Friday, December 02, 2005
Hunger
John Brown writes in the Nieman Watchdog, Hunger, almost eliminated in the 70’s, is now widespread
According to government statistics, 38 million Americans live in households that suffer from hunger or food insecurity. The number of hungry mouths has increased by 43 percent in the past five years, according to the Department of Agriculture.
The United States is the only developed country with a serious hunger problem, and more than 12 million of those affected are children....
Here are some sobering statistics and findings on hunger in America:
Households with incomes below the official poverty line have a high rate of food insecurity (36.8%), as do single female-headed households with children (33.0%), black non-Hispanic households (23.7%), single male-headed households with children (22.2%) and Hispanic households (21.7%).
Government programs are not always available to those who are hungry. Over 47% of all food-insecure households have incomes above 130% of poverty, which in most cases would make these households ineligible for food stamps.
Not all states face the same challenges. Arkansas, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas all have food insecurity and hunger rates that are significantly higher than the national average. One bright spot is Oregon. Once considered to have the worst hunger in the country, Oregon has shown significant decreases in food insecurity and hunger since 1999-2001.
So, you see, the War on Poverty was a failure and the poor are now much better off since Reagan and the Bushes ensured that 1 person in 8 gets down to the end of the month to find nothing in the refrigerator.
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