In Denial of Hunger: The Mexican-Origin Community’s Struggle for Visibility

During the 1930s, households of Mexican origin that received welfare, including food assistance, faced repatriation. As a member of the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors put it, buying train tickets for a family was cheaper than supporting them with welfare. By the 1960s, the “rediscovery” of hunger emerged as a nationwide movement aimed at exposing the extent of hunger and malnutrition—much of the data used to illustrate hunger excluded the Mexican-origin population. The repatriations of the 1930s and the “rediscovery” of hunger ignored the fact that people of Mexican origin faced hunger and overlooked their struggles. This paper will explore the tradition of denying hunger, why this is a crucial part of American history, and how this legacy continues to affect the community today.