WIC and certain other "disasters" of the shutdown.

[Lanie]

No, I'm not trying to start an argument or trying to be funny by calling it a disaster. I've been very upset to learn that they're about to start denying WIC in my state because I fear that some people really won't have a backup when trying to get formula for their baby. I'm currently looking for a food pantry that is helping with that and I'm either going to do regular donations (food or money) and/or see about another form of help.

I've *heard* that those applying for disability will have a longer wait due to the lack of allowance of work. I'm actually wondering if they would allow volunteers to do regular paperwork so employees can work on cases. Just an idea.

Any other ideas? No, this isn't me being funny or combative.

[Adam]

No, I'm not trying to start an argument or trying to be funny by calling it a disaster. I've been very upset to learn that they're about to start denying WIC in my state because I fear that some people really won't have a backup when trying to get formula for their baby. I'm currently looking for a food pantry that is helping with that and I'm either going to do regular donations (food or money) and/or see about another form of help.

I've *heard* that those applying for disability will have a longer wait due to the lack of allowance of work. I'm actually wondering if they would allow volunteers to do regular paperwork so employees can work on cases. Just an idea.

Any other ideas? No, this isn't me being funny or combative.

They waited until after everyone's WIC had already gone out for October, so there still won't be babies starving in the street. New people can't apply for WIC right now, but even if they could, they wouldn't be getting that until November 1 anyway.

So, basically, this doesn't matter and doesn't affect anyone for now. Now, assuming that this "shut-down" manages to last longer than any other in history (currently the record is 22 days in 1996) and go more than a month, then this could become an issue. In reality, I rather strongly suspect that even if this goes on for more than a month, we'll have what we had back in '96: people still managed to survive just fine without sucking at the government tit.


As far as doing something to help, I would certainly think that if your particular parish does not operate some manner of food assistance, they should be able to point you in the direction of a church that does. They pretty much all can always use an extra hand one way or another: packing boxes of food, filling out paperwork of recipients, etc.

[Lanie]

Even if the government shutdown doesn't last (which I'm skeptical right now), I'm learning that hunger is high in this country. On the website I've been looking on (just tried to find the place, but haven't yet), they're saying one in three children and one in every seven adults suffer from hunger in my county alone. I find that surprising since I thought a lot of people in my county came from money. They're not necessarily rich, but they're often not the dump either. Where do people get the idea that nobody goes hungry here?

My parish (which is out of town) helps out once a month at the homeless shelter. I almost always bring food to that, but I can't volunteer due to work. We used to assist with getting homeless people homes with other churches (an interfaith network), but they've stopped doing that. The Bethany Society at my church used to cook Thanksgiving dinner from some of the more poor parishioners, but now they want to do gift cards. When I suggested something different, it was like "Well, you're not a real member, hush." They didn't say it like that, but the speaker was rude about it. I can't help it that my work schedule prevents me from doing a lot of church activities, and I wasn't going to pay the twenty dollar membership for a club I can't hardly attend the meetings of. I'm going to find a charity more local. If nothing else, I can do donations. There is also a church I used to attend that often has a food pantry. I think they still do.

[Frostbit]

Even if the government shutdown doesn't last (which I'm skeptical right now), I'm learning that hunger is high in this country. On the website I've been looking on (just tried to find the place, but haven't yet), they're saying one in three children and one in every seven adults suffer from hunger in my county alone. I find that surprising since I thought a lot of people in my county came from money. They're not necessarily rich, but they're often not the dump either. Where do people get the idea that nobody goes hungry here?

My parish (which is out of town) helps out once a month at the homeless shelter. I almost always bring food to that, but I can't volunteer due to work. We used to assist with getting homeless people homes with other churches (an interfaith network), but they've stopped doing that. The Bethany Society at my church used to cook Thanksgiving dinner from some of the more poor parishioners, but now they want to do gift cards. When I suggested something different, it was like "Well, you're not a real member, hush." They didn't say it like that, but the speaker was rude about it. I can't help it that my work schedule prevents me from doing a lot of church activities, and I wasn't going to pay the twenty dollar membership for a club I can't hardly attend the meetings of. I'm going to find a charity more local. If nothing else, I can do donations. There is also a church I used to attend that often has a food pantry. I think they still do.

Define hunger!! Seriously. is hunger not having a snack when your tummy growls? Is hunger actually showing signs of malnutrition? I don't see much malnutrition in the US.

The pointed question is how many of those suffering from "hunger" have a flat screen TV?

[Gingersnap]

Most "hunger" statistics in the U.S. now use "food insecurity" as the baseline rather than no food.

What does “food insecure” NOT mean?

Food insecurity is not “the government’s definition of hunger.” It is a broader term that captures outright hunger and the coping mechanisms that households use to avoid hunger.

Food insecurity is a household situation, not an individual situation. While food insecurity affects everyone in a household, it may affect them differently. Therefore it is not correct to state that specific individuals in a food insecure household (such as children) definitely experience outright hunger or specific coping mechanisms. Rather than describing these individuals as being “food insecure”, they should be referred to as “living in a food insecure home.”

Food insecurity is a year-long measure. Therefore, it is not correct to assert that every food insecure household is experiencing food insecurity “right now,” will experience hunger “tonight” or “does not know where their next meal is coming from.” Research shows that food insecurity tends to be episodic and often cyclical.

Food insecurity does not mean that a household lacks access to grocery stores, lives in a “food desert,” or does not have time to shop/cook. It only refers to lack of food access based on financial and other material resources.

