What I'd like to do to improve the food stamp program

[LWolf]

20. Sure it is.

Having worked in the public education system for 32 years now, I've seen the system quit cooking food and have pre-processed food in disposable containers shipped in. It took some time to make that widespread, and it would take some time to go back to cooking on site, but it can be done.

Of course school budgets can't handle staying open longer hours; funding for before and after school programs and services, and community services at a school site doesn't mean that the funding for those services comes out of the regular education budget.

This isn't a new idea; as a matter of fact, it's something the Obama administration has pushed, and there have been grants out there to help fund them. Predictably, though, they are grants that go away, and schools are expected to replace grant money by getting donations from local private enterprise. Lack of stable funding dooms any possibility of keeping these things going for more than a few years.

There are many positive, healthy ways to address the needs of the many in our communities. They don't happen because the nation isn't willing to invest in and support them. It's not a matter of what is practical. Investing in a healthy, functioning, well-educated, and well-employed population IS practical. It's just not valued in our political and economic culture. At least, not valued enough to make it a priority.