Why Does America Have 13 Million Households That Don’t Have Enough Food To Eat?

[Flash]

Does the picture break your heart?


That’s what it’s supposed to do. So is the entire piece.


Am I being hard-hearted? Probably. I’ve been in the place of wondering how to put food in the cupboard. I still barely get by paycheck to paycheck. But, that’s my own problem and not the government’s.


Here’s an important fact buried deeply in the article:

Many of the working poor are single parents, and they often suffer in silence because they don’t want those around them to look down on them.


And, going a step further, how many welfare dependents are single parents? Parents whose spouses refuse to take responsibility for their offspring?

A 2014 study by the Pew Research Center found 52% of U.S. residents in their 60s—17.4 million people—are financially supporting either a parent or an adult child, up from 45% in 2005. Among them, about 1.2 million support both a parent and a child, more than double the number a decade earlier, according to an analysis of the Pew findings and census data. The squeeze is coming from both ends. With lifespans growing longer, the number of 60-somethings with living parents has more than doubled since 1998, to about 10 million, according to an Urban Institute analysis of University of Michigan data, and they are increasingly expensive to care for. At the same time, many boomers are helping their children deal with career or health problems, or are sharing the heavy burden of student loans.
More @ Why Does America Have 13 Million Households That Don't Have Enough Food To Eat?

But you are wrong. It is the government's problem and also in a way their fault. The government has a responsibility to it's poeple, nobody in a wealthy first world country should ever go hungry, but the way things are set up we let multi- billion dollar companies get away with making much of their profit by underpaying their workforce. The government's lack of will to have a living minimum wage combined with back-door subsidising of corporations has allowed this situation to develope. Insist on a living wage and get people off the welfare rolls, make Walmart pay it's own employees, it's not the taxpayers job!

The government does not have the "responsibility" to steal the money that I make and give it away to somebody else that didn't earn it.

That is called thievery.

The filthy ass corrupt government needs to stop all welfare and stop interfering in the wage negotiations between an employer and employee.

The government needs to stay out of our lives.

 

[Crepitus]

Does the picture break your heart?


That’s what it’s supposed to do. So is the entire piece.


Am I being hard-hearted? Probably. I’ve been in the place of wondering how to put food in the cupboard. I still barely get by paycheck to paycheck. But, that’s my own problem and not the government’s.


Here’s an important fact buried deeply in the article:

Many of the working poor are single parents, and they often suffer in silence because they don’t want those around them to look down on them.


And, going a step further, how many welfare dependents are single parents? Parents whose spouses refuse to take responsibility for their offspring?

A 2014 study by the Pew Research Center found 52% of U.S. residents in their 60s—17.4 million people—are financially supporting either a parent or an adult child, up from 45% in 2005. Among them, about 1.2 million support both a parent and a child, more than double the number a decade earlier, according to an analysis of the Pew findings and census data. The squeeze is coming from both ends. With lifespans growing longer, the number of 60-somethings with living parents has more than doubled since 1998, to about 10 million, according to an Urban Institute analysis of University of Michigan data, and they are increasingly expensive to care for. At the same time, many boomers are helping their children deal with career or health problems, or are sharing the heavy burden of student loans.
More @ Why Does America Have 13 Million Households That Don't Have Enough Food To Eat?

But you are wrong. It is the government's problem and also in a way their fault. The government has a responsibility to it's poeple, nobody in a wealthy first world country should ever go hungry, but the way things are set up we let multi- billion dollar companies get away with making much of their profit by underpaying their workforce. The government's lack of will to have a living minimum wage combined with back-door subsidising of corporations has allowed this situation to develope. Insist on a living wage and get people off the welfare rolls, make Walmart pay it's own employees, it's not the taxpayers job!

The government does not have the "responsibility" to steal the money that I make and give it away to somebody else that didn't earn it.

That is called thievery.

The filthy ass corrupt government needs to stop all welfare and stop interfering in the wage negotiations between an employer and employee.

The government needs to stay out of our lives.

You didn't understand one single word I wrote did you.

