Why A Snow Day Brings Tears To Some American Children

[NickB79]

66. We grew up poor, on WIC and foodstamps

And there was NO FUCKING WAY we could have lived on that alone. We were poor family farmers, working our asses off to grow YOUR food and living below the poverty line doing so.

The only thing that got us through was growing a huge vegetable garden, raising a flock of chickens, and occasionally having one of our pigs and cattle butchered and frozen every year.

Even today, now that I have a good job, a nice house, and disposable income, I can't let food go to waste. I stockpile our pantry with canned and dried goods, "just in case". I grow a vegetable garden that gets a little bigger every year. I've planted fruit and nut trees instead of shade trees. I built my own chicken coop for fresh eggs.

We rarely had nothing when I was a kid; there was usually a pot of vegetable stew to eat, even if we'd had it for dinner the past 5 days straight. However, just the knowledge that we were so close to the edge had a profound impact on me. It scared me. Nothing has ever scared me more than the thought that one day there might not be food.

Now I look at my 3-yr old daughter, hold her tight, and sometimes burst into tears at the thought of her not having food one day.