hungry? Who in this country is hungry? Seriously, anyone that is poor can get food stamps.

I think the better word is "malnourished":

http://www.bread.org/institute/obesity.html

Quite a weird paradox, but still, I think that those in this situation can still make healthy chocies on a tight budget.

You might be overestimating the average American's ability to sort through the billion dollar marketing campaigns of the "less healthy" choices.

Maybe I am. But I'm simply not big on babysitting when it comes to personal choices.

I guess I'll make one proposed exception to that--if we're going to have food stamps, then perhaps we could restrict them to more healthdul foods?

If you're homeless, what address shall you give them to send those food stamps?

right. ever heard of a soup kitchen?

I'm not shrugging them off, but they can eat.

I hope you don't think that there are soup kitchens set up whereever there are homeless, because that's not true. In your larger cities you might find this.

There are so many salvation army offices in this country.

When was the last time you saw someone starving in the street?

You really NEVER leave your gated community, do you, PJDoll?

You never have, have you?

I don't live in a gated community. I just don't run around looking for ways that "the man" screwed me.

Here in Nashville we have a large homeless problem. There are Salvation Army goodwill stores but that's it. There are no govt. programs to help these people. The way that they eat is through private organizations run by churches usually but they don't have a lot of money so sometimes they don't have food. My stepdad was formerly homeless and worked his way out of it. I don't expect you to have compassion unless you were in that situation wondering where you were going to sleep that night, whether someone was going to kick you ass, and when you'd eat your next meal. It's a downward spiral that is rarely understood or shown any sympathy by your average citizen because they view the homeless as lazy. While true in some cases, it's definately not true in all. Feeding the homeless is not as easily solved as you make it out to be.

For the record, I don't feel that the man has screwed me personally very hard.

http://www.nashville.gov/mac/cp_homeless.htm

http://www.hud.gov/local/shared/working ... m?state=tn

http://www.ich.gov/slocal/plans/nashville.pdf

I'm sorry about your stepdad, but to claim there are no government programs for the homeless in Nashville is just flat out wrong. A 2 minute search got me plenty. Here are a couple.

I hate the starving arguement. Nobody in this country starves to death unless they happen to be chained to a stove, locked in a closet, dumped in the desert, or stuck in a hole after a bizarre mountain climing accident. Between food stamps, welfare, soup kitchens, good ol fashioned begging, and the nearest dumpster, it is quite hard to actually starve to death in this country. Hell there is very little reason to be really hungry unless you show absolutely zero initiative.

I'm not trying to be heartless here, and I do think that there are several ways the government could help out the downtrodden in this country, but the hunger issue is such bull shit. Medical assistance and housing are great arguements unto themselves, no need to throw in a knee jerk and inaccurate arguement like hunger.

thank you

Lazy fucking homeless ... all they had to do was pick up a laptop!

why do I bother.

I found nothing in any of those links providing help for feeding the homeless. I'm aware of of of those also. In fact in that third link, the one about the task force the mayor has to try and stop the homeless problem, yeah, my stepdad is on the task force to try and stop homelessness in the city. In the first link here are some problems with govt. programs:

Requirement for Assistance...
Eligibility Requirements for Assistance

The client's income must fall within the Federal Poverty Income Guidelines

What income?

Residence

Must be a permanent resident or trying to establish a permanent resident in Davidson County.\

What Residence?


The client may be accepted into the program in the following ways:


Referred though any program operated by the Metropolitan Action Commission.
Referred to Metropolitan Action Commission by other community agencies or organizations.
Clients may walk-in and are seen on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The client may schedule an appointment with the homeless service counselor.

A CSBG counselor must screen clients. The following documentation must be provided at the interview:


Proof of all household income.

Again, what income? What House?
Proper identification for all members of the household (i.e. Drivers License, State ID, Social Security cards etc.).

Many homeless don't have or have lost Identification.

Lease agreement to establish permanent housing status.

Yeah, They wouldn't need help if they had a lease and a roof over their head.
Agency or independent source (notarized) of current living arrangements.
Other documentation as required establishing eligibility.
The Homeless Program reserves the right to deny assistance to anyone for the following reasons:

The applicant's failure to provide necessary documentation in the allotted time, usually fifteen calendar days. Households or individuals with incomes exceeding the current CSBG income guidelines.
A client or an advocate for the client providing incorrect or non-verifiable documentation



The government doesn't give two stinking shits about the homeless here in Nashville. They just want them to stay in the alleys and off the streets so as not to be seen by tourists.

Alright, guys ... I don't know how we got to "no one starves to death" as our measure of an acceptable society, but here are some stats pulled from the USDA:

* In 2001, the number of Americans who were food insecure, or hungry or at risk of hunger, was 33.6 million, a rise over 2000, when 33.2 million Americans were food insecure. The number of individuals who are suffering from hunger rose from 8.5 million in 2000 to 9 million in 2001.

* The number of food insecure households with children has also risen since 2000 by 10,000 to 6.18 million.

I mean, you're counting someone who begs to get from meal to meal, as a person for which we don't need to be concerned. What kind of standard is that? I don't know what kind of shit has left people in this situation, but I'm guessing that it isn't 33.2 million people who are too lazy to look for food. Seriously, have a little respect for other humans.

http://www.secondharvest.org/site_content.asp?s=59