busy to eat. But I'm fortunate enough to have never gone hungry because I lacked food.

Or not usually, because the homeless do have access to two meals a day, if they live in an area where institutions like St. Anthony's or Curry Senior Center or others operate.

The people who suffer the most are the children and elderly who are not homeless but are very poor.

I am sure there are places where dining halls are limited, so I wont speak to that, but my point is we have lots of hungry people who are not homeless.

It is a fucking shame and we ought to be REAL Angry about it, given the wealth of the greediest among us.



http://curryseniorcenter.org/

http://www.stanthonysf.org/

donate if you can

I hope many will see those links.

Thank you NoJusticeNoPeace.

back when there were no food stamps or food pantries. Collecting soda bottles netted me enough to stay alive but not enough to stop the pain that felt like it was going to cut me in two.

Politicians who seem hell bent on keeping the 99% hungry but have never experienced it themselves need to know they will reap the whirlwind. Hunger is bad enough to experience personally. Watching your kids cry themselves to sleep because there is nothing to eat while the people who did it to them swan around in conspicuous overconsumption leads to the type of rage that cost Louis XVI his head.

Hunger in this country is an obscenity. It exists only because the 1% have starved everything and everybody to get richer while creating a bloated military to make them feel safer. Hunger in this country proves that we are now a failed state, unable to care for its people.

Raw lizard tastes pretty good after two days.

and I have gone through some real lean times, it's not fun.

Not often, but sometimes.

... front of me without any money... I was seriously going to ask to dig in the trash for food.

That experience has stayed with me my whole life

We went through some periods of being broke. A couple of brief periods of being homeless. My mother occasionally did some shoplifting to feed us.

There is nothing romantic, noble, or uplifting about being hungry poor.

Many many nights I went to bed hungry. Then having to go to school the next day and smelling the smells from the cafeteria was sheer torture. It feels like your stomach will turn inside out you're so hungry. I remember one time I was at a friend's house and her mom came home with a sack of groceries. When she opened up the cupboard to put the groceries away I saw that there was already things there and I asked my friend, "Why did she go shopping? You already have food." I was so used to someone going to get some kind of food when ALL the cupboards (and refrigerator) was completely bare. It may be one of the reasons I like to have a vegetable garden.

of grocery shopping when food is already there. wow..so sorry to hear you had to
endure such a state.

As well, the school had no idea you were hungry?

and I was too embarrassed to tell anyone. But that was 50 years ago and I believe in the long run it made me the bleeding heart, bed-wetting liberal that I am today. What breaks my heart is that there are thousands, probably millions IN THIS COUNTRY RIGHT NOW who are experiencing that same hunger and these heartless SOB's in Congress who cut food stamps and pat themselves on the back on what a good job they've done.

Thanks for all the replies. It makes me both sad and angry. I am fortunate that I've never really been hungry. I once knew someone who went hungry in wartime, and decades later, she couldn't forgive. Glad that I can claim ignorance on this one.

I also distinguish between "hungry" and "food insecure" because a lot of people are food insecure but not "hungry". They are not the synonyms that some want you to think they are.

Miss a meal because of no money, you're firmly "food insecure." I've been there. On the other hand, I've missed meals for an entire day or even longer because of no time or no access to a food source. That *wasn't* food insecure because it didn't involve money. In other words, my "food insecure" status resulted in slight pangs of hunger; periods of "food security" resulted in my not eating for 24 or 36 hours, and not voluntarily.

And food insecurity can also include if you were borderline--had to make a hard choice, or came really, really close to not having food. After all, it's "insecurity" and lot "lacking."

He lived in a subsidized high rise for seniors in the Squirrel Hill area of Pittsburgh - not a poor/working class area. He received social security but no pension. He told me how he planned his food budget very carefully so that once every 2 weeks, when his son drove in from a suburb to have Sunday lunch with his Dad, he could afford to buy chicken for that meal. That was the only meat he ever had. I suggested his son would want to help him if he learned of his dad's financial status. The Dad was basically too proud/and or embarassed to ask for help. I interviewed him & many other seniors as part of a research study on a NIMH grant. It was not unusual for them to have to choose between heating their residences, food and medicines.

So listen up all of you with senior parents. If you do not really know their financial circumstances, make it your business to find out. Ask them directly - take a casual look at a bank statement - whatever. If you have a joint checking account or the like, no sweat - you already know. In the event of a medical crisis, the onset of dementia, etc., you are able to take over necessary transactions. The elderly are easy targets for legitimate charitable fundraisers, not to mention slick scam artists.

Also, you should have a contact list of their doctors/dentists; copies of their heath insurance cards (seniors have Medicare as primary insurer; a private insurer as a secondary insurer - you need both of those cards every time you go for medical treatment; and a list of the medications they are on, including dosages/frequency. When's the last time your elderly parent had their teeth checked? their eyes? Those aren't covered by Medicare or secondary health insurance, so maybe they could use some financial help to do so.

Finally, both regular and health care powers of attorney are important, especially with the HIPPA compliance requirements on sharing health information. Living wills are also something to discuss with elderly parents. All of these forms, tailored to the legal requirements of whatever state the senior resides in, are available on line.

I recently found out my own senior Mom was suffering from malnutrition from a combination of lack of funds for quality food and being less able to cook for herself even when she had the funds. She was subsisting on cereal as her meals.

It's easy to see what you want to see and miss that.

more than a few times. Usually those last few days waiting for payday to hit. There were other days where I was able to scrounge for change in the truck and in seat cushions -- on those days my one meal for the day would be a 99 cent tostada from Taco Bell. Being hungry sucks and indeed changes you.

And I thank my Lucky Stars for it.

But at least I know there is food in the refrigerator or in the cabinets.

Any hunger was by choice

although I ate a lot of grits and eggs in my youth because they were cheap. To this day, I can't look a grit in the face (with apologies to GritsAreGroceries).

Not something Ill ever forget.

I rationed food -- for instance, would buy 7 apples at the store, because that was a week's worth. Bought eggs to cook for breakfast (one a day) because I learned from experience that sugary cereals wouldn't last me more than an hour before making me "crash" and get shaky, so I figured they weren't food at all and were a waste of money. A loaf of bread -- there's the peanut butter sandwiches and toast for the week. Pound of hamburger: well my mom used to make a dinner for 6 out of a pound, so I carefully divided it into 6 parts before freezing it.

The thing that made it okay and not frightening for me was the sense of self-determination and the belief in my future that came from being in college. I knew a guy who slept in his car for awhile -- hey, you can't even save money on your food doing that because of not being able to cook or store it. So I counted my blessings.

What's NOT okay is the school lunch situation in this country today, and the seniors who are in need. What's NOT okay is that anyone at all in this country should go hungry and/or live in a food desert.

but we didn't suffer alone because the safety net was still there, that net is gone now .

My parents got our family into a few tight situations, but they are also very resourceful.

My most feral, off-my-meds, avoiding-human-contact state is fairly resourceful too.

Of course in that state I don't ever get overwhelmingly hungry and have to remember to eat or I end up losing a frightful amount of weight.

I think school cafeterias should be open seven days a week every day of the year for at least one meal, especially in areas of great poverty. It would be even better if all jobs paid living wages, and anyone who couldn't work was not left to starve.