Tag: snap

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Beyond the Canned Food Drive: Are Churches Settling for Feel-Good Charity?

I love seeing churches care for their communities. I love that people are giving, sharing, encouraging, and showing up for others. Every week I see food drives, donation bins, and outreach efforts in order to relieve suffering. It makes people feel good. It makes people feel they’ve done their part.

And yes, it helps — and yes, we should keep doing it. But after years of working in and with churches, I can’t help but ask: is it enough? Or have we settled for a kind of “token” charity that lets us check the box of “helping the poor” so we can feel better about ourselves?

That may sound harsh, but I mean it sincerely. It’s not that these efforts are bad. They’re good and necessary. But what if they’ve become a way for us to feel comforted rather than challenged? What if we’re soothing our consciences without addressing the deeper issues that keep people poor, hungry, or homeless?

Because let’s be honest: the systemic realities of poverty, inequality, and marginalization are not being solved by a few cans of soup. Sometimes it feels like we’re putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound — and calling it ministry.

Jesus Wasn’t a Band-Aid Healer

Jesus didn’t come to patch things up; He came to turn the world upside down. And when He began His ministry, in a rather surprising move, He quoted the prophet Isaiah:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” — Luke 4:18

His first priority was the poor and the oppressed. That’s not a side note in His message — it is His message.

And when He spoke about judgment in Matthew 25, He didn’t divide people by wealth, knowledge, or even belief. The dividing line was simple: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

For Jesus, caring for the poor wasn’t charity — it was personal. When you feed the hungry, you feed Him. When you give the thirsty water, you serve Him. And when you ignore those needs, you ignore Him.

Jesus also had strong words for the wealthy and comfortable. Remember the rich young ruler? Jesus told him to sell everything and give to the poor — not just a little, not just the extras, but everything (Matthew 19:21). That story makes us squirm in our seats because we really like our creature comforts. We’ve heard the story so often that we forget how radical it is.

Charity or Justice?

This is where the modern church often gets it wrong. We have become proponents of charity, but we’ve grown timid about justice.

Charity is giving a can of soup to a hungry person. It’s immediate, necessary, and good. It relieves suffering.

Justice asks why that person is hungry in the first place — and then works to change the system that keeps them hungry.

Charity treats the symptom. Justice seeks to cure the disease. We need both.

The “feel-good” model of church allows us to practice charity without ever having to sacrifice. We can donate our extras, write a small check, or give away last season’s coats. It costs us little. It doesn’t challenge our comfort, our habits, or our politics.

But this isn’t the gospel. Jesus didn’t die so that we could feel generous — He died to transform the world.

The Call to Transformative Justice

The gospel is not just about being kind to the poor — it’s about being in community with them.

Jesus didn’t serve people from a distance. He lived among them. He ate with them. He listened to them. Philippians 2:6–8 reminds us that Jesus left His divine privilege and became human — not to look down on us, but to walk beside us.

If that’s what Christ did, why do we so often build walls instead of bridges? Why do we, who have been given so much, feel entitled to more than those who struggle?

Justice calls us to more than generosity — it calls us to solidarity. It invites us to use our buildings, our budgets, and our influence to challenge systems that perpetuate poverty and inequality.

Imagine if our churches weren’t just centers of charity, but engines of justice.

What If We Actually Did What Jesus Said?

What if the church decided to move beyond “feel-good” giving and started living as good news for the poor?

What if, in addition to running food pantries, we used our buildings to host job training, financial literacy, and ESL programs?

What if we leveraged our collective voice to advocate for affordable housing, fair wages, and better-funded public schools?

What if we stopped “giving to” the poor and started partnering with them — building real, long-term relationships based on mutual respect and love?

That kind of work is difficult. It’s uncomfortable. It’s messy. It’s political. It requires listening to stories that challenge our assumptions and policies that stretch our compassion.

It’s easy to hand out a few cans from our pantry. It’s much harder to walk alongside someone who is hungry — to learn their name, to share a meal, to see the world through their eyes.

But that’s the work Jesus calls us to.

The Cost of Real Compassion

True compassion will always cost us something. It will cost our comfort. It will cost our time. It will sometimes cost our reputation.

Charity makes us feel like heroes. Justice reminds us we’re neighbors.

The early church understood this. They didn’t just give handouts — they shared everything they had so that “there were no needy persons among them” (Acts 4:34). Their love was radical, their generosity sacrificial, and their witness powerful.

