Hunger Is Not a Disease

8 Ways the Hungry Get Food.

GNP48

Betty  and her daughter are Woodstock born.  They’ve shopped there regularly since the Good Neighbor Food Pantry opened and began feeding the hungry.

For years, they shopped at the pantry, CVS, Rite Aid, and Woodstock Meats between periodic trips to Walmart in Kingston.  Then, several years ago, Betty’s  husband died and trips to Walmart ceased to be part of the routine.  It became a luxury for them when a relative invited them to ride along to Kingston to shop.

Finally, he died too, and now Betty and her daughter have no transportation to Kingston.  They’re eating out of the pantry and CVS.

The combination of limited income, no access to affordable grocery stores, and no automobile makes life difficult for the 2 women.  Although she probably qualifies, Betty has never gotten SNAP.

There are many people in a situation similar to Betty and her daughter. People in Betty’s  situation learn to cope with lack of access to food and the complications created by a limited budget and no automobile.  They

get SNAP if they can.

dumpster dive.

shoplift.

ask friends and relatives for food.

borrow $$$ for food from friends and relatives.

visit a friend or relative at mealtime.

go to the soup kitchen.

shop at a pantry.

Betty  is a single senior living with an adult daughter.  Life is a bit more complicated with young children in the household when there’s not enough food and no $$$.  Households develop coping mechanisms to deal with the situation.

One such technique consists of simply serving less food.

Another consists of just skipping meals.

A third is to feed children what is available and adults go without.

But, whether the household has adult children, younger children, or no children at all, hunger is a reality for people in this situation.  They are classified as either being at risk of hunger, or experiencing hunger depending on the severity of the situation.

Whatever the classification, one thing is certain:  
People in this situation are intimately connected to hunger on a daily basis.  
They are also a good example of the reality that in this country we have  2 food systems:

one for the poor and

one for everyone else.

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Peace and food for all.

Thurman Greco