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.
Now that would be an true accomplishment! LOL
I eat a lot of Albacore Tuna @ .85/can. Until I get tired of it, I’m doin’ about 3.15/day.
I bought 20 lbs lean (93/7) ground beef @ 2.59/pound.
There’s a warehouse in Indiana that we go to regularly for dented cans. We save about 90% on canned goods. I don’t can as much as we used to.
We buy bulk ingredients (flour, sugar, oats, etc.) and split it between us. We prepare easy meals for the week on Sundays. Building upon the previous day’s menu for convenience.
It takes energy and attention to the details but it can be done. It depends upon your priorities.
They even count it as "at risk" (which is the category the press usually uses to boost the number) if you had insufficient variety in your food, so if you have a hearty plate of rice and beans three nights in a row at the end of the month you might as well have starved to death in Ethiopia.
That is a problem for many people, DIETS that doctors stick you on call for high $$ foods. Then you have the group of people Diabetics that must adhere to strict diets because their lives depend on it. And eating a Diabetic diet is NOT cheap! Low carb, low sugar, so that eliminates a lot of food groups or cuts them down. Cholesterol, no dairy, and some docs what you to go vegan...guess what vegans have high cholesterol too.
Week before your test just cut back on the carbs/sugars and your Tris will drop rapidly. Use pan sprays and your LDL will drop. What you do for the HDL I have no Idea. Mine runs high, hubbies runs bottom of the barrel. Our new doc is more worried about the HDL and the LDL than the Tris. The higher the HDL the better.
I agree. This article is sad in its misrepresentation. If there are hungry children with all the free services and benefits available; it’s because mommy and daddy are to lazy to grocery shop or cook. Either that or they have sold their food stamps to buy drugs or alcohol. My neighbors get food stamps they don’t need so they use them to feed a mess of stray animals expenive meat that I wish I could afford on my limited income. Hunger in America is a myth that is pushed to mollify the beleagured and vanishing breed of people(taxpayers) who go to work every day to care for their own families only to be robbed by the Socialist thieves to take care of an increasing hoard of lazy freeloaders.
Yes, I could eat healthily and well on the amount my neighbors spend in food stamps on their animals. Their grown children draw adequate government benefits, including free healthcare to make a good life for their children if they didn’t trade the food stamps for cigarettes, alcohol and money for lottery tickets. Sorry. The sob stories about hungry children don’t move me. Perhaps some of the Government Social Workers we pay should check into things like that instead of teaching eleven year olds how to have sex.
“Really? Three squares/day on five bucks? Not where I’ve ever lived.”
Sure you can, if you avoid pre-prepared foods, and avoid waste. And, you don’t have to eat like a Somalian, either.
A pot of corned beef and cabbage can last us 3 or 4 meals, for around $8. A $5 pot of Chili can last the entire weekend. PB+J makes a great snack, instead of cakes. Wok meals with rice can really stretch a budge.
Baking your own bread is healthier, better tasting, and often much cheaper, especially with a $5 Bread maker from Goodwill. They can’t give those things away.,
Buying in BULK can save a ton, if you know how/where to buy the basics.
But, if you are buying $8-a-person Nuk-a-meals, you aren’t going to be able to do that.
That is a problem for many people, DIETS that doctors stick you on call for high $$ foods. Then you have the group of people Diabetics that must adhere to strict diets because their lives depend on it. And eating a Diabetic diet is NOT cheap! Low carb, low sugar, so that eliminates a lot of food groups or cuts them down. Cholesterol, no dairy, and some docs what you to go vegan...guess what vegans have high cholesterol too.
Week before your test just cut back on the carbs/sugars and your Tris will drop rapidly. Use pan sprays and your LDL will drop. What you do for the HDL I have no Idea. Mine runs high, hubbies runs bottom of the barrel. Our new doc is more worried about the HDL and the LDL than the Tris. The higher the HDL the better.
If I could ever figger out what the hell it is, I'd like to add the stuff that's taken over the front bank by the hard road to your campaign too.
Stuff grows like rabbits, has tender green leaves, and prolly doesn't taste any worse than any other trendy metrosexual forage !
At last ! a ray of hope in this cØmmunist ecØnomy ! LOL
Most of the fat people I know are fat not because of carbs, but because they're big meat eaters. They eat expensive food, but they eat a lot of it. One guy was a big sushi fan - he weighed about twice what he should have. Once he went vegan, and got most of his calories from grains, his weight went down close to 100 lbs.
five dollars is a luxury. $35 a week per family member is about what we do. Aside from the occasional trip to a restaurant, we do this most of the year.
Back when I was in college, I figured out ways to get a bottomless coffee in the morning, eat a huge lunch and scratch out dinner for less than that.
The only Nuka-a-meals I buy are a buck each.
A women only needs 1100 calories a day, if she chooses her foods wisely for nutrition.
“There’s a warehouse in Indiana that we go to regularly for dented cans.”
Bailey’s?
I can get a roasted Rotteseri Chicken at the local supermarket for $4.99 ( $3.99) on sale. There is enough meat on one of those things to make 3 meals. The rest can be cooked with vegetables to make your own vegie soup.Toss in a box of instant potatoes and canned beans or red beets and you have 5 days meals for a total of less than 10 bucks.
As a real-world example, one of the families for which I act as a guardian is a family of four and gets $205/month total, or about $1.70/person/day.
Their income is about $2,600/month.
Are you kidding me? Then I must be positively starving. If I eat my regular breakfast, make a good lunch for myself and eat a protein, two veg, one starch dinner for Monday through Thursday lunch, I don’t want to eat dinner on Thursday night. I usually go to an exercise class to stimulate my appetite and even then I can get away with a bowl of soup.
I only eat two meals a lot on Saturdays too (but four on Sundays), especially if I’m cooking something fancy for dinner.
I could probably do $5/day, with a few caveats. I would have to buy some things in bulk before hand. It’s amazing how much you can save that way.
Breakfast would be the easiest one to budget for me. I’m already very frugal when it comes to breakfast. Oatmeal is cheap and filling (and really tasty made from steel-cut oats. Yum!), and fried eggs and grits cost very little and keep me going all morning.
Dinner would be the biggest challenge. It would be tough to keep some of my favorites on the table - especially beef. The biggest pitfalls (for me) would be avoiding monotony and keeping the meal balanced nutritionally. Still, beans and rice with a bit of sausage or hamhock to flavor it is a fine meal, and chicken drumsticks and thighs are still very affordable. I stock up on canned and frozen veggies when they are on sale, and a bit of canned fruit is all the dessert I would need (though not necessarily all I’d want, LOL).
Of course, as others have pointed out, the $5/day figuring is misleading in both the numbers and the role (i.e. supplemental meal funding). It’s just an interesting exercise to consider what one could do if they had to.
When times are really tough, remember, your coworkers are edible....
“Food insecurity” is like “jobs saved”. it’s a made-up term and subject to the interpretation of the writer and the writers agenda and therefore a BS term, IMO.
Food insecurity is when you have nothing to eat. They use it as meaning you don’t a Whole Foods giving free organic stuff away at every corner paid for by the government. Ever notice that the same people that make up this crap are the ones that feel it’s their duty to prevent WalMart from offering low cost food to people.
Spam. The whole family can eat all they want from one can.
(they just won’t want much!)
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