A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that food insecurity, or “not knowing where one’s next meal is coming from,” is on the rise, with 11.9% of households experiencing food insecurity in 2004.
The total number of people living in food insecure households in this country went up to 38.2 million in 2004. This number included 24.3 million adults (11.3 percent of all adults) and 13.9 million children (19 percent of all children), according to the Food Research and Action Center.
America’s Second Harvest, the country’s largest charitable food-distribution organization, provided assistance to 25 million people in 2005, the organization said, more than 35% of which are in households where at least one person is working.
“After Katrina struck, the President spoke clearly about our nation’s obligation to address poverty and the deprivation it causes. If he meant this seriously, he must speak now on how he will attack hunger in America, and he must speak out against Congressional action that will further impoverish low-income Americans, including Katrina victims,” said FRAC president James D. Weill.
FRAC should stick to things it knows about. The primary cause of millions of people living in poverty is the very same government programs FRAC supports. Programs such as WIC, Food Stamps, and the National School Lunch Program do indeed manage to help some people. However, they also create a dependence on those programs for people enrolled in them. If someone in a government welfare program did want to improve their lives and take a job, or a better job, that person would find their benefits cut before they were ready to take over and fend for themselves. In addition, the programs are frequently wasteful, spending much of their funding on bureaucracy rather than benefits.
Contrast this to America’s Second Harvest, which manages to get 98% of its donations directly to people in need.
Poverty is a complex problem, and the solution is more complex than I can give full treatment to here. But the outline of the solution is the following:
Get rid of economic disincentives for the disadvantaged to work or to start businesses. These disincentives, almost always advocated by special interest groups, protect large, established businesses at the expense of the poor and minorities. Included among the disincentives are occupational licensing and the minimum wage, both of which exacerbate poverty.
Transition government welfare programs to private charitable organizations. These organizations, with the same level of funding, can provide much more support and assistance to those in need than a government program ever will, because they must be efficient to maintain their funding, and because unlike government bureaucrats, people working in private organizations care about the job they’re doing, want to provide the best possible service to people in need, and want to help them achieve their dreams of a better life for themselves and their families.
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Jason
Feb 24, 2006
HEY GUYS
BUSH NEEDS TO DECLARE THE WAR ON HUNGER!!!!
(Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
Michael Hampton
Feb 24, 2006
Are you kidding? If that happened, everyone would go hungry.
N. Mallory
Feb 26, 2006
Second Harvest has long been my pet charity. I highly recommend that everyone make time to at least once volunteer for a day or two in a Second Harvest warehouse and get the full tour of the program. Those people know how to stretch a dollar but they can’t do it without donations.
Just my not so humble opinion.
Anonymous
Feb 26, 2006
The figures from Second Harvest are important indicators of the state of the American welfare. This directly corresponds to to the family median income decreasing by $1600 over the past four years. Our middle class is evaporating fast and more people who can’t afford the basics are showing up in Second Harvest figures. The disparity between rich and poor is getting larger by the day. The current administration, who is supported by large corporations and give the most wealthy most of the tax incentives, seems unwilling to address the problems of poverty in this country. Consequently, there is nothing on the horizon to reverse this trend. See you in the soup line soon???
Michael Hampton
Feb 26, 2006
Anonymous, you won’t see me in the soup line. I know WHY the gap between the poor and the rich is growing. I know WHY more people than ever need assistance. I know WHY the dollar buys less and less and less every year. They’re all caused BY the government. That’s right, those government programs that were supposed to help people… well, they do, sort of. They keep people alive, but that’s it. Forget getting out of poverty and getting ahead, if you’re receiving government assistance. And for the rest of us, it’s a needless drain on our pocketbooks which pays uncaring bureaucrats to administer mounds of paperwork, tie up recipients of assistance for anywhere from several hours a month to several hours a DAY, so that not only can’t they keep a job, they have no time to look for one in the first place. And that’s just the beginning of how government programs are making poverty worse and dragging you right down.
Get rid of the whole mess, and EVERYONE will be much better off.
Jun 28, 2006
Democrats block Congressional pay raise in quest for minimum wage increase - Homeland Stupidity
rob
Oct 10, 2007
welfare was started a while back to help poeple for a short time to help them till they get on there feet and get a job!! welfare is so dame messed up today!!!!!!!! welfare should be abolished!!!! cause most of the people on welfare is lazy ass bum,s that set on there assess all day and watch tv
we hard working people should not halft to pay for welfare!!!! that,s bull shit!!! it should be one,s choice to decide to help someone!!! it,s not fare it,s not right that i work my ass off get up every moreing and go to work!!pay in thousands of dollars in taxess i can,t get anything back like a little help for medcine or like some help getting my teeth taken out! like if i was to break my leg or something like taht i would be screwed!!! but these lazy ass bum,s get evrything!!! they are covered on insurnce! get a food card ev ery dame thing they get!! and i can,t even get one dame dollar for food stamp if was to get hurt!!!! it,s not right that there is a lot of lazy ass bum,s out there that is collecting welfare s.s.i. that are able to get off there assess and go to work!!! WELFARE IS A THIEF!!! IT IS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE AND GIVEING IT TO THE UNPRODUCTIVE PEOPLE THAT HAS NOT EARNED IT!!! THAT,S NOT RIGHT THAT I HAFT TO PAY FOR THAT!!!!!! WE NEED TO GET RID OF WELFARE!!!! i can see if someone is really trying to get on there feet and do something but need,s some help!! i don,t mine helping them!!! also if us hard working people halft to take a drug test to get a job!! then dame it!!!!!>>>>> make them welfare bum,s take a drug test also!!! guees what would happen??? there would be a lot less people on s.s.i. and welfare!!!! (TO ALL OF THE HARD WORKING PEOPLE OUT THERE LET,S GET TOGHTER AND TRY TO GET THE GROVERMENT TO MAKE IT TUFFFER TOP GET S.S.I. AND TO GET RID OF WELFARE AND TO MAKE THEM LAZY ASS BUM,S OFF THERE FEET AND TO WORK!! AT LEAST MAKE THEM GET OUT THERE TO HELP KEEP OUT STREET,S CLEAN!!
Q