• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Report: Nearly a quarter of all Americans struggle to afford food

T

TheDemSocialist

Gradualist
DP Veteran
Joined
Apr 13, 2011
Messages
34,951
Reaction score
16,311
Gender
Undisclosed
Political Leaning
Socialist
A new Pew Research report on the economies of emerging markets reveals that nearly a quarter of all Americans are struggling to afford food, putting the United States far out of step with other wealthy nations, as Pew notes:
Reports of deprivation are closely related to national wealth. For example, in Australia, Canada and Germany — three of the richest countries surveyed in terms of 2012 GDP per capita — roughly one-in-ten or fewer have struggled in the past year to afford food. Meanwhile, in Uganda, Kenya and Senegal — among the poorest countries surveyed — half or more say food for their family has been hard to come by.
The United States is a clear outlier from this pattern. Despite being the richest country in the survey, nearly a quarter of Americans (24%) say they had trouble putting food on the table in the past 12 months. This reported level of deprivation is closer to that in Indonesia or Greece rather than Britain or Canada.​
Click to expand...


Read more @:
Report: Nearly a quarter of all Americans struggle to afford food - Salon.com

Looks like many of our citizens are struggling to get one of the basic needs in this world; food. One of the richest countries in the world, no wait THE richest country in the world, and nearly 25% of our citizens are struggling to get food. ​
 
TheDemSocialist said:
Read more @: [/FONT][/COLOR]
Report: Nearly a quarter of all Americans struggle to afford food - Salon.com

Looks like many of our citizens are struggling to get one of the basic needs in this world; food. One of the richest countries in the world, no wait THE richest country in the world, and nearly 25% of our citizens are struggling to get food. [/INDENT]
Click to expand...

I wouldn't quibble with the statistics, but I would say that there isn't a person in North America who has to be without food. They may need to get it from a food bank or other charitable agency, but no one needs to go hungry here. It's similar to the homeless problem - there are plenty of provisions, but not all people want to avail themselves of these provisions, whether it be pride or fear or whatever.
 
I think a lot of Americans are too proud to take the jobs that will help support them better. Many others are too lazy. Our expectations for what we deserve are too high. We also suffer from an overabundance of self esteem.

Fortunately for many, the government can help fix those problems with wealth redistribution.
 
TheDemSocialist said:
Read more @: [/FONT][/COLOR]
Report: Nearly a quarter of all Americans struggle to afford food - Salon.com

Looks like many of our citizens are struggling to get one of the basic needs in this world; food. One of the richest countries in the world, no wait THE richest country in the world, and nearly 25% of our citizens are struggling to get food. [/INDENT]
Click to expand...

Bull**** alert! America has an obesity problem. The biggest problem affect the poor is...obesity. Sorry, can't have it both ways! People who can't find food don't get obese.
 
CanadaJohn said:
I wouldn't quibble with the statistics, but I would say that there isn't a person in North America who has to be without food. They may need to get it from a food bank or other charitable agency, but no one needs to go hungry here. It's similar to the homeless problem - there are plenty of provisions, but not all people want to avail themselves of these provisions, whether it be pride or fear or whatever.
Click to expand...

there is a food problem
it is primarily one of distribution
there is a housing problem
there is a shortage of available housing

i deal with folks who are without adequate food and shelter every week
part of the problem is that some of these folks are ignorant of what is available
but the other part of the problem is there is inadequate food and housing available for a significant portion of the population
 
I would be willing to bet that a significant number of those 24% who reported struggling have at least cable TV and/or cellphones and/or internet and/or multiple cars in their household.
 
JC Callender said:
I think a lot of Americans are too proud to take the jobs that will help support them better. Many others are too lazy. Our expectations for what we deserve are too high. We also suffer from an overabundance of self esteem.

Fortunately for many, the government can help fix those problems with wealth redistribution.
Click to expand...

It's a frickin' brutal system we've tied ourselves to but there's no going back to where it could be better. You can't carry enough band-aids to fix a sucking chest wound but we need to do what we can, when we can or just give up and let nature take it's course.
 
Quik said:
Bull**** alert! America has an obesity problem. The biggest problem affect the poor is...obesity. Sorry, can't have it both ways! People who can't find food don't get obese.
Click to expand...

i have to agree,how can america be struggling to afford food when its the fsattest nation on earth,it should bemore like struggling to buy healthy food and lottery tickets,and beer,and satellite,and and a nice car,so instead they probably just eat from the mcdonalds dollar menu to save money,rather than sacrificing other luxories.
 
Fisher said:
I would be willing to bet that a significant number of those 24% who reported struggling have at least cable TV and/or cellphones and/or internet and/or multiple cars in their household.
Click to expand...

I'd wager you're probably in the ballpark. That is way too much of an outlier to be even close to statistically accurate. I'd like to see the way the question was formatted.

I'd bet its closer to Canada's, 10% or so.
 
TheDemSocialist said:
Read more @: [/FONT][/COLOR]
Report: Nearly a quarter of all Americans struggle to afford food - Salon.com

Looks like many of our citizens are struggling to get one of the basic needs in this world; food. One of the richest countries in the world, no wait THE richest country in the world, and nearly 25% of our citizens are struggling to get food. [/INDENT]
Click to expand...

