Herbert: Shhh, Don't Say 'Poverty' (12 Million Households)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/opinion/22herbert.html?hp=&oref=login&pagewanted=print&position=

Former Senator Phil Gramm, a Republican from Texas who was known for his orneriness, once said, "We're the only nation in the world where all our poor people are fat."

That particular example of compassionate conservatism came to mind as I looked over a report from the Department of Agriculture showing that more than 12 million American families continue to struggle, and not always successfully, to feed themselves.

The 12 million families represent 11.2 percent of all U.S. households. "At some time during the year," the report said, "these households were uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food for all their members because they had insufficient money or other resources."

Of the 12 million families that worried about putting food on the table, 3.9 million had members who actually went hungry at some point last year. "The other two-thirds ... obtained enough food to avoid hunger using a variety of coping strategies," the report said, "such as eating less varied diets, participating in federal food assistance programs, or getting emergency food from community food pantries or emergency kitchens."

These are dismal statistics for a country as well-to-do as the United States. But we don't hear much about them because hunger is associated with poverty, and poverty is not even close to becoming part of our national conversation. Swift boats, yes. Sex scenes on "Monday Night Football," most definitely. The struggle of millions of Americans to feed themselves? Oh no. Let's not go there.

[yardwork]

1. As Phil didn't know but you probably do, many fat people are malnourished

Being fat is not synonymous with being well-fed. Many poor people have very limited access to healthy foods, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and low-fat sources of protein. Grocery stores - especially the better ones - generally don't locate in low-income neighborhoods. Many poor Americans must buy their food from convenience stores, which offer really poor choices.

As a result, many Americans are both obese and under-nourished. This leads to a lot of health problems. Of course, these same Americans don't have access to health care or health education, so their health problems grow worse and worse until they end up in the emergency room or as hospital inpatients.

Another example of being penny-wise and pound-foolish, brought to us by the Republicans.