Anecdotally (i.e., this means jack without any statistics to back it up ...), when I was in rural Iowa for three years, I saw more people using food-stamps than I did in Chicago or suburban Detroit ... I thought it was weird to be surrounded by food, and yet still see people who needed help to feed themselves and their families.
Man does not live by corn alone! [Nor, of course, does Woman, but I'm borrowing from Mathew 4:4 about bread. Gotta love old Matt- he may be my favorite socialist!] Actually, thinking of my grandmother's native Iowa, people do not live by just corn [much of it grown & of a quality for animal feed anyway], unprocessed wheat, millet, sorghum and soybeans, esp. when a farm may only grow one primary crop [farms aren't as diversified as they used to be.] And income from the increasingly rare, non-industrial, non-absentee-owned, family farms is pretty dismal these days... Esp. in an occupation with such inconsistent yields, and with such huge "overhead." It's a function of weather, economics, distribution and the specialization & industrialization which means farmers usually do not process their own crops or livestock, like in the "Olden Days." As Suburban Eco saw, rural poverty is a huge problem, however ironic is seems in "America's breadbasket." And anyone who teaches in rural areas can also sadly tell you that the stereotypical urban school problems-- drugs, teen pregnancy, child & date abuse and suicide are all prevalent in rural areas as well.
With the listeria outbreak recently, I think we should all grow our own food. I am throwing out my cantaloupes in my refrigerator. You're right; that must have felt weird seeing people who live in a state where so much food is locally grown having to use food stamps. Oy.
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Anecdotally (i.e., this means jack without any statistics to back it up ...), when I was in rural Iowa for three years, I saw more people using food-stamps than I did in Chicago or suburban Detroit ... I thought it was weird to be surrounded by food, and yet still see people who needed help to feed themselves and their families.
Man does not live by corn alone! [Nor, of course, does Woman, but I'm borrowing from Mathew 4:4 about bread. Gotta love old Matt- he may be my favorite socialist!] Actually, thinking of my grandmother's native Iowa, people do not live by just corn [much of it grown & of a quality for animal feed anyway], unprocessed wheat, millet, sorghum and soybeans, esp. when a farm may only grow one primary crop [farms aren't as diversified as they used to be.] And income from the increasingly rare, non-industrial, non-absentee-owned, family farms is pretty dismal these days... Esp. in an occupation with such inconsistent yields, and with such huge "overhead." It's a function of weather, economics, distribution and the specialization & industrialization which means farmers usually do not process their own crops or livestock, like in the "Olden Days." As Suburban Eco saw, rural poverty is a huge problem, however ironic is seems in "America's breadbasket." And anyone who teaches in rural areas can also sadly tell you that the stereotypical urban school problems-- drugs, teen pregnancy, child & date abuse and suicide are all prevalent in rural areas as well.
With the listeria outbreak recently, I think we should all grow our own food. I am throwing out my cantaloupes in my refrigerator. You're right; that must have felt weird seeing people who live in a state where so much food is locally grown having to use food stamps. Oy.
:)