Instagram

Translate

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Going hungry in America: ‘Distressing,’ ‘humbling’ and ‘scary’

Dave Krepcho, director of the Second
Harvest Food Bank, checks inventory
at the food bank warehouse in
Orlando, Fla. In the past four years,
food distribution to 500 pantries,
shelters, and other relief agencies in
the six-county area has jumped
about 60 percent. In the last year
alone, that amounted to 36 million
pounds of food. Krepcho estimates
about 30 percent of those seeking
help are first-timers. They're blue-
collar and white-collar, many middle
class, even some upper middle class.
They include college-educated
couples and professionals. (John
Raoux/AP)
Cheryl Preston knows that others are
worse off. But she's still hungry.
As grocery prices creep higher and
her income sags, rationing her
family's food is a daily task. The 54-
year-old mother of three and
grandmother of three in Roanoke,
Va., says there are days she skips
meals so her husband and son can
eat. If they notice, she says, she'll let
them think she's fasting. She waters
down the milk and juice to make it
last longer. She visits food pantries,
but it's not enough.
"Who would think that in the land of
plenty, hard-working families would
go hungry? But I am living proof it is
true," Preston writes in a first-person
account for Yahoo! .
In the last three years, she hasn't
been able to replace a $500 loss in
monthly income. Her husband's job
can't always guarantee 40 hours a
week; his second job lasted only
through Christmas. So mealtime
suffers: Her family eats in one day
what they used to eat at one meal.
Often, they manage on a nearly
barren cupboard for five or six days
until the next pay day. They
sometimes skip family gatherings at
restaurants because they can't pay
the tab.
"It is distressing," Preston writes.
"When you get a check for $250, and
your basic needs require at least
$400, you are already defeated. You
can only cut back so much and then
you have no choice but to do
without. I long for the days when I
could pay my bills on time, buy more
than enough groceries and have
money left over."
She's not alone. Eighteen percent of
Americans say there have been times
this year that they couldn't afford the
food they needed, according to a
Gallup poll released Tuesday . In
particularly hard-hit regions of the
United States, like the South, at least
one in five didn't have enough
money for food. In Preston's Virginia,
15.2 percent of state residents are
affected. ( See a full list .)
To put a face on hunger in America,
Yahoo! asked readers and
contributors to share their personal
stories: Are they going hungry? How
are they coping with higher food
prices? Did they ever think they'd be
in this position? Here are more
personal stories shared with Yahoo!
News this week.
Six years ago, Robert Watkins and his
wife earned more than $100,000
combined. Groceries comprised 5
percent of their budget. They kept an
emergency fund--good for three
months' expenses--in a money
market. Now, Watkins writes, they
keep a "rainy day" jar of about $250
in assorted change by the bedside.
"If I had to travel to the market and
buy groceries for dinner tonight,
would I have the money to do so?
The truth is, yes, I would," Watkins
writes . "Yet it's strange to think that
this is life in America today. Like tens
of millions of other people in the
United States, we look closely at an
expenditure that we took for granted
just a few years ago--the cost of
food."
Seventeen months ago, Watkins was
downsized from his job and while he
works contractually and part-time, his
income "pales in comparison" to two
years ago. Couple their one-income
family with inflated food prices, and
their grocery budget is almost 10
percent of their net income.
At 46, he says "it's a humbling
exercise."
To make due, they've taken
advantage of living in a farming
community in Lancaster, Pa. Fruits
and veggies are affordable; there's
plenty of corn on the cob, red
potatoes, lettuce, and tomatoes. They
create their own dressing and get
water from a well. And they eat lots
of pasta.
"Is it scary sometimes? You bet it is,"
Watkins writes. "However, it could
always be a whole lot worse."
In Arizona, Jeremy Shapiro lives on a
nutrition assistance program,
receiving $50 a week for food. It's
significantly altered his eating habits:
less food, less often.
"I have reduced my portion sizes and
meal frequency," he writes .
"Creativity and flexibility is key."
