Saturday, December 16, 2006

Food Drives Are For Naught

It's true. Our government tells us so.

Here we are stewing over the fact Steve Groene has been gifted with a new bike valued at some $80,000 while locals are going hungry, giftless and homeless this holiday season. Well according to the government they aren't going hungry! They just have "very low food security".

Jim Hightower's column in the Inlander reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under the Bush administration's direction, has banned the word "hunger". The actual condition of hunger, by their definition, is "a potential consequence of food insecurity that, because of prolonged, involuntary lack of food, results in discomfort, illness, weakness or pain that goes beyond the usual uneasy sensation."


Being ever helpful they subdivided this group into categories: "low" - not sure where their next meal is coming from and "very low" - sure they won't have a next meal. The latter status is only reached when you experience "multiple indications of dissrupted eating patterns and food intake."

So don't fret when KREM 2 weather man Tom Sherry no longer does his Turkey Drive and the food banks close their doors. Hunger is no more. The food police will prevail in the name of "security".

1 comment:

thailandchani said...

I, for one, begrudge Steve Groene nothing. Additionally, the appeals because of "the season" do nothing but raise my blood pressure. People are hungry all year long... and going without gifts is not suffering! Holiday gift-giving is an optional activity, to the best of my knowledge.

Geesh! I do wish (blood pressure going down) that the appeals for food would last all year. Or better yet, how about better government services?

Nah. :)