The System Works! A Quarter of all US children went hungry last year!

[McBell]

You claimed that junk beverages were cheaper than healthier beverages. I countered with the fact that water is arguably the best beverage option out there, and cheapest to boot. How exactly did I miss the point? Or did you just not like your example torn to shreds?

Torn to shreds?
I really really would like to live in your world.

You could by a box of pasta for about a buck. Then get a couple of cans of diced tomatoes-- another 2 bucks. This should feed you for 3-4 meals. It will be more nutritious and probably taste better to boot.

ROTFLMAO.

Me perhaps..But what about the rest of my family...

I bought 4 giant sweet potatoes last week for about 3 bucks. Slice them up french fry style, and bake. Very delicious and nutritious. One sweet potato is a side for two meals.

And on and on. Just because you see "Sale" and/or don't know how to cook, doesn't make it cheaper.

lol

interesting assumptions you make about me.
I guess I need go tell my family that I cannot cook.
they will know it to be true because it was stated on the internet.

Perhaps if I revealed a few facts you would have a better understanding...
I have Crohn's Disease.
No doubt I got this genetic disorder from being lazy.
You know, cause working most my life amounts to laziness and wanting government hand outs.becasue the fact that I am not rich means that I am lazy and only want government handouts

I also have diabetes, Gerd, bleeding ulcers (not only in my stomach, but through out most of my small intestines and colon), but my cholesterol is (according the doctor) perfect.

my daughter was just diagnosed with Colitis.
She also has type 1 diabetes.

So far my youngest daughter has no medical issues.
We are keeping our fingers crossed.

 

[Zephyr]

I remember when I could not afford peanut butter. I lived a whole week on a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread and a small jar of miracle whip.

Allow me to do some math here. Going back to my food logs, here's what I've calculated out. A dozen eggs should be about 858 calories uncooked, assuming they are reasonably large eggs. If that loaf of bread was white bread (generally approximately 70 calories a slice with ~20 slices), there's another 1400 calories. Now I don't have any miracle whip, but I have a medium-small jar of mayo that contains 2700 calories if you really wanted to lick it clean.

That comes out to a bit under 5000 calories a week, or under 1000 calories a day, far below a sustainable level. If I were to eat that little, I'd lose over 3 pounds in just that one week (assuming I get NO exercise), and I'm already on the border of "underweight". With a diet like that, you cannot survive.

 

[Falvlun]

But it IS cheaper. Maybe you have a different definition of "junk food" than I do. I'm thinking along the lines of Beefaroni and generic mac and cheese. You can live on that kind of crap for three or four dollars a day. Throw in a bag of apples or an avocado and you double your food expenses, just like that. Trust me.

Are you serious? Beefaroni is rather expensive for what you get-- one meal. Think casseroles. Think rice. Think beans.

 

[McBell]

There are a lot of us po' folks who have had to learn survival skills the hard way including skills most people take for granted such as cooking and doing most of the things people do for a leisure when they're not working.

one of the reasons I like to fish.

I go out in the middle of the night and harvest worms from the field across from my domecile.
Then I walk to the river and spend a lot of time fishing.
I keep damn near everything I catch.
Though I toss back the carp since I have never been able to miss the mud vein.
Then I spend my time cleaning and preparing the fish.

I have had to learn the hard way how to clean the fish, cause even the smallest piece of bone can cause me and my elder daughter serious problems.
I also had to learn through trial and error how which fish can be prepared in order to not cause my elder daughter and I problems.

 

[McBell]

Think casseroles. Think rice. Think beans.

I like casseroles.
I cannot digest rice, beans, and most non green vegetables.

 

[Falvlun]

Torn to shreds?
I really really would like to live in your world.

Could you explain to me how water is not a healthier option than soda pop?

ROTFLMAO.

Me perhaps..But what about the rest of my family...

Then that would be one meal for your whole family. The box of hamburger helper would have the same limitations.

lol

interesting assumptions you make about me.
I guess I need go tell my family that I cannot cook.
they will know it to be true because it was stated on the internet.

You seemed to have missed the and/or.

Perhaps if I revealed a few facts you would have a better understanding...
I have Crohn's Disease.
No doubt I got this genetic disorder from being lazy.
You know, cause working most my life amounts to laziness and wanting government hand outs.becasue the fact that I am not rich means that I am lazy and only want government handouts

You must be mistaking me for Rev Rick in your small print. I have never indicated that these kids are hungry because their parents are lazy. My argument really is limited to the myth that crap food is cheaper than a nutritional alternative.