I consider this bull****, how many Americans actually know real starvation? Kids going to bed hungry because mommy and daddy "are too busy to cook" and delivery/take out closes @ 10PM get few tears from me.

I come from a country that actually has starvation, where skeletal children pester you every day for a mere slice of bread. If you have an iPhone, an XBOX and new shoes, I don't want to hear about your problems.

Quik said:
Bull**** alert! America has an obesity problem. The biggest problem affect the poor is...obesity. Sorry, can't have it both ways! People who can't find food don't get obese.
Click to expand...

We have an obesity problem because processed food is cheaper; We substitute whole ingredients for cheaper chemicals and sweeteners to boot.
 
Can we take bets on how many of these people "struggling" to afford food own a smart phone?
 
TheDemSocialist said:
Read more @: [/FONT][/COLOR]
Report: Nearly a quarter of all Americans struggle to afford food - Salon.com

Looks like many of our citizens are struggling to get one of the basic needs in this world; food. One of the richest countries in the world, no wait THE richest country in the world, and nearly 25% of our citizens are struggling to get food. [/INDENT]
Click to expand...

Wait a minute, wasn't Obama supposed to put everybody back to work, or is he keeping unemployment high on purpose to enact yet another entitlement freebie program. We all know under Obama he has increased the role of citizens on food stamps to the highest level in US history. Maybe the problem is these people are not getting enough food stamps. By giving them a double amount of food stamps should take care of the problem. Kids these days don't eat at home anymore they are fed all their meals for the day at school paid by the tax payer.
 
Lachean said:
We have an obesity problem because processed food is cheaper; We substitute whole ingredients for cheaper chemicals and sweeteners to boot.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter, if you had a calorie deficiency (can't access food) it doesn't matter if you ate only bacon and cheese, you still wouldn't be obese. Obesity is caused by overeating.
 
I'd be willing to bet that three-fourths of those 25% are not REALLY struggling to put food on the table.

They said "HAVE HAD difficulty putting food on the table"... not "are constantly having trouble".


In many cases it will be due to money mismanagement, spending too much on other things. In other cases I'm sure it is an exaggeration... as in, "we were short of cash one week due to vehicle repairs and couldn't buy our usual expensive meal choices".

Or blew it on crack and beer.

I doubt even 10% are REALLY having trouble paying the necessities and buying groceries.
 
Wonder how many of that quarter have cell phones with data plans, internet, video games, smoke, drink alcohol, and/or do illegal drugs.
 
Goshin said:
I'd be willing to bet that three-fourths of those 25% are not REALLY struggling to put food on the table.

They said "HAVE HAD difficulty putting food on the table"... not "are constantly having trouble".


In many cases it will be due to money mismanagement, spending too much on other things. In other cases I'm sure it is an exaggeration... as in, "we were short of cash one week due to vehicle repairs and couldn't buy our usual expensive meal choices".

Or blew it on crack and beer.

I doubt even 10% are REALLY having trouble paying the necessities and buying groceries.
Click to expand...
For that matter...as we have seen in California, more than a few of them spend the food money given to them by the state in strip clubs (and from the comments on this site, more than a few people support their right to do so).
 
the_recruit said:
Can we take bets on how many of these people "struggling" to afford food own a smart phone?
Click to expand...

As cheap as they are now...

Cell phones are a utility. Should we take bets on how many of them have electricity? How about indoor plumbing? Or access to refrigeration?

What I see is a complete failure of the welfare programs as they exist now. People don't need cash, they need food and a place to live.
 
Jesus Christ listen to these right-wingers.
 
If that many people are hungry in this country, why do we have to import illegal aliens to harvest the crops? How is it that there are jobs that Americans won't do?
 
the_recruit said:
Can we take bets on how many of these people "struggling" to afford food own a smart phone?
Click to expand...

Would you like me to link literally dozens of smart phones you can get for free with a two-year contract?

Do you think about the bull**** you regurgitate or do you just parrot it without question?
 
Last edited:
Maybe if they didn't spend money on booze, drugs, and cigarettes they could afford to buy food for their children.

What pisses me off is people can come up with money for their vices but not for necessities.
 
Quik said:
Bull**** alert! America has an obesity problem. The biggest problem affect the poor is...obesity. Sorry, can't have it both ways! People who can't find food don't get obese.
Click to expand...

beerftw said:
i have to agree,how can america be struggling to afford food when its the fsattest nation on earth,it should bemore like struggling to buy healthy food and lottery tickets,and beer,and satellite,and and a nice car,so instead they probably just eat from the mcdonalds dollar menu to save money,rather than sacrificing other luxories.
Click to expand...

The cheapest food is often the most unheathy, which is why the poor suffer from obesity as well. It costs more money to eat healthy, not to mention more education, things the poor often don't have, than it does to eat healthy and know what eating healthy is.

Not saying I agree with the 25% statistics that seems to incredible
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom