Posted on 09/23/2013 1:20:00 PM PDT by wbill
In my work, I see more people who want to focus on losing weight rather than gaining weight, so I don’t often stop to think about the problem of hunger.
It’s easy to overlook the fact that hunger is still a big problem in in the United States. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2011 about 50 million Americans were living with food insecurity — 33.5 million adults and 16.7 million children.
What is food insecurity? It’s the inability to provide adequate food on a consistent basis. For adults, not getting enough food can have harmful effects, but it can be especially harmful for children who need adequate nutrients for proper growth and development.
I’m familiar with the Good Shepherd Food Bank so I know hunger exists in Maine, but to what extent? Maine ranks 18th in the nation and second in New England in terms of food insecurity. Since 2004, the number of Mainers facing hunger has increased 50 percent.
The population of Maine is about 1,328,371 — the food insecurity rate is 14.7 percent of households, or 200,000 people.
Food insecurity can lead to nutrient deficiencies, delayed cognitive development, asthma, decreased immune system function and increased fatigue. A contributing factor to childhood obesity is the lack of access to healthy foods for children living in food-insecure homes.
My office is situated such that I have a big window facing the drive-thru of a fast-food restaurant. There is a pretty steady line of cars going through on a daily basis. Fast food once in awhile isn’t a big concern, but eating a quick meal from a fast-food restaurant or a convenience store on a regular basis is expensive and the food is usually higher in fat and sodium and lower in vitamins and minerals. If you were to price the items out compared to what you could purchase at a grocery store, it wouldn’t be such a deal.
When grocery shopping, nutrient-rich staples such as whole-wheat bread, brown rice, steel-cut oats, corn tortillas, dried beans and peanut butter are good choices. Fresh fruits and vegetables are healthy choices but can be expensive if not on sale. Canned fruit packed in its own juice or frozen fruit or vegetables are great choices. If you buy canned vegetables, drain and rinse them to remove sodium before consuming.
If you are affected by food insecurity, there are many resources available to help. One way to find them is to dial 211 and ask for resources in your area. Food banks, soup kitchens, etc., are located in communities throughout the state, usually staffed by volunteers. If you don’t live with food insecurity but want to help others who do, perhaps volunteering your time at a food kitchen or donating money or food to these organizations would be within your means. Every little bit helps.
SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program previously called the food stamp program. SNAP provides $5 a day to help those unable to purchase food. To see what it is like, try to eat off of $5 a day. You’ll get a little more perspective on how difficult it can be for some families in America and right in your home town. Remember that $5 has to include your morning coffee.
Want to do more? The Good Shepherd Food Bank has a calendar showing 30 Ways in 30 Days to help solve hunger. Some of the suggestions include: » Volunteer at a local food pantry or meal site. » Watch the films “A Place at the Table” or “30 Days on Minimum Wage.” » View poverty statistics for your county by googling “Map the Meal Gap.” » Make a financial contribution to the food bank.
For information on the Good Shepherd Food Bank go to www.gsfb.org. For information on food insecurity in the U.S., check out www.feedingamerica.org.
Georgia Clark-Albert is a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified diabetes educator at Penobscot Community Health Care in Bangor. She provides nutrition consultant services through Mainely Nutrition in Athens. Read her columns and post questions at bangordailynews.com or email her at GeorgiaMaineMSRDCDE@gmail.com.
Well, any idiot that believes these massaged statistics with their weasel words, put this in a crockpot and cook it and eat it becuse IT'S A CROCK OF S***!
That could get pretty boring, but doable
If you order 5 McDouble’s off the dollar menu at McDonald’s, your daily calorie intake would be 1950. That’s essentially hitting your maximum recommended calories for an adult male off 5 bucks while having someone else prepare your meal.
If you’re willing to do a little of the work yourself, you can easily feed a family of four off 5 bucks a day. The ingredients for a huge pot of borcht are less than $5...That’s why eastern Europeans subsisted on it.
Many Asians practically live off white steamed rice with little bits of vegetable and mean added in.
