Wednesday, October 5, 2011

'Sesame Street' to tackle child hunger

'Sesame Street' to tackle child hunger
'Sesame Street' to tackle child hunger, A new muppet will make its way to Sesame Street come October 9, but the typical sunny days touted in the show's infamous theme song are not in the cards for the latest addition.Sesame Street's new character Lily is a "food insecure" puppet whose family struggles with hunger issues. The hot pink puppet with a purple nose and turquoise eyelids will make her debut in a PBS special called Growing Hope Against Hunger. 'Sesame Street' to tackle child hunger,
The hour-long show will tackle the societal issue of hunger among low- and moderate-income families in the US. And with the USDA reporting that nearly one in four American families have limited access to affordable and nutritious food, the timing of the special is especially relevant.kimberly williams paisley,

"Hunger is a huge problem that is on the rise," said RocĂ­o Galarza, senior director of content planning and design outreach at Sesame Workshop, which is the non-profit arm of the show responsible for creating educational content. "We have been working on this topic for a while and we were lucky to get funding from Wal-Mart to create this awareness campaign."

Lily is the first character on Sesame Street to deal with the issue of food insecurity, which is an effect of economic poverty. Some may think that Oscar the Grouch is a poverty stricken character but according to Galarza, the thrash can bound muppet is not poor but from Grouchland and that is the reason for his appearance. +hungry muppet sesame street, hungry muppet lily, Growing hope against hunger,

Sesame Street may be for kids, but the show has a history of addressing important issues that are difficult for parents and guardians to address with children such as bullying and grief following the death of a parent. Growing Hope Against Hunger Oct 9, 7PM, Brad Paisley, kimberly williams paisley,

The kid-friendly show has not shied away from addressing sensitive subjects such as race and diversity either. Sesame Street debuted in 1969 and was one of the firsts during that time to feature a multicultural cast in non-stereotypical roles. For instance, the long-time character Gordon continues to this day to be a positive portrayal of an African-American male on television.

Read more: thegrio