Millions of Americans Are Heading to Foodbanks for the First Time in Their Lives

Millions of Americans Are Heading to Foodbanks for the First Time in Their Lives

befo reitsnews.com

As middle class family budgets are getting pushed to the breaking point, pressure on food banks is building.

...Who are the hungry and why can't they afford to feed themselves and their families? Increasingly, the shocking answer is this: If you are not financially independent, the odds are good that someday you could be waiting in line to feed yourself and your family.

(visit the link for the full news article)

A decade ago the line was, "Most Americans are 2 paychecks away from being homeless."

Today, those who still have homes use their cash to pay their rent or mortgage, and go to Food Banks for their food.

Describing the line-up at a Food Bank:

Depr ession soup lines have nothing on this sucker. The first in line sit along the hundred foot length of the assembly room where a beautifully lighted Christmas tree glows. The line extends out the door and down one side of a hundred foot corridor and then loops back on itself down the opposite wall. At the end of the line, another 30 feet or so, people will brave the weather for an hour or two until things get moving. Over 20,000 pounds of food will be provided to the crowd here, the remaining 7,000 pounds will go to a second event later in the day in Camden, NJ.

So what's the answer?

For starters, we ALL need to learn how to grow at least some of our own food. Gardens in the summer, and hydroponics or sprouts in the winter.

Eventually, we need to rethink our economy and of course, change it.




befo reitsnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by soficrow


Yes. And if you go to websites like this one:
www.survivaljoe.net...
(not mine and not affiliated with same) you can worry about this situation even more.

The article states this, immediately before the portion you quoted:

So far, for 2010 FBSJ has witnessed a 10% increase in their client base of approximately 100,000 people. Here's the surprise: a large portion of the people needing food assistance today are working, and especially among FBSJ's new clients, many are earning incomes nearly twice the poverty line of $22,055 per year for a family of four (up to 185% of poverty).

I have a feeling if these people weren't buying booze, cigarettes and drugs that they wouldn't need food assistance. But I am just drawing from personal experience - what I've seen through my life on who uses and abuses these programs.

And not to be harsh, I know 22,000 for a family of four is hard, but it is definitely do-able - even without government help. Been there. Done that.

Very sad state of affairs I must say..underlines the issues we all face today.. as your find similar stories in the UK and elsewhere.

The question for me is how long before people really do get off their bottoms and act to rebalance our out of kilter society.

Though I do not consider myself religious, I will be praying to whatever 'power' that is out there for a swift resolution for all the innocent people the world over.

Though it has to be said, we wouldn't be in this problem to begin with if the past couple of generations the world over had bothered to learn and defend their rights before we got to this position.

I have faith in the common man though, all is not lost yet.

Originally posted by againuntodust

...not to be harsh, I know 22,000 for a family of four is hard, but it is definitely do-able - even without government help. Been there. Done that.

I'm sure you have, as have many other members here. But this story is about the middle class - think debt-load, and people trying to hang on to their homes, pay bills and avoid bankruptcy.

SAMPLE BUDGET ............ Month .................... Year
Rent or mortgage ................ $1,200.00 .............. $ 14,400.00
Utilities ............................. 300.00 .............. 3,600.00
Minimum Charge Card Pmts. 500.00 ............... 6,000.00

TOTAL ............................................................ $ 24,000.00

So let's play - where ya gonna cut $2000. - never mind find money for food?

reply to post by manta78


manta78 - great link! Thanks. ....and you're right, 'tis a complex situation and disaster does loom imminent.

Originally posted by soficrow

Originally posted by againuntodust

...not to be harsh, I know 22,000 for a family of four is hard, but it is definitely do-able - even without government help. Been there. Done that.

I'm sure you have, as have many other members here. But this story is about the middle class - think debt-load, and people trying to hang on to their homes, pay bills and avoid bankruptcy.

SAMPLE BUDGET ............ Month ................. Year
Rent or mortgage ................ $1,200.00 .............. $ 14,400.00
Utilities ............................. 300.00 .............. 3,600.00
Minimum Charge Card Pmts. 500.00 ............... 6,000.00

TOTAL ............................................................ $ 24,000.00

So let's play - where ya gonna cut $2000. - never mind find money for food?

Numbers don't lie (although 500 for credit cards a month is a lot). Thing is, if you're no longer making enough money to live in your house you have to move. There are lots of subsidized housing units available for low-income families, where that 1200 a month can turn into something much more manageable. Same with utilities, there are plenty of programs that can drastically reduce what you pay in utilities based on what you earn... and sometimes credit card payments will have to not be made if it's a choice between that and food.

