Hunger in Amercia

[Michaeljc4]

We have been talking, in another thread, about global food prices and political unrest. I watched this segment from Bill Moyer’s Journal on PBS about hunger in America, and I thought I would share it. It’s about 13 minutes long.

There are two ways to respond to this information. The first–and it’s the way I see many people on these forums respond, normally–is through the prism of political ideology. “This is all the liberals fault!”, “This is all conservatives fault!,” “Bill Moyers is a liberal!” “FOX News is all lies!” “The government needs to do more!”, “The Government is the cause of the problem!”…and on and on and on ad nauseum.

The second way to view this story is through the prism (for lack of a better word) of Christianity. Jesus calls us to feed the hungry, period. He calls us not to judge, lest we be judged ourselves. Jesus says nothing about the efficiencies of a free market economy, or the desirability of a socialist government that cares for all people. He says, simply, “as you do unto the least of these my brothers, so you do unto me.”

What, then, is the proper response of Catholics, of Christians, and of us as individuals to the fact that in our nation, people are going hungry?

Hunger in America

 

[roanoker]

Nobody should have to go hungry, and I believe in this country very few, if any, do. That being said, there are plenty of places in the world where people starve to death. Its a real problem, and I don’t have an answer. But you can bet your butt that that whacko Moyers is not giving any of his millions to relieve hunger anywhere…Roanoker

 

[lovesMary]

I think spiritual hunger is rampant in America. Lack of food is rare, even amongst the poor. Poor nutrition is widespread, with a large part of the population gorging itself on empty calories, refined sugars, and artery clogging animal fats, full of carcinogenic chemical byproducts.

Like the previous posters said, no one should go hungry, but I really don’t think hunger is a widespead problem in America. Government programs provide a decent safety net in addition to the efforts of food banks and soup kitchens.

 

[ribozyme]

Here is a video on hunger too:

cbpp.org/foodstamp-video.htm

 

[Michaeljc4]

Loves Mary Wrote:

I really don’t think hunger is a widespead problem in America.

This data is four years old. Things have only gotten worse. I encourage you to poke around and find more information on your own so you won’t think I’m trying to lie to you:

2004 Information on Hunger in America

Spiritual hunger is a very real problem, LovesMary, but as my grandmother once said, “You can’t eat Bibles.”

But you can bet your butt that that whacko Moyers is not giving any of his millions to relieve hunger anywhere…Roanoker

I have no idea what he gives to who or why. I do know that he is reporting on something very important.

 

[vern_humphrey]

We have been talking, in another thread, about global food prices and political unrest. I watched this segment from Bill Moyer’s Journal on PBS about hunger in America, and I thought I would share it. It’s about 13 minutes long.

There are two ways to respond to this information. The first–and it’s the way I see many people on these forums respond, normally–is through the prism of political ideology. “This is all the liberals fault!”, “This is all conservatives fault!,” “Bill Moyers is a liberal!” “FOX News is all lies!” “The government needs to do more!”, “The Government is the cause of the problem!”…and on and on and on ad nauseum.

The second way to view this story is through the prism (for lack of a better word) of Christianity. Jesus calls us to feed the hungry, period. He calls us not to judge, lest we be judged ourselves. Jesus says nothing about the efficiencies of a free market economy, or the desirability of a socialist government that cares for all people. He says, simply, “as you do unto the least of these my brothers, so you do unto me.”

What, then, is the proper response of Catholics, of Christians, and of us as individuals to the fact that in our nation, people are going hungry?

Hunger in America

If you work with the poor, as my wife and I do, you quickly see that they are very poorly educated. My wife trains young people as Certified Nursing Assistances (CNAs). She encourages them to go on and become Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and even Registered Nurses.

The great hurdle there is their poor basic education. I spend a lot of time coaching and tutoring these kids, but it’s frustrating to see kids who graduated high school, and who cannot read and write above about the 5th grade level, who don’t have a proper foundation in math, and so on.

Most poor people could be self-supporting if we had lived up to our pledge and given them a good education.

 

[Michaeljc4]

No argument, Vern. Our education system is in disarray, for the most part. I’m a public school teacher myself, so I see it first hand. It’s a tragedy.

 

[Ted_in_Charlott]

I think Vern and I agree on this one. Education is best thing we can give the young. However, the support systems these poor kids get at home is pretty pathetic. Single parent homes, poor nutrition at home. Bad physical fitness, bad diet and poverty all lead to many problems.

Hunger I don’t think is as bad as bad nutrition. I think most of us would trip over ourselves trying to deliver a bag of groceries to the hungry. The problem IMHO is poor nutrition, poor eating habits, poor supervision and especially poor physical fitness.

More kids will die of complications from diabetes, heart conditions and cancer due to bad food and lack of exercise. Mental health issues have been associated with poor nutrition and poor fitness.

Give kids scholarship “punchcards” to encourage them to help deliver food, help distribute “food pyramids”, help other kids get to playground safely. After x number of punches you get x amount of education. All the while you are teaching them that we are all in this together. Freely educate the ones that are willing to work and help.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you work with the poor, as my wife and I do, you quickly see that they are very poorly educated. My wife trains young people as Certified Nursing Assistances (CNAs). She encourages them to go on and become Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and even Registered Nurses.

