America’s poor don’t have a hunger problem, they have a nutrition problem.  The biggest medical issue for the poor is obesity yet today’s popular propaganda about the poor tells us they are hungry and overweight at the same time.

“Food insecurity” is a myth.  The federal government doles out food vouchers like they were candy and in many cases that is exactly what they turn out to be.

On top of the federal safety net turned into a hammock, local food banks hand out food to anyone who shows up, usually with no means testing.  This lack of accountability, combined with the myriad of free diners, free lunches, and school feeding programs throughout the country creates for a black market in food for cash.

It works like this:  A federal food benefit recipient with 3 kids receives an allocation of federally funded dollars appropriate to the family size.  This is meant to be sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of the family.  The children all receive free breakfast and lunch at school.  The federal benefit is not downwardly adjusted to account for this.  Should the recipient avail herself of a food bank or meals from churches, soup kitchens, and free lunch programs, of which there are many in most communities, again, because there is no means testing or accountability, these additional sources are not balanced against the federally funded benefit that was designed to be singly sufficient to feed this family.

Once this over-abundance is achieved, then the recipient can turn entrepreneurial and sell excess federal benefits for cash.  This takes the form of “shopping” with a customer and after using their benefits card, exchanging that cart of groceries for 50 cents on the dollar, (the current-going rate here locally.)

Like most schemes, the truth is a far cry from what is advertised.  The federal government will tell you it’s about nutrition.  If that were actually true, the program would identify the nutritional needs of the family and then provide pre-packaged allotments designed to meet those nutritional needs at the lowest possible cost.

The government provides this benefit with fewer restrictions in order to buy recipients’ votes.  If government gave a damn about the nutritional well-being of the poor, they would stop encouraging recipients to eat their way into the healthcare system where once again, the taxpayer foots the bill.  The government looks the other way while the poor poison themselves with unhealthy eating habits.

Local food banks and other “free” food programs are just as culpable as the government.  Without means testing, accountability can’t exist and donors ought to be aware that their donation might very well be used to support an underground economy that provides the cash to buy alcohol, tobacco and drugs.  The food bank tugs at your conscious by telling you about “food insecurity” while the donors fill up on virtue signaling, checking off the box that says they did their good deed for the day by simply dropping a can of beans into a barrel and then telling themselves and their friends at the cocktail party how they are saving the world.

The poor are obese and sick courtesy of a government that wants nothing greater than to stay in power, unwittingly supported by a population of self-proclaimed do-gooders that are co-opted into a scheme beyond their understanding while looking for the easiest way to assuage their consciousness and save their souls with the least amount of effort or actual contact with the faceless and anonymous people they are allegedly trying to save.

Graphic credit: Public Domain Vectors