"2 double Whoppers with cheese and I'm STILL hongry..."
Posted on 02/24/2008 2:00:05 PM PST by decimon
COLUMBIA, Mo. – More than $1.1 billion a year is spent on public programs in Missouri, yet a new University of Missouri study reports the state has a rising number of people worried about having sufficient amounts of food and coping with hunger. The MU Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security has released a new tool in the fight against hunger. The first Missouri Hunger Atlas details the distribution of hunger in the state and the success of programs trying to meet food insecurity and hunger needs.
“This is a pioneering study because, for the first time, we have charted hunger in every Missouri county and St. Louis City,” said Matt Foulkes, co-author and assistant professor of geography in the MU College of Arts and Science. “With the help of state agencies, the atlas documents 16 different measures of need and 12 different measures of program success in reaching people eligible for services.”
The Atlas details which counties have the highest and lowest percentages of need and which counties are doing the best job of meeting those needs. Researchers said they were pleased to find the areas of highest need often scored very high in addressing those needs.
“The areas of highest need, such as southeast and south central Missouri were also high performers in meeting hunger needs,” said Sandy Rikoon, co-author and director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security. “On the other hand, suburban and higher income areas had a comparatively lower percentage of need, but those areas often have larger populations and were typically lower performers in addressing those needs.”
According to the team, poverty is the No. 1 predictor of food insecurity, which is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as access by all people at all time to enough food for an active, healthy life.
“It’s not just hunger that concerns the team,” said Nikki Raedeke, co-author and assistant professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. “We have to be concerned about both the quantity and quality of food. Obesity is a problem in all groups, but especially the poor because they are less likely to be able to obtain nutritious foods.”
The Missouri Hunger Atlas will be presented to lawmakers on Wednesday, Feb. 27 in Jefferson City. The team plans to release annual updates of the Atlas. They hope to raise awareness and assist public agencies and private groups working on hunger issues.
“We are interested in raising awareness about the hunger problem in the state,” said Rikoon, who also is a professor of rural sociology in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “However, we want that awareness to translate into action and to motivate people to do something about the issue.”
“The Atlas also includes statewide maps that group counties in terms of need and program performance,” said Joan Hermsen, co-author and associate professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Science. “For policymakers, the maps will be an indispensable aid.”
“During 2004-2006, an average of 4.4 percent of Missourians experienced hunger and the physical, psychological and social harms of not having enough food,” Rikoon said. “Regretfully, recent trends in hunger are not positive ones for the state. Current averages for hunger represent a more than 20 percent increase over the averages for 2001-2003. That increase is one of the highest in the nation. It is likely that food insecurity and hunger needs will keep rising in the near future.”
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Editor’s Note: The entire Missouri Hunger Atlas along with a document detailing each county in Missouri can be seen online at http://missourifamilies.org/mohungeratlas.
Published by the MU News Bureau, 32
Liberal “thought”: “Spending lots of money isn’t working. Let’s spend even more money!”
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Isn’t it true that Missouri has been voting in more and more libs over the past few years?
You don't have to be deprived to be considered "hungry." All you have to do is worry about it. This expanded definition came into play some years ago, and helps explain why the statistiocs don't match reality, if they ever did.
"2 double Whoppers with cheese and I'm STILL hongry..."
Follow some of these people in the check-out line and you will see that they are loading up on chips and pop. Baskets-full of junk. Ban 90% sugar items and snack foods from the cards and nobody will be hungry.
He'll tell you he's hungry ALL THE TIME.
You just have to give them all lots more money...and I will bet most will buy more soft drinks and HoHo’s.
George Orwell would have loved to see what we are seeing. Bureaucratic idiots citing extreme cold as a sign of global warming and these bureaucrats citing obesity as a sign of hunger.
I’m reminded of the guy that goes to the doctor with carrots in his nose and corn cobs in his ears. he says “doc, I don’t feel so good”...the doc says “well heck no, yer not eatin’ right”.
The poor have just as much access to “nutritious foods” but the left thinks that the poor is too stupid to find the produce section in the market unless we pay billions and the left shows the way.
He'll tell you he's hungry ALL THE TIME.
You will receive a visit from a Mr. Cleese from the Ministry of Post-pubescent Nutrition.
. . . the Ravenous Labradors will consume all of him but his bowler hat and his never-used umbrella.
“Food insecurity?” It sounds like there should be a 12 step program or counseling available for that. And fat people are NOT hungry, no matter how they try to spin that crap.
So, you are telling me with a straight face that one out of 23 Missourians qualify to be counted? To paraphrase Hillary: we have to suspend disbelief to accept this claim.
To compare, what percentage of Missourians are obese? Based on an informal survey at the local mall, I would say it is far more than 1/23. And what percent of Missourians who are “poor” are “at risk” because they are obese?
I recall a few years ago that we were scolded into worrying about the “homeless”, of whom we were lectured were in the “millions”. These numbers turned out to be so bogus the myth is still hard to correct even today. This is all just victimology and grant-seeking.
Expect as well a visit from the Ministry of Ravens and Odd Canadians.
The fattest poor people in the world live in America.
Ship these pigs to Ethiopia for a year and see if they don’t slim down.
Or, perish the thought, make them WORK for their freebies. I will not feel sympathy for the “poor” until there is not a scrap of trash on the ground or graffiti on a single wall.
Only nutritious food should be available on their too lazy to work cards. However, I saw stores in Corpus Christi that would sell anything for .50 cents on the dollar for food stamps including beer.
Scum will always find a way to get around the system even if their ten children are really hungry.
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