U.S. Food Stamp System Shortchanging the Poor

[nosmokes]

so some poor folks are going hungry. are there not work houses? are there not prisons?
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original-OCA

U.S. Food Stamp System Shortchanging the Poor

* By Keith Good, ed.
FarmPolicy.com, May 14, 2007
Straight to the Source

The New York Times editorial board noted in today's paper that, "If you think people do not go hungry in America, you're wrong. At last count in 2005, 35 million low-income Americans - about a third of them children - lived in households that cannot consistently afford enough to eat. Since 2005, the situation has most likely become worse. Last year, real wages for low-income workers were still below 2001 levels. This year, job growth is slowing and prices are rising.

"And each year, the federal food stamp program - the bulwark against hunger for 26 million Americans - does less to help. In large part, that is because a key component of the formula for computing most families' food stamps has not been adjusted for inflation since 1996. Over all, food stamps now average a meager $1.05 per person per meal.
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complete article including links to other sources here

[Solly Mack]

1. k/r

[mrcheerful]

2. Oh but those people are living off the fat of the land and they don't have to do a thing for it

It's the same for elderly and disabled, SSI, SS and SSDI have gone up by $20 each of the 7 last years, which means that the SSI payments are around $620 and SSDI is a whooping $640 a month for those at the bottom and its all a free ride from the government. Never mind that the vast majority worked and paid taxes, pay into the system and asking for anything back is not acceptable yet, Not paying into the system and getting all kinds of government money is great. Then they wonder why we dislike their stupid asses. Pukes should be forced to live one year on the fat of the land under the same rules as the poor and disabled.

[catmandu57]

4. 623.00

and you wouldn't believe the strings. It's not easy being poor in this country, still, it's something.

[mrcheerful]

7. Oh yes I do understand the strings involved having been on SSDI and SSI since 1984

plus on top of that I'm living with a woman who has degenertive disc disease and in the last 4 years its gotten to where her doctors have her flying on pain meds, so she's not allowed to drive, shop or do house work. SSI and work first have been giving her a hassle, SSI has her waiting for an appeal and work first tried to get her involved with michigan rehab services. The worker was trying to talk her into getting a cashier job, after all they actually don't work hard. Yeah right, cashiers today no longer take money and play with the cash register, nor would I want someone high on pain meds giving me change back. Good lord, talking to her can be a chore when she starts saying something then stops because she forgot what she was going to say or goes off into another topic or better yet starts telling you something from the middle, then ending then the beginning. Yet the MRS case manager feels my gf can do cashier work, makes me want to pull the rest of my hair out.

Btw, my handi cap started in 1962, funny thing is every 10 years I get sent to a SSI paid doctor to see if my "conditions" improved in the last 10 years. Now what gets me is that from 1962 until the present I have seen myself being able to do less and less every year, when I do anything, I tire faster and it takes longer to recover from the strain. My current set of doctors are amazed that I still get around without walking aids, hell for the last 10 years they been trying to put me in a wheel chair, screw that lol.

[durablend]

3. Maybe if they stopped spending money...

On Bon-Bons and purple Cadillacs they wouldn't go hungry!

:sarcasm:

[Arkansas Granny]

5. Just in case you missed it, our government has decided that

people in the US don't go hungry anymore, they have "low food security".

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/15/AR2006111501621.html

The U.S. government has vowed that Americans will never be hungry again. But they may experience "very low food security."

Every year, the Agriculture Department issues a report that measures Americans' access to food, and it has consistently used the word "hunger" to describe those who can least afford to put food on the table. But not this year.

Mark Nord, the lead author of the report, said "hungry" is "not a scientifically accurate term for the specific phenomenon being measured in the food security survey." Nord, a USDA sociologist, said, "We don't have a measure of that condition."

The USDA said that 12 percent of Americans -- 35 million people -- could not put food on the table at least part of last year. Eleven million of them reported going hungry at times. Beginning this year, the USDA has determined "very low food security" to be a more scientifically palatable description for that group.

[nosmokes]

6. ya know, that term was/is so reprehensible i guess i just blocked it out.

the gall of someone in a position of power to declare that hungry people aren't hungry just makes my blood boil. it's akin to stating the sky isn't blue or water ain't wet. i fired off a couple of emails to johanns and nord w/ ccs to my rep and senators at the time and never got any response. i'll hafta look into that now. thaanks for rattling my cage and shaking that memory loose arkansas gran!

[Megahurtz]

9. "Compassionate" Conservatism at work!

:sarcasm:

[Matsubara]

10. Scientifically palatable?

Why the hell should HUMAN SUFFERING ever be made "MORE PALATABLE"?

:grr:

[Matsubara]

8. Yet another disgrace.

I hope that more mothers will take advantage of the WIC program to help fill the gap.

WIC helps to buy cheese, juice, milk, eggs, I believe. It can be worth an extra $30 or so a month, if I remember right (we were poor enough for WIC when the kids were little, but not for food stamps).

[Viva_La_Revolution]

11. and cereal

:)

[Breeze54]

16. It's worth more that $30 a month and

they also help with baby formula.

http://theworldistoomuchwithus.blogspot.com/2007/04/wic-and-fuzzy-math.html"> WIC and fuzzy math

[intheflow]

12. 1996 = Contract on America, if memory serves.

I'm sure there's a direct correlation. :grr:

[Kurovski]

13. K&R. (nt)

[Breeze54]

14. $1.05 per person per meal ???? WTF???

:wtf:

The people doing the computing or lack of adjusting for inflation, should be drawn and quartered!! :grr:

[blondie58]

15. this is so sad

I went to my union meeting last night (NALC Branch #47) and we were given a report of our recent food drive.

Our donations this year had almost doubled, of which we attribute to the white grocery bags with the logo as our second reminder a major reason.

We had a lady from Food Bank of the Rockies there to thank us. She went on to say that their cupboard had been bare- sadly, as they have so many people- from all different walks of life who need a little help. They were ecstatic to have their supply replenished.

For me, I find the saddest part of this the children.

A child who does not grow up with proper nutrition will suffer the consequences when their little bodies are supposed to be growing strong and properly. This affects their cognitive state, also.

Thank you all for helping so much. I was struck by the generosity of people in my state.