Posted on 08/16/2015 5:07:46 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Those that run food banks all over America say that demand for their services just continues to explode. It always amazes me that there are still people out there that insist that an “economic collapse” is not happening. From their air-conditioned homes in their cushy suburban neighborhoods they mock the idea that the U.S. economy is crumbling. But if they would just go down and visit the local food banks in their areas, they would see how much people are hurting. According to Feeding America spokesman Ross Fraser, 46 million Americans got food from a food bank at least one time during 2014. Because the demand has become so overwhelming, some food banks are cutting back on the number of days they operate and the amount of food that is given to each family. As you will see below, many impoverished Americans are lining up at food banks as early as 6:30 in the morning just so that they can be sure to get something before the food runs out. And yet there are still many people out there that have the audacity to say that everything is just fine in America. Shame on them for ignoring the pain of millions upon millions of their fellow citizens.
Poverty in America is getting worse, not better. And no amount of spin from Barack Obama or his apologists can change that fact.
This year, it is being projected that food banks in the United States will give away an all-time record 4 billion pounds of food.
Over the past decade, that number has more than doubled.
And that number would be even higher if food banks had more food to give away. The demand has become so crushing that some food banks have actually reduced the amount of food each family gets…
Food banks across the country are seeing a rising demand for free groceries despite the growing economy, leading some charities to reduce the amount of food they offer each family.
Those in need are starting to realize what is going on, so they are getting to the food banks earlier and earlier. For example, one food bank in New Mexico is now getting long lines of people every single day starting at 6:30 in the morning…
“We get lines of people every day, starting at 6:30 in the morning,” said Sheila Moore, who oversees food distribution at The Storehouse, the largest pantry in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and one where food distribution has climbed 15 percent in the past year.
Does that sound like an “economic recovery” to you?
Just because your family doesn’t have to stand in line for food does not mean that everything is okay in America.
The same thing that is happening in New Mexico is also happening in Ohio. Needy people are standing in line at the crack of dawn so that they can be sure to get something “before the food runs out”…
Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Food Banks, who has been working in food charities since the 1980s, said that when earlier economic downturns ended, food demand declined, but not this time.
“People keep coming earlier and earlier, they’re standing in line, hoping they get there before the food runs out,” Hamler-Fugitt said.
And keep in mind that we are just now entering the next global financial crisis and the next major recession.
So how bad will things be when millions more Americans lose their jobs and millions more Americans lose their homes?
Rising poverty is also reflected in the number of Americans on food stamps. The following graph was posted by the Economic Policy Journal, and it shows how food stamp use has absolutely exploded in the five most populated states…
I don’t see an “economic recovery” in that graph, do you?
Instead, what it shows is that the number of Americans on food stamps continued to rise for years even after the recession ended.
Sadly, things are only going to get worse from here. Eventually, the kinds of things that we are seeing happen in places such as Venezuela will be coming here as well. At this point, young mothers in Venezuela are sleeping outside of empty supermarkets at night in a desperate attempt to get something for their families when morning arrives…
As dawn breaks over the scorching Venezuelan city of Maracaibo, smugglers, young mothers and a handful of kids stir outside a supermarket where they spent the night, hoping to be first in line for scarce rice, milk or whatever may be available.
Some of the people in line are half-asleep on flattened cardboard boxes, others are drinking coffee.
Most Americans cannot identify with this level of suffering, but it is coming to our country someday too. Here is more from Reuters…
“I can’t get milk for my child. What are we going to do?” said Leida Silva, 54, breaking into tears outside the Latino supermarket in northern Maracaibo where she arrived at 3 a.m. on a recent day.
Just a couple of days ago, I wrote about how the number of Americans living in concentrated areas of high poverty has doubled since the year 2000.
In case you are wondering, that is not a sign of progress.
Just because you might live in a comfortable neighborhood that does not give you the right to look down on those that are suffering.
And when you add increasing racial tensions to the mix, it becomes easier to understand why there is so much anger and frustration in our urban areas. According to Business Insider, the percentage of Americans that consider race relations to be in good shape in this nation has dropped precipitously…
Over the last two years there has been a 23% drop in the number of Americans who see relations between blacks and whites as “very good” or “somewhat good.”
Today, only 47% of Americans see black-white relations positively, according to a Gallup poll, the lowest it has been in the last 14 years.
The poll also showed that blacks see the relations more positively (51%) than whites (45%), but both percentages experienced sharp declines in the last two years.