Shaprio, 35, says he has always tried
to eat healthy. When he was
employed and food prices were
more reasonable, it was easy. Now
it's tricky with less money.
"I only shop sales. I hunt for online
and paper ads and cut coupons. I
also do not stock food unless it's
extremely fiscally prudent," Shaprio
writes.
That means no more fresh fruit;
canned and concentrate must suffice.
Only frozen chicken, beef and fish
are affordable. Brand-name cereals
are out. Milk must be on sale, and
hormone-free varieties aren't
"financially feasible." Generics and
store brands have replaced
Tillamook cheese, Boar's Head meats
and Laura Scudder's peanut butter.
"One day, I will have gainful
employment and afford more and
better again," Shapiro writes.
"However for today, I keep my head
up and spirits high -- and body
healthy -- as best I can."
Here's a taste of Tom Servo's bare-
bones grocery list: A few bags of
dried beans. Breakfast cereal of some
kind -- usually whatever's on sale. A
large canister of dried oats. Lots of
bananas -- typically a few pounds. A
bag of apples. Other miscellaneous
fresh fruits and veggies -- whatever's
in season and on sale.
The 29-year-old college student in
Tampa, Fla., says his grocery list is
written for nutrition, not taste. He
sticks to bare essentials and buys in
bulk. But two weeks of groceries
used to cost him $50; now it's almost
$100.
For example: "I used to pay 99 cents
for one pound of dried black beans;
now they cost $1.49 or more. Two
years ago I paid $2.39 for a 16-ounce
jar of generic peanut butter; now the
same peanut butter costs $3.99."
"For the first time in my life, I've
recently had to make a choice
between groceries or some other
expense," he writes .
Michelle Zanatta once spoiled her
husband with her elaborate Italian
meals of fresh vegetables and heaps
of garlic bread. They were expensive,
too: Her four-cheese lasagna cost
$18 to make. The Italian ham and
cheese rolls set them back $20.
But after her once-successful
business started failing and their
home went into foreclosure, she
faced the reality of food prices. She
and her husband are also dealing
with higher food costs in Atlanta after
a move from Delaware. ("The cost of
a fresh-baked loaf of Italian bread
was 98 cents from the local Wal-Mart,
while here in Georgia, it's a $1.49 --
plus food tax!")
"I at no time thought about how
much money I spent grocery
shopping, until we had to set a very
tight budget," she writes . "I was also
never a huge fan of couponing
because I thought it was time-
consuming; however, at 34, my
perspective on coupons has changed
greatly."
Her family visits local food banks and
shaves costs off milk, eggs, cereal
and cheese through a WIC program.
"Though times seem tough, and my
lavish meals have dwindled down to
two times a month, my children
learned to appreciate those special
meals," Zanatta writes, "and I have
learned to use my resources and
shop smartly."
When she worked as a Wal-Mart
cashier, Michelle Croy remembers
watching seniors decide between
buying food and buying medicine.
"Their medicine often ranked first so
that meant that Vienna sausages and
crackers sufficed for the month for
sustenance," she writes . "I never
really entertained the thought that
someday that would be me."
The single mother in Huntington,
W.V., says she is shocked she must
scramble to pay bills and feed her
children. Milk runs upward of $4 a
gallon, and a pack of hamburger
costs $9. "This is why my family
settles with a banana or cereal for
breakfast, skips lunches entirely, eats
a dinner that is produced almost
entirely from our garden, and hardly
ever eats out."
Croy, now a student teacher in
Huntington ("where jobs are as
scarce as rain in the Sahara"), writes
that while groceries trump other
needs and wants, they could be in
worse shape.
"My case is nowhere near as
disheartening as those of the
children who go to bed hungry every
night, or the families who survive
solely on donations from food
banks," she writes, "but it's indicative
of the reality that most of us middle-
class Americans face: We are all just
one paycheck away from going
hungry or living homeless out on the
streets."
More first-person stories:
Starving College Student -- It's a
Reality
Divorced Family Struggles Against
http://m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/news/blogs/going-hungry-america-distressing-humbling-scary-011618014.html?.b=index&.ts=1345706450&.intl=US&.lang=en

Sent from Samsung Mobile

No comments:

Post a Comment