Hunger stalks millions of poor Americans

[flashl]

An escalating global food crisis could bring the problem of hunger home to the US and other developed countries.

Millions of poor Americans risk going hungry if food prices continue to rise and food agencies struggle to cope with rising costs, dwindling resources and a huge increase in demand.

...

Filling the gap where government help does not reach is a network of 200 regional food banks that distributes food to about 30,000 churches and soup kitchens around the country. America’s Second Harvest, the body that oversees the network, estimates the number of people seeking its help has risen by up to 25 per cent in the past year.

About 40 per cent of the 13m working-age adults served by the organisation come from households where at least one family member has a job, said Vicki Escarra, chief executive.

“The face of poverty and hunger has changed in the past few years. The notion that it’s just homeless people is inaccurate.”

Financial Times

[GetTheRightVote]

1. this is a very sad place for this nation, many things must change here

to put these people into jobs which have better wages especialy getting rid of the item influencing the lower wages, stop the war, deport illegal aliens, etc.

[flashl]

3. Many individuals in the article have jobs. 'We' are simply blind to the notion of slave wages

and ...

The BETRAYAL of Work

How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans

One in four workers in the United States have jobs that pay poverty wages, provide minimal or no benefits, and allow little flexibility and time for quality childcare. Despite the great wealth of the United States, the standard working conditions for these workers are lower than those of comparable workers in other industrialized nations.
...
Allowing these conditions to continue challenges our notions of basic equity and fairness as these workers play by the rules and get so little in return. It erodes our most cherished values of personal responsibility, hard work, and perseverance. Leaving a large group of workers out of society's rewards impairs the functioning of America's democracy and communities and destroys the kind of nation we want to become.

[bobbolink]

8. "NICKEL and DIMED" should be required reading!

I don't push "the working poor" issues, because they get much more attention than other poor folk, but.... it's really sad and very clear that most people need to have a much clearer understanding of low-wage workers!

Barbara Ehrenreich is a GENIUS in her writing about these issues!

See also my recent post.... on Reagan. That's from her book "Fear Of Falling", another masterpiece.

That woman is my she-roe!

And thanks so much for your continued loyalty to poverty issues!

:hug:

[flashl]

9. I've read great reviews about "NICKEL and DIMED" and believe Barbara Ehrenreich got it right. nt

[Mimosa]

2. If things are so bad here why do millions come here illegally?

Gettherightvote, I'm with you on each issue you just mentioned.

I'm sick of hearing how bad thing are. I live in an area in Atlanta GA where there are lots and lots of Hispanic immigrants. I see them and their happy well-cared for children all the time. They appear to work hard. the kids are happy looking and well-nourished.

What i want to know is if things in the USA are so grim, why are all these people here? Could it be there are still opportunities for those who will work hard?

[fight4my3sons]

4. really?

My husband works hard. He works overtime every week. He has a college degree. He is underpaid and overworked. No he doesn't work retail. He works at a school with emotionally disturbed children on an admitting unit. He used to work two jobs, 100 hours a week, but then he didn't see us - his wife and kids. He works at least 60 hours a week and we qualify for food stamps, medicaid (yes, we have health care benefits from his job, but we get back up medicaid), WIC, and LIHEAP. I have a masters degree, but if I went to work as a teacher 90% of my paycheck would go to childcare, so instead of shipping my kids out to strangers everyday we made the choice for me to stay at home until they go to school (one more year for the twins).

Don't tell me about working hard.

[KSinTX]

11. If things were so grim

I have to ask the obvious question: Why did you have more children? As much as your family chose to have you stay at home until they go to school, was it not also a choice for you to increase the size of your family? Absent the latter choice, you would not be on food stamps, medicaid, WIC and LIHEAP, correct?

[wellstone dem]

5. I am not sure all parts of the country are affected equally

in this economic downturn.

[flashl]

6. This article tells the story ...

An immigration raid aids blacks for a time-The Wall Street Journal

STILLMORE, Ga. -- After a wave of raids by federal immigration agents on Labor Day weekend, a local chicken-processing company called Crider Inc. lost 75 percent of its mostly Hispanic 900-member work force. The crackdown threatened to cripple the economic anchor of this fading rural town.

But for local African-Americans, the dramatic appearance of federal agents presented an unexpected opportunity. Crider suddenly raised pay at the plant. An advertisement in the weekly Forest-Blade newspaper blared "Increased Wages" at Crider, starting at $7 to $9 an hour -- more than a dollar above what the company had paid many immigrant workers. The company began offering free transportation from nearby towns and free rooms in a company-owned dormitory near to the plant. For the first time in years, local officials say, Crider aggressively sought workers from the area's state-funded employment office -- a key avenue for low-skilled workers to find jobs. Of 400 candidates sent to Crider -- most of them black -- the plant hired about 200.

...

For the first time since significant numbers of Latinos began arriving in Stillmore in the late 1990s, the plant's processing lines were made up predominantly of African-Americans.

The sudden reversal of economic fortunes in Stillmore underscores some of the most complex aspects of the pitched debate over immigration: Do illegal immigrants take jobs from low-skilled American workers? The answer in Stillmore initially appeared to be yes.

Get it?

[bobbolink]

7. A while back, I posted a newspaper article about jobs all over the west held by immigrants.

The point is simple: these employers do gymnastics to keep their wages lower. That should be easy to figure out.

"Could it be there are still opportunities for those who will work hard?"

Put down the right-wing koolaid, and back away. Your sanity is endangered.

[TexasBushwhacker]

10. Because as bad as things are here, they're worse in Mexico...

and other places all over the planet. Even so, it's to everyone's benefit that poverty be reduced. If we have money for bombs, we should have money for bread.

[Obamanaut]

12. Interesting you should point this out. I had not thought about it

but here in N. Fla we too have lots of Hispanic workers. My small town doesn't have a lot to offer, but I see the same happy looking families WALKING to/from stores, or on bicycles in a small group, or couples pushing baby carriages. They don't look undernourished or miserable - they are invariably smiling and chatting.

It's a pleasant sight.

[MedleyMisty]

13. My mother's boyfriend told us a bit about his childhood at the Memorial Day get together

Hearing his mother cry because she had no food for her children and curling his fist into his stomach at night to try and stop the pain enough so he could sleep.

There is something seriously wrong with this species. At least the rich and privileged parts of it.