 

[DOTR]

But you are wrong. It is the government's problem and also in a way their fault. The government has a responsibility to it's poeple, nobody in a wealthy first world country should ever go hungry,

Cognitive dissonance. You want a First World utopia by adopting Second and Third world economic systems.

You claim a government have a responsibility to its people while attacking said government, and its people, in favor of third world invaders.

No economic system every eliminated the poor completely. But our system cut them to a minimum. Eliminating them entirely would eliminate democrats though wouldn't it?

but the way things are set up we let multi- billion dollar companies get away with making much of their profit by underpaying their workforce. The government's lack of will to have a living minimum wage combined with back-door subsidising of corporations has allowed this situation to develope. Insist on a living wage and get people off the welfare rolls, make Walmart pay it's own employees, it's not the taxpayers job!

Yet you will let the Department of Agriculture give the big corporations 76 billion a year in food stamps. Walmart has an office with over a hundred lobbyists in DC just keep the food stamps rolling in.

"Our business operations are subject to numerous risks, factors, and uncertainties, domestically and internationally, which are outside our control. These factors include... changes in the amount of payments made under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Plan and other public assistance plans, [and] changes in the eligibility requirements of public assistance plans."
Walmart SEC Statement
9 questions about poverty, answered


"Pepsi, Coke, and the grocery chain Kroger lobbied for food stamps, an indication of how much they rely on the money. The CEO of Kraft admitted that the mac n’ cheese maker opposed food stamp cuts because users were “a big part of our audience.” One-sixth of Kraft’s revenues come from food stamp purchases. Yum Brands, the operator of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, tried to convince lawmakers in several states to allow its restaurants to accept food stamps. Products eligible for SNAP purchases are supposed to be limited to “healthy foods.” Yet lobbying by the soda industry keeps sugary drinks on the approved list, while companies like Coke and Pepsi pull in four billion dollars a year in revenues from SNAP money."

You people always get taken for a ride by corporations. They play you like fiddles.

 

[airplanemechanic]

The problem is, that stats on hunger don't back up the rhetoric. There are so few people starving to death in this nation that the gov't doesn't even keep track of it. There are plenty of places to get free food. You can get food stamps and have plenty to eat.

Nobody is starving to death unless THEY choose to. Anorexia is more common than actual starvation.

https://www.quora.com/How-many-Americans-starve-to-death-each-year

First I'm told we have a growing and massive obesity problem then I'm told that tens of millions don't have enough to eat. Which is it? Can you pick one and stick with it?

 

[Crepitus]

But you are wrong. It is the government's problem and also in a way their fault. The government has a responsibility to it's poeple, nobody in a wealthy first world country should ever go hungry,

Cognitive dissonance. You want a First World utopia by adopting Second and Third world economic systems.

You claim a government have a responsibility to its people while attacking said government, and its people, in favor of third world invaders.

No economic system every eliminated the poor completely. But our system cut them to a minimum. Eliminating them entirely would eliminate democrats though wouldn't it?

but the way things are set up we let multi- billion dollar companies get away with making much of their profit by underpaying their workforce. The government's lack of will to have a living minimum wage combined with back-door subsidising of corporations has allowed this situation to develope. Insist on a living wage and get people off the welfare rolls, make Walmart pay it's own employees, it's not the taxpayers job!

Yet you will let the Department of Agriculture give the big corporations 76 billion a year in food stamps. Walmart has an office with over a hundred lobbyists in DC just keep the food stamps rolling in.

"Our business operations are subject to numerous risks, factors, and uncertainties, domestically and internationally, which are outside our control. These factors include... changes in the amount of payments made under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Plan and other public assistance plans, [and] changes in the eligibility requirements of public assistance plans."
Walmart SEC Statement
9 questions about poverty, answered


"Pepsi, Coke, and the grocery chain Kroger lobbied for food stamps, an indication of how much they rely on the money. The CEO of Kraft admitted that the mac n’ cheese maker opposed food stamp cuts because users were “a big part of our audience.” One-sixth of Kraft’s revenues come from food stamp purchases. Yum Brands, the operator of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, tried to convince lawmakers in several states to allow its restaurants to accept food stamps. Products eligible for SNAP purchases are supposed to be limited to “healthy foods.” Yet lobbying by the soda industry keeps sugary drinks on the approved list, while companies like Coke and Pepsi pull in four billion dollars a year in revenues from SNAP money."