I also have diabetes, Gerd, bleeding ulcers (not only in my stomach, but through out most of my small intestines and colon), but my cholesterol is (according the doctor) perfect.

my daughter was just diagnosed with Colitis.
She also has type 1 diabetes.

So far my youngest daughter has no medical issues.
We are keeping our fingers crossed.

I am really sorry for all your and your daughter's digestive ailments. That really sucks.

I still don't understand why hamburger helper sans hamburger is a better alternative than my pasta with diced tomatoes.

But anyway, I would give money to your food fund if you had one. I just have to feed myself and the dog at this point.

 

[Falvlun]

I like casseroles.
I cannot digest rice, beans, and most non green vegetables.

That certainly limits your options.

But the highly processed nutritionally value-less crap that comes in a hamburger helper box really can't be helping out your digestion any.

 

[McBell]

But the highly processed nutritionally value-less crap that comes in a hamburger helper box really can't be helping out your digestion any.

Actually, without he hamburger it digests just fine.

To address your point...
Do I eat nothing, or do I eat?
I choose to eat.
So the next choice for me is; do I eat that which does not send me to the hospital or do I eat that which does send me to the hospital?
I choose the selfish route and eat that which does not send me to the hospital.

And yes, I have tried fish in the hamburger helper.
It is much better without the fish....
At least, everyone in my family thinks so.

 

[Reverend Rick]

You all really believe I am such a hard azz. My boot strap line does not apply to children, oldsters, sick or disabled folks. You see, if Mestemia lived around me, we would take him a love offering. I'm always finding people who slip between the cracks and the government does not help them. Thats why I believe the government sucks at helping folks and the private sector could do a better job. The government would never think to look under a bridge where people fish for food. Myself, I could see me running into Mestemia. "No hamburger in your helper? We will see about that!".

 

[Zephyr]

You all really believe I am such a hard azz. My boot strap line does not apply to children, oldsters, sick or disabled folks. You see, if Mestemia lived around me, we would take him a love offering. I'm always finding people who slip between the cracks and the government does not help them. Thats why I believe the government sucks at helping folks and the private sector could do a better job. The government would never think to look under a bridge where people fish for food. Myself, I could see me running into Mestemia. "No hamburger in your helper? We will see about that!".

Yup, what a great man you are, feeding people while condemning them for being lazy.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Yup, what a great man you are, feeding people while condemning them for being lazy.

Come on Zephyr, it is not like that.

 

[Zephyr]

Come on Zephyr, it is not like that.

Sorry for not noticing, between your "the poor are lazy and ignorant leeches who don't pay their fair share" rants and your "I give to charity all the time", it's hard to come to any other conclusion.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Let's see if I can put it into perspective for you. Yes, there are people in genuine need that should be helped. Then there are people who are worthless and lazy who try to get a free ride at others expense. Both groups exist and are nothing like the other.

 

[Kathryn]

From what I've heard, food stamps don't always cover it.

Food stamps are usually sufficient - IF the parents buy wisely and buy staples and house brands rather than junk food and more expensive name brands.

Many families who qualify for food stamps also qualify for the WIC program, which is a federal program focusing on the nutritional needs of pregnant women, babies, and children under five. The WIC program will load you down with so much free food, you can literally hardly eat it all - and that is not an exxageration. Milk, cheese, peanut butter, healthy cereal (including oatmeal and cream of wheat), baby formula, eggs and fruit juices are the mainstays of the WIC program.

So that should cover kids under school age. When these same kids get in school, they will qualify for free or reduced meals - INCLUDING breakfast. So that's at least two meals a day "on the house," during the school year and then food stamps for their evening meal.

Finally, most areas have food pantries that are privately run.

You do not have to be a US citizen in order to qualify for these programs.

The report said 1/4 of American children "go hungry." I don't see the correlation between hungry American kids, and the war in the Middle East. It's not that our state and federal governments are bankrupt because of war - if more children are "going hungry," rising unemployment rates are most likely the root of the cause for the increase. Haven't you heard - war creates jobs! Get rid of the war and unemployment will go UP. Surely you don't want THAT!

