By Danielle Smith
For Thanksgiving 2009
First, some definitions of food security, which seem very basic–my own is–when I am hungry, I must always have fresh water, and nutritious, balanced diet, food on hand, on demand, and in my possession to prepare, cook, and serve–and having the propane, stove, and cookware utensils to do it with–without having to depend on soup kitchens 7-days a week; especially in the winter season, if I am sick, during extreme weather, or if I lack transportation. Any thing less than that, automatically becomes food insecurity.
The USDA definition of food security is:
“Access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security includes at a minimum: (1) the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and (2) an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (e.g., without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies).”
Food insecurity: “Limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.”
Hunger: “The uneasy or painful sensation caused by a lack of access to food. Hunger may produce malnutrition over time…Hunger…is a potential, although not necessary, consequence of food insecurity.”
That was and still is my minimum requirement for survival; difficult to maintain, easier done in a motor-home than from a tent in the wetlands, yet for others it was not possible to even come close to that goal, as it more or less related to stability at one’s campsite; whether your camp equipment was stolen by other homeless predators, or stolen by enforcement predators, in the name of “public sanitation”.
Notice that the government seems to suggest that, along with “scavenging” (in dumpsters), or stealing, “resorting to emergency food supplies” is not socially acceptable, either! I admit I have rummaged through dumpsters, and I have found some really good food and other usable items ( like a complete working Gateway PC system!), at times, near the University of Oregon! But this is why recycling, or giving leftovers to to poor is better, in my opinion because dumpster diving is hard, dirty work. To hell with the socially acceptable, baloney! Hunger will motivate you, in ways you did not know you could act.
In my definition, I simply meant I did not wish to “depend” on soup kitchens, or food boxes, although I certainly did depend on them, and still do occasionally. No one should feel, or ever be made to feel, so strongly against taking a hand-out from charity, or government food assistance in food stamps that they, or their families, ever go hungry! That is just plain foolish pride! It is difficult enough for some new people who experience unemployment; or homelessness, and hunger due to what the USDA referrers to as “financial resource constraint” , to bring them to join the lines for food, around our community.
As homeless people get older, or become disabled and camp sweeps become bolder, it becomes more of a challenge to store, or carry belongings, and then travel to every food location serving hot meals daily, and it therefore becomes a guaranteed risk to the overall security of that person’s possessions left behind at camp that may very well be stolen, or confiscated, should he or she leave to go eat.
Another thing–as a life-long registered voter, I will never forget that it was every one of you Republican S.O.B.’S who tried to starve myself, and all the poor here in Oregon, when they drastically cut food stamps several years ago, as a part of welfare reform war.
You are the vipers that must be forever, defeated in every way into extinction; as being a murderous, hate-filled, bunch of psychopaths capable and ready again, should you ever come into power, to remove our rights, to use starvation against us because of our food insecurity, and the dire shortages of donations from faith based organizations, that you will have caused by dragging down the economy, while blaming us for it all.
I will never forget–and neither should any one else–that it was the Democrat for whom the majority of us voted, President Barack Obama, who greatly increased the food stamp benefits, right from the start of his election into office; and therefore put more food in our stomach, on a consistent basis for an entire month. Before he did that, I did not experience a sufficient degree of food security, or even enough of what I needed for the entire month; which left me hungry towards the ending weeks, and then after grocery food shopping, or getting a food box, I then had problems keeping myself from binges of overeating !
The links below, are a perfect example of how most of you ungrateful, selfish, un-American, complaining, conservative Republicans would like to care for America’s homeless:
A Statement From Orlando Food Not Bombs On The Arrest of Eric Montanez:
Feeding Intolerance: Prohibitions On Sharing Food With People Experiencing Homelessness, A Report By The National Law Center For Homelessness & Poverty:
The sad truth is that a number of you right here in Eugene do, in your ignorance and your contempt-poisoned arrogance, favor denying food to the poor here, and do believe and preach, that it would discourage the homeless from living here. That is wishful thinking by stupid thinkers blinded by hate, with hearts hardened by greed, and posted in cowardice, anonymously, in our local news web forums.
Read it with your own eyes; follow this link below to comments on KVAL TV, about “downtown solutions” to homelessness–notice they switched to the use of the pejorative term, “transients”. Also realize that the homeless problem ranges well beyond downtown area. The homeless are not supposed to be visible anywhere, not just downtown, but anywhere within the city limit.