All of the ingredients are there for civil unrest to erupt in cities all over the United States.
When the next major economic downturn happens, anger and frustration are going to flare to extremely dangerous levels. At this point, it will not take much to set things off.
Desperate people do desperate things, and desperation is rising even now in this country.
So how did things get so bad?
Stupid decisions lead to stupid results, and very soon we will start to pay a very great price for decades of incredibly stupid decisions.
“confiscated FROM you and me.”
Go home?
She is home...as the article states, ...
"“I can’t get milk for my child. What are we going to do?” said Leida Silva, 54, breaking into tears outside the Latino supermarket in northern Maracaibo (Venezuelan city) where she arrived at 3 a.m. on a recent day.
BTT
I was just wondering if Trump’s illegal immigrant plan addresses these loop holes.
I figured it must be a Maracaibo in the US they were referring to, given the main thrust of the article. I didn’t click on the link.
I wonder if they have any Sichuan peppercorns.
I can’t find those things anywhere.
Conservatives give much more to charity than liberals. But to read the posts on here one wouldn’t believe it.
People are hungry. Are some of them lazy and frauds? Sure. But I suggest you think about what you would do if all of a sudden you didn’t have anything to feed your children. And realize that it could happen to all of us.
Matthew 25:35-40New Living Translation (NLT)
35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[a] you were doing it to me!’
I don’t mind giving to food banks, but when I’m already paying for half the country’s phone service, internet, electricity, housing, school meals, and bought their cars; it gets a little old. It’s no damn wonder we’re broke. I can’t afford half of what I am supposed to provide others!
I don’t know. He seems to be making it up as he goes along.
If they stop anchor babies it will stop.
When I’m out running errands, I often pass by a food bank in a rural area run by some religious group. From the signs posted at the entrance they look like they are only open on certain days and if they have ample food to give away.
On those days people drive up and form a line on the side of the road while waiting for the gate to open at 9 AM. The line usually winds back for half a mile or less from the food bank entrance. This has been the norm for several years.
As I drive down the road toward the food bank I have observed several things as I pass the line. There are usually trucks, cars, even buses filled with adults, kids, grandma, grandpa, and others. It looks like the handouts are given to each person, not each vehicle, which is why the headcount is so large per vehicle. Anyway each vehicle is packed which means a good number of people are needing assistance.
I see most of the vehicles are newer SUVs, trucks, and there were some high dollar luxury vehicles in the mix. Some have expensive after market rims and other items. I always thought I would see a bunch of junkers like my old 1995 Chevy truck, but I never see too many. There are times I’ve seen a motorhome or motorcyle.
The majority of the vehicles have handicap plates or tags hanging from the rearview mirror. What this means I don’t know but some do have empty scooter lifts on their vehicles. (Their scooter must be in the repair shop or someone stole their scooter.)
A lot of people bring lawn chairs to sit outside the vehicle or sit on the vehicle roof or hood until the gate opens and the line starts moving. Most are dressed like ex-WalMart* shoppers. Many are talking on their latest generation cellphones or Obama phones while the kids play games on the old hand-me-down phones and the old folks snooze.
This has been going on for several years and without much change. But I observed something strange last week that changed my heart. The line that morning stretched for miles and miles. I’m talking over the horizon miles. I have never seen such a long line before. I’m sure the food bank must have run out of food and closed the gate long before everyone in line got their handout. It brought a Boehner (tear) to my eye to see so many people willing to wait hours for some food that was probably past it’s expiration date or overripe.
As I passed the food bank, the gate was still locked and people were waiting to enter. I said a prayer for the ones who truly needed assistance (GOD knows) and ask him to bless them.
Folks, something IS happening and we had better get our act together before the SHTF. When the food banks shut down, it’s going to be bad news, particularly in the big urban areas. Lots of people who put their trust in government are going to starve while waiting in FEMA lines for the few MREs stored (among the millions of body bags) in the government warehouses.
Take my advice and stay away from the big cities or you may be on the menu someday.
That would be frightening except I cannot help but think that in a severe crisis many of these people would die in their cars and RV’s, with dead cell phones, on highways blocked with fleeing vehicles, from heat, cold, or after 3 days without water
Missed that
Very odd that is was stuck in the middle of the article like that, a one sentence link to a Reuters piece about Venezuela
I will guess the writer is better than that and his editor made a strange cut
That’s why you plan ahead and do the best you can. A lot of people’s survival instincts have been tossed aside and forgotten. They have been lulled into a complacency with more and more government entitlements and lured into more debt than they can repay by easy credit. Others don’t care because they barely survive day-to-day or week-to-week in this economy despite the above choices. They want to believe the government when it says the economy is getting better, but a few are starting to worry that it isn’t.
