The Associated Press broke the story last Friday, October 28.
A higher percentage of Texas households were at risk of going hungry over the past three years than in any other state, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Agriculture Department.
From 2002 to 2004, over 16 percent of Texas households at some point had trouble providing enough food for all their family members.
In nearly 5 percent of Texas households, at least one family member actually went hungry at least one time during that period because the household couldn't afford enough food--the fourth-highest rate in the country.
Nationally, 11.4 percent of households were at risk of going hungry during this same period. The study report that 3.6 percent of U.S. households had at least one member go hungry during the period.
The latest national figures were higher than in the previous three-year period.
Between 1999 and 2001, an average of 10.4 percent of households were at risk for hunger, and an average of 3.1 percent of households experienced hunger.
Our experience, and that of our crucial partners at the North Texas Food Bank, here in Dallas certainly reflects the trend reported here.
How much longer will the people of Texas tolerate being at the top of every social index that reports on a failing community?
One must also wonder how padded those numbers are because of the inability to track undocumented workers in this country . . . my guess would be that the real number would be even higher.
ReplyDeleteWhere was Texas in the rankings during the 1999-2001 study?
c hand, you are overlooking a couple of issues in your curt analysis of the poor.
ReplyDelete1) In one important and densely populated census trac here in our community, the average household income is well under $10,000. Food is not the only household expense and some months end with nothing in the cubbard, no matter how careful families are.
2) Access to good grocery markets is also a problem. Convenience stores that charge too much are the only markets easily accessible to many people. Obesity is a problem due to the bad choices often available to people. And, let me add, you can get plenty fat on red beans and cornbread.
It must be nice to have everything figured out so that you can spend your time trying to discourage people who do care and who want to work together for solutions.
I've been reading your stuff for awhile now and I've about had enough.
This is so sad. I don't have lots of extra money and I'm trying to get out of debt, so I will have more money to share. What can I do now to help this problem? How can I find families who are hungry and help them? What can my church do specifically to reach out to eliminate hunger in Austin, TX? Can you offer some suggestions that I can work towards daily to make a difference one on one?
ReplyDeleteMy thanks to Owldog and Songbirdintl. . .your hearts are rich!
ReplyDeleteOwldog, you nail the truth with your post! Thanks! Nuff said!
Songbird, contact someone at your community Second Harvest Food Bank. They can tell you what groups in Austin are working on hunger issues.
Everyone can write their representative in the U. S. House of Representatives and express concern that the budget reconciliation process now underway not cut funding for Food Stamps and other badly needed nutrition programs.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI believe C Hand does a good job trying to point out the other side. I don't get mad, but just think about another solution. I know that we all can do more. We have plenty of money, it is just still in our pockets. I say don't get mad, give more so that the Government can do less. I would love to give to charity before the government if given the opportunity. C hand you are alright, I just think We ALL need to find better solutions. Peace to All
ReplyDeletec hand, it's good to see that you are still reading Larry's blog. I had thought you were gone, since you never replied to my last question.
ReplyDeleteI'll repeat it for you, in case you missed it. It's in the Walmart article below. I'm really interested in your response, since you seem to have opinions on every matter. This is regarding your idea that raising the minimum wage is like "cutting off the low rung on the ladder" rather than lifting the poor up to higher ground,
"interesting idea, c hand. but if that's the case, should we even have a minimum wage? or, rather, should we allow employers to pay as little as workers will accept?
if you think we should have a minimum wage, what is its purpose? is the rate of $5.15 achieving that purpose?"
perhaps you have no response. but it seems to me that you greatly enjoy being a contrarian for the sake of opposing Larry's ideas, but offer no valid solution. as your response above reveals, your attempts at solutions are really mired in both your racial stereotypes and your complete lack of understanding about the life of the urban poor. If that's the case, I have the perfect solution for you!
Come down to Roseland Homes and teach a cooking class! We are looking for volunteers all the time. It would be a great way for you to see what's going on, and possibly also works towards your goal of educating the poor to eat better.
Jeremy Gregg,
ReplyDeleteI believe you should watch your tone of response. Be kind.
Today I took to lunch a man who 6 months ago was a homeless alcoholic. He's been clean and dry since then and got a job making a little more than minimum (he's a hard worker and has already been promoted), and got his own little apartment. He's not overweight, but saw today why he eats a lot of potato chips, SpaghettiO's, and McDonald's. His little apartment is unfurnished. He has a beat up chair and a used TV that gets one channel. He doesn't have a few spare hundred dollars to buy a refrigerator and oven. So I'd love to give him beans and corn meal, but the reality of his life involves cans of ravioli heated on the hot plate of a hand-me-down coffee maker and a bag of chips from the gas station. Could he possibly afford a nicer apartment with a kitchen? Maybe...but those apartments are a two-hour walk from his job, and where he lives now only takes 30 minutes (although I dare you to try to cover that same distance in half an hour). Please stop talking like the life of the poor is simple and if they would just stop being stupid, they'd be middle-class just like God expects us to be. Go volunteer for an agency that dispenses food to the poor, especially if you get to build relationships with them and enter their world. As a former leader of such an agency...it'll change your life.
ReplyDeleteAnd c hand, I don't really hear Larry actually calling for MORE government. I hear him calling for DIFFERENT government with different values, heck a government with any values at all beyond money and power. Our government might provide us a pretty good lifestyle, but lets not pretend it's godly or fair.
Neal, thank you for the implicit recognition that Jesus calls for a radical lifestyle backed by a radical worldview from those who call him Lord and Leader! Heck, from what some post here you'd get the idea that Jesus was a middleclass, easy going, status quo loving, Evangelical Repbulican!
ReplyDelete