OT-Alarming NatGeo Article

Bob Harvey

Well-known Member
The new National Geographic has a disturbing/alarming article labelled "Hunger in America". Everyone should read it.IMHO
 
I read part of it in a waiting room last monday. I didn't read it all so i will not comment on it.
 
Millions of working Americans don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
Imagine that from the richest country on Earth, or
being stranded in a food desert?
 
When this country is having to borrow money from others in order to keep our governmental heads above the water, then I feel we are no longer the richest country in the world.
 
Walk down any street or any Mall and its pretty obvious that lack of food isn't the problem.With
Food Stamps,Food Banks everywhere its hard to understand why there'd be many people without access to food.
 
yea, i have always wondered why we have to put or noses in stuff where we don't belong and at the same time let our own people suffer, what is wrong with us, we don't care about our own ?
 
You can be pretty fat, and be malnourished. Starchy foods like potatoes are the cheapest things you can eat, and sugar and sodium are high in a lot cheap food. And that doesn't help the health problems these folks have.
 
I quit reading them some time ago when they stopped being an independent mag with good stuff and went to being a abundant rag preaching doom and gloom.

Rick
 
Poor diet choices are the problem and poor diet can lead to lots of health issues.Dried beans of all sorts are cheap and some of the best food around but few people will eat them rather they opt for Fast food and ready to eat stuff thats terrible for them.Turnips,cabbage,mustard greens and the like are also good solid healthy food but most people these days wouldn't touch them.
 
Ummmm.....Yep,
But the "poor" have cell phones and a big screen TV.........but they cannot eat.

More like their priorities are all Fooked up.
 
I have no problem believing that there are a lot of people starving or don't have money to buy food in Canada and the US. If you don't think it's true ask the elders or deacons in your church how many families they are supporting. I think most people would be shocked to find out people they see in church every Sunday can't afford to buy food because most of their income goes to rent, clothes, school supplies, possibly medical stuff.

In Canada and a large part of the US having a roof over your head is a higher priority than eating. You can live quite awhile with out food but you will not live very long out doors in the winter in much of Canada.

Sometimes it's their own fault but sometimes stuff happens. As the old saying goes "don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes".
 
I'm with you on that. Also the main reason I quit subscribing is they couldn't mention anything below the Mason Dixon line without denigrating the south about slavery.
 
Any who teaches can tell you that there are starving children in this country. Far too many youngsters have no idea where the next meal's coming from outside the ones they get in school. Poverty is found both in urban and rural areas. Yes, too many people on federal programs use money for frills, but they live in squalor and want the toys the rest of us have. Poverty is growing, and it may be the problem that really harms this country. We cannot continue to ignore this issue.
 
Starving will be the least of our worries when they bring those eboli patients over here !
That's just asking to cause an outbreak over here.
 
A few yrs. ago we bought a farm that had been used for several things like drugs , stolen property and welfare fraud . They traded drugs for foodstamp cards and had a big stack of them when they got busted and several freezers full of top line meat , seafood , etc. I bet the folks that traded those cards for drugs had kids that could use somthing to eat . There was also lots of good jeans , shirts and baby outfits . I called several churches in the area trying to give them away for folks that needed them and none would take them . They all said when someone needs help they generaly just give them cash . Dont really have a end to my story but alot of the times we are buying drugs when we try to feed the kids !!
 
I'm confused.

I thought if you were a good American, hunger was an incentive to improve your situation, not lay back and cry to the government about how unfair life is.

Oh, but it's *for the children*. I get it.

Problem with that is if you just throw food at them, they grow up to think that it's ok to depend on the government for everything.

...and isn't that what you all are complaining about?
 
That sure doesn't fit what I'm seeing around Houston.

The old adage that that American poor are overweight sure applies around here.
 