In the end, though, it's all about survival. Anyone in the situation to stand in line for free food has my sympathy.

Some, in the past, have mentioned an invisible army. Obama's army. Speculation has been voiced as to where are numbers will come from.

As a father, when faced with providing for my family, I can envision ranks being filled from these displaced folks. Political leanings aside, a man (or woman) will do practically anything to feed their family.

Sorry if it's off the main focus of the threads intent, but my mind travels in all different directions.

Originally posted by thoughtsfull
The question for me is how long before people really do get off their bottoms and act to rebalance our out of kilter society.

Well, in the US the answer seems to be to extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich...that'll fix everything.

Perhaps you need to give the Royals a raise...

Originally posted by JohnnyCanuck

Originally posted by thoughtsfull
The question for me is how long before people really do get off their bottoms and act to rebalance our out of kilter society.

Well, in the US the answer seems to be to extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich...that'll fix everything.

Perhaps you need to give the Royals a raise...

that sounds like an idea they would like and it would certainly get people off their bums and act

But given the way my Gov is front loading all the cuts at once, it seems they have already decided it should be a year of protests

And yet the top 1% of Americans control the majority of the wealth.

How can you have billions of dollars, a hundred extra rooms in your mansion, and yet not feel the urge in your heart to help some of these people?

Does moolah blind your conscience or what? I'm asking cuz i'm working class, I wouldn't know.

reply to post by againuntodust

I have a feeling if these people weren't buying booze, cigarettes and drugs that they wouldn't need food assistance. But I am just drawing from personal experience - what I've seen through my life on who uses and abuses these programs.

of course we know it happens but that is a very broad generalization.


To those bashing the poor; pray that it doesn't happen to you because one catastrophic health event can put you in the poor house too even if you THINK you have adequate insurance coverage.

www.povertyinamerica.psu.edu...

www.leaderu.com...

reply to post by soficrow

So what's the answer?

For starters, we ALL need to learn how to grow at least some of our own food. Gardens in the summer, and hydroponics or sprouts in the winter.

Eventually, we need to rethink our economy and of course, change it.

I wish that was the answer soficrow, unfortunately Congress just passed the law that not only takes away our right to grow food but increases the price thanks to lots of additional red tape.

Through that red tape, huge fines, jail sentences of up to ten years and a very corrupt USDA and FDA, America's remaining independent farms are slated to be wiped out. The FDA is planning to harmonize US laws with the international standards that wiped out 60% of the farmers in Portugal and 75% of the farmers in Mexico.

This Article gives a quick round up of the earlier bill. It was modified by the Tessor Amendment which supposedly protects small farms - If you believe that I have this nice bridge I want to sell...

All the Tessor Amendment did was change the new regulations slightly for small farms nothing more.

The real I gottcha in the original bill was the inclusion of the interstate commerce clause as there is precedent concerning it. Any law on the books has hidden clauses. These are just little well placed punctuations and sometimes a little buzz word, that triggers the use of this law for an entirely different purpose. (That is from the comments by a lawyer)

HR 875: "in any action to enforce the requirements of the food safety law, the connection with interstate commerce required for jurisdiction SHALL BE PRESUMED TO EXIST."

The Interstate Commerce Clause:
Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 (1942) In a United States Supreme Court decision this is the interpreti­on of the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution. Under the decision made by the Supreme court a farmer growing wheat for himself with no intention to sell it at market was deemed in violation of a USDA mandate.

A farmer was growing wheat for his own use “The government claimed that if Mr. Filburn grew wheat for his own use, he would not be buying it — and that affected interstate commerce” The Supreme court found against the farmer!!!


The Court's opinion must be quoted to be believed:
"[The wheat] supplies a need of the man who grew it which would otherwise be reflected by purchases in the open market. Home-grown wheat in this sense competes with wheat in commerce."

As Epstein commented, "Could anyone say with a straight face that the consumption of home-grown wheat is 'commerce among the several states?'" For good measure, the Court justified the obvious sacrifice of Mr. Filburn's freedom and interests to the unnamed farmers being protected:

'It is of the essence of regulation that it lays a restraining hand on the self-interest of the regulated and that advantages from the regulation commonly fall to others.'

...The Court has held that if Congress sees a connection to interstate commerce, it is not its role to second guess.
www.fff.org...

