Hungry for the good times

By Libby

Food banks are facing shortages so severe that some are shutting down even as the demand is growing, not just among the homeless but also among the working poor.

“It’s the price of oil, gas, rents and foreclosures,” said Melanie Gosselin, executive director of the New Hampshire Food Bank.

Thanks to the Bushenomic 'boom' donations are down, grocery stores are keeping tighter inventory control and selling off their can goods in bulk to odd lot stores. But I thought this reason for the shortage was the most interesting.

In part, food banks are suffering because farmers are doing well. The food banks rely on supplies from the federal Agriculture Department’s Bonus Commodity Program, which buys surplus crops like apples and potatoes from farmers.

“Right now, the agricultural economy is very strong and the surpluses aren’t available for us to purchase,” said Jean Daniel, a department spokeswoman. “Certainly we’re empathetic, but unfortunately we cannot count on those bonus commodities every year.”

Which leads me to ask why exactly, our Congresslizards are passing billions of tax dollars worth of farm subsidies that go mainly to corporate mega-monolith operations?