Let us be thankful for food every day
Hi. It’s Chad, once again. We want to explore the idea of Thanksgiving today through Wednesday. Each day, we’ll pick a different theme. And today, it’s all about food.
“Yes, it’s Thanksgiving time again and we’re all supposed to be thankful for food, football, and sales.”
OK, that’s a little cynical. The football happens throughout the fall and yes, the day after Thanksgiving does produce mass hysteria, but might be the best price for an item.
But food is an everyday matter, not just for Thanksgiving. I realize the concept (perhaps Disney-ified by now) of Pilgrims being thankful for getting through the harvest so that they wouldn’t starve is a nice vision. But in 2007, are people really having trouble getting food?
Well, apparently they are.
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual hunger survey released Wednesday showed that more than 35.5 million people in the United States were hungry in 2006. While that number was about the same as the previous year, heads of food banks and pantries say many more people are seeking their assistance.”
This discussion from this article asks us whether this concept is truly effective in remedying the hunger issue, long-term.
Perhaps the Pilgrims needed to eat that much food in 1621, but do we really need to eat ourselves silly just to pass out from the tryptophan?
We produce enough food to feed everyone and still export plenty. Yet, at Thanksgiving, and the rest of the year, some of us go hungry.
November 19th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Let us be thankful for food every day…
Being thankful for a turkey once a year seems a little hollow. As the economy tumbles, more people are struggling with food demands and food pantries aren’t able to keep up….
November 20th, 2007 at 1:40 am
There are a number of food pantries in Indianapolis that have asked for extra help because the shelves are bare. Gleaners Food Bank has had problems all year keeping up with the demand. Now, compare this with the report from Danny Schechter, the News Dissector: “Agora Financial reports: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merril Lynch, Lehman Bros. and Bear Stearns will hand out $38 billion in bonuses this year, up a billion bucks from 2006. Split among about 186,000 employees, the five investment banks will pay an average bonus of $201,500. Not bad considering their market caps are down a collective $ 74 billion this year. Such a bonus is four times the $48,201 median household income last year.” All of this despite the subprime scandal that has seen millions lose their homes. All of this despite 47 million without health care insurance. Something is rotten in America. I donate to Beggars for the Poor, that helps feed the homeless.(And I am on a fixed income.) I hope that most of the 186,000 employees, getting such fat bonuses are also donating to food banks and charities. But, since so many food banks cannot meet demands, I suspect a lot of that money is going for luxury cars, vacation homes and designer clothes. Which candidates currently running their mouths are going to fix this inequity, which is causing real human suffering?
November 20th, 2007 at 6:01 am
not really?!?!
reminds me of an article, i read in The Independent: “The good life in Havana: Cuba’s green revolution” by Andrew Buncombe
what strikes me most about this article is the fact that a 45-year economic and financial embargo
seems to be not that bad - honestly, i expected poverty, hunger and disease.
Wouldn’t that be natural according to all we are told?
“Cuba’s infant mortality rate is lower than that of the U.S., while at 77 years, life expectancy is the same.”
“infant mortality lower” = more American babies die than Cuban
“life expectancy the same” - i guess it’s a consequence of a good health care: Cuba sells its medical expertise
and now - more than one of ten Americans suffer from hunger?
while Cubans have enough to eat (and, btw, much healthier food!)?!?!?!
“Remarkably, this organic revolution has worked. Annual calorie intake now stands at about 2,600 a day, while UNFAO estimates that the percentage of the population considered undernourished fell from 8 percent in 1990-92 to about 3 percent in 2000-02.”
10% vs. 3% (at least as long as “hungry” equals “undernourished”)
i am grassroot democratic, i am all but for omnipotent leaders, so i am not a fan of Castro, but i am even more against pseudo-democrats killing democracy effectively with lip service
actually, democracy is easy to “measure” - honestly, by the old Christian words: The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of my brothers, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40.
just look at the “least of the citizens” and how they have to live and you know “how much” democracy really exists