Citizen Times Editorial
Posted 08/29/11
here’s a link to Friday’s editorial page
More than one of every four children in Western North Carolina is not sure about the next meal. That is disgraceful. But you can help meet the need.
The figure — 29.9 percent to be precise — comes from the most recent Map the Meal Gap report released last week by MANNA FoodBank and Feeding America. In some rural counties the figure is even worse. In Graham it is 39 percent, while in McDowell and Swain it exceeds 35 percent.
“It should shock every single person in this community that we could let this happen here,” said Renae Brame of the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry, a partner of MANNA.
It certainly should. This is not a Third World country where beggars clog the streets seeking a handout. It is one of the richest nations on earth.
How can this happen?
There are many reasons. In some cases families should have enough money for food but they manage their funds poorly. It would be naïve not to acknowledge this. But that cannot be the sole cause, and it isn’t.
Many states, North Carolina among them, have inadequate staffing to handle the influx of requests for food stamps brought on by the Great Recession, according to Feeding America. North Carolina is one of seven states where food banks received Feeding America grants to help get more people signed up.
And then there are the working poor, families with too much income to qualify for food stamps but not enough to provide food for every meal. That category covers one-third of North Carolina families, according to the report.
Feeding America last year launched the Campaign for a Hunger-Free America, a five-year effort to find and distribute more food more efficiently, broaden programs for children and seniors and help people use government nutrition programs.
MANNA, a Feeding America partner that collects and distributes food in 16 WNC counties, gave out 8.2 million pounds of food in 2009, enough to provide 18,721 meals each day.
With food and fuel prices rising and employment falling, the situation is not going to get any better until Raleigh and Washington stop pursuing their cruel policies of laying off thousands of public employees in order to finance tax cuts that merely force further layoffs.
North Carolina’s unemployment rate hit 10.1 percent last month. The private sector added 6,900 jobs but state and local governments shed 12,100. Many of those were teachers, giving the lie to Republican claims that teacher jobs were protected.
With the GOP still in denial, the people cannot force a change in policy until the 2012 elections. What we can do in the meantime, however, is help those who are trying to ease the pain.
To give money, go to https://mannafoodbank.lucidserver.com/donate-money-online or send a check payable to MANNA FoodBank to MANNA FoodBank, 627 Swannanoa River Road, Asheville, NC 28805. If you’re in the food industry and wish to donate food, call 877-299-FOOD (3663).