Those of you who would use food denial as a weapon–shame on you, Eugene’s homeless-hating, gang of thugs! So many of you it seems, are addicted to punishment and just driven to insanity to promote criminalization, jail and exclusion, as the only fitting solution to rid yourselves of the civic responsibility to help others less fortunate, who are suffering, or who would otherwise be forced to suffer, if you had your wicked way.
Well, I can say with pride, that we can all give thanks on this Day of Thanksgiving 2009, that here in Eugene, and throughout Lane County, such foul and–no pun intended–disgusting food fights do not happen here, they are just not allowed by the vast majority of its citizens, and thank God for that! The ugly, resentful, food denying mentality of a very few, becomes lost and ignored, in the seasonal cornucopia of tons of total food shipments.
Our food donations do fluctuate up and down, and we have our full times and empty ones, but generally, food boxes are always available every few days, and few if any poor or homeless that I know of, die from starvation, but some must I am sure, experience hunger on a regular basis, due to disruptions in daily living, which makes them more susceptible to the cold winter weather. Proper hydration, having a steady source of fresh drinking water is equally important to health and combating hunger, and can be a problem for displaced homeless persons.
It is true, that citizens of Eugene, are those who eagerly arrest anyone who abuses or neglects horses, dogs, cats, etc., but refuses to do the same to those responsible for the abuse and neglect of its real human citizens, shelter needs.
But the homeless are still blessed to live here, because food is plentiful, and leftovers are processed and frozen, and food is collected by mail carriers, and good, leftover food should not be wasted, it is believed, rather it should be recycled, not simply thrown into a locked dumpster to rot, in the faces of the hungry homeless, living on the streets!
We have a wonderful, organized, multi-agency food bank system, here in Lane County, and a thriving farmers market, and growers market, supplied by dozens of local, family farms; and many grocers and bakeries that provide day old breads, etc, community gardens, several church kitchens, food pantries, the Eugene Mission, and some very generous, anonymous donors.
The only question then becomes, can all of the hungry homeless people get to this food and make use of it, at least two or three times each and every day?
For Thanksgiving, the whole community joyfully, and with much advertised, in-depth, media news reports, annually atones for their willful neglect of the needy exposed to year round weather, with a hearty, delicious, turkey dinner with all of the trimmings and clothing giveaway, that serves well over 1,500 low income and homeless singles, and families with children around the city area; it is lovingly organized, prepared, and served, by an army of hundreds of friendly, dedicated volunteers, in cooperation with the Culinary Arts School students, of Lane Community College, each and every year. This year marks the 21st. dinner event.
It is a huge feast, that serves many in one day, and is worth the waiting in line; everyone gets a number to keep order; and for having the donations of gloves, socks, hats, blankets, sleeping bags, and other winter necessities that are passed out, along with hot coffee, hot soup, snacks, delivered while waiting for dinner.
Bon-apatite, and Happy Thanksgiving! I myself usually attend this dinner and will do so again, this Thursday!
The false deification of law as justification for laws against vagrancy borne of poverty by Anatole France’s oft-repeated quote has become as repugnant, outdated, untrue, and irrelevant as the quote itself–for one thing, no one needs to steal a loaf of bread here, not even while living under a bridge!
In spite of our shameful, majestically secular humanist laws that seek to forbid only the poor and homeless from sleeping or being in places not meant for human habitation, for it is only they, (not the well-off) who cannot afford to rent or buy a nightly room, or any place meant for human habitation, the homeless will act to the contrary of the public, as the lesser choice of evils.
Homeless humans, will act according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and no selfish, self-serving, man-made law but the natural creators law of the human individual’s will to survive, shall ever prevail, fulfilling the need for water, food, shelter, and sleep!
To be punished for doing what is every homeless persons rightful, willful duty to meet these needs, is cruel; is to be personally assaulted and violated with the most condemning social, civil decree or curse to suffering, sickness, and eventual death. Is this the intended consequence? An end to homelessness by attrition? One who is caught in such a position over time, can not help but believe that this is true.
No self-respecting homeless citizen with a backbone, who lives here in Lane County should have to take this abuse of corporate authority, or the confiscation of personal property such as food or the means by which to use it, or by impounding the vehicle which contains it, without seeking immediate legal assistance, and demanding due process in court, for the swift return of all necessity items taken if any, according to State ORS law, and specifically:
H.B. 2482, “Relating To The Removal of Homeless Individuals from Camping Sites on Public
Property”
that requires storing said items for a minimum of 30 days, if they bother keeping them at all, for the owner to retrieve.
