Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2016 8:41:26 GMT -5
It's pretty easy to stand on the outside and make random assumptions. The quality an access to food is def a real issue. There are people who are honestly struggling and need help. Since the economy has crashed the majority of stores have brought lay away services back too.
"The majority of people don't have a monthly charge account at the local grocery store." This is a thing?
"I have been in poor communities where you are 30 or 40 miles from a store" That is a choice. So not only do we need to pay for everything due to poverty now we need to deliver?
www.npr.org/2005/11/22/5021812/q-a-the-causes-behind-hunger-in-america
"I have been in poor communities where you are 30 or 40 miles from a store" That is a choice. So not only do we need to pay for everything due to poverty now we need to deliver?
Q: Why is there hunger in America?
A: A big part of food insecurity relates to the uncertainties of daily life. People go hungry because of unexpected events, such as paying for an emergency visit to the hospital, a car repair, or the loss of a job. So you can be just above the poverty line, and any one of those circumstances can push you into poverty.
When a family is living that close to the edge, the bottom line is that cuts will be made in the consumption of food. Food is purchased with cash. If you don't have a credit card, then you have to pay cash for food. The majority of people don't have a monthly charge account at the local grocery store.
There also are problems of access and distribution. Good, healthy, fresh food is expensive, especially if you work at a minimum wage job. Remember, the national minimum wage is still $5.15 per hour; that's $10,300 a year for a fulltime job.
There is a definite geography of poverty. The highest rates of poverty are found in Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, the U.S.-Mexico border and Indian reservations. I have been in poor communities where you are 30 or 40 miles from a store that manages its vegetables so they don't rot in bins. A year ago , I was in a Tunica, Miss., Piggly Wiggly food market examining the role of gambling in the economic growth of the region, and what I found there was a lot of normal products, except for the vegetables and the meat counter. The vegetables were wilted lettuce and dried apples, or even tomatoes with black spots. At the meat counter, I found mostly chicken wings and ham hocks, packaged in every conceivable way to produce a ham hock, and they're 90 percent fat. That's the sum of what's available for people to buy. Low-income communities support retail operations that sell low-cost goods. When it comes to food, low-cost items do tend to be high in fat and low in nutritional content.
A: A big part of food insecurity relates to the uncertainties of daily life. People go hungry because of unexpected events, such as paying for an emergency visit to the hospital, a car repair, or the loss of a job. So you can be just above the poverty line, and any one of those circumstances can push you into poverty.
When a family is living that close to the edge, the bottom line is that cuts will be made in the consumption of food. Food is purchased with cash. If you don't have a credit card, then you have to pay cash for food. The majority of people don't have a monthly charge account at the local grocery store.
There also are problems of access and distribution. Good, healthy, fresh food is expensive, especially if you work at a minimum wage job. Remember, the national minimum wage is still $5.15 per hour; that's $10,300 a year for a fulltime job.
There is a definite geography of poverty. The highest rates of poverty are found in Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, the U.S.-Mexico border and Indian reservations. I have been in poor communities where you are 30 or 40 miles from a store that manages its vegetables so they don't rot in bins. A year ago , I was in a Tunica, Miss., Piggly Wiggly food market examining the role of gambling in the economic growth of the region, and what I found there was a lot of normal products, except for the vegetables and the meat counter. The vegetables were wilted lettuce and dried apples, or even tomatoes with black spots. At the meat counter, I found mostly chicken wings and ham hocks, packaged in every conceivable way to produce a ham hock, and they're 90 percent fat. That's the sum of what's available for people to buy. Low-income communities support retail operations that sell low-cost goods. When it comes to food, low-cost items do tend to be high in fat and low in nutritional content.
