U.S. urges Americans to help feed their neighbors

[The Northerner]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Tuesday urged Americans to volunteer to help feed their neighbors, noting that almost 15 percent of the country's households had a hard time getting enough to eat last year.

Every American can chip in to fight hunger, the Agriculture Department said as it unveiled the Obama Administration's new Feed a Neighbor initiative, encouraging activities such as volunteering time at local food banks, helping the elderly get fresh produce, and planning ways to feed children who depend on free school lunches when school is out.

A USDA survey last week found one in seven Americans struggled to get enough to eat in 2008, the highest level since the report began in 1995.

More than 49 million people "had difficulty obtaining food...due to a lack of resources" during 2008, the report said. This includes 17 million children.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE5AN5FJ20091124

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Green shoots everywhere, folks!

It can't get any worse, can it?

[msongs]

1. US gov't to taxpayers - sorry we have to spend money on wars, not US citizens. disgusting nt

[Luciferous]

4. I agree. Completely disgusting.

If we weren't spending so much on these goddamn wars maybe we could actually care for our own people instead. I have been buying "hope bags" at the grocery store. They fill paper bags with groceries and then donate them to the local food pantry. I can only afford to buy a couple a week, but I figure it's better than nothing.

[roguevalley]

20. I figured Bladerunner would start a little later in my life but I guess

no one in the White House read FDR's playbook. God help us all.

[Brickbat]

2. Pathetic.

This makes me so very angry.

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. Let me echo a response theme here. Banks are gouging. We are pissing money away on wars. Lobbying

It actually makes no sense whatsoever, when you take a step back. We say we can't provide health care, yet lobbying money pours forth. And we waste money and American lives on senseless, illegal wars. We say that we are fixing the credit card and banking situation, yet the credit card rule takes so long that the companies can redouble their efforts to gouge with increased fees and rates. And the upper crust of corporations - especially in the finance industry - give lavish bonuses.

We are in deep, deep, deep shit as a country - we've totally lost our moral compass.

[imdjh]

7. Isn't that amazing? If a motel gouges during a natural disaster, fines. If banks gouge, nothing.

[imdjh]

5. Naomi Klein thinks we have 800 billion lying around, perhaps she could tell the Army where it is.

[OhioChick]

6. Give the people some damn jobs! n/t

[EFerrari]

8. Feed a neighbor because your government is feeding Wall Street.

[bread_and_roses]

11. that's about it in a nutshell (n/t)

[PSPS]

9. Domestic news headlines have become reminiscent of those in Soviet-era Pravda.

[Skittles]

10. because the gov't is too busy wasting money on wars

[AllentownJake]

12. This Guy really is Herbert Hoover

because that is the type of shit Hoover tried.

[debbierlus]

13. I am more then happy to help, but stop SPENDING ALL OUR MONEY ON WAR

Everyone is struggling and while I am all for volunteering and sharing, the government should be using its resources to feed its people and not KILL.

That is all.

[winyanstaz]

14. One of the big problems staring America in the face is...

They have sold all our extra grain, cheese etc and America's emergency warehouses are sitting empty.

[liberalmuse]

15. Of course.

I mean, welome to history repeating itself for the zillionth time. Why is anyone surprised that wars and banks get the money? It isn't President Obama's fault, but I see he's being blamed for all of Bush's shit not 10 months into his term. Fuck it. I'm donating all I can to the food bank this season.

[Iowa]

17. A massive hole was dug by Bush.

And Obama is continuing to dig. It is the fault of BOTH of them.

[Iowa]

16. What a worthless administration we have.

We have contributed to our local food bank for many years. We sure as hell don't need some war-mongering corporate whore telling us to do it.

This fiasco appears to be the brainchild of Obama's corporate lackey in charge of our food, Tom Vilsack, otherwise known as "Monsanto-boy". Obama apparently can't see the disconnect here: spending trillions to prop up bankers' profits and to escalate wars about nothing... while offering nothing but smarmy advice to the rest of us about how we should feed the hungry.

It's getting to the point where every time I see the name "Obama", I cringe, because I know another outrage is about to unfold before my eyes. Obama is shaping up to be the worst Democratic president in history... the Democratic party's version of Herbert Hoover.

[avaistheone1]

18. Oh jeez! Escalate in Afghanistan and our government is not even willing to feed our own hungry.

Fucking shame on the Obama administration. Same old shit.

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. Pic IS worth a 1,000 words, avaistheone1

Certainly sums up the topic nicely.

[Lars39]

19. Feed those thousand points of light!

:silly:

[AlphaCentauri]

21. My neighbors are Jp-Morgan and Wells fargo

http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/storysupplement/bankbailout/

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. kicking, and will continue to do so.

We are on a moral and financial death march.

[Demeter]

24. The NEXT Step After Taking Over Government Responsibilities

is taking over the f---ing government.

Bet the bright boys in DC haven't gotten that far in their thinking, yet.