The great hurdle there is their poor basic education. I spend a lot of time coaching and tutoring these kids, but it’s frustrating to see kids who graduated high school, and who cannot read and write above about the 5th grade level, who don’t have a proper foundation in math, and so on.

Most poor people could be self-supporting if we had lived up to our pledge and given them a good education.

Small world, Vern. My wife does the very same thing. It’s embarrassing that the best students are the foreigners from places like Africa and the Carribbean who somehow come here to get enough education to go back and be what passes for medical practitioners where they came from. (Better than nothing, by far, and they seem to care.) A surprisingly large number are Catholic, and they all work, of course; full time while going to nursing school full time at the local State U. That’s why they take her courses; to work in nursing homes, group homes, etc., while working on their LPNs.

 

[bilop]

Obesity, poor nutrition, and the associated diseases (especially diabetes) are a FAR, FAR big problem among porr Americans than hunger.

I would bet that the number of actual Americans who die of starvation in a given year (barring bizarre child abuse, or anorexia) is effectively zero. Tens of thousands of the poor die from diabetes and other obesity related illnesses each year.

God Bless

 

[vern_humphrey]

I think Vern and I agree on this one. Education is best thing we can give the young. However, the support systems these poor kids get at home is pretty pathetic. Single parent homes, poor nutrition at home. Bad physical fitness, bad diet and poverty all lead to many problems.

To solve those problems we need to use the tools we have – the tools that are proven to work. Education does work.

The underlying problem is that we created those other conditions. Single parent homes are a result of welfare and the “man in the house” rule, which denied aid to homes with a man in the house. In the process, we made it possible for people to survive (after a fashion) without a family structure. The government became the father – and the government is a** bad** father.

I’m afraid that to get around these problems, we need drastic new solutions – any ideas.

Hunger I don’t think is as bad as bad nutrition. I think most of us would trip over ourselves trying to deliver a bag of groceries to the hungry. The problem IMHO is poor nutrition, poor eating habits, poor supervision and especially poor physical fitness.

More kids will die of complications from diabetes, heart conditions and cancer due to bad food and lack of exercise. Mental health issues have been associated with poor nutrition and poor fitness.

Officially, “Hunger” and “Malnourished” are synonimous – most “hungry” people are fat. And, yes, it is an epidemic.

Give kids scholarship “punchcards” to encourage them to help deliver food, help distribute “food pyramids”, help other kids get to playground safely. After x number of punches you get x amount of education. All the while you are teaching them that we are all in this together. Freely educate the ones that are willing to work and help.

I think we have to educate everyone – perhaps rewards for education. We might also hold parents responsible – “Your kid gets his grades up, or we cut your welfare check.”

Sometimes being softhearted hurts people (as welfare has.) Perhaps a little “tough love” is what we need.

 

[lovesMary]

Obesity, poor nutrition, and the associated diseases (especially diabetes) are a FAR, FAR big problem among porr Americans than hunger.

I would bet that the number of actual Americans who die of starvation in a given year (barring bizarre child abuse, or anorexia) is effectively zero. Tens of thousands of the poor die from diabetes and other obesity related illnesses each year.

God Bless

Exactly correct. And I also agree with the poster who cited the low level of education amongst the poor in America. The intellectual poverty in the inner cities, or in poor rural America is profound. This leads to poor food choices and a sometimes debased lifestyle, dominated by chaos and filth.

 

[Swan]

Obesity, poor nutrition, and the associated diseases (especially diabetes) are a FAR, FAR big problem among porr Americans than hunger.

I would bet that the number of actual Americans who die of starvation in a given year (barring bizarre child abuse, or anorexia) is effectively zero. Tens of thousands of the poor die from diabetes and other obesity related illnesses each year.

God Bless

I’ve done some reasearch on this topic. It is extremely hard to find decent, affordable fresh food in inner city areas. Also, starch is cheap and readily available. It is expensive to “eat well” and for many who can afford only the most basic of foods, it is impossible. So they end up eating too much of the wrong thing - but this is hardly their fault. And while one might not actually starve to death, the results are, as you pointed out, life threatening disease - not to mention the other health issues that can lead to early death due to lack of preventive care.

 

[Michaeljc4]

Ignorance and a lack of a good education are certainly the roots of much of the health/nutritional problems faced by poor, low income, and working class Americans. Middle class Americans are certainly not a particularly healthy lot, either. Childhood and adult obesity knows no socio-economic class. Hunger, though…actually not having enough food to eat…that’s a different and more immediate thing.

My question remains the same (although I certainly appreciate the discussion!): what do we, as Christians, do in response to hunger in America? My understanding of Catholic social justice teaching is that one is to “see, judge, and act” when faced with a problem. We see that there is hunger, we know that people need to eat…now what? What’s the ‘act’ part? What do we do?

