Posted on 02/16/2010 9:02:13 AM PST by Halfmanhalfamazing
More Americans are going hungry in hard times and are increasingly dependent on private charity, according to a new study by Feeding America, a national network of food banks. The study found that 37 million people — roughly one in eight Americans — had sought emergency food assistance from the network last year, a 46 percent increase from 2006.
As the recession and high unemployment take their toll, there are hungry families all across the country: in cities and suburbs, poor, middle class and even supposedly wealthy communities.
At a recent news conference on Long Island — seen as a place of suburban affluence — local charities shared stories of families struggling to stay afloat and being forced to choose among food, housing payments and utility bills. In many cases, it seems food was skimped on because hunger was easier to ignore than threatening letters from unpaid landlords or the gas company.
In the Long Island portion of the Feeding America study, researchers surveyed more than 600 food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters and interviewed people who had sought food at those places. The study concluded that about 280,000 Long Islanders needed help last year, a 21 percent increase from 2006. Only a small percentage of these clients were homeless or elderly. Thirty-nine percent were children under 18.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Peter Pan(Peanut Butter) Teams up with Feeding America (who's tied in with La Raza)
That the NYT is using all of this the way they are should be enough of a tip off. But any group that is willing to team up with La Raza is not a simple harmless or un-ideological group. Sorry! No dice!
This is the same NY Times that smears americans for being too fat. The NYT has to choose. Are americans far too obese, or are they starving? Pick your agenda and stick to it.
Obomanomics.
I thought the hunger stopped as soon as Bush left office!
Atlas Shrugged is becoming a reality more and more. Right now, we’re seeing the statists whine about problems like this while missing the fact that it is their policies causing them.
I wonder how long it will be before they pass Directive Number 10-289 in their growing insanity.
The US must have the fattest “hungry” people in human history.
“Choosing between food and rent”, blah blah. One would think that state by state overweight / obese percentages would be going down in related amounts.
I thought all US kids were fat and dying....I’m confused.
I'm no fan of the New York Times, but I disagree with your position. It's possible for this nation to have a longstanding obesity problem and still have many other people who are going hungry as they lose their jobs and can't find new ones. It's not inconsistent to note both issues and see them as problems.
Ethanol ain’t helping..
Amen.
This is simply a stat that tells how many people asked for assistance. They may or may not have been hungry (in the sense of the word I'm thinking of--heck, I'm hungry right now because my stomach is trained that at none, it needs to eat). This stat is really pretty meaningless.
I DON’T MEAN TO SOUND HEARTLESS, BUT MANY MUST CUT THEIR FOOD BUDGETS TO BUY THEIR LOTTERY TICKETS, DONCHA KNOW?
Leave it to these screaming Liberal idiots to work themselves up to a giddy pitch of clinical hysteria over this issue.
How can we blame them though. How would you react if logic and facts were erased from your thought processes?
Right! You too would descend (and stay) at the level of ‘what I feel’ and ‘what I want’ until your dying day!
The added advantage to these Liberal ritual hysterics, is that mendacity becomes a direct and simple tool ready at hand, because believe me... when you recognize facts-lying presents you with tremendous practical , not to mention ethical, obstacles.
Some people go to food pantries even though they have more than they need through food subsidies. The scrounges go because the food is "free". Where ever there's "free" stuff, there's social parasites.
It's not that they're in need. It's only because they're in want.
They aren’t scarce at the casinos either.
I believe that to be true. Years ago when we were first married we qualified for WIC. We didn’t take it, because with careful budgeting (and breastfeeding) we got by and our son did not go wanting for food. However, I had friends who took it, and one day she asked if I wanted some formula. She opened her cupboard and it was FILLED with unused cans of formula. I asked her why she had so much more than she could use and she said, “Because it’s free.”
It might even mean that they asked ABOUT assistance, not FOR assistance.
That’s a good point. I suspect those places do whatever they can to pad their numbers because it’s in their best interest to show LOTS of people benefiting from their programs.
And what is this term I have heard: “Food deserts,” coming from Mrs. Obama?
On one hand, they tell us we are too fat. Then they are telling us we are going hungry.
Make up your minds...
... I’m off to the fridge....
My family could qualify for Wic and Foodstamps based on our income level. We make a nice living and live comfortably and have never had a hard time paying our grocery bill. I think it is outrageous that someone at our income level can qualify for these services. I also find it hard to believe with our social services network in this country that anyone would find themselves hungry.
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