Report: Hunger has more than doubled in low-income areas

[ckramer]

Between 2002 and 2005, hunger more than doubled in lowincome communities across Massachusetts because of poverty and the high cost of living, a local advocacy group told state lawmakers yesterday.

Project Bread said that hunger has risen to 18 percent, from 8 percent three years ago, posing a public health concern because it can lead to obesity and diabetes.

"Hunger in Massachusetts is not caused by a food shortage," said Andrew Schiff , the group's assistant director. "We have plenty of food for everyone. The problem is the combination of poverty and the high cost of living."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/11/15/report_hunger_has_more_than_doubled_in_low_income_areas/

This is a shame.

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. It's a national shame

Absolutely no one should be going hungry in our nation. We are not a Third World country.

[Zenlitened]

2. Agreed. Even in the developing world, hunger should not be...

... the major killer that it is.

In general, we don't have food production problems here in the 21st century, as much as we have food "politics" problems. Wars force people out of food-growing areas. Corruption and secterian rivalries keep food aid from reaching the people who need it. Poor policies encourage inefficient land use. We're even blackmailing farmers over the seeds they use. Oy.

It can seem overwhelming. That's why I've made Project Bread one of the main charities I support. Instead of tossing $25 checks here, there and everywhere, I've opted to whittle my list down and make larger contributions to a select group of organizations. In the case of Project Bread, that means keeping my money close to home, as they only operate in Massachusetts. But I'm sure there are similar programs in other states, and there's always Oxfam and Oxfam America, too.

But if you'd like to learn more about Project Bread:
http://www.projectbread.org/site/PageServer?pagename=aboutus_main

:)

[ckramer]

10. Thanks for the 800 number info

I printed out 10 of these for the homeless people...I saw lots of them in Boston...I am going to ask them to call you folks for food...

[JudyM]

12. I support Project BRead, too. Though I live in VA, my niece in MA does their 'walk for hunger'

every year. It's a great cause.

[indepat]

6. This is the 'pukey neocon way

[The2ndWheel]

11. But we are a class society

And that, makes all the difference.

[kestrel91316]

3. We need some sort of program in place that not only

provides food staple items (flour, sugar, beans, oil, etc) to the poor, but the tools to prepare them cheaply and easily: toaster oven to bake bread (in case their big oven is broken, crockpot for doing the beans easily, mixing bowl, basic cookbook, and a couple of lessons in shopping and eating cheap.

Better to teach a man to fish than to just give him a fish. Giving the poor prepared foods doesn't help them much. What a lot of them have is time on their hands if they are under- or un-employed or have to stay homw taking care of kids. Knowing how to prepare your own food from scratch is EXTREMELY EMPOWERING. Not to mention more nutritious and way more economical.

[Oak2004]

19. A lot of poor are severely OVER-employed.

In fact, most of America's poor are employed. Those that aren't are likely to be dealing with health issues, either theirs or an immediate family member. And often they are homeless, which makes any such suggestions moot. Household skills alone won't do much to address hunger, and in many cases such advice and help is more patronizing than useful.

However if persons were given non-food items they needed, whatever they might be -- and that would include things like toaster ovens and crockpots -- that would be very much helpful. I know I always found it ridiculous when I was offered hard-to-prepare food, but no means to prepare it (and not even the soap it would take to wash up afterwards).

[NMMNG]

20. Bingo

It's a myth that most poor people are unemployed or "welfare mothers". A good number of them are the working poor, struggling to live on jobs that pay minimum wage or barely more than that (and sometimes multiple jobs). They may be living in substandard housing, motels or shelters if they have lodging at all.


Nickel and Dimed is an excellent book to read to gain persepctive on the world of the working poor.

[AnneD]

4. You see them in school every day....

the kids that wolf down the meals. Some kids pick at their food, theses kids eat their meals first. Kids that don't eat their fruit or drink their milk leave it on the counter when returning their tray. I will squirrel away food for the kids that come in to my clinic-after these kids have taken what they want.

We are lucky-we provide breakfast for all kids, regardless of income. Monday through Friday the kids get at least 2 meals a day. We continue to give all kids breakfast and lunch through summer school-even if they are not in school. And these kids don't miss a meal. Late July and August are hard months for parents, and so are the long holidays.

