(Part 1 of 3 . . . These are the stories we read, but then move on. These are the stories that break our hearts but elicit no changes in how our country deals with food insecurity. It's a real problem here in America . . . A place where we talk about our "exceptionalism" and often how bad other countries are, but a place where children are starving and millions of families don't know where their next meal is coming from.)
How lucky for some of us to be able to buy fresh food, good
food and safe food.
How not lucky for millions of other people not to be able to
do that.
Some 14-plus percent of American households are food
insecure . . . Children
were food insecure at times during the year in 9.9 percent of households with
children. These 3.8 million households were unable at times during the year to
provide adequate, nutritious food for their children. (World Hunger Education
Services) That means those people often have no idea from where their next meal
will come from.
Let’s
put this another way: We see photos of starving children overseas in some
impoverished country amid squalor and misery and a charity asking for our money
to help them. Heartbreaking indeed. The same thing is happening here, in a
nation many call “exceptional,” or the “best country in the world.” Children
and families are starving here. In America. Right now.
And yet
many politicians want to cut things like aid to the poor and unemployed or
underemployed, food stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and school lunch programs. In part
because some of them believe the less fortunate are lazy, need a push, just
pretending to need government assistance, are drug addicts or are, in some way,
gaming the system.
Study
after study shows those things just aren’t true.
Let’s
take drug testing welfare recipients as an example. This idea goes back several
years, and states like Florida, Arizona and Wisconsin have implemented drug
testing programs with the stated belief that the states would save millions by
throwing druggies off the dole. Hasn’t quite worked out that way . . . Arizona
residents, as an example, spent millions of dollars implementing its program,
testing nearly 90,000 welfare recipients over three years. The result: One test
came up positive. One. That saved the state $560.
In 5
years, 3 people failed their drug tests in Arizona. Arizona told taxpayers they
would save at least $1.7 million by implementing the drug-testing program. Not
so much.
Similar
results have been found through the states’ SNAP programs.
Of
course some people game the system. Of course, some people get money or
benefits they don’t deserve, and of course some people lie and cheat. But
apparently not many. The guy spending SNAP money to buy lobster is an
aberration, not norm. We like stories that fit into our beliefs, so when we
read about someone caught cheating, we buy into the belief that everyone is.
That
is, according to study after study, just not true. Do we need tighter control
and a more streamlined and efficient system? Sure. That’s true with many
program. Do we need to make sure the people that really need help get help and
don’t suddenly get dropped from a program because of some bureaucratic flaw?
Absolutely. Do we want to make sure we catch and prosecute cheaters? Always.
But
politicians perpetuate the belief that everyone is a cheater and people buy
into that, despite the evidence.
So I
can go buy all the organic tomatoes I want, but the single mother with two kids
at home in the Midwest hopes there’s enough oatmeal left in the container to
offer her kids for dinner. She’ll hope the food bank has some fresh produce
when she heads there tomorrow.
In America.
No comments:
Post a Comment