Posted on 12/01/2008 7:56:07 AM PST by Turret Gunner A20
As I was perusing the newspapers this weekend I noticed a lot of stories about hungry children. OK - it's wonderful that so many of you want to help those in need, but I have to throw a little water on this idea that so many children are "going hungry" in this country.
Let's just clear this up. When the "activists" head out there with their pollsters and start asking questions, one of those questions is something like "Have any of your children complained about being hungry during the last year?" Now I don't care how much money you make; if you have a child that child is going to say "Mommy, I'm hungry" about once a week.
You tell these survey-takers that your child uttered those words just one time - and suddenly you have a statistic; a child "going hungry" in the United States.
This ought to help you call "BS" on some of the more alarming ads or stories you may see over the Holidays.
I need a bailout because I wasn’t invited to Hef’s NYE party. ;)
Howard Dean has the answer.
He once said that it’s a myth that the Democrats don’t have any values. He said that Democrat values were that children shouldn’t go to bed hungry at night. I guess he was hinting that Republicans are in favor of children going hungry.
Well, now that Democrats control both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, and the entire gov’t apparatus, look for expansion of food stamps and school lunch programs. We will have to prove yet again how liberal we are and how compassionate we are.
There are lots of children “going hungry” in this country, but for 99.9% of them, the cause is parents who are addicted to alcohol/drugs or gambling. And the solution is to take them away from their parents, not to give their parents more money or food stamps (which are readily converted to cash, either directly, or by re-selling the food).
Back in the Nixon-Kennedy days, the Democrats said that “Half the people of America go to bed hungry”. The Pubbies replied, “Yeah, because half of them are on a diet.”
Didn’t hear much along that line afterward.
Of course that was when the Pubbies still had a few cajones.
Source please of this amazing statistic ???
Where are they at? Since food stamps provide enough food to get very fat in a short time. And if this is true are most children of illegal aliens or Democrats?
www.hyperbole.com
I know it’s not politically correct to talk about that, but you have a good point about parental neglect being a cause if kids don’t get enough to eat. It’s a minefield to try to take kids away, but maybe that would be a good solution. If parents are so high and spaced out on some substance that they can’t properly take care of their kids, then maybe another solution should be used.
Bottom line is that with food stamps and other social programs, there is no reason for anybody, kids or anybody else,to be going hungry in this country.
Figures don't lie, but liars figure.
No reason for any kid in this US to go to bed hungry (real hunger not just, “hmmmm a little ice cream sounds good” hungry). If they are indeed in need of more nutrition it’s the fault of their parent(s) since there are plenty of avenues to get food into kids in the USA. I’m not going to feel the least bit guilty when we have the fattest *poor* people on the globe.
They can show me how “compassionate and caring” they are when they pay significantly more in taxes than the law requires.
Simple, if you’re a democrat/0bama supporter, calculate your taxes, and pay in 50% more.
Then you’ll be “patriotic” and “compassionate”.
Until you do that, STFU.
Not to mention food banks and soup kitchens run by churches and other charitable organizations. But to take advantage of these resources, you have to be lucid and energetic enough and to get up off the couch and show up where the free food is distributed. As for children, if they live in poor or even not-so-poor households and attend school they are eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch five days a week.
I worked for five years as the lunch lady at the elementary school my children attended. Now I admit the food was not always five star, but was generally edible and things kids like...you know, corn dogs, hamburgers, pizza, macaroni and cheese.
When you work in the kitchen, you are privy to who has free lunches and breakfasts. One of the things I noticed was that lots of the kids who were receiving free meals wore hundred dollar sneakers and other expensive clothes. Also, I knew many of the parents of these kids. They lied on their application to get the free meals. Most of them could afford to pay for lunch, they just didn’t want to and as long as you know the cut-off for income, you can lie. There is no oversight or investigation as to whether or not you lie on the form. And, I can’t tell you how many of those parents drove new cars including big SUV’s.
Lastly, you wouldn’t believe how much of that food ended up in the trash. Now, I don’t doubt that there are people, including children who are seriously hungry, but seriously hungry people do not throw food away, even bad food.
Food Security in the United States: Definitions of Hunger and Food Security
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General categories |
Detailed categories |
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Old label |
New label |
Description of conditions in the household |
|
|
Food security |
Food security |
High food security |
No reported indications of food-access problems or limitations |
|
Marginal food security |
One or two reported indications—typically of anxiety over food sufficiency or shortage of food in the house. Little or no indication of changes in diets or food intake |
||
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Food insecurity |
Food insecurity without hunger |
Low food security |
Reports of reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet. Little or no indication of reduced food intake |
|
Food insecurity |
Very low food security |
Reports of multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake |
|
Find one example of an exception and get back to me. Fact is, we have extensive public and private programs in this country to make sure families with children can afford food. I’m sure there are a handful of parents who are so mentally ill (and not also addicted to drugs/alcohol/gambling), that they just don’t apply for the available help. And there are a handful of religious nuts or other types of control freaks who starve their children as a form of “discipline”. But nearly all the hungry children have parents who are either already getting the help, but diverting the money and food stamps to their own purposes, (mainly alcohol/drugs) or who are not eligible because they have income above the cut-off level (income they are choosing to spend on alcohol/drugs/gambling while their children go hungry). Bottom line is that virtually all child hunger in this country is directly related to criminal behavior on the part of the hungry children’s parents.
Drug addicts sell food stamps to get money for drugs.
Once, I was behind a 'lady' on Food stamps!! She was in a Fur Coat - buying junk food and when I was coming out, she was getting into a Caddy Coupe DeVille (this was in 1990).
I don't buy my kids junk food. (And I worked in the supermarket industry when I was financing my business, and I saw what some of these people try to put on food stamps, like pet food.)
“As for children, if they live in poor or even not-so-poor households and attend school they are eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch five days a week.”
Let us not forget the free breakfast as well as breakfasts and lunches when school isn’t in session too!
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