Imagine if the modern church looked like that again — not just known for what we’re against, but for the deep, dangerous love we live out in the world.

So, Is It Enough?

It’s time for some deep self-reflection. Is our church’s “help” for the poor just enough to make us feel good — or is it enough to make a real, lasting change?

If the church dares to live like Jesus — to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly — then maybe the world would finally see Him not just in our charity, but in our courage.

Because Jesus didn’t come to make us comfortable. He came to make us compassionate.

And compassion, when it’s real, always leads to justice.

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The Shaming of Single Moms

Today’s social media tragedy was a mom on Threads bashing single moms for ‘living off the system’ and getting thousands of dollars in SNAP, WIC, and LIHEAP benefits. This stigma isn’t just unfair, it’s rooted in outdated ideas and stereotypes and totally ignores the structural barriers single mothers face. As a single mom, I can tell you just how hard it is to work while being the primary parent without family support.

Where Did the Stigma Start?

Well, traditionally, the nuclear family (a mom, a dad, and a couple kids) was considered the perfect family. And until the 70s and 80s, many women were trapped in bad marriages because they couldn’t have a bank account in their name, couldn’t necessarily own property, and could be excluded from a job simply for being a woman. Our grandmas’ marriages weren’t ‘better’ – our grandmas were trapped because they had no options to survive without a husband.

When women finally could leave bad marriages, society didn’t celebrate their independence—it vilified it. Ronald Reagan started the stereotype of the ‘welfare queen’ on his political platform, and sadly, it stuck around. Even today, the media often portrays single moms as being irresponsible or a big drain on their community.

But here’s the thing. Women simply don’t leave good marriages. Divorce is hard; divorce with kids is even harder. If a woman has left a marriage, there’s a reason.

I can’t stand the thought that says “if you can’t pay for your kids, you shouldn’t have had them.” Okay, well, no one gets married and has kids expecting to end up a single mom. It just doesn’t work like that, but roughly 40 to 50% of marriages end in divorce, with the rate of divorce for second marriages being even higher according to Census and Pew Research data. And if the person you are marrying isn’t already a parent, you cannot possibly know how they will be as a parent. You might think you do, but there is actually no way to know for sure.

There are some harsh realities in our society that many don’t want to admit, especially conservatives who ascribe to a more patriarchal view of marriage.

The Pay Gap Is Real

Women still get paid less than men. Women make roughly 80 to 85% of what men make “depending on dataset (BLS, Pew). Women still bear the brunt of childcare responsibilities, even when they are married. And women are still more likely to stay home with their kids and experience career disruption, which makes it hard to return to the workforce if they end up divorced.

In a divorce situation, trends are showing that roughly 80% of mothers are the primary custodial parent. That means the moms have the kids most of the time, are primarily responsible for their day to day physical, health, and educational needs, and the dads legally are not required to take their parenting time. That leaves 50/50 custody to just a few – around the 20% mark.

Childcare Costs Are Astronomical

In 2023, the average US cost for childcare was $11,600 for one child for the year. It isn’t much better for school age children because it’s much harder and more expensive to find childcare that covers random half days, holidays, and you certainly aren’t going to find someone to stay home with their kids when they are sick.

That’s like paying an $11,000 tax per kid just to go to work.

In my family, which is larger than most, we generally have one doctor/dentist appointment per week, and from October to March, we typically have one child home sick per week. That’s a lot of missed school – and work. How is a mom supposed to hold down a full-time professional job if she has to miss that much work? Especially considering she didn’t choose to be a single mom – who would? Unless being single was significantly better than being married.

And since many moms, who sacrificed their careers to manage the kids and households so their husbands could have a career, find themselves going back into a job after not working, they aren’t going to just start getting professional level pay. And if you have to work around your kids’ schedules, you’re going to have to make even more compromises on what kind of a job you can take. Jobs that are flexible enough to work around kids don’t pay well.

Let’s Break It Down

For example, even working for the school district as a food service worker – you probably only make $14 to $16 an hour. Walmart – $18-$20. Amazon delivery- $20-$22.

If you made $20 an hour full-time with no missed days, you’d have about $41,000 gross. Minus taxes, you’d have about $36,000 left. Subtract $11,000 for childcare, and you’re done to $25,000 for the year. A little over $2,000 per month. Rent is easily $1500 per month. The USDA suggested amount for groceries – the bare minimum – $432 for a mom and a child. So just covering the cost of childcare, food, and housing leaves you with about $68 per month to cover utilities (heat and electric), health insurance, copays, school expenses, oh and you need transportation to work!