So, going hungry isn't the issue. Often, it's a planning problem. There's adequate food but someone must cook it or provide it - in a lot of chaotic households this is a problem. Sometimes it's a menu problem, Desirable food is available until the end of a two-week or one month period. The last few days have to be met with undesirable foods: peanut butter sandwiches, rice and beans, cereal, etc. Sometimes the problem is knowing who will provide the food. In chaotic households the parent(s) may be unreliable but grandparents step in so where a meal comes from may confound the problem.

Food insecurity is a problem but it's not a hunger/malnutrition problem. It's a logistics problem. Virtually all Americans suffering from malnutrition/starvation are the children or elders of irresponsible caretakers. People who refuse (for one reason or another) to meet the nutritional needs of their dependents even though they could with the resources available. Some other few are alcoholics/drug abusers who use food money for addictions and individuals who use food refusal as a coping mechanism.

A lot of well-meaning websites and groups use "hunger" when they mean "food insecurity". They aren't interchangeable terms but they are used that way for emotional reasons.

This doesn't mean that people should stop funding food banks or doing outreach, it just means that you aren't "fighting hunger" so much as you are assisting people who may have poor planning skills or other priorities.

[Frostbit]

Most "hunger" statistics in the U.S. now use "food insecurity" as the baseline rather than no food.

What does “food insecure” NOT mean?



So, going hungry isn't the issue. Often, it's a planning problem. There's adequate food but someone must cook it or provide it - in a lot of chaotic households this is a problem. Sometimes it's a menu problem, Desirable food is available until the end of a two-week or one month period. The last few days have to be met with undesirable foods: peanut butter sandwiches, rice and beans, cereal, etc. Sometimes the problem is knowing who will provide the food. In chaotic households the parent(s) may be unreliable but grandparents step in so where a meal comes from may confound the problem.

Food insecurity is a problem but it's not a hunger/malnutrition problem. It's a logistics problem. Virtually all Americans suffering from malnutrition/starvation are the children or elders of irresponsible caretakers. People who refuse (for one reason or another) to meet the nutritional needs of their dependents even though they could with the resources available. Some other few are alcoholics/drug abusers who use food money for addictions and individuals who use food refusal as a coping mechanism.

A lot of well-meaning websites and groups use "hunger" when they mean "food insecurity". They aren't interchangeable terms but they are used that way for emotional reasons.

This doesn't mean that people should stop funding food banks or doing outreach, it just means that you aren't "fighting hunger" so much as you are assisting people who may have poor planning skills or other priorities.

G-Snap,

When I read that I saw tons of grant money going to the education of the psychologist/social workers who now gets tons of grant money to study "food insecurity".

Sorry if I sound like I'm killing the messenger it's just that I'm tired of the intended over thought obfuscation of what should be simple concepts in this country.

Shit I sound like my dearly departed Father just more eloquent.

[Adam]

Even if the government shutdown doesn't last (which I'm skeptical right now), I'm learning that hunger is high in this country. On the website I've been looking on (just tried to find the place, but haven't yet), they're saying one in three children and one in every seven adults suffer from hunger in my county alone. I find that surprising since I thought a lot of people in my county came from money. They're not necessarily rich, but they're often not the dump either. Where do people get the idea that nobody goes hungry here?

My parish (which is out of town) helps out once a month at the homeless shelter. I almost always bring food to that, but I can't volunteer due to work. We used to assist with getting homeless people homes with other churches (an interfaith network), but they've stopped doing that. The Bethany Society at my church used to cook Thanksgiving dinner from some of the more poor parishioners, but now they want to do gift cards. When I suggested something different, it was like "Well, you're not a real member, hush." They didn't say it like that, but the speaker was rude about it. I can't help it that my work schedule prevents me from doing a lot of church activities, and I wasn't going to pay the twenty dollar membership for a club I can't hardly attend the meetings of. I'm going to find a charity more local. If nothing else, I can do donations. There is also a church I used to attend that often has a food pantry. I think they still do.

I'll leave out the hunger response because Ginger and Frosty already pretty much said everything I was going to say anyway. I'll just say that hunger advocacy organizations have a long-documented history of fudging the numbers to evoke the desired emotional response.


W/R/T helping, the local church with the food pantry is probably your best bet, unless there is some other private organization out there where you are. Here, we have the Nashville Union Rescue Mission, and they do tremendous work primarily in the area of homelessness (actually curing the problem; homelessness is a symptom, not a disease), but they have been very helpful for emergency situations in which people find themselves without food (the 2010 floods here, for example).

[Gingersnap]

G-Snap,

When I read that I saw tons of grant money going to the education of the psychologist/social workers who now gets tons of grant money to study "food insecurity".

Sorry if I sound like I'm killing the messenger it's just that I'm tired of the intended over thought obfuscation of what should be simple concepts in this country.

Shit I sound like my dearly departed Father just more eloquent.

I know, it's just what we have to live with today. By contemporary standards, I was a 'food insecure' child. I never missed a meal, was never seriously underweight (I went through that gawky thing), was never malnourished, and never worried about food.

That said, some years were close to the bone and involved beans, apples, pancakes, Karo syrup, game, potatoes, and corn things. Not every day but sometimes for a week or two at a time. We weren't hungry - just bored.

I won't now eat the finest pancakes ever made because eating them is so closely associated with "poverty" food to me. Not that I wouldn't gladly eat them if I did have a hunger thing going on.

It's instructive to note that during WWII numerous volunteers and draftees were rejected because they were malnourished and too skinny. Today, numerous volunteers are rejected due to fatness.