I"m sure there are hungry or ill fed seniors in the US who don"t have much money or have kids and grandchildren either mooching or stealing from them or maybe no one to help them get what they need and prepare it. I am also sure there are plenty of little children with no Daddy and a craven, dope headed Mother too sorry to take care of them who don"t get fed reguarly. But in general, lets face it, most of the SNAP recipients are fat, maybe because they eat crap because they are too lazy or too ignorant to cook a decent meal but they did not get fat due to a lack of food. I don"t know how they arrived at some of the statistics they quote but many almost had to be lies, or at best, talking points skewed to represent the message that the author wanted to convey.
 
The main disease of the poor in America is obesity. That's why the poor lead the way in heart disease, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and cancer. Sitting around all day getting fat with no physical activity will kill a person.
 
But on the flip side,Mrs O says kids are too fat,so just throw an apple at them for lunch and call it good.
 
I believe there are many seniors needing food and other necessities in this country. However, if we look at the 48% of the US population that receive govt money you will find the laziest, fattest bunch of people. In our family we have one grandchild that is married, hubby make 47000 and she complains all the time about no money. Yet, she refuses to get a part time job because that would cut down on their family fun time. She goes somewhere every day spending eating out and gas money. Her sister is a welfare recipient and unwed mother who lives off of the govt. Thinking of having a second child to double her income. I can't believe the people that won't work and expect the working 52% to support them.
I firmly believe in workfare. But, if you work a ;little the US Govt will give you more.

NPOw, to keep this tractor related , I am going to work on my 1944 Farmall A and 49 C today and get them parade ready for the big parade tomorrow. Both need batteries installed.
 
It is a social issue, we sure aren't running out of food at this time.

USA has some of the cheapest food vs average wealth/ income/ pay rate. So vehicle ecconomic issue, it isn't for a lack of opportunity most of the time.

USA spends huge gobs of money on food programs and other assistance programs. So even if you are disadvantaged, there are many opportunities to get food.

So it just always comes back to social issues - drugs, bad choices, etc.

Those are really tough to fix. Just adding more food assistance programs, or throwing more money at it, or handing out free Big Macs on every street corner isnt going to fix that.

It takes a social change, an awaking isn't of people. And that sort of thing doesn't come from the top down, or from adding more govt programs, or from longer and freer benefits from the govt.

It will need to come from within, from the bottom up.

It doesn't look like that will happen, in the near term anyhow.

So yes, there is a problem, but it really is not at all a food problem.

It is a social problem.

Paul
 
"If you don't think it's true ask the elders or deacons in your church how many families they are supporting."

320B - your comment above caught my eye. It makes me think that you might be a Canadian. If your elders or deacons in your church are actually helping hungry people, I commend them. I tried several times, in business meetings, to get our church interested in helping support the local food pantry, and was met by stone silence at least, and sometimes even hateful decline from the pastor himself. This church is financially fit, but they're scared to death that some undeserving person will get a nickel of "their" money. I don't know how we've managed to stray so far from Christ's example. Our local food pantry has one pastor's wife who volunteers her time, but all of the other five churches are noticeably absent. I know that the food pantry has people scamming the system, but they also have elderly or others who have had things happen to put them in a financial bind. I've been blessed in my life with plenty to eat, but not everyone is so fortunate.

Sorry for the rant - this is a sore spot with me.
 
I can't beleive that . Then they showed the containment house [disease conrol center approved ] that looks like a cheap pop up tent. This is NOT a good idea.
 
I cant imagine anyone of any faith or creed (or heck no religion at all for that matter) who isn't compassionate regarding people going hungry, we even feed, educate and provide health care for illegal immigrants at taxpayer expense. Indeed many problems are a result of peoples own bad choices and we hear on the news often how Americans are overweight AS WE HAVE TOO MUCH FOOD LOL. Of course, you have to consider the "source" and that publication has a abundant slant so before deciding where to give to charity do your research and make your best informed decision.

John T Patriot, Christian, Conservative and very happy and proud of it
 
The poor and starving are often very young or can no longer support themselves. They've always been among us.
 
