Tuesday, 09 June 2009
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Hungry? So Are They
Over 36.2 million Americans, including over 12 million children, suffer from hunger or live on the edge of hunger.
17.2 % of children in the U.S. live in hungry or food insecure households.
4.0 % of U.S. households experience hunger.
9.4% of American 65 years of age and older live in poverty.
12% of rural households in the United States face hunger every day, an estimated 2.3 million households.
10.9 % of American households are food insecure at least some time during the year. Meaning 1 in 10 American homes are at risk of hunger.
Food stamp participants tend to leave the program frequently. Half of all individuals who enter the Food Stamp Program stay 8 months or less and 61% exit within 1 year.
The average gross income of food stamp households is $673 per month.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food Stamp Program is the nation's single most important resource in the fight against hunger. Eligible individuals must earn a net income below 130% or less of the federal poverty line.
To be eligible for free school lunches, children's families must earn at or below 130% of the federal poverty line.This is where MAZON and local organizations come into play- they have the expertise, resources and scope to help people beyond a few meals.
Could you live on a dollar a meal?
Try it for a month. Take the food stamp challenge. Try living for a month with only a dollar a meal. No extra snacks or paying for extras like soda or juice. Take the challenge and donate the extra that you would have spent on food for the hungry out there.
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About the Author
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- From: BereanChristian@xanga
- Name: Follower of Jesus
- About Me: Barukh attah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha’olam, yotzer or u’vorei choshek, oseh shalom u’vorei et hakol.
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Comments (17)
That's a really good idea.
I feed my family with food stamps. I'm not really sure what we would do without them sometimes.
That picture doesn't really fit...
I'll try it.
I've had my share of being hungry/starving and living on almost nothing. I am thankful for the food I have now, and I will not give it up willingly for an internet challenge. (Sorry :P) Since my early teens, I've occasionally donated my time and money to helping to feed the poor and hungry and will continue doing so.
This is a good idea, though, and I encourage anyone who has never known unintentional starvation to try it.
Whats really sad is that a lot of people have the backyards to sustain a really decent sized garden and could therefore help feed their families and yet they dont. Growing up we could have done that and for some reason my mother chose not to, with the exception of a few choice fruits and vegetables. Now I garden for fun, but its also to cut out some serious costs on items I eat a ton of like tomatoes.
this is so exactly true. It's hard living on the edge.
I'm not sure what to think here, when I worked at a grocery store several years ago, I saw far too many abuse the system to be overly sympathetic as a whole. I am sympathetic to those who need the help, and wish they could get more help. I saw ones that only got food stamps, but no cash to buy things like soap and personal hygiene products.
Too many bought live lobster and filet minot, that one meal for two adults cost $100. I saw too much junk food, ice cream, and not enough fruits, vegetables, beans, dairy, meat. And when they went over the amount they had, what went back, it wasn't the junk food, it was usually the good food.
Now I'm not saying I never saw responsible people on food stamps, but in two years I probably saw 65-70% irresponsible users.
What's sad is how capitalism takes advantage of population volume/traffic in certain areas, driving up prices to gain more profit but giving poorer people living in that area less ability to feed themselves. (aka San Diego)
I've been doing about 17 cents per meal, two meals a day, since I got laid off about four months ago. In college I was eating on about 11 cents per day.
1/3 a box macaroni and cheese = 1 days worth of food = $0.11
A dollar a meal is not a challenge for me. A dollar a meal would be a luxury.
@prettyboy78@xanga - Hmmmm really? I dont know where you live but in Ohio where I used to be a cashier, I remember people who used food stamps could only use them specifically on certain foods. It was almost like WIC (womens infants children) but not as strict. And I NEVER remember people buying filet mignon and lobster. I remember them buying oatmeal, ramen, soup, jello mix, kool aid. It was sad....
@shes_lump@xanga -
Were I live there are no restrictions at all on food stamps and people badly abused it. It seemed like those on aide had the worst eating habits. I worked at a higher end store in a college town.
personally i dont think its a question of "if you could", its a question of "the things that are sold out there". bread costs a lot more than a dollar even though im willing to eat for a dollar but the things that are sold in society cost 10+ times that. it also depends on where you live. its really unfair how we have an overload of fast food joints yet in third world countries, their lacking simple necessities like water and soap.
I know someone at school who mentioned her family is on food stamps. It's impossible to get a meal in our cafeteria or even outside of campus that's a dollar or less, unless you get, say, a few leaves of lettuce. =/
hey hey what about zillions people in china?
hrm.. something to think about. thank you :)