You people always get taken for a ride by corporations. They play you like fiddles.

This is what I was saying.

 

[danielpalos]

Does the picture break your heart?


That’s what it’s supposed to do. So is the entire piece.


Am I being hard-hearted? Probably. I’ve been in the place of wondering how to put food in the cupboard. I still barely get by paycheck to paycheck. But, that’s my own problem and not the government’s.


Here’s an important fact buried deeply in the article:

Many of the working poor are single parents, and they often suffer in silence because they don’t want those around them to look down on them.


And, going a step further, how many welfare dependents are single parents? Parents whose spouses refuse to take responsibility for their offspring?

A 2014 study by the Pew Research Center found 52% of U.S. residents in their 60s—17.4 million people—are financially supporting either a parent or an adult child, up from 45% in 2005. Among them, about 1.2 million support both a parent and a child, more than double the number a decade earlier, according to an analysis of the Pew findings and census data. The squeeze is coming from both ends. With lifespans growing longer, the number of 60-somethings with living parents has more than doubled since 1998, to about 10 million, according to an Urban Institute analysis of University of Michigan data, and they are increasingly expensive to care for. At the same time, many boomers are helping their children deal with career or health problems, or are sharing the heavy burden of student loans.
More @ Why Does America Have 13 Million Households That Don't Have Enough Food To Eat?

let's end our alleged wars on crime, drugs, and terror to slow down the erosion of purchasing power for the poor.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

First I'm told we have a growing and massive obesity problem then I'm told that tens of millions don't have enough to eat. Which is it? Can you pick one and stick with it?

Very true! Too much food is a far far bigger problem than too little. In both the cases its probably safe to safe liberal govt ruined their lives. Liberals actually attacked and destroyed love and family in America with their feminist, welfare, divorce, abortion, and resilient kids agenda. They created the poor single mother concept that never existed in the Republican 1950's.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

Republicans are the most heartless people I think this nation seen since the slaveholders days. .

Yes, liberals are morally superior because they support welfare!

 

[task0778]

It appears the problem is getting better, which is what a more prosperous economy can do for you.

From 2016 to 2017, there was a statistically significant decline in the prevalence of food insecurity from 12.3 percent to 11.8 percent. In contrast, food insecurity was essentially unchanged from 12.7 percent in 2015 to 2016 (the difference was not statistically significant). There was a statistically significant decline in food insecurity from 2014 (14.0 percent) to 2015. Before that, the year-to-year prevalence of food insecurity was essentially unchanged from 2012 to 2014.
The cumulative decline from 2011 (14.9 percent) to 2014 (14.0 percent) was statistically significant, and that downward trend continued through 2017. Over the previous decade, food insecurity had increased from 10.5 percent in 2000 to nearly 12 percent in 2004, declined to 11 percent in 2005-07, then increased in 2008 (14.6 percent), and remained essentially unchanged at that level in 2009 and 2010.
There was a statistically significant decline in very low food security from 4.9 percent in 2016 to 4.5 percent in 2017. Very low food security was essentially unchanged from 2015 (5.0 percent) to 2016. Very low food security had declined significantly from 2014 (5.6 percent) to 2015. The prevalence of very low food security was essentially unchanged from 2011 (5.7 percent) through 2014 (5.6 percent) and was also 5.7 percent in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, the prevalence of very low food security had declined to 5.4 percent. Prior to 2008, the prevalence of very low food security had increased from 3.1 percent in 2000 to 3.9 percent in 2004, and remained essentially unchanged through 2007.