When the "poor" put down the data phones, stop getting tattos and buying lottery tickets and beer and at least attempt to get a job, I might get interested in helping them. I know there are genuine hungry folks and I hope they get the help they need, but too many frauds and lazys are sucking off of the system. And there are too many liberals that have created a whole industry to feed off of the misfortune, abundant press to support it all and politicians to keep the whole rotten thing humming along, with our tax dollars.
 
Jesus said to give to the needy. He also very clearly said it is not up to us to decide or to make sure they are using it properly, He just told us to give.

Basically it between us and God if we give or not and it is between them and God how they use it.
God will deal with them, you don't have to. God will also deal with us if we are not obedient.

I'm not saying it's easy it's just what God tells us to do.
 
(quoted from post at 12:11:14 08/01/14) [b:e6cc8074d4]Jesus said to give to the needy. He also very clearly said it is not up to us to decide or to make sure they are using it properly, He just told us to give.[/b:e6cc8074d4]

Basically it between us and God if we give or not and it is between them and God how they use it.
God will deal with them, you don't have to. God will also deal with us if we are not obedient.

I'm not saying it's easy it's just what God tells us to do.
o, when a drug addict begs you for money you just open your wallet and give?
 
Thats crazy that "poverty is growing" while the Gov't throws more and more $$$ at the 'problem' so I guess the answer is less Gov't $$$.No the problem is that many individuals refuse to take responsibility for themselves and their families.Thats a problem only the individuals themselves can solve.
 
So, when a drug addict begs you for money you just open your wallet and give?[/quote]


Drug addicts are a whole different thing. They will get the drugs what ever it takes, if it means stealing or killing it doesn't make any difference to them when they get desperate. So maybe it is the right thing to do.

In Holland they deal with hard core addicts by giving them two options, methadone or heroin and the government supplies them with which ever they want and the needles they need because they know that in most cases the addict will die of an overdose anyway. They figure if they supply them, the addict will have no reason to harass the good folk.

I think the life expectance of a hard core addict when they can get all the heroin they want is only a couple of months, if that.

My sister in-law's son made it to his 28th birthday I believe but he had to lie cheat and steal to get his drugs. The end result is the same.
 
I do not have the answer, but it is not as cold blooded as many of you suggest..The drug problem has put a lot of chilldren in a crisis home. A poor mother in the 40's struggling to feed her kids is very different than a poor mother in the 00's struggling to feed her habit (and ignoring the kids)

I don''t have the answers, but 40 years of war on drugs, war on immigration, war on poverty have been failures....thru years of both red and blue leaderships.

The roof is leaking badly and we just want to argue about the color of the shingles for the new roof while the water rots the foundation and destoys the house. We need real fixes for these problems and it is not the onesided, overly simplistic, magic fixes that many suggest.
 
(quoted from post at 22:49:44 08/01/14) I hope you guys have figured out what you are supposed to do, based upon the teachings of your "All-American" religion. Seems to me that even those you of the same faith, are all over the map. So, are you going to help people ( and children) in need, or not? You have to live with you decision.....not me. Have you decided that historic geographic boundries are much more important than helping a loxt and lonely child? Just wondering?
Wrong side of the fence....you die!

I do not have the answer, but it is not as cold blooded as many of you suggest.. If you had that kid in your arms most of you would make a more emotion driven decision.

I'm not sure how to respond to this other than to say almost everybody is basing their decisions on emotions. A lot of people feel they are being used and lied to by people that use the system for a free ride. I can't argue with that, they are right and it makes them angry.

I personally think that decisions based on emotions is a huge mistake. I think we would all be better off making decisions based on God's teachings and leave it for God to sort out.

I know for myself when I make decisions based on emotions things don't turn out to good. I also know that unscrupulous people play on our emotions to convince us to give them money for their own purposes.

Jesus said to give to the poor and to feed the hungry. He also said what you give you will receive back 10 fold. That is not emotion or religion.
 

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