She may get a little child support, but that’s probably only several hundred dollars – according to the US Census Bureau, the average payment is $430 per month, if it comes in consistently. There is a lot of resentment towards paying child support. That’ll cover sneakers, clothes, sports fees, and school supplies. We all know that doesn’t go very far.

It isn’t doable. And that isn’t the mom’s fault – it’s that the entire system is stacked against her from the very moment she got pregnant. She isn’t mooching – she’s pinching every single penny and still not able to make it work.

Safety Nets

This is why our government has safety nets like SNAP, WIC, and LIHEAP. This is to help families, the disabled, the elderly – who just can’t survive. This is the government recognizing that many full-time jobs do not pay enough to survive on.

It’s sad that we shame single moms for needing help. They didn’t choose to have to live this way and the whole welfare queen stigma is a farce (a political stereotype that’s been kept alive for decades, often for partisan gain) even though fraud rates are incredibly low.

Let’s stop framing poverty as a moral failure. It isn’t. It’s a systemic problem that needs to be addressed at the corporate level. Let’s stop shaming single moms for not being able to work a full-time professional job while single-handedly raising kids. There just isn’t enough flex time, PTO, and vacation time to make that feasible.

Instead of looking down on single moms, get to know one. Offer to babysit (if appropriate), pick up groceries, mow the yard, teach a kid to drive, or help with school carpooling. And most of all, when you hear single moms being shamed, speak up! I promise – they’re doing their best to survive and raise some really good humans.

Single moms aren’t drains on society—they’re proof of its resilience.

When we invest in them, we invest in children, stability, and the future.

The real shame isn’t that moms need help—it’s that we make them feel ashamed for asking.

Edited: Shoutout to Jenn Riedy for catching my child support error! The average amount across the US is $430 per month, but that amount can vary widely depending on the number of kids, parents’ incomes, etc.

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Why Does America Hate Snap?

Scroll through any social feed and you’ll see the same fight: who ‘deserves’ help eating?

America. The wealthiest country in the world. The country whose capital is getting a golden ballroom. And the country that still debates whether hungry people deserve to eat. SNAP is under fire; it helps millions, yet it’s highly stigmatized to the point that everywhere you look, people are arguing about this much-needed safety net.

How is this evening happening? I guarantee that someone you know – and probably someone you like – is in a position to need them. They just don’t talk about it because of the stigma, vitriol, and misinformation from people who argue without doing their research.

Hopefully, by now, we all know that SNAP is federal nutrition assistance for low-income individuals and families. Its scope is quite large, considering that over 40 million Americans rely on it. That’s about 1 in 8 people. I’m sure you know more than 8 people, so there are probably a number of people that you know who quietly rely on SNAP. Maybe if you knew who they were, you’d have more compassion.

SNAP mostly benefits children, seniors, people with disabilities, and working families who struggle to bring in enough money. SNAP is just a supplement, though; it doesn’t fully cover food costs.

Myths That Won’t Die

I’ve heard so many tired arguments over why people should not be on SNAP. Misconceptions like:

• Most people on SNAP don’t work.

• It’s full of fraud and abuse.

• It’s a handout for people who won’t help themselves.

• It’s easy to qualify and live off the system.

• People are buying steak and lobster.

• They don’t want to pay for someone else to get free stuff.

But the truth is:

• Many recipients are employed, but their low-wage jobs don’t cover necessities. Corporations depend on SNAP to cover the difference so they can pay their employees less and get a tax break for doing so.

• Fraud rates are actually very low, as low as 1-2%. Most fraud comes from people skimming SNAP benefits. And once benefits are stolen, they’re not reimbursed.

• Most benefits go to children, people with disabilities, or older adults who cannot work.

• SNAP benefits average around $6 per person per day. That’s not enough to feed a person; it just helps.

So Why Are People So Angry?

So why all the resentment? It’s not really about the food.

• In America, poverty is framed as a personal or moral failure. If you’re poor, it’s your own fault for not working hard enough. You should suffer because you didn’t do the right things or you made bad choices. But that’s not actually true; poverty is a systemic issue because wages don’t keep up with the cost of living.

