Sesame Street Unveils Hunger-Stricken Muppet

The iconic kids show tackles another issue – food insecurity – that's too sensitive for Washington too discuss.

If Sesame Street is one of America's greatest social barometers, then the show's introduction of a hungry, impoverished muppet for a special about food security probably doesn't bode to well for the superpower's future. The children's TV show will unveil Lily, a muppet whose family can't always afford putting food on the table, for a primetime episode set for this Oct. 9 that addresses hunger issues in the U.S. Country music star (and pretty decent guitar-slinger) Brad Paisley will also join the cast for the evening. We imagine that the Cookie Monster's seemingly limitless supply of chocolate chip cookies ought to be able to tide Lily's family over, but then Sesame Street would probably need to air an episode on diabetes. Recent U.S. government statistics put the number of kids facing food insecurity at a whopping 17 million, more than half of whom are under the age of six. That means that about five per cent of the entire U.S. population are children who face going hungry every day.