Many people can’t react in emergency situations. Instead they wait and expect the government to come to their aid and provide for all their needs. They can’t envision living without water, electricity, or cell phones for any length of time. To them, failure of these resources are only minor and temporary inconveniences, maybe lasting for a few minutes or hours, but not for days. But let them lose connectivity with the Internet for 5 minutes and it becomes pure agony.
They don’t comprehend the domino effect if these resources are not available. Think about it: NO electricity = NO telecom links (after battery power backups expire) = NO functional ATMs = NO cash and on and on.
Many people will die in their homes from lack of food and water when the hot water heater has 40 or more gallons of water remaining after the water supply fails. Also, some of the plants and weeds in the garden or lawn may be edible. Stay away from mushrooms and other unknown plants if you haven’t done you homework. Also keep tabs on your pets, your neighbor might need a protein boost.
Many times people will attempt to flee without adequate preparation and planning. During a hurricane a few years back, people fleeing Houston on northbound I45 and other main access roads found them blocked. They idled their vehicles until they ran out of fuel. When they attempted to find fuel, all the gas stations were either closed, without electricity to pump fuel from their storage tanks, or simply out of fuel.
Lacking fuel they started looking for food and water finding the same situation. They called 911 and AAA until their cell phones went dead. It was a screwed-up mess that took days to resolve. It took some people 2 days or more to get to Dallas. Fortunately the hurricane bypassed to the east of them. A direct hit could have created a more disastrous situation.
A few people managed to get into the southbound lane and moved northward as far as they could before finding it blocked and the same situation with fuel, food, and water.
I could go on but I think you know what I mean. Some people have given no thought as to how they would survive on their own during an emergency or other crisis. But in fairness, all bets are off if it is nuclear and you are in Zone 1 of the blast.
Getting back on topic, food banks serve to redistribute donated food (and other items) that would otherwise be thrown away or fed to animals. It is an alternate way for many to obtain food quickly in the short term without the government bureaucracy required to qualify for food stamps.
Of course there is an even quicker way to obtain food without waiting in line or undergoing some government red tape. It’s dumpster diving. Of course many would rather starve than go diving for dinner. And it does require some planning and preparation.
Unfortunately some people in their greed abuse food banks and their charity.
If you want to watch a sobering video, go to YouTube and watch “After Armageddon”
The full video is about 90 minutes
People have an unrealistic vision of “ bug out” as if everyone is gonna pile in the family truckster for a drive to a scenic farm in the mountains and grow corn and taters
And the feral urbans have no idea what happens after 3 days without water in summer heat
Even Katrina showed what happens when doctors and nurses in hospitals and nursing homes have to choose their family survival
+1.
bump
There’s a time to “bugout” and a time to “stand your ground” depending on the circumstances and risks. I just hope I will be wise enough to choose the correct one when the time comes.
If I were in an urban environment I doubt that I could survive the feral urbans, but someone who has lived his whole life there might have the knowledge, experience, and wisdom to “stand his ground” and survive. But the way I see it, the bigger urban areas are already starting to collapse. There are too many people and I see only anarchy in their future.
I live in rural Texas and I would prefer to “stand my ground” rather than “bug out”. But if I were to “bug out”, Texas offers lots of unoccupied space, fewer people (outside the major urban areas), and different environments depending on which part of Texas one lives.
The first inhabitants were called Texicans and later on Texans. They lived and survived in extreme environments and under Spanish or Mexican rule. They managed to find enough food and water and avoid their rulers and survive. The Indians before them survived on even less.
Speaking of the food, Crocodile Dundee says lizards taste “just like chicken” so what’s not to like about the food supply. And John the Baptist survived on locust and wild honey. There’s plenty of food, just not the good stuff we are used to eating like BigMacs etc.
If we are thrust back two centuries, I would rather be in rural Texas than anywhere else. At least Texas is survivable unless everything is contaminated by nuclear fallout or volcanic ash. In that case it doesn’t matter unless there is some place left for me to “bug out” that has not been contaminated.
BTW, after 3 days without water in the summer heat, I would expect to find a lot of raisins lying around in the urban areas.
That is the first thing I’m going to check for.
In trump-et-myself’s plan.
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