• I see a lot of hidden resentment. Some people feel left out for not getting the ‘free handouts’, so they have a deep-rooted “what about me attitude” that just fuels their hostility. Why should someone else get a handout when I work so hard?

• SNAP has gotten stuck in partisan identity. It’s becoming a political symbol, divided along party lines, rather than a practical tool to fight hunger.

• Racial and Class bias is fueled by stereotypes about who uses assistance, which just amplifies the stigma and the anger surrounding it.

• Media distortion portrays high rates of fraud that aren’t actually there. But people get angry thinking their tax dollars are being wasted on criminals.

The Application Gauntlet

The application process is not easy. You can file online, but the website is not very intuitive at all. The questions are complicated. You need to provide your income, your expenses, citizenship, criminal history, bank statements, assets, utility bills, W-2s, child support, and proof of all of it.

Different supervisors have different interpretations of what counts as evidence, so if you are self-employed or have adopted children, things can get very complicated. Then you have to do an interview, which can be done over the phone. But if you miss the call, you usually can’t call them back directly. You have to leave a message with the call center and wait for them to contact you again.

If your situation is complex, you may need to talk to the supervisor a few times. But you can never directly call a caseworker or supervisor. It takes about an hour to get through on the main number; they take a message for you and present it to the caseworker, who will call you back within 3 days. If you miss the call because you are working, it can take a long time to actually speak to a real person.

A lot of people never apply because the process is so overwhelming, and they may not even realize they are eligible. It usually takes a month for benefits to begin.

If you see figures flying around online, they usually use the ‘max amount’ as evidence that people get ‘too much’ SNAP. But almost no one gets the max amount. It’s usually around $6 per person per day, which is very little compared to today’s cost of groceries. But SNAP is awarded on a sliding scale: higher income means fewer SNAP benefits, and lower income means more SNAP benefits. So someone just below the threshold may only get a few dollars in assistance each month, yet people get upset about that.

The Real Numbers

• About 41 million Americans use SNAP (roughly 1 in 😎.

• Around 65% of recipients are children, seniors, or people with disabilities.

• Fraud rates are under 2%.

• Economic benefit: Every $1 in SNAP generates about $1.50–$1.80 in economic activity through grocers and local economies.

• Lifting power: SNAP kept nearly 3 million people out of poverty in 2022.

• Undocumented immigrants do not get SNAP.

Why It All Matters

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs states that kids need to be fed before they can learn. Adults need to be fed before they can work. But SNAP offers more than that. It offers stability. It helps people recover from poverty. It improves morale. It even keeps people alive.

Food insecurity and poverty are public health issues. It affects health, education, productivity, and family stability. You simply won’t have the energy to work hard or even concentrate if you are hungry. If you want people to work, they need to be fed enough to be able to do it.

I once knew a single mom who did everything she could to make it on her own. She made so many sacrifices, including barely heating her apartment, doing things in the dark because she didn’t want to use the lights, and ‘holding it’ so she could save pennies by not flushing the toilet. Imagine trying to make dinner for your toddler in the dark, risking bladder infections to save pennies so you have enough money to feed your child. That isn’t living, and that shouldn’t be happening in America when we have the means to stop it. The only thing we are actually lacking is compassion.

If you’re angry about SNAP, that reflects more on your personal beliefs about poverty than on the SNAP program. We have got to stop judging every minute detail of someone’s life just because they receive assistance. Let the experts handle that, trust me, they go through a complicated process to get those benefits.

We need to stop arguing and start looking for ways to make real change so people can thrive without assistance. We need to raise the minimum wage to a livable level, ensure affordable health care for all, and work together as a society.

If you’re angry about SNAP, channel it into curiosity. Look up how it actually works. Talk to someone who uses it.

Compassion and facts do more good than outrage ever will.

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With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Do you think it’s ethical to be a billionaire? When I was younger, I thought people could just be as rich as they wanted. And to a point, I still don’t care if people make more money than I do. But I don’t think it is possible to become a billionaire without doing it on the backs of the people that work for you. And this is one of the main reasons that we have billionaires and still have 42 million people who need SNAP just to survive.