The State of Oregon should be pressed to make it an equal crime of “fraud, waste, and abuse” of any, and all AFS food stamp purchased food items, that are wrongfully taken (confiscated), or disposed of, from their rightful, purchaser/owners, in the 24 hour enforcements of illegal camping ordinances by any local, county, or state authority, which leaves the homeless person suddenly, without a place for the self-sufficiency of a personal food supply, as well as the utilities and cooking equipment to prepare and heat it. The 24-hour deadline should, it is strongly recommended by the ACLU, be increased to at least 48 to 72 hours, if no other violations are found.
The State of Oregon should also be pressed to immediately place its homeless residents (citizens) under the very same kind of ombudsman system of rights that state residents of nursing facilities have, to outlaw at the state level, homeless harassment, abuse, neglect, exposure to extreme weather due to sudden enforcement, forced isolation, sleep deprivation, or forced hunger, due to constant disruption, or relocation in relationship to sources of food and water.
The City of Eugene promotes food security for its housed citizens. The City and the Mayor has some time ago, released a statement in support of, and responsibility to advise its housed citizens, and families to keep an emergency supply of blankets, water, food, cooking utensils, fuel, first aid supplies, medication, etc., on hand in the event of a disaster.
Well that’s fine, everyone should have an emergency stash on hand, if possible, but isn’t that a bit hypocritical and insensitive towards the homeless? I do hope this was was an innocent oversight, because our mayor should see the double standard, and have then and there, thought to herself, “What do I tell the homeless, who have little or nothing on hand, no safe place to keep stuff, or recently had their car, van, or motor-home with all their cooking utensils, and food inside, towed away–quite possibly from Eugene to Springfield, for illegal camping?”
Look into the eyes of the many homeless people here, who live from campsite to campsite, food box to food box, from dinner line, to dinner line, what do you tell them? Be sure to have your emergency supply ready in your closets, too?
No, it’s more like–oh, here’s a list of all of our services, because it’s illegal to camp here. Here is a couple of useless phone numbers as far as shelter for tonight goes–but just go to the Mission, just go eat here at this church, or go there to get food boxes. How can any one not see that this is not food security for the homeless, but food insecurity, and a recipe for hunger! That is the unfortunate, police policy (pathological policy) we have here; a real rotten, dangerous, adversarial situation for many of our local homeless, who cannot make themselves invisible enough.
Food is vital to an outdoor living, homeless person, because it takes food to generate heat to maintain core body temperatures to prevent hypothermia, and to prevent overheating from heat exhaustion. But cold temperatures, getting clothing soaked by rain or snow storms makes food gathering very hard, keeping warm becomes a priority. Here is what an internet survival guide says about the importance of shelter:
“In some areas, your need for shelter may take precedence over your need for food and possibly even your need for water. For example, prolonged exposure to cold can cause excessive fatigue and weakness (exhaustion). An exhausted person may develop a “passive” outlook, thereby losing the will to survive.”
And of the importance of daily intake of food, otherwise the following symptoms begin to set upon one who lacks food:
“Irritability, low moral, lethargy, physical weakness, confusion, disorientation, poor judgment, weakened immune system, inability to maintain body temperature which can lead to hypothermia, heat exhaustion or even heat stroke.”
But what about the future of our food security?
Our dependence on cheap oil and a steady dollar, means that future food security for us all, is just an illusion, and this truth will soon become evident when, not if, the US dollar collapses, or is replaced by another currency, and food quickly, as in overnight, disappears from supermarket shelves, as the wealthy begin to hoard food by the truck load, while what is left on the shelves will be unaffordable to the poor to buy, with their worthless dollars. None of us can predict the utter chaos this will have on our local economy and community. It will drastically affect priorities as to who, where, and how food will be acquired, and who shall receive the food, when, where, how much, or how often.
Supermarket Shortage:
Read this interesting article, Are Feds Stockpiling Survival Food?
FEMA:
Citizen Preparedness, FEMA: Are You Ready?
Emergency food storage is and should be, the concern of every state, including Oregon. The recent banning of Willamette Valley’s grass seed farmers from future burning of their fields, has many of those farmers turning to wheat. The article below discusses the problems of storage of that wheat, and how lucky we may be to have such a problem of too much wheat, if we can only put it to good use, by storing it, and having it on hand for the citizens. Other of these farmers–God bless them all–may begin to grow other profitable food crops too; time will tell.
Growers Abandon Grass Seed For Wheat
Food Security Definitions:
USDA Guide to Measuring Household Food Security:
USDA: Number of Americans Going Hungry Increases