What liberals *really* mean is that on five bucks a day, those on SNAP can’t eat as well as those of us who work for a living.
Most people forget about spoilage, which is a stealth expense that almost everyone realizes. $5 isn’t as realizable as you think.
“Remember that $5 has to include your morning coffee”
The insinuation here is that you’re stupid enough to spend most of the $5 on a cup of coffee from a drive-up or such rather than making your own from drip at home where a $7 can will make coffee for a month.
And so on. For crying out loud, of course one person can eat quite well on $5.00 a day. Want a burger? Good ground round is what, $4 a pound? Three 1/3 pound burgers right there - add a few pennies worth of condiments and veggies and a bun from the 8-pack and you’ve got a better burder than you’ll pay $10 for at the foo-foo restaurants. Fries? Buy a sweet potato, slice it and roast in the oven and it’s not only better for you but tastes better too. And on and on....no ramen noodles need apply.
“I doubt you could eat well on $5 per day.”
It takes a lot of effort but 5 dollars will get you 1 lb of ground beef, 1 loaf of bread, 1 can of kroger vegetables.
If you buy on sale, you can do better.
Or it gets you 2 hungry man (over 1 lb of food) frozen dinners.
Or it gets you 4 double cheeseburgers at McDonalds.
Or it gets you 5 packs of 12 oz each of Oscar Mayer bologna.
Or it gets you almost 1 lb of beef, 1 kroger spaghetti sauce, and 1 lb of kroger pasta (various choices), total cost 6 dollars.
Yes, if you know how to cook with scratch ingredients, use leftovers, etc., you could actually eat rather well for that.
Our mothers and grandmothers who were full-time homemakers knew this and devoted great time and skill towards it.
I have been supplementing several friends who have been cut back on hours due to obummer care...
It helps that I am a power shopper and they are not too picky.
But it still pisses me off.
I am taking my prepper food and cycling it back before it expires to help my 28 hour friends...
I am glad that i can cycle the food so it won;t go bad, but it still pisses me off...
The questions they ask are loaded and used specifically so kids answer the way they want them to.
They use things like "Do you know where your next meal is coming from?" If they answer, "No." even if they eat 3 squares a day, it gets recorded as a bad thing.
I could have answered yes to this at any point in college or the years immediately after, and I never really considered it a problem as long as I had beer.
especially when the starving masses are all fat.
Arugula grows in most everyone’s yard and people used to have a hell of a time getting rid of it until some smart feller figured out city folks would pay good money for the danged stuff!
Beside that, one collard green plant can feed a family of six for nigh onto a year... :)
I’m often downtown in our little city at daybreak. I have yet to see the garbage truck picking up the bodies of those who have starved to death the day before.
I regularly eat well on $5/ day.
The biggest factor is that I enjoy having oatmeal- with butter and honey- for breakfast. About 50 cents.
The other two mwals are ‘regular’ meals. I buy in bulk when on sale and frequent an excellent ‘salvage’ store.
Actually, these days my budget is slipping towards $6/day...
How many of those 50 million are not overweight?
Heck I already come pretty close to that. Most of my lunches are left overs. Generally anything we make costs less that $20, dinner for me and the wife and one or two lunches for me. Works out pretty cheap.
I Make a coffee protein drink that is very yummy for me for less than 50cents a cup using generic instant coffee, Sugare free coffe sweetner from big lots and carbmaster milk from Kroger.
Itis all about HOW you put things together.
You can make a nice meal out of a pack of ramen and can of cream of mushryroom soup.
Ramen can be part of a great cheap meal. Throw the spice packet away and add your own vegetables, meat and spices.
I think most of the people who have trouble living on $5/day only ‘cook’ commercially prepared frozen meals or eat out.
Breakfast: two packets of Great Value instant oatmeal ($1.68 for 8 packets = $.42)
Lunch: large salad with tomatoes (roma $1 per pound), mushrooms and garbanzos, doable for $2.50.
Dinner: soup, leftovers, etc. on remaining $2.
Could get boring, but it's doable.
And that's what *really* pi$$es them off....
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