I absolutely did not make that up.
Claire led me, all unaware of the danger, to Jim Bovard’s article explaining the lying, fraudulent and also completely unreal phenomenon of “Food Insecurity.” Which is…
…a statistic designed to mislead. USDA defines food insecurity as being “uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food to meet the needs of all their members because they had insufficient money or other resources for food.” USDA noted: “For most food-insecure households, the inadequacies were in the form of reduced quality and variety rather than insufficient quantity.”
The definition of “food insecure” includes anyone who frets about not being able to purchase food at any point. If someone states that they feared running out of food for a single day (but didn’t run out), that is an indicator of being “food insecure” for the entire year — regardless of whether they ever missed a single meal.
By this definition even I am “food insecure,” and I don’t miss meals.
Among many other tidbits (“Forty percent of food-stamp recipients are obese.”) Bovard led me to the link above, which duly informed me that “September is Hunger Action Month.” And the action recommended? Not giving a hungry person a sandwich, no. The action recommended appears to be to take a selfie with an orange spoon on your nose. Precisely what condition this activity is designed to remedy is not explained. I truly don’t see how it’s going to alleviate anybody’s hunger.
I’m gonna go out and kill something now, and eat it.
All the usual nonsense of people desperately looking for more excuses to rob their neighbors..
On the other hand, the “food insecurity” problem where I live is the gradual disappearance of much fresh fruit and vegetables in the local grocery store, and the insane prices for what poor, battered specimens remain. The meat looks good, but who can pay those prices? Wild game? Sure, if you can afford the “license,” the tags and the rest of the expenses involved. An equivalent weight of turkey in the store costs about half or less than a wild turkey, even if you can actually find one. And you pay for the wild one whether you get it or not!!
As things devolve, I suspect that a good number of people here will either starve or become a lot less concerned about the fish and game restrictions. I don’t think anyone will be starving, actually. 27 deer of various ages in my yard this morning…
The purpose is never to actually solve the problem. The purpose is to be seen conspicuously *caring* about the problem! It’s vicarious virtue (see: #causedujour).
“Forty percent of food-stamp recipients are obese.” Have you ever looked into exactly what food stamps or WIC covers, at least in Kansas? No wonder those people are fat and malnourished.
I have a retired friend who lives on a tiny SS check. I would classify him as honestly “food insecure”, especially at the end of every month. To be fair, some of his present and past financial decisions help put him in the sorry situation he is in. That doesn’t change the fact that he can barely put food on his own table.
The Chef Boy-R-Dee that is pictured in that article you reference is part of his solution. By shopping at the right places, a can of that stuff makes a $1 supper. (There are also those Dollar Store TV dinners) Is that healthy eating? Hell no! It’s just filling one’s belly. The fact that salty carbohydrates are such a cheap way to fill one’s belly helps explain that 40% obesity rate. It helps explain the diabetes rate among the poor also.
Orange spoons up the nose? I can only shake my head.
I was ready to blow a mental gasket today as I was in line at the local dollar store with my elderly mother. The young tweeker couple checking out infront of us spent $225 on a cart load of garbage. It was filled entirely with sodas, chips, candy, one small loaf of bread, and small jar of peanut butter. He laugh and smiles and says put it on my plastic and pulls out the AZ quest (Food Stamp) debit card. I know you cant fix stupid but sometimes you should not be able to feed it or let it breed.
“Food insecure”? “FOOD INSECURE”? To Hell with “food insecure”, how about “scotch insecure”? Have you checked the price of decent single malt lately? Four grocery stores within a 1 mile radius of my house and not a %#$@ one of them has a liquor license….you won’t starve but could easily die of sobriety around here.
As for the folks in the photo, I’d be glad to help them hold their spoons very securely….
Food insecurity….who dreams up this stuff?
What I can only wonder is the carrying capacity of a people for some percentage of counselors and social workers. (‘human resources’ – y’know)
Joel’s gonna go beat a wild rabbit to death with an orange spoon…
It irritates me to go to a store or fast food outlet and they ask you if you want to donate a dollar to cure hunger (or some similar sounding program). Hell no! Most of the people who benefit from this crap drive a car to get the food or handout. I grew up poor and that meant no car, no color TV (well I’m 72 so no blackand white TV), no air conditioning, no internet, no cell phone, etc. For you parents out there: It is your responsability to to feed your children not mine. Get rid of your cellphone, sell your car, get a job, whatever it takes, give up smoking and drinking but feed your own god damned kids!
Amigo, this post is a sterling reason why I read your stuff. We are roughly the same age and as I tell the Boss (my wife of 45 years) – “I understand people; I just don’t LIKE them.”
Keep posting, bud.