Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Retirement
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Closed Thread Start New Thread
 
Old 08-29-2019, 08:03 AM
 
Location: Spain
12,722 posts, read 7,496,913 times
Reputation: 22628

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by augiedogie View Post
Sorry, but I dont buy the food insecurity schtick.
I believe there are seniors who have problems obtaining a healthy diet but am equally skeptical of the term "food insecure" because the definition often includes so many vague unquantifiable terms like affordable/sufficient/nutritious. Foodforward.org even includes "culturally appropriate" and "good" food in their definition of food insecurity.

The term is heavily used by hunger charities who's existence (and salaries) depend on their being a grave problem and them being able to make people aware of the severity of it for the donations to come in. Hence grain of salt the size of Pluto when I read these estimates by hunger organizations of how many millions are food insecure, since that term doesn't necessarily equate to hunger and anyone can design a survey using gray area definitions to get results they want.

 
Old 08-29-2019, 08:11 AM
 
12,048 posts, read 10,185,676 times
Reputation: 24772
Quote:
Originally Posted by augiedogie View Post
I'm all for the food banks, but they apparently didn't qualify the recipients. Ie millionaires could come and get the free food. Don't tell me that people with plenty of money will not try to get free food. I have relatives that were millionaires and got meals on wheels.
The ones i help with are all volunteer. You fill out a short form with general questions, but no - there are no hoops to jump through.

There is one progam only for seniors and those with disablities. They hand out boxes of commodities. This is the USDA.

What should be done with all the leftover food items produced in this country.

It is amazing how much we have.

Even the school here in my small town has free breakfast and lunch for the students.
 
Old 08-29-2019, 08:13 AM
 
Location: northern New England
5,406 posts, read 3,969,289 times
Reputation: 21155
Volunteering at the food shelf like I do, I see this every day. Many of our clients are elderly. Typical example from a few years back, retired nurse, income shows as too much for food stamps but her husband has major medical problems and all their extra money goes to bills. Another lady just got out of a long hospital stay and had to choose between rent and food. She almost cried when she saw all that we could give her. We have some people who come in for free produce and bread (don't have to sign up) but are too proud to get a complete food shelf order, or feel that "other people need it more." One has told me they live on rice and beans and vegs.


That being said, I agree with liequiang about hunger charities who take "20 million children live below the poverty line" and turn it into "20 million children go to bed hungry every night." Got to tug at those heartstrings.
__________________
Moderator posts will always be Red and can only be discussed via Direct Message.
C-D Home page, TOS (Terms of Service), How to Search, FAQ's, Posting Guide
 
Old 08-29-2019, 09:19 AM
 
Location: Verde Valley AZ
8,775 posts, read 11,855,581 times
Reputation: 11485
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious Conversation View Post
Food stamps don't pay much. You'd have to really scrimp as a single person on food stamps. My girlfriend gets them - I think it's $193/month for her. That's not a lot to go on for food.

She should actually do pretty well on that amount if she's at all frugal. Last month I 'bit the bullet' and applied for EBT. I make enough to pay the bills, keep a roof over my head and gas in my car but very little left for food. So I did it. I really hate being put under a microscope like they do and jump through all the hoops but it's painless, I guess. Had to spend my savings way down to qualify too but it went to pay bills so... Anyway, I get $165 mo. and, truthfully, could get by on less. My pantry and freezer are looking 'healthy' again. I buy specials, store brands and very little processed foods like lunchmeats. Very little boxed or canned. I do buy a few frozen pot pies and individual pizzas for a quick lunch now and then but basically everything is cooked from scratch. I shop the same way I always have and just don't have to worry how I'll pay for it.
 
Old 08-29-2019, 09:26 AM
 
Location: Verde Valley AZ
8,775 posts, read 11,855,581 times
Reputation: 11485
Quote:
Originally Posted by MillennialUrbanist View Post
That's mostly true. Rotisserie chickens can be bought with EBT/SNAP nowadays, provided that they're cold. In which case, $10 buys 4 simple but adequate meals. While I don't live on EBT/SNAP now, I make my weekday lunches that way. So...

rotisserie chicken - $5
bag of rice - $1
bag of frozen broccoli - $2
packet of cheese sauce - $1
barbecue sauce - $1
salt and pepper - already have

You can make a variety of meals from those ingredients alone. You can combine them all into a casserole. Or you can eat chicken, rice, and broccoli with cheese separately. Or anything in-between.

That said, elderly persons going hungry is very, very wrong. Especially considering that we as a society waste nearly 40% of our food. I volunteer periodically at food banks, knowing that some of their food goes to the people who need it.

I don't buy them often but I do like those chickens. I get two regular dinners, sandwiches and the last of it usually ends up in a chicken enchilada casserole. Not bad for five bucks.


We have so many food banks here there's no excuse to go hungry, really.
 
Old 08-29-2019, 09:53 AM
 
Location: Redwood City, CA
15,242 posts, read 12,826,951 times
Reputation: 54012
Quote:
Originally Posted by augiedogie View Post
I'm all for the food banks, but they apparently didn't qualify the recipients. Ie millionaires could come and get the free food. Don't tell me that people with plenty of money will not try to get free food. I have relatives that were millionaires and got meals on wheels.
My MIL worked at a food bank and judging by the items she brought home, I’d never go there for free food. Month-old pies, bagged salad turning into slime, that sort of thing. I’m a bear about food safety and throw out anything more than five days old.
 
Old 08-29-2019, 11:19 AM
 
51,587 posts, read 25,530,829 times
Reputation: 37775
When I was volunteering at a food bank, nearly everything other than frozen bagels and stale bread was canned or boxed.

Tons, and I mean tons, of canned vegetables.
 
Old 08-29-2019, 11:24 AM
 
51,587 posts, read 25,530,829 times
Reputation: 37775
Food Insecurity: Without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food means that you often don' have nutritious things to eat and sometimes you go hungry.

If it wasn't for "bleeding hearts" supporting Food Stamps, food pantries, soup kitchens, Meals on Wheels, ... there would be a lot more in this sorry situation.

From what I can tell, until starving children are begging by the side of the road, some folks don't believe there is a problem.
 
Old 08-29-2019, 11:30 AM
 
51,587 posts, read 25,530,829 times
Reputation: 37775
That scene from Fried Green Tomatoes where Idgie and Miss Ruth toss canned goods off the train to the people camped along the tracks comes to mind. Thin children raced along the tracks to catch canned goods.

Of course, it's their own damn fault they ended up living in dire circumstances. If the poor had made wiser decisions along the way they wouldn't have to live like that.

How to believe how some can be so heartless.
 
Old 08-29-2019, 11:37 AM
 
Location: Spain
12,722 posts, read 7,496,913 times
Reputation: 22628
Quote:
Originally Posted by GotHereQuickAsICould View Post
Food Insecurity: Without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food means that you often don' have nutritious things to eat and sometimes you go hungry.
No it doesn't. It says absolutely nothing about sometimes going hungry.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GotHereQuickAsICould View Post
From what I can tell, until starving children are begging by the side of the road, some folks don't believe there is a problem.
I'll take straw man for 800 Alex. Nobody said there wasn't a problem.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Closed Thread


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Retirement

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top