What most people fail to realize is no law is static. Once a "Compromise" bill is passed then the behind the scenes action starts to modify it into what the Corporate/Banking Cartel really wants. For example the original "Animal Welfare Act" did not include the Commerce clause. A few years later it was added and now anyone raising a couple of litters of pups can expect the USDA to come knocking on the door if PETA or the neighbors rat him out.

The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 is an even better example. There have been over 100 changes made to the originial law and every provision put in place to protect the American people has been removed. Now the bankers are looting with no cost to themselves thanks to the ZERO PERCENT reserve requirement!

First National Bank of Montgomery vs. Daly (1969)...
Mr. Morgan, the bank's president, took the stand. To everyone's surprise, Morgan admitted that the bank routinely created money "out of thin air" for its loans, and that this was standard banking practice. "It sounds like fraud to me," intoned Presiding Justice Martin Mahoney amid nods from the jurors. In his court memorandum, Justice Mahoney stated:

Plaintiff admitted that it, in combination with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, . . . did create the entire $14,000.00 in money and credit upon its own books by bookkeeping entry. That this was the consideration used to support the Note dated May 8, 1964 and the Mortgage of the same date. The money and credit first came into existence when they created it. Mr. Morgan admitted that no United States Law or Statute existed which gave him the right to do this. A lawful consideration must exist and be tendered to support the Note.

www.webofdebt.com...

Justice Mahoney died a few months later from poison.

Sadly, it is only going to get worse. I feel for the people like myself that were already having a hard time to begin with and now things just keep getting worse. And to add insult to injury, gas prices are going up again. ( "May I have a little more salt for my wound, please?? Oh, that's going to cost me too? Should have known.." ) I have wondered several times in the last few months how we would feed our children. I have a special needs child who has several therapy sessions per week and I have had to cancel them sometimes because we just don't have the gas money to put in the tank to get him there. We haven't had to stand in lines at the foodbank yet because we have a supportive family that has helped us during the really scary times.

And to the commenter that stated people should be able to make it at 22,000 per year and that if those people didn't buy alcohol, cigarettes and drugs that they would be fine. HOW RUDE of you to assume that you know anything about them. Shame on you.
.

I just love the pic they used.
First off that's propaganda. We all know real Americans are FAT! Second, Nice placement of Obamas pic. Who wrote this story anyway? To what Agenda? I'll try not to be tooled by their intent.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/bc734a95dd8c.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by crimvelvet


Thanks crimvelvet - VERY important info and perspective. ...I do NOT support these measures hamstringing small farmers, but still hope we can all still raise our own food. Still, trading zucchini for tomatoes with neighbors is clearly illegal.

What most people fail to realize is no law is static. Once a "Compromise" bill is passed then the behind the scenes action starts to modify it into what the Corporate/Banking Cartel really wants.

Uh huh. And they're organized, so the laws are written and passed before we even know what's happening...

Originally posted by againuntodust
The article states this, immediately before the portion you quoted:

So far, for 2010 FBSJ has witnessed a 10% increase in their client base of approximately 100,000 people. Here's the surprise: a large portion of the people needing food assistance today are working, and especially among FBSJ's new clients, many are earning incomes nearly twice the poverty line of $22,055 per year for a family of four (up to 185% of poverty).

I have a feeling if these people weren't buying booze, cigarettes and drugs that they wouldn't need food assistance. But I am just drawing from personal experience - what I've seen through my life on who uses and abuses these programs.

And not to be harsh, I know 22,000 for a family of four is hard, but it is definitely do-able - even without government help. Been there. Done that.

edit on 2-1-2011 by againuntodust because: (no reason given)

That's a bit extreme... I spend money on all those vices too but am fiscally sound...

reply to post by againuntodust

I have a feeling if these people weren't buying booze, cigarettes and drugs that they wouldn't need food assistance. But I am just drawing from personal experience - what I've seen through my life on who uses and abuses these programs.

You & I are coming from very similar backgrounds.
Thats why it is so hard for me to sympathize with these types of articles...but we have to keep reminding ourselves that there really are good, hard working people out there who just can't seem to catch a break

Personally I think its only right, that the americans suffer a bit. After all, they have been stuffing them selves for years at the expense of the rest of the world. Now they can experience what life in the poorer countrys is like. Struggling to make ends meet. Maybe it will make them wake up. Half the world is starving, Whilst they sit on their rather large asses. Making silly comments about other poorer countrys and how lazy the people are there. Whats needed is for the peace prize winner, to start another war. Then the americans can get back on top. Yes thats a real good american idea and a dream, they can all believe in. Kill poorer people to make them selves wealthy again.