Hunger: A Problem Of The Past

[Deja Q]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/27/opinion/main2735612.shtml


(National Review Online) This column was written by Mona Charen.

(snip)
But is that what's really happening? Why is it that whenever you listen to a Democrat you feel that the year is 1966? They seem to live in a time warp in which no progress has been made on race relations, poverty, childhood malnutrition, and on and on.


Article has more.

:eyes:

[Make7]

1. It is no longer called Hunger - it is "very low food security".

Edited to add link

Hunger is a problem of the past.

Of course, very low food security is a serious on-going issue.

- Make7

[kdmorris]

2. Of course

The article doesn't address WHY the poor are so often overweight. When you live on $32 a week per person, the only thing you can afford is CRAP that really shouldn't be labeled as food. It's more expensive to eat a whole-grain, low-fat, low sugar diet than it is to just eat the stuff you buy in boxes in the frozen food aisle.

I know this because I have Diabetes. The "regular" food that the others in my family can eat cost pennies compared to the unprocessed stuff that I need to eat to keep my blood sugar stable. If we ever become unemployed, I will probably need to rely more on medications than diet to keep my blood sugar stable. It would be too expensive to keep buying REAL whole wheat bread (only one kind of bread that I can find that has Whole Wheat flour listed as the first ingredient that DOESN'T have high fructose corn syrup listed as the second.) This bread costs me $2.69 per 20 oz loaf. The white bread that my husband and daughter use... 99 cents a loaf.

I disagree with the assessment that WIC should be given in cash rather than vouchers. The things that you can get on WIC are practically the only things healthy you buy when you are on both WIC and food stamps. You aren't allowed to buy anything except 100% juice, milk, cheese (milk and cheese can be low fat, or regular, as long as it's real and not "cheese food"), tuna, some vegetables (fresh generally, not canned) and other healthy items. Of course, the last time I was on WIC and food stamps was 13 years ago, so it may have changed since then. WIC does offer formula, but if you decide to breast feed, it will increase the mother's food amounts and allow her to stay on WIC until she stops breastfeeding, so it doesn't necessarily encourage poor women to bottle feed, although that is most often the net result.

WIC also made me go through classes on nutrition, which were somewhat helpful.