When I was younger, I also fell for Dave Ramsey’s Baby steps. I thought if I just did what he said, I would be able to afford everything I needed to afford. But his version of money management only works if you are mismanaging money and make enough. It doesn’t work if you’re not making enough salary to sustain yourself. (We don’t have to talk about how I got sick because I followed his grocery shopping advice either). I felt a lot of shame because his money advice, which is the ‘gold standard’ for evangelical Christians, didn’t work for me. I worked in non-profit and just didn’t make enough money to get by. No amount of skipping lattes can make up for that.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and has been since 2009. Thankfully, most places don’t pay minimum wage. In Pennsylvania, Walmart averages $16 and maybe $18 an hour. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the purchasing power of that standard has dropped significantly. I’ve been trying to find out what the minimum wage ‘should’ be, if it had kept up with inflation and productivity, and I’m seeing figures around $26 an hour.

But guess what: the price of housing has doubled since 2009.

So not only have wages not kept up with inflation, they really haven’t kept up with the cost of housing. People who bought homes in 2009 have much lower costs for housing than people trying to buy homes or rent apartments now.

It’s no wonder people are struggling – they are having to work for amounts of money that simply can’t sustain them.

And here’s the big BUT. Large companies – like McDonalds, Walmart, and Amazon – are raking in the profits. Their business model depends on low wage workers doing the labor. These companies know that their workers earn so little that they require government assistance to survive.

So if you are angry at people who need food stamps, your angry is sadly misplaced. These big corporations lobby congress to keep that minimum wage low and to get themselves tax breaks. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a federal tax break given to companies who hire people who receive SNAP benefits. AHEM!!! Are you paying attention?

Walmart gets a tax break when they hire people who use SNAP. Walmart pays so little that its workers continue to need SNAP. And then those same workers go back and buy their groceries at Walmart with SNAP. (Walmart accounts for about 25% of all SNAP use).

This means that Walmart basically gets 3 separate advantages for keeping their workers low-paid. Meanwhile, the Waltons are worth about $432 billion. How is this ok?

Amazon pays its warehouse workers around $20 an hour, maybe up to $23. That’s still not enough to keep up with inflation. They know this. But hey, Jeff Bezos is worth over $220 billion. He easily dropped somewhere between 20 and 50 million dollars for his Venice wedding.

We can also talk about Elon Musk, who is on target to become the first trillionaire ever. He has more money than he can actually spend, why does he even need more?

Let’s contrast these folks with the Carnegie family. Andrew Carnegie was one of the richest men in history after building a steel empire. He sold his company, and do you know what he did? He funded libraries, colleges, and international peace efforts.

You may be familiar with Carnegie Hall or the Carnegie libraries. Do you know Makenzie Scott (Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife) who has given away over $19 billion (thanks to her shares in Amazon). At 82 years old, Judy Fualkner has pledged to give away 99% of her almost 8-billion-dollar fortune. There are some good people out there – just not enough of them.

Billie Eillish was right to call out the billionaires. A gutsy move for someone so young, but she is dead on. I agree with her – why are you even billionaires? You don’t need that much money. (I’m looking at you, Zuckerburg).

And many corporations depend on a business plan that sadly keeps low wage earners stuck on government benefits. The problem isn’t the workers – it’s the companies refusing to pay a living wage while still raking in the profit. And we all know that money is power.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” That is one of my all-time favorite quotes, and it comes, of all places, from Spiderman. If we want to get our citizens off of government assistance, we need our corporations to take responsibility for the problems they’ve created.

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What’s a Living Wage?

The federal poverty line is $15, 650 per year for a single person. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and has been since 2009. If you work 40 hours per week, every week of the year (no sick days, no holidays etc), you will make a grand total of $15,080 per year (gross, meaning before taxes are taken out).

If you are a single person, and you make double the minimum wage (which is roughly what big box stores like Walmart, Target pay) you might still qualify for SNAP benefits. What does this say? This says that double the minimum wage is still not a living wage. Remember, these figures don’t account for sick days, store closures for holidays, etc.

That is for one single person working full time.

Let’s say you make $15 per hour. If you work 40 hours per week, you’ll make $2400 for the month if you don’t miss any days due to illness, etc. (40 hours per week, 4 weeks in the month – keeping figures simple here).

Your tax rate will be somewhere between 18-22%, so for the sake of math, let’s say 20%.

So your take-home pay will be $1,920.

If you live in downtown Allentown, you MIGHT be able to get an apartment for $1000 a month. Where I live you are unlikely to find a place for less than $1500.

That leaves you with $920. You need some utilities: internet, electric, phone, and some sort of heat source. If you use Mint Mobile, you can get some slightly sketchy internet and cell phone service for about $45 per month. Your electric will likely be $100 and more if you have electric heat.

