PER REPORTER: Latasha said she is concerned about five children that use to live next door from her due to their mother not properly caring for them. She said two weeks ago while she was out in public she saw the children with their mother, and she said the children were hungry and begging for food. She said the children are hungry all the time due to their mother selling her food stamp benefits to people for money. Latasha mentioned that she knows for a fact that Tiffany sales her food stamps, because she said she was once asked by someone that Tiffany tried to sale her food stamps to if she wanted to buy some food stamps from Tiffany. It is unknown if the family has food in their home to eat. However, Lastasha said to her understanding Tiffany …show more content…
Latasha said she can never really talk to the children due to their mother not allowing them to talk to people. She also said she believes that the children are afraid their mother due to her behavior towards them. She mentioned that she has seen Tiffany slapping the three oldest children (Mercedes, Branmarion, and James) all up side their heads with both an open and closed hand. She also mentioned that she has seen the children’s mother whip all of the children even the two young ones, and she said she confronted her about the way she whips the children due to her being worried that she may actually hurt one of the children. However, she said when she said something to Tiffany about the way that she disciplines her children her response was “mind your own business these are my got damn children and I am my own boss”. Latasha said Tiffany sometimes becomes afraid after she whips her children due to her being worried herself that she might actually one day harm them. Latasha said Tiffany whips the children whenever she is angry or frustrated. She also mentioned that about three years ago her friend (Rosey) had to go and pick Branmarion up due Tiffany throwing the child down in
Food insecurity is one of the major social problems that we have in our world today. The concern about this problem is the increasing number of people that are beginning to experience hunger more often. “While hunger has long been a public health concern in developing countries, it has received varying degrees of attention in the United States, most notable during the 1930s and 1960s” (Poppendieck 1992). In addition to lack of food, there are consequences that follow. People, especially children, who suffer from food deprivation also undergo some health issues such as malnutrition and obesity, which leads to more health care and hospitalizations. “In the early 1980s, most reports of hunger involved families with children, the elderly, the unskilled and unemployed youth, the mentally ill, the homeless and minorities” (Brown 1992; Nestle and Guttmacher 1992). However, a particular ethnic group that is greatly affected by food insecurities are the Hispanic...
According to the “Hunger and Poverty Fact Sheet” on Feeding America’s website, in 2014 there were over 48 million Americans living in food insecure households, which included 15 million children. During the school year, these children rely on free or reduce breakfast and lunch. When the summer vacation months arrive, these children loose the security of these meals. Feeding America, working alongside the United States Department of Agriculture, provide free summer meals to these children. Unfortunately, not all children and families are aware that these programs are taking place; therefore missing out on a vital resource to help stretch their food dollars throughout the summer
At one point it is said “She put latches and bolts on the refrigerator and cupboard doors to keep the children out between meals” (Skloot 2010, 111). This shows the malnutrition that the children endured which may have led to poor performances in school and poor decisions in life. According to the Orphan Nutrition Website, poor nutrition can lead to cognitive delays including “learning disabilities, poor social skills, inadequate problem solving, and impaired language development as well as a decrease in the body’s immune system” (Orphan Nutrition 2016). These implications could have impacted the poor health and knowledge of the Lacks family. In addition to the hunger, the children were forced to perform hard physical labor in the tobacco fields with no breaks (Skloot 2010, 112). This increased their risk for malnutrition even more as their bodies worked with few calories. It also was most likely a contributing factor to the many health issues within the family. Deborah suffered from high blood pressure, insomnia, acid reflex, and various other health issues. Skloot writes, “Deborah took an average of 14 pills a day […]” (Skloot 2010,
Food shopping when you are poor in America doesn't mean taking the minivan out to Costco; it can mean walking to the only "supermarket" in the neighborhood, often a small corner retail operation with high markups on food and household supplies.With so many people in poverty it is questioned if giving the poverty aid is even a solution as stated by David Cheal in his book New Poverty: Families in Postmodern Society, “Throwing money at social problems is no longer
In the article, "3 TVs and No Food: Growing Up Poor in America," Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, pivots his attention on how politicians are handling the poverty situation across the United States. According to Kristof, the politicians aren't paying attention. To back up his argument, Kristof centers in on the lives of three children growing up in poverty. Their journeys are unique in one way or another, nonetheless, they are living in extremely indistinguishable situations. Honestly, reading this article gave me a repulsive attitude towards the government. Why aren't we focusing our attention on these innocent, poor people? It wasn't their fault they were born under unfortunate circumstances. To support his argument, the author stated,
In the year 2015, around 40 million U.S. citizens were food insecure (Randall para. 3). Food insecurity can be defined in paragraph 3 by “[having] difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources. This 12.7% of American citizens also contains another group - children. Aged 10-17, 6.8 million adolescents struggle with a food insecurity. There have been several years of cuts to the social programs designed to help these people, along with the Great Recession continuing to leave an impact on the U.S. economy (para. 6). Under the Obama administration, $8.6 billion was cut from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps. From 1993-2001 under the Clinton administration, former President Bill Clinton’s administration “gutted the welfare system” (para. 15). Because of these budget cuts, the families who rely on food assistance from the government have been allotted less throughout the years. From a sociological perspective, the concepts of sociological imagination, class stratification, and social location are in effect when it comes to child hunger in the United States. Being hungry is an issue larger than any one individual can control.
