies on the same day as a rival company
is actually not new. We`ve seen matching U.S. release dates in the past, including The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia, which was later coined The Dark
Mama, Casino and Toy Story, and way back in the 1990s, 10 Things I Hate About You and The Matrix.
So why do they do this? Well, in the movie biz, it`s called a counter- programming strategy. That`s when companies release their film the same time as a film that is tonally very different to target, on paper, two
traditionally different audiences.
But they can also feed off of each other, as we saw with Barbenheimer, allowing social media to do a lot of the marketing for the studios, making
people want to be a part of the conversation. And there`s an economic aspect, too. In the 1930s, the double feature where you`d get to see two
selected films with one ticket was created to attract moviegoers during the Great Depression.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Today`s story getting a 10 out of 10, is a giant blanket that is Snow Joke. A snow blanket that is, and yes, that is a real house, under
real snow. After some monster snowstorms hit the Northeast, one Pennsylvanian man was snow-overwhelmed with several feet of the fluffy
stuff draped over the top of his house. He had to shovel not only his driveway and sidewalk, but his roof as well.
All right, superstars, you already s-know what time it is. My favorite part of the day, we`re showing some love with a shout out to Mr. Kumka`s Social
Studies classes up at Sanford Middle School in Sanford, Maine. Thank you for the sweet swag, my Spartan friends, and for this drone photo. Some of
y`all. I received here at work, rise up, literally. Cue that Friday music, not air.
Remember the power you possess to create some positive change in this world. You never know when or how, but you just might be the light someone
needs today. You are more powerful than you know.
I`m Coy Wire. This is CNN 10. It`s been a blessing to spend this week with you.
END
