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The Danger of Going Hungry
American Thinker ^ | 18 Mar, 2025 | Jeffrey Folks

Posted on 03/18/2025 4:45:04 AM PDT by MtnClimber

Leftists who indulge fantasies of communism in America have no idea what it’s like to run out of food.

I am in the middle of a five-day modified fast, so I am experiencing some hunger, just as I have several times before in my life: when I ran out of money as a college student, when I experienced the bare shelves of Eastern Europe during the communist era, and when I fasted for health reasons.

Although hunger is familiar to me, I was not surprised to learn that most Americans have not really experienced hunger. According to the Census Bureau’s Household Survey, 88% of Americans feel “secure” about having enough food, and most of the remaining 12% could find adequate food through charities or government programs.

Throughout most of human history, however, hunger was far more common than it is today. In a sense, it is “normal” to go without food at times, just as it is to experience heat and cold, though both hunger and exposure can be dangerous and even fatal for some persons. Although many Americans wish to forget these harsh facts of life, it’s important that they do not. It may seem as if we have gotten past the possibility of hunger or inadequate shelter, but history teaches that we have not.

Many populations still live with hunger today, and many over the past century have been thrust into terrible conditions. It’s worth reading a book called Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945–1955 by Harald Jähner and Shaun Whiteside, because it provides a detailed description of conditions in Germany immediately after WWII. Within a decade, the German population of 72 million (along with hundreds of millions in other European countries) went from relative well-being to almost universal hunger and need.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Food; Gardening
KEYWORDS: rationing
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1 posted on 03/18/2025 4:45:04 AM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

You will eat the bugs and be happy.


2 posted on 03/18/2025 4:45:15 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

I have heard rumors that Klaus Schwab has discussed a desire to ban home gardens to reduce fertilizer “pollution”, but I have not found a reliable source.


3 posted on 03/18/2025 4:47:33 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

We’ll be begging for our Nutria!


4 posted on 03/18/2025 4:48:44 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: MtnClimber

“I am in the middle of a five-day modified fast.”

You’re either fasting, or your not. Cannot have it both ways.


5 posted on 03/18/2025 5:03:39 AM PDT by BobL (The people who hate Trump demand that you hate Russia)
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To: MtnClimber

I endured it as a boy, which was different than when it was apart of my life as a teen and then off and on in my 20s and then fewer events since then.


6 posted on 03/18/2025 5:10:48 AM PDT by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: BobL

You’re not impressed by a “five day modified fast?” Neither am I.


7 posted on 03/18/2025 5:27:34 AM PDT by hinckley buzzard ( Resist the narrative. )
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To: hinckley buzzard

“You’re not impressed by a “five day modified fast?” Neither am I.”

Like you, probably, I don’t like our language being gummed up.

Same problem that I have when the word “genocide” is tossed around like a bean bag. In most cases, it’s a lie, and there are plenty of other terms that might apply (ethnic cleansing, mass killing, collateral damage, etc.). The test that I always use for that is whether the country that is supposedly committing the ‘genocide’ could do more to kill off the civilians if they chose to.

(note - I’m keeping my discussion of ‘genocide’ generic, since all sides seem to use it incorrectly, when convenient)


8 posted on 03/18/2025 5:34:33 AM PDT by BobL (The people who hate Trump demand that you hate Russia)
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To: ansel12

I went hungry once for a few hours in college when I ran out of money. That’s literally the only time in my life. I often look around at the world and thank God He has set me in a time and place to be so fortunate.


9 posted on 03/18/2025 5:44:11 AM PDT by GOP_Party_Animal (1<i>)
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To: MtnClimber; Diana in Wisconsin
I have heard rumors that Klaus Schwab has discussed a desire to ban home gardens to reduce fertilizer “pollution”, but I have not found a reliable source.

Molon Labe

Most people would not recognize a potato plant is they fell into a patch of it.

There are so many plants that one could plant as *decorative* that are edible it's unreal.

And of course, you don't hear them talking about banning flower gardens or lawns, which in my understanding uses MORE fertilizer and pesticides that most veggie gardens do.

Nope, this is all about controlling the people through controlling the food supply.

10 posted on 03/18/2025 5:51:52 AM PDT by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus)
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To: GOP_Party_Animal

When I was in college I had no money. I ate spaghetti noodles and butter, a lot. Also popcorn. Cheap and will fill you up. When I was first working, I also had no money. I ate oatmeal for breakfast, a grilled cheese that I brought to work for lunch and a pot pie for dinner. For months.

Cheap and you can survive.


11 posted on 03/18/2025 5:53:29 AM PDT by yldstrk (Nothing like the truth)
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To: BobL
Same problem that I have when the word “genocide” is tossed around like a bean bag.

Really!

Like, literally!

12 posted on 03/18/2025 6:17:08 AM PDT by HIDEK6 (God bless Donald Trump)
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To: HIDEK6

Yep. To me, Genocide means an attempt to wipe out an identifiable group of civilians, not simply that civilians get in the way of warfare or are used as human shields. So, using that, I’d say Rwanda, Holocaust, Armenians, and MAGA (if the Dems take power), would fit the bill.


13 posted on 03/18/2025 6:22:44 AM PDT by BobL (The people who hate Trump demand that you hate Russia)
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To: BobL

He just cut the Ripples Potato Chips and Hagen Dasz Ice Cream.


