37 Million Americans in Hunger and the MSM Doesn't Effing Care
I had the opportunity as a blogger yesterday to sit in on a conference call by John Edwards about his plan to address hunger and food insecurity in America, which just last week was reported to have affected 37 million Americans including 13 million children. John Edwards conducted the conference call himself, not some one from the Edwards campaign mind you, an indication of the priority the candidate puts on this issue.
I found the six point program, which was ably laid out by TomP yesterday, forward thinking and impressive. And I'll get to my take on the plan in a bit, but what most struck me was the absolute and total apathy by the soul dead wretches in the media. Given an opportunity to ask questions about a serious plan to address pain and suffering of 37 million Americans, they had not one question about it.
They had questions, of course, but entirely and completely about the horse race. Not one of the overpaid corporate stenographers could even muster the concern about their fellow Americans to feign interest in hunger or poverty. They didn't even care about costs. They couldn't manage the skepticism, or perhaps knowledge, to query the candidate about the plan's effectiveness.
I am a political junkie of the first order, but it's because I care what the actual results will be for my country and the world. These guys and gals are clock punching corporate climbers covering a diverting little sports event.
And, of course, it is a bleeding shame, because the problem is real for far too many American's especially at a time of rising food and energy prices and stagnant wages, and because Edwards's proposals were damn good ones IMO.
I was struck by the emphasis Edwards put on the Farm Bill, which is absolutely correct since it's a huge bill the greatly affect the price every American pays for food. Specifically, he emphasized the need to increase the nutrition portion of the bill:
The nutrition programs in the Farm Bill are critical to increasing food security in America. Just two programs - food stamps and the Emergency Food Assistance Program for food banks - help about 25 million Americans a year each. Unfortunately, federal funding has not kept pace with growing need and rising costs. Last week, Senate Republicans used a filibuster to block the farm bill, sending Congress home for Thanksgiving without helping overtaxed food banks or hungry families. Edwards believes that Congress should quickly pass a strong and fair farm bill with robust funding for federal nutrition programs and President Bush should sign it. [ASH, 2007]
The last program last part of the Edwards program particularly interested me as some one who's worked with the Community Reinvestment Act. Edwards proposes a public private partnership to map access to grocery stores and food banks in the country and set up programs to help under served areas. This is one of the more innovative ideas I've seen given the inequities of nutrition access in poor and rural areas and the tremendous effect that can have on nutrition and the cost of food.
Wealthy neighborhoods have over three times as many supermarkets as non-wealthy neighborhoods. Small corner stores are usually more expensive and offer less nutritious food. Food-insecure families in rural areas often face high transportation costs to reach the nearest food pantries. As president, Edwards will launch a public-private partnership to bring fresh, nutritious food to new neighborhoods. He will create a national food access map that identifies neighborhoods lacking grocery stores, emergency food banks and regular access to fresh produce. His new Healthy Neighborhoods Seed Fund will offer needy communities challenge grants for projects including full-service supermarkets, community gardens and food stamp-friendly farmers' markets. [PolicyLink, 2005]
A quick perusal of the New York Times and the Washington Post on-line today confirmed their utter lack of interest in the issue. So, rants aside, the best way to counter the MSM on this one, whomever you support for President, may be just to click through here and Donate or Volunteer for Second Harvest, or charity of your choice.
Update: Cross Posted at Boston for Edwards
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