So that gets me thinking...if this many kids are needing food, what is it like for shut ins, the elderly, the homeless and other poor. Hunger in this country is a real issue. It is hidden but once you know the symptoms and start looking, you see it everywhere.

[bleedingheart]

5. there are loads of people going hungry in every community

and the shut-ins are those who are worse off...because no one sees them...and out of sight is out of mind.

It is truly a shame...

[Quantess]

7. Many chain restaurants throw away food

My first job was at I***'s Pizza buffet. I commented on what a shame to be throwing away cold pizza slices, leftover lasagna in the serving trays, etc, when maybe it could be donated to a food drive. The manager said that company policy forbids it. They didn't want any employees using that as an excuse to steal food for themselves. To prevent employee theft, all extra food goes in the garbage.

Of course, employees had to pay full price for food at that restaurant, but that's another subject.

[Patiod]

8. "Then why are poor people so fat?"

A conservative creep in our office asked that one day. Of course his mommy and daddy could afford to send him to an Ivy League school, but that was his RIGHT as the offspring of rich white folks.

(I don't interact with the guy, because I think he's Aspergers, and making provocative statements is the only way he knows to interact with people)

[KamaAina]

14. People with Asperger's or autism are found across the political spectrum

several of us right here at DU, for instance.

The only way I know how to deal with conservative creeps, on the spectrum or not, is to make snarky remarks like "Gee, I didn't know Rush was on food stamps!" :evilgrin:

[Patiod]

16. Only mentioned the Aspergers to explain why I don't argue

I go to this guy to seek out information on science topics - he knows more than most of my colleagues. But he seems to really struggle to interact with people, and his interactions tend to be inappropriate (long monologues on subjects that don't interest anyone else, statements that other people find rude or provocative, trouble fitting into the rhythm of conversation in large groups, etc) Because I perceive that he's at a disadvantage socially, I don't beat him up verbally like I might someone who I think has stronger social skills.

There are indeed a lot of folks with Aspergers and autism here on DU, and my guess is it's easier for you to interact socially in a forum like this where you have time to think and make your points without the interference of small talk, chit-chat, and kidding around, which can probably be confusing or difficult to handle.

Sincerely sorry if I came off as rude - no disrespect meant, KamaAina. :hi:

/I'm actually considering going back to work for an aspie boss I used to work for, which is how I learned to recognize it.

[KamaAina]

17. Actually I just thought that the uninitiated might end up making an association

between "conservative creep" and "Asperger's". Sadly there are quite a few of them out there, as well as us DUers. Come to think of it, we're actually more likely to be found away from the political center, either left (yay!) or right (booooo!)

I'm actually considering going back to work for an aspie boss I used to work for, which is how I learned to recognize it.

An Aspie boss?! In what company or industry does such an individual exist? (Not mine -- and it's working with people with disabilities!) Then again, there has been talk about Bill Gates... :-)

[Patiod]

18. He's a statistician

Brilliant guy - he's invented a bunch of stuff involving statistical models and neural networks and making predictions of people's future behavior based on data about their past behavior.

When I worked for him before, I put his Ivy League PhD-level statistician prose into regular-old-MBA-level language, did the writing for surveys, conducted interviews and focus groups - did any non-stat work that needed to be done.

But I have to say his people management skills were....bizarre. He would go a whole week without speaking to anyone in the (admittedly tiny) office. No hello - no goodbye. Once you realized not to take it personally, it was okay (but still strange). Now he's working at a big company, and my guess he has people to do the human interaction stuff, and he probably just does statistical design and analysis.

It's funny, but we used to be amazed at the similarities between he and Gates in appearance, personal style, and presentation. (when my S.O., who worked at the same office with me, would get mad at the boss, he would refer to him as "that Bill-Gates-looking MFer") I always suspected that Mr. G might and he might share a lot of characteristics.

[iconoclastic cat]

9. Where are those Christian Fundamentalists now?

{crickets}

[libodem]

13. They can eat charity from faithbased initiatives, yummmm

[Megahurtz]

15. Yup. The "Richest Country in the World"

:eyes: that refuses to take care of their own.
So much money is leaving this Country daily while people struggle and suffer here it's pathetic.
And wrong.

That's what you get with the Unbridled Corporate Capitalistic Monster.

Something here needs to change drastically because this is way too out of control.