I went to Girl Scout camp and we got “welfare” peanut butter. It was so good, it was sweetened and I wanted to be on welfare so I could get more of that peanut butter.
My wife grew up in Appalachia. If you saw the films in the 60’s and 70’s, that was where she lived. It was such a media event that the government sent food to all those barefoot, thread-bare, toothless hillbilly children through the schools. Church and civic groups sent mission teams and money to serve the poverty-stricken people in Appalachia.
Ironically, at the same time, people in Appalachia were sending mission teams and money to serve the poor in the poverty-stricken cities.
I remember going to a friend’s house and they had this huge can of peanut butter, coffee can size. I thought that was the best peanut butter I ever ate, in my mind it still is! I went home and told my mother she needed to get that kind.
I had no idea my friend’s family was getting the government food. No one ever said anything, I just noticed they had different food than the rest of us.