Why is hunger so young in America?

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Nov. 4, 2009

According to a recent study published in the “Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine” 49% of all U.S. children will be in a household that uses food stamps at some point in childhood. While it might be easy to point to the current recession as the main culprit of food stamps, the study finds children’s use of food stamps consistent over a 30-year period. In a nation as rich and prosperous as the U.S. how do so many kids and families need assistance to buy basic food supplies?

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According to a recent study published in the “Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine” 49% of all U.S. children will be in a household that uses food stamps at some point in childhood. While it might be easy to point to the current recession as the main culprit of food stamps, the study finds children’s use of food stamps consistent over a 30-year period. In a nation as rich and prosperous as the U.S. how do so many kids and families need assistance to buy basic food supplies?

Also on this episode

Guests:

Mark Rank, Professor of Social Welfare at Washington University in St. Louis and author of the study “Estimating the Risk of Food Stamp Use and Impoverishment During Childhood”

Joell
2 weeks, 2 days ago

It would be illegal if I told you that I buy food stamps all the time for 50 cents on the dollar from people around my city. If I did buy food stamps then I would buy around $800 of them each month from usually around 8 cards.

It is very easy for anyone to turn food stamp cards into cash.

NO one can go hungry in America! No One! There are programs in every city that feed the hungry.

It really makes me mad when I see my tax dollars going towards $2 microwave burritos, and $1.50 King Size Snickers. You can buy lobster with food stamps.

We need to do away with food stamps. If we have to have some type of program to give people food, then we should move towards a program where those in need get the Basic food needs and nothing more.

Again, you can not go hungry in America...

Karoline
2 weeks, 2 days ago

Thank you for interviewing this researcher today. Many people simply don't know how bad our American situation is and I think the poor learn very well how to simply take it and cope. They don't rise up. They don't march on Washington.

They are the slaves of our current society. So we still have slavery in America. They get paid $7 an hour, are shut out of education opportunities because of changes in Federal student aid, so they work and live on food stamps.

Great system!

Karoline
2 weeks, 2 days ago

@Joell ----I have a relative on Food Stamps. He gets about $188 a month for food. That's a pretty good amount for one person, however if that is doubled for a mom with a child, it would be challenging to make $376 for two last for a month.

I don't think 2 people even get $376. That sounds high.

The food banks you write of run out of food all the time.

But your point about "no one can go hungry" misses the point of poverty in America utterly.

We the People, through our representatives, gave the banks $700,000,000,000 dollars to save them.

We the People, through our representatives, have poured about $900,000,000,000 into Iraq and Afghanistan.

But you haters of the poor always get upset if one 1 of 100 Welfare moms is collecting $800 a month via food stamp fraud when she's only supposed to get $500. Oh the outrage!

How can you miss the fraud that the banks have pulled on us and the fraud of Iraq, and still get upset out of that >1% of food stamp fraud?

More importantly, why do you hate the poor?

Valerie Thornton
2 weeks, 2 days ago

I was 22 with a 3 year old daughter in Chicago when I was on food stamps. It was 1969. I was in the process of getting a divorce. They were a lifesaver. I was lucky, because I had read about combining beans and rice to make complete protein. I was able to get by on the amount of food stamps they gave me, because I was able to use meat as a just a small part of our diet. Ice formed on the inside of our windows, but we were well nourished.
I was unhappy to see that a lot of women who were using food stamps (this was 1969) just got chicken and white bread. I think people make unwise decisions about how to spend their food stamps because there is no way to know how to use the money for maximum nutrition. I do think there needs to be enough money in food stamps to provide adequate nutrition even if the people who get them aren't being theoretical about nutrition. It should be possible to buy a normal American diet and still get your children good nutrition with food stamps.
By the way, I'm better off now - able to pay taxes like I was before I got food stamps. I don't begrudge people food stamps. I don't mind paying so that other people's children can get enough to eat.
Valerie

Joell
2 weeks, 2 days ago

@Karoline
You are correct! Our government both Republican and Democrats are corrupt and spend our money like drunk monkeys. That is another topic.

Food Stamps is the issue

I pay (Tax Payer) your relative $6 a day to go eat. Your relative can go buy 6 Jr Whoppers from Burger King each day... Or He can spend his money wisely and buy food that fits into his budget. How many pounds of pasta, rice, flour, potatoes, ramen, heads of lettuce, balogna, bread, eggs, and what not can your relative buy with $6 each day?

Why should I (tax payer) be forced to buy people whoppers? When I say whopper was I am saying is Lobster, Steak, Soda Pop, Potato Chips and what not.

Myself I would like to see Zero of our tax dollars going to feed people. I know that if the food welfare system was taken away, then people like myself will feed our neighbors and anyone who is in need.

I also think that anyone who takes advantage of our (tax payer) welfare system should be labeled some how. Public ridicule is a powerful thing.

Unfortunately Americans will not let that happen. So the way we fix the broken welfare food system that we have now can be a few things.

We can have a list of basic items at a fixed price that can be bought with food stamps. AKA the WIC program. This is the easies fix.

We can run larger scale food bank type facilities.

On other issues
The Poor, and poverty

Why would you think I hate the poor? I can be classified as poor.
America needs the poor and poverty for our system to survive. Our system needs un educated low skill poor people for us to keep going.

Poor people are poor because of their actions. We live in America! You can do almost anything you want. It might be hard, it might take a long time, it might not happen, but it can be done.

If you give a poor person $1,000 dollars, within a month all of that money will be in the pocket of a rich person with the poor person having nothing to show for it.

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