 

[vern_humphrey]

I’ve done some reasearch on this topic. It is extremely hard to find decent, affordable fresh food in inner city areas. Also, starch is cheap and readily available. It is expensive to “eat well” and for many who can afford only the most basic of foods, it is impossible. So they end up eating too much of the wrong thing - but this is hardly their fault. And while one might not actually starve to death, the results are, as you pointed out, life threatening disease - not to mention the other health issues that can lead to early death due to lack of preventive care.

I’ve been in many cities – good, fresh food is not unobtainable, and typically the high-selling items in inner city areas are more expensive that nutritious but healthier foods.

Junk food costs more than fish, vegetables and so on.

 

[love4mary]

Long term…Better education, stable government, NO wars, countries with More not putting such harsh conditions for food aid on the countries in need.

Short term…volunteer at a soup kitchen or any other program that feeds the hungry. If you can afford to, buy extra canned and dried goods when you shop and donate that to a food bank.

My one can of food cannot feed an entire world of hungry, but it Can feed one family. If we all give and do something for our neighbor, then we can make a Huge difference in ending world hunger, or at least reducing it.

 

[bilop]

I’ve done some reasearch on this topic. It is extremely hard to find decent, affordable fresh food in inner city areas. Also, starch is cheap and readily available. It is expensive to “eat well” and for many who can afford only the most basic of foods, it is impossible. So they end up eating too much of the wrong thing - but this is hardly their fault. And while one might not actually starve to death, the results are, as you pointed out, life threatening disease - not to mention the other health issues that can lead to early death due to lack of preventive care.

But if they ate pasta with sauce, or rice and beans, etc., like truly poor people did 100 years ago, they would not be so obese, nor have the health problems. You only need very little meat and fresh fruit/vegetables to be healthy.

The issue is that the modern poor eat a lot of junkfood, fast food, and processed food, either out of ignorance, laziness, or because it tastes good. They have the disposable income to buy these foods, which they wouldn’t if they were truly facing hunger.

God Bless

 

[Swan]

But if they ate pasta with sauce, or rice and beans, etc., like truly poor people did 100 years ago, they would not be so obese, nor have the health problems. You only need very little meat and fresh fruit/vegetables to be healthy.

The issue is that the modern poor eat a lot of junkfood, fast food, and processed food, either out of ignorance, laziness, or because it tastes good. They have the disposable income to buy these foods, which they wouldn’t if they were truly facing hunger.

God Bless

Actually, modern people (at least, Americans) of all classes eat too much junk food. There are plenty of overweight folks who are not poor. As for beans, rice, corn, etc. I live in Los Angeles with a large Latino/a population and that is what they eat - starch/carb heavy which are high glycemic. Pasta is the same. And you actually need several servings of fruit and veggies per day to be healthy (I just finished teacher education and recently had a class on healthy eating). Meat needs to be lean, which these poor folks can’t afford either. It is also true that many of them are not educated on this subject, especially recent or first/second generation immigrants. School lunches, BTW, are terrible here - I mean, really bad.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’ve done some reasearch on this topic. It is extremely hard to find decent, affordable fresh food in inner city areas. Also, starch is cheap and readily available. It is expensive to “eat well” and for many who can afford only the most basic of foods, it is impossible. So they end up eating too much of the wrong thing - but this is hardly their fault. And while one might not actually starve to death, the results are, as you pointed out, life threatening disease - not to mention the other health issues that can lead to early death due to lack of preventive care.

I have been in inner city stores and what you say appears to me to be true. However, it must be recognized that stores stock what people in any given locale will buy; not what the store thinks is good for them, but which they will not buy.

My guess is that much of this is cultural, not determined by means. If one grows up eating nothing but deep-fried, grease-laden food, and retains that preference into adulthood, it isn’t healthy no matter what the food itself is.

This is anecdotal, but I have observed that Hispanics from Mexico also eat a lot of deep-fried food and just plain fat, churned into other recipe ingredients.

 

[leftistdestroye]

Well, I think that the Bishops and Priests need to do and say more as to our obligations. They are afraid of losing parishioners by saying things that may offend people. They need to say what needs to be said, stick to the rules, and remind us, on a daily basis, what our duties are and that WE ARE OBLIGATED to do more! If we, as private citizens, do not do enough, big government will. And already big government, has enabled many Catholics(and not), to ignore the problems, go to Church once a week, and flip the remote with a bad of Doritos on our laps the other 6 days.

On the otherhand, sure food costs have risen, but, there is still plenty of cheap food around. If a person can work, they should. NO FREEBIES! I eat lunch everyday, 5 days a week for $6.00. $6.00 TOTAL! A ceaser salad. I can go to a car wash, look in the vacumns, and find $6.00 that was sucked up. Granted, there is no protein, but for maybe $5.00 more, I can have some. In one of the videos, I saw a guy carrying his food, and stopped to light a smoke. That pack of smokes, costs what my lunch for 5 days costs, at least. I worked at gas stations and was clearing $500.00 a week. That is $2000.00 a month. The cost of food in the US, is not nailing people. 10,000 poor Mexicans who saw the price of a tortilla quadruple because of Ethanol, have real issues. DON’T BUY ETHANOL!!! Your cheap, less efficiant gas is hurting poor people!

rant off lol