USDA ERS - Key Statistics & Graphics

The United States exports more food than any other country in the world. So why do families with children have trouble getting enough food in such a prosperous nation?
"The non-politcal answer, to me, is greed and government," Stallings said. "There's too many government health restrictions that force restaurants to throw away food" instead of donating it to the needy. "It's also greed: We're not helping our neighbors."
Most of it isn't intentional, said Stallings. "It's just not something most of us think about. We don't take care of people anymore," he said. "We live in a rushed society. We just don't have time."
.
.
It's a stunning figure: America throws away an estimated 40% of its food, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. That's an estimated $165 billion worth of food -- which could go far toward feeding those 13.1 million households with children. It actually works out to about $12,600 per household. A 2012 Gallup poll showed that American families spend an average of about $150 per week on food. That's about $7,800 a year.
.
Robert Lee and Louisa Chen launched a program in New York City that takes restaurant food that would otherwise be tossed out and diverts it to the hungry at homeless shelters and food kitchens. Seven days a week, the organization engages volunteers to pick up and deliver any amount of food, no matter how small.
.
The war against child hunger is also being fought in America's schools. Blessings in a Backpack is a nationwide program that helps school children who might otherwise go hungry by providing them with a backpack full of food for the weekends. It's funded in part by Walmart, Cigna and other private companies. But once schools close for summer break, this and many other school-linked programs disappear until the fall.
.
The federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act provides needy children with free breakfast and lunch at schools. But the USDA in May began relaxing guidelines for that program, opening the door to meals with reduced whole grains, higher sodium and higher fat and sweetened milk.

Why does America have hungry kids? - CNN

While I do not doubt that food insecurity is a problem, I am not too sure the numbers presented above are accurate. We're talking estimates here, based on surveys that are not substantiated. I don't mean to minimize the problem, but how much of the problem is parents buying shit they don't have to have and skimping on the food. Booze, cigarettes, drugs. I could be way off base, but I really think that in most cases when a kid is going hungry it's because his parents are irresponsible. I cannot believe that in almost all places you can find public agencies that will feed your family. Church groups come to mind too.

Notice this: From 2016 to 2017, there was a statistically significant decline in the prevalence of food insecurity from 12.3 percent to 11.8 percent. In contrast, food insecurity was essentially unchanged from 12.7 percent in 2015 to 2016 (the difference was not statistically significant).

And this: There was a statistically significant decline in very low food security from 4.9 percent in 2016 to 4.5 percent in 2017.

This is IMHO a side benefit from Trump's economic policies that have lead to more prosperity since he took office.

 

[Dan Stubbs]

Does the picture break your heart?


That’s what it’s supposed to do. So is the entire piece.


Am I being hard-hearted? Probably. I’ve been in the place of wondering how to put food in the cupboard. I still barely get by paycheck to paycheck. But, that’s my own problem and not the government’s.


Here’s an important fact buried deeply in the article:

Many of the working poor are single parents, and they often suffer in silence because they don’t want those around them to look down on them.


And, going a step further, how many welfare dependents are single parents? Parents whose spouses refuse to take responsibility for their offspring?

A 2014 study by the Pew Research Center found 52% of U.S. residents in their 60s—17.4 million people—are financially supporting either a parent or an adult child, up from 45% in 2005. Among them, about 1.2 million support both a parent and a child, more than double the number a decade earlier, according to an analysis of the Pew findings and census data. The squeeze is coming from both ends. With lifespans growing longer, the number of 60-somethings with living parents has more than doubled since 1998, to about 10 million, according to an Urban Institute analysis of University of Michigan data, and they are increasingly expensive to care for. At the same time, many boomers are helping their children deal with career or health problems, or are sharing the heavy burden of student loans.
More @ Why Does America Have 13 Million Households That Don't Have Enough Food To Eat?

Look I'am not a breat bounding Liberal but, there are tens of thousands of good Americans who live in rual areas that have little medical care dental care that suffer every illness you can find. Yet, they are over looked while illegals crowd the boarder wanting what out own people need and deserve. The Demos don't care or want them to get some medical care but rather give it to the border jumpers. This is just wrong in the first degree. So I really don't care if we shoot the border jumpers, beat them up and throw them back. It has to stop and stop now not next year . You want to be sucked dry by them then it going to be your problem when you have to go to the EM room and 33 people are ahead of you for a cold or just to give birth. I hope your heart can hold out for a Doctor to look at you.

 

[Dan Stubbs]

Republicans are the most heartless people I think this nation seen since the slaveholders days. .

Yes, liberals are morally superior because they support welfare!

Sure they do. In your dreams.