14 posted on 03/18/2025 6:25:32 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: MtnClimber
Praise God. We are so fortunate over here.



15 posted on 03/18/2025 6:43:33 AM PDT by plain talk
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To: MtnClimber
Before my cancer "festivities" last year, I had conditioned my diet to 600 calories Monday/Thursday and 1250 on the other days. My weight was stable on that regimen. Daily protein target was 92 grams.

Since the Whipple, I have had a problem maintaining my weight. My duodenum is gone. My gallbladder is gone. The surgeon spared most of my pancreas. My weight dropped all the way to 136.4 from a pre-surgery 161.5. If I don't eat at least 2000 calories, I lose weight.

If I don't push to get back to 160, my prognosis is 28 to 32 months post June 2024. Post Whipple, I'm rarely hungry. My gut is perpetually inflamed. My recommended recovery input is 2500 to 3000 calories including 100 to 120 grams of protein daily. It's hard to even conceive of consuming that much food. I'm using Optimal Aminos and 3 grams daily of HMB to preserve muscle.

I did have some experience with hunger in 5th grade. We had a fairly meager budget for food as my parents paid back a salary advance used to purchase our home in Springfield, VA. My parents did a decent job of ensuring sufficient food.

16 posted on 03/18/2025 8:04:43 AM PDT by Myrddin
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To: BobL

Well, you can simulate a fast. So you are fasting, but technically you are eating. Check out Prolonlife.com.


17 posted on 03/18/2025 9:01:41 AM PDT by Reddy (BO stinks)
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To: MtnClimber
According to the Census Bureau’s Household Survey, 88% of Americans feel “secure” about having enough food, and most of the remaining 12% could find adequate food through charities or government programs.

And yet what does the headline say?

Americans are struggling to afford enough food As of October 2023, 53.7% of American adults were able to access and afford the food they wanted all the time
That claim that 53.7% of American adults were able to access and afford the food they wanted all the time. itself is a specious basis for claiming "Americans are struggling to afford enough food." Just what constitutes "the food they wanted?" And then there is "all the time," meaning during the last year, sometimes I did not have enough money to but the expensive steak or ice cream I wanted?

As documented in this post, "Food insecurity" is a term contrived in order to promote the lie that there is widespread hunger in 42% obese, 73+% overweight America, using such questions as,

. "The food that we bought just didn't last and we didn't have money to get more." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?

98 percent reported that the food they bought just did not last and they did not have money to get more, which refers to whether 5.6% of households ever faced this during the past year, yet how just how long does "did not last food" cover, and how much of the food is in mind? Any family can claim that the milk, eggs, bread and other perishables that cost maybe $30 got used up, and over the course of 12 months it is not hard to find a time when you did not have money for shopping.
But by such contrived findings we see headlines such as

"Study finds nearly 25% of Americans are food insecure." (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/one-in-four-americans-food-insecure/)

And,

Almost 30 million Americans didn't have enough food to eat .(https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/31/us/food-insecurity-30-million-census-survey/index.html)

18 posted on 03/18/2025 9:04:56 AM PDT by daniel1212 (Turn 2 the Lord Jesus who saves damned+destitute sinners on His acct, believe, b baptized+follow HIM)
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To: MtnClimber
Subscribe to get unbiased, data-driven insights sent to your inbox weekly.
A lesson on how to mislead with statistics:

The survey indicated that 3.0% of American adults “often” did not have enough to eat in the last week and 9.5% “sometimes” did not have enough food that October. Another 33.8% reported having enough food, but not always the kinds they wanted, while 53.7% could afford and access the kinds of food they wanted at all times.

3%+9.5%+33.8% = 46.13% which likely is what the category of "limited access to food" refers to:

Of respondents with limited access to food, the Household Pulse Survey indicates that 76.8% of people were not eating enough because they couldn’t afford to.

Yet,

Nearly half of adolescents and three-quarters of adults in the U.S. were classified as being clinically overweight or obese in 2021. The rates have more than doubled compared with 1990.

Without urgent intervention, our study forecasts that more than 80% of adults and close to 60% of adolescents will be classified as overweight or obese by 2050. These are the key findings of our recent study, published in the journal The Lancet. -https://theconversation.com/208-million-americans-are-classified-as-obese-or-overweight-according-to-new-study-synthesizing-132-data-sources-244185 Which indicates that despite limited access to food by less than half the US population (76.8% of 46%) all but 20% can be expected to be overweight or obese by 2050. Of course, this is blamed on 33.8% not always having the food they wanted.

19 posted on 03/18/2025 9:49:55 AM PDT by daniel1212 (Turn 2 the Lord Jesus who saves damned+destitute sinners on His acct, believe, b baptized+follow HIM)
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To: MtnClimber

Most Americans are in danger of having too much food rather than too little.

That being said, if our food supply chain were disrupted, America would crumble fast.

I believe ensuring food security (meaning food being available rather than “free”) is a major function of government. It is a form of national security.

Our modern supply chains have made food cheap and plentiful with lots of variety. But the downside is that it is vulnerable to disruptions which have the potential to be catastophic.


20 posted on 03/18/2025 12:16:42 PM PDT by unlearner (Still not tired of winning.)
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