More Strapped Families Relying on School Cafeterias

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hotels in deurne of 5:53AM April 14, 2010

I could not agree with you more.How can we spread the word regarding this ethic? Perhaps we should forward this blog to our newly elected president. Community farms are not new ideas to California and New York inner city communities.We should all put in a family garden at this time-if you are fortunate enough to own a small plot of land-of course large clay pots can serve the same purpose.
Thanks so much for your entry/comment to this blog.
A community nurse coming from the old school.

joy of FL 4:19PM January 06, 2009

In response to Hank
The boy was going to use his cash to buy a can of boiled peanuts. That was until he realized that the same item could be purchased with food stamps. Point being that this is just another example of a government program run wrong. Why are items such as snack foods, cold drinks, etc eligible to be purchased using food stamps? I could understand canned vegetables, meats, dried beans, milk and eggs.
I have a problem with people purchasing "junk food" with tax payer money. Also please do not tell me that a can of boiled peanuts is a staple. Not being smug. I can be judgmental because it is my tax money which is being wasted while I am working hard keeping my own household in the black.
I would love to have the community farms. In fact it has been tried already. A group of "Katricians" (New Orleans evacuees from the storm) were relocated in a mid-Louisiana community. An individual provided the acreage and prepared the soil for them to be able to do some farming to help supplement their food supply. He even provided the seeds and hand tools. All that was required was the labor which should not have been a problem since most of them were not working.
The end result? A field full of weeds and an increased required presence by the local law enforcement agency.

Sawtooth of LA 7:24AM January 04, 2009

This is a very speculative report that is alarmingly short on any substantive facts to make the assumptions that it makes.
People taking advantage of a free lunch is no big surprise even in a small economic downturn.
I understand that there are qualifiers to getting on the free lunch program, but since having more students on the program means more money for the school and/or district overall, it is highly doubtful that they are stringent on the qualifying standards.
Also, using a CA school district as a national indicator is egregiously flawed for obvious reasons, if not down right dishonest.

RayG01 of AZ 11:17PM January 03, 2009

Sawtooth...my my aren't we smug. That child might have needed school supplies or an article of clothing. You have no idea. So stop judging. However the community farm idea is excellent...start one and let us know how it works.

Hank of GA 8:41PM January 03, 2009

With fine
manners the
mask of a child
invites me to
cry, when the
moonlight
appears; I hear
a blackbird
near the sound
of a small lamp,
and everything
shines like
a terse sensibility.
Francesco Sinibaldi

Francesco Sinibaldi 3:56PM January 03, 2009

"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
Absolutely wonderful words but I suspect that is not the attitude among many who receive federal assistance.
I stopped by my local Walmart to pick up a few things after a long days work. Actually after a long weeks work because I am putting in 84 hours this week and last. So a boy (around 14 years old) is asking his mother if a particular snack food which he wants is covered by food stamps. If so he would save his money for something else. What kind of lesson is he learning?
I have no problem with helping out someone in need. That is if that someone who is trying. I spent a few days at the beginning of the school year painting my wife's classroom after working 12 hours on a Louisiana August day. 65% of the kids at my wife's school receive free or discounted lunches. So why are they not painting this classroom? Where are the unemployed parents who are receiving so much federal aid.
I have always been taught by my parents to stand on my own. If I receive help from someone I always make sure to return the favor. Even if that help is from the government. So unemployment is at a all time high. What about the idea of community farms. Towns could grow their own vegetables with the unemployed providing the labor. This food could than be used by the schools to provide the kids with a good lunch or be sold in a farmers market to provide income to the community. Chickens, goats, and cows could be raised and sold on market. Public transportation could provide the means of getting to work as well as a public day care system for the children at the community farm.
Something for nothing is not the way we need to continue to go.

Sawtooth of LA 6:09AM January 03, 2009

I am a single father with sole custody of 4 school age children and do not recieved child support. We recieve reduced lunches, which is a great blessing. I know my children get lunch everyday at a price that I could not provide lunch myself and they get a choice of Salad/veggie bar or two hot lunches (and at times a cold sandwich). The AM/PM program that our city runs in conjunction with the school district provides affordable supervised before and after school program; and the morning program provides breakfast--because my children qualify for reduced meals (about half the price) helps the school district and city keep the fees low.
After school, my children attend the local boys and girls club which provides a small meal, because some parents work late or have a long commute because we are a bedroom community. The same program that helps schools provide free or reduced lunches helps the boys and girls provide the meals. However, not all boys and girls club follow this model.
As a single parent these programs takes a burden of what to prepare for breakfast/lunch and the time long period from breakfast to lunch.
The small meal that our boys and girls club provides helps with that children's whine "Is dinner ready yet! I'm starving."
Most important of all its the only government program our family uses. We get by, by doing without and frugal living. Are you kidding me, the paperwork and the time that has to be taken off from work to attend "interview" or "appointment" is hardly worth the few bucks of food stamps and child care assistance we would qualify for.
My children could qualified for state medical insurance, but my company offers fairly affordable rates. And with state budget shortage the chances of the children being dropped from coverage is very likely. That is what happened the last time the state had a budget crisis. And by not being on the state insurance program perhaps another family or single parent can get coverage for their children.
Everyone needs a little or some help now and then, but we need to be sure not to abuse the help; Nero's words immortalized by JFK said it best, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

E. Estrada of AZ 1:08AM January 03, 2009