Watching Hunger Hits Home

[redhen]

Redhen I don't like the thought of kids going hungry. That is why I brought up the show.
There is a community garden in the city south of us and they have tried to shut it down, which is stupid.
Ranchers in my state have started a program in which they can donate a steer or a heifer or a cow or bull to have the meat go to help people who need it.
Another group of farmers have started a bushel dontation system where we can donate a bushel of wheat and they will grind it into flour and bag it up for donations.

What I was looking at was the family with the older kids. Yeah seed prices have gone up quite a bit. Knowing the family that runs our local greenhouse if a person went in and was down on their luck and asked for a few seeds I know they would not leave empty handed.

The only thing that bugs me about the food stamps is the ones who come in and buy the huge bottles of pop. Since I started my job I am really surprised at the number of people on food stamps.
I also see the people who use WIC.
I can tell they are really uncomfortable about using the WIC checks and food stamp cards. I try to be as friendly to them as possible.

 

[redhen]

Our country is set up for failure..
If you are on welfare and dont work at ALL.. then you can get food stamps, free rent,..etc....(you wont starve, but is still not much..) and you usually have to live in the nasty, crime ridden ghetto housing apartments.
But if you are a parent that is TRYING to get back on your feet and are working a min wage job... you will be in an income bracket that makes you ineligible for food stamps... or VERY little if you do get any..
Parents on unemployment.(people are losing jobs all over the place)... you will make too much money to qualify for help... yet you still have a mortgage or rent to pay...car payment... etc... all the bills you had before you lost your job...
Sure you can sell your house,.. but how long does that take in this economy? You still have to eat in the mean time...
It is true that many families are one paycheck away from losing everything..
It IS reality people...wake up.

 

[chickened]

This may not be the thread to bring this up in but isn't Michele Obama doing a campaign to end childhood obesity? Maybe there is a common solution there beneficial to both.

 

[hemet dennis]

These responses are really unbelievable. They seem to just ignore the fact that we are talking about children....NOT ADULTS. I will send the 2.5 million hungry children that live in California to your house in Hemet and would you please teach all the five year olds how to kill rabbits and plant corn. If you cant handle all 2.5 million you can send the excess to your buddy in Oregon. The program was not talking about your children and what you would do but it is nice that you, at least, won't let your own children go hungry. As for the hungry kids that do not live with you..well... Let them eat cake...or maybe get them a gun and seeds.

First I don't believe there are 2.5 million starving kids in Calif. if there's kids going hungry then somebody is spending the benefits on something else. Anyone can get welfare in this state and with kids they get more. They even get enough to eat cake.

When did it become my responsibility to feed any kids other then my own ?
I do donate to the local food bank to help families feed their kids and my tax dollars buy a few of those food stamps.

 

[redhen]

No, NOT anyone can get welfare.. thats 100% incorrect.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

By the way, at the beginning of the thread when I wrote that "I guess no one taught them about gardening," I didn't mean it snidely. I like the idea of community gardens and garden projects at schools.

Of course that is not the answer alone to solve childhood hunger.

 

[chickened]

There was a good documentary about doing just that in Detroit on PBS I watched. They were teaching innercity kids and adults how to garden in the poorer areas of Detroit which actually has some of the best farmground around and it is being reclaimed by demolitioning of old government housing sites that no longer have value.

I am very cautious of docudramas on specialty channels and suspect they are fueled by alterior motives or government grants. Grants given to media are very specific about how and what they do.

By the way, at the beginning of the thread when I wrote that "I guess no one taught them about gardening," I didn't mean it snidely. I like the idea of community gardens and garden projects at schools.

Of course that is not the answer alone to solve childhood hunger.

 

[stargazingmommy]

My husband has cancer, leukemia. One of the no no's on the list is fresh fruit and veggies, because of the risk of contamination(things like the bagged salads and strawberries with E.coli and things like that). I taught myself to garden just so we can have fresh veggies without the worry of fecal contamination. It's a small garden, so we don't get much extra, but what we do get goes to an unemployed single dad of 2 small kids, the extra eggs go there to.
I wish I had room to grow enough to donate to the food bank(the ones here do take fresh produce), but I hae no where near enough room.

 

[RHRanch]

First I don't believe there are 2.5 million starving kids in Calif. if there's kids going hungry then somebody is spending the benefits on something else. Anyone can get welfare in this state and with kids they get more. They even get enough to eat cake.

When did it become my responsibility to feed any kids other then my own ?
I do donate to the local food bank to help families feed their kids and my tax dollars buy a few of those food stamps.

Well I live in California, and I think that there could easily be 2.5 million hungry kids in California. I know people who work in education, and you should hear some of the stories about the poverty these kids live in. Also, a lot of immigrant children may be on that list... While some may be getting assistance, I know that a lot of migrant worker families get paid very little and do not get public assistance. We eat the cheap fruits and veggies that they pick at wages most citizens would not take. Could they be a significant % of the 2.5 million? I bet so, but also a lot of inner city or just plain low income people may have trouble putting any good food on the table. The cost of living vs the average wage for HS grads and non college educated people is pretty large... I myself worked at a lot of minimum wage jobs in the past and after I paid for rent, car insurance, gas, etc. I really couldn't afford food. (I used to go to fast food places and ask for condiments like ketchup, ranch dressing, soy sauce, etc. so I could use it on my rice or potatos or ramen. I was really undernurished in those days.) Hate to think what it would have been like if I had had kids. And no, I didn't have a big screen tv, cable, and new furniture from rent a center - having a roof over my head and a insured vehicle so I could work literally took up just about all of my paycheck back in the day. And of course, I usually made just a bit too much money to get any foodstamps or other help.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Heck, it isn't just the kids I care about personally. Many adults are in situations where gardening is not feasible either. Living in your car, working multiple jobs to the point where it is impossible to get a full night's sleep, and mental illness are just a few reasons that come to mind. Not saying the person on the show couldn't have gardened (no cable here), but many are just trying to get from one day to the next.