HUNGRY IN AMERICA

Food is not a luxury

By SA Tripi

Imagine getting up in the morning and going into your kitchen to make scrambled eggs, with buttered toast, orange juice and coffee. You open your refrigerator and there is almost nothing inside except some condiments and part of a loaf of white bread. You close the door and hold your breath, waiting for your children to wake up. What will you say to them? What are you going to feed them? You whisper to your oldest that you will be back in ten minutes and you rush out the door to the convenience store close by. You need to pick up something, anything that seven dollars will buy. That is all the money that you have until you get your next paycheck or SNAP benefits come in.

Still Hungry in America, 1969 / barnesandnoble.com

Seven dollars doesn’t buy much anyplace, but in a convenience store your options are limited to nothing that is nutritious. All you think about is something that will feed the stomachs of your children. You pick up cookies and a few donuts and the bread at home will have to do until you figure out your next step.
Do people realize that two thirds of food insecure people are working low wage jobs and are living in houses or apartments? Not all food insecure people live on the streets.

You have a job that pays more than the minimum wage, but not a great deal more. You work hard at your job and have a roof over your head. You don’t worry so much about your children during the school year because they are eligible for at least one or two meals a day. For now. You have your SNAP benefits that help with the cost of feeding the family. For now. You have the local food bank when things get difficult. For now.

You and the people you work with listen to the news. They all make the same money that you do, and you are all worried. The Federal government, which has been a helping hand for so many, is pulling back that hand and saying to the states, “This is on you now.”

Not all states will be able to take care of their people, and some states will grudgingly take some of that task but will cut the benefits that you receive. They don’t want to spend money on life’s problems that they don’t understand.

Many adults now hold jobs that once were held by teenagers. They get the jobs; they do the jobs. Costs rise but salaries don’t, and food is the one area that can be adjusted, and not in a good way. Unfortunately.

In March of this year, the Trump Administration had the USDA cut over a billion dollars in federal funding to food banks, which includes a provision that provided schools with fresh foods from local farmers.

This is my first in a series of articles where we will explore the travesty of not providing people with food in this country of riches. And to those of you who think that people are getting something for doing nothing, you don’t understand hunger in America. SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program): A single person may receive up to $292 a month; a family of four might receive $975 a month. How much do you spend on dinner in a restaurant or on a cup of designer coffee?

The Houston Food Bank is the largest food bank in the U.S. But with the USDA cuts, our help is greatly needed. This organization does great work in Texas.

For more information, please visit: Secure.HoustonFoodBank.org

Sources: USDA.gov, 1A.org

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