The United States is known as the wealthiest country in the world. But, there are many people that can't afford to buy food for their families, many are also homeless. “While hunger affects people of all ages, it's particularly devastating for children even short-term episodes of hunger can cause lasting damage."(“Child Nutrition Programs") Child hunger in the United States is caused by poverty, unemployment, food insecurity, and food shortage; however there are many solutions to this problem like FRAC strategies, food banks, summer feeding programs, and backpack feeding programs.
Food insecurity does not discriminate; it reaches many segments of society (Whitney, DeBruyne, Pinna, & Rolfes, 2007). Even through closely related to poverty, not all that have food insecurities are in poverty. Often it is the working poor that are hit the hardest. The working poor are a group that despite having a job, there income is too low to meet their need or that of their family. Most of the working poor (56%) live in families with children, so that the poverty of these workers affects many others as well (Problems Facing the Working Poor, Kim 1999). Many lower to middle class families will temporarily struggle with food insecurity at various times during the year. For these families government assistance may not immediately available. Appling for Supplemental Nutrition Assistanc...
According to Dolgoff and Feldstein (2003), “the needs and goals of the Food Stamp Program are to alleviate hunger and malnutrition by enabling low-income households to buy a nutritious adequate diet” (p. 132). The program also improved the market for local merchants to produce food for eligible low-income households and other agencies such as the School Lunch Program which safeguard the health and wel...
However, some critics argue that it has little to do with food insecurity; rather, it is the outcomes from food charities expanding their operations. They also contend that people are seizing the opportunity of food made freely available but by contrast, UK food charities purport that they deliver emergency food relief in response to economic hardship and food insecurity as a result of cuts to local authority expenditure and central welfare spending (Lambie-Mumford, 2014).
Lindo tries to teach her daughter to be just like her when she was a kid, she tried to
According to the American Psychological Association, “In 2010, the poverty threshold, or poverty line, was 22,314 dollars for a family of four” (2). People living in poverty may be forced to depend on public assistance programs such as food stamps, or more formally known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. On the exterior, this program seems to benefit hungry families, but in all actually it is actually facilitating their obesity. The formerly mentioned family of four would be qualified to receive a maximum of 688 dollars a month in food stamps (North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services). That equates to just over 170 dollars a week or 40 dollars per family member. A paltry amount such as this forces families to make difficult decisions regarding the amount and type of food they provide their family.
How, in a country full of 318.9 million people, are there 16 million children that are not getting the food they need? It is crazy to think about it possibly even being your son’s or daughter’s friend. “1 in 7 people struggle to get enough to eat,” the organization, Feeding America, claims. The main questions we need to ask when assessing this is how, why, and what can we do? So, how? Approximately 46.7 million people are in poverty, and that includes 15.5 million children. If a family is in poverty, that normally means they are going hungry. Why? The reasons can be endless, it could be
Despite the sense that cousins Briony and Lola are much older than they seem, their exposure to sexual violence at such young ages combined with their lack of understanding lead to their blind accusations. Briony
“Mom! Dad!...Luke just shot me!”(“Pilot”). The modern relationship between children is filled with stirring up trouble for their siblings, and fighting. It is evident that they like to stir up grief for their siblings when Alex says to Claire, “So, you know, if Hayley got pregnant, would you ever pretend she had mono for a few months, and then, like, tell everyone the baby is yours?”(“Pilot”). Every child gets a thrill out of causing one of their siblings grief, it is a natural part of growing up. Typically, the younger children try to invest themselves into their older siblings lives, while the older children typically tend to distance themselves from their