But I digress - back to unemployment and hunger. Parents who are recently unemployed need to get their bearings - they may not be aware of all the programs that are available to them, and so they need to research those programs and sign up - even if that is out of their comfort zone. The programs are out there.

That being said - unfortunately there will always be hungry children - in any society. That's because there will always be some irresponsible parents.

Sad but true.

 

[Kathryn]

Wow.
I wished I lived where you live.

Here in North East Indiana it is even MUCH cheaper in the SCHOOLS to buy soda than it is healthy drinks....

Schools shouldn't even have soda machines!!!!

"Real" non junk food IS less expensive than junk - but it's not nearly as sexy, and you may have to actually (gasp) COOK it.

I know - it's a radical idea, but hey, it might WORK.

 

[Kathryn]

By the way, I have been very poor - with four small children as well. At the time, after I paid all my bills, I only had $25 a week to live on - and that had to cover gas, clothing, and food. I lived like this for several years - and I can assure you that my four children never went hungry. We may have had eggs and toast for supper, with a big glass of milk to finish it off - but they didn't go hungry.

The WIC program kept my kids from going hungry. I went on food stamps for a little while, but when I realized how much food the WIC program provided, after a few months I decided to drop the food stamps, because it was sort of a hassle going down there and sitting around with a bunch of totally depressing people waiting to be processed through for food stamps (maybe they've changed the program up now - at the time, they weren't using the debit card thing for food stamps).

When I was getting the food stamps, I noticed something - it was a very different program from the WIC program. On food stamps, you can buy any sort of food or beverage items. On WIC, you are limited to inexpensive and HEALTHY items. NO FUN! But effective from a nutritional point of view.

I personally have seen people on food stamps buying things that even now I would consider a luxury item - and would probably not buy with my own hard earned dollars. Big fat steaks, sodas, huge bags of chips with vats of dip, junk cereal - there's no control over what people buy with food stamps, and therefore those resources can easily be mishandled. Or SOLD. Don't forget that some people SELL their food stamps to other people rather than use them to feed their family!

Sheeze!

And by the way, if you want to be thoroughly disgusted, spend an afternoon in the food stamp office and sit around and socialize with everyone. That was another reason why I quit accepting food stamps. I realized pretty quickly that you become like the people you hang out with - and I didn't relate all that well with most of the people in that line. It's one thing to hit a rough spot and take some help temporarily to get back on your feet. It's another thing to use the system in order to live as irresponsibly as possible - and believe me, I saw plenty of "career victims" (and I don't mean victims of corporate America!) in the food stamp line.

One good thing about that experience though - I learned very quickly that I didn't want to get caught in that downward spiral - and I didn't want to become like so many of those people in that line.

I was determined to pull out of that vortex, and I did. It was hard, but they don't call the USA the Land of Opportunity for nothing.

 

[Sunstone]

Haven't you heard - war creates jobs! Get rid of the war and unemployment will go UP. Surely you don't want THAT!

The kind of jobs created by wars are the economic equivalent of junk food in a diet. They are for the most part junk jobs that do relatively little to increase overall economic productivity. I'm surprised you don't know that.

 

[Reverend Rick]

The kind of jobs created by wars are the economic equivalent of junk food in a diet. They are for the most part junk jobs that do relatively little to increase overall economic productivity. I'm surprised you don't know that.

In a way I "know that"...... But I have made mucho deniro from government defense contracts. That money went into my local economy and helped alot of folks.

Just like the truck dealers who sell their product to the people who grow the number one crop in my state.....

Money is money Phil. Where the money came from in the beginning matters very little after it passes through so many hands.

 

[rojse]

Haven't you heard - war creates jobs! Get rid of the war and unemployment will go UP. Surely you don't want THAT!

Because the world really, really needs to commit its resources into developing bigger and better weaponry. It's not enough to be able to completely destroy the world a thousand times over - we should be able to break it in half, too.

 

[Kathryn]

The kind of jobs created by wars are the economic equivalent of junk food in a diet. They are for the most part junk jobs that do relatively little to increase overall economic productivity. I'm surprised you don't know that.

I'm surprised you didn't realize I was being facetious! And that you didn't grasp the POINT of that sarcasm, which was that the WAR is not responsible for the supposed increase in kids who "go hungry" in America.

If you can show me some logical reasoning behind your assertion that the war in the Middle East causes child hunger in the US, I'd be happy to consider your argument.