Now you are down to $775. But you still need insurance and transportation.

My cheap car insurance on an old, paid-for van and a clean record is $75 per month. Car maintenance can easily cost $100 per month (just think how often you need routine items like tires, brakes, oil change, etc). The average amount spent on gas is around $150 per month.

If you go to the USDA website and look at their food plans, a 20-50 year old male would need at minimum (the cheapest food there is) $310 a month for food.

If your employer sponsors your health care, you might be able to get a basic plan with minimum coverage for $110.

Now you are left with $30 in the month, as long as you haven’t had any sick days, flat tires, you don’t have any credit cards, school loans, or a car payment.

That $30 has to cover everything else – toilet paper, laundry soap, shampoo and conditioner, and an occasional bottle of Pepto Bismal or Draino.

Or say a $10 per month rental insurance plan which might be required by your landlord. A new pair of sneakers once in a while, since you’re probably on your feet all day if you work for $15 an hour. This budget doesn’t include water, sewer, trash pickup – hopefully that’s all included in your rent, but it might not be.

You can’t afford to go to McDonald’s even once, get a parking ticket, give to your favorite charity, or buy your mom flowers for Mother’s Day. No Christmas presents. No new clothes. No Netflix. No extras to make you feel better about life. Your apartment doesn’t have a washer and dryer – so off you go to the laundry mat. How much does that cost?

This doesn’t give you room to save for an emergency fund, retirement, or a new car. If you do any of that, you’ll need a second job. You won’t have time to go to school to get a better job because you’re working so hard already.

And even if you have health insurance, you can’t afford the copay. You can’t even afford to be sick since you can’t take any days off of work. Dave Ramsey says skip the latte, eat rice and beans and you’ll build the American Dream. Dave Ramsey is dead wrong because wages haven’t kept up with the cost of housing, and this is our problem.

The reason SO MANY people in America – like 42 million – need SNAP and medical assistance is because they cannot make a living wage. Meanwhile, profits for the shareholders of large companies like McDonald’s, Walmart, Amazon, just to name a few – are raking it in on the backs of people just trying to get by. I’m not anti-capitalism here, but it absolutely needs to be bridled if we don’t want people needing more government assistance.

Someone making $15 an hour as a single person MIGHT quality for SNAP – at about $24 a month. Less than $1 a day. Maybe they get some extra protein for that, or a bag of apples and some salad. But they aren’t getting rich. They’re barely getting by. A can of chicken is $3.99, a bag of apples is about $4.99. It doesn’t cover much.

People can’t pull themselves up by their bootstraps – the don’t even make enough money to afford the boots! We need to seriously consider what is a living wage and who deserves to earn one. (Hint: it’s not just the people at the top).

By the way, if you make $15 an hour, at the end of the day, you’ll bring home $96 max after taxes. Congress, on the other hand, gets $79 for lunch every day they show up to work. And that isn’t their paycheck. That’s just their lunch.

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Food Insecurity

If only there were organizations that could collect wasted food and hand it out to people who need it… oh wait, there are! Food banks and food pantries are a great way to get food to the masses who need it. But… there’s always a but…

Roughly 1 in 12 people rely on SNAP monthly. 1 in 7 people use a food bank at some point each year. This means people you know are food insecure. Let me say it again – people you know are food insecure. Studies on the USDA website say it’s around 18% of households with children that have food insecurity, and the parents are more likely to go hungry because the adults don’t eat so that their kids can.

Pennsylvania ranks better than most of the US as far as food insecurity goes. Our state has a number of programs to support people in food insecure homes. For example, universal free breakfast is available at all public schools in Pa, giving students the opportunity to learn with a full belly. They also provide a number of state grants to counties to support food charities, known as the State Food Purchase Program (Pa is the leader in this program!). But even with all of this help, food pantries really are just a supplement and don’t provide enough food for a family that is hungry.

You can find food pantries near you by visiting 211.org or feedingamerica.org. Some of these organizations are able to work with grocery stores that would otherwise have to throw the food away. In Pa, at least, it is legal for food pantries to give away food that is past its best buy date, as long as it appears to still be good. The exceptions are baby food and formula, vitamins, or medicine.

But don’t just go raid your pantry for last year’s somewhat smashed box of taco shells. If it isn’t appetizing to you, why on earth would you expect someone that is food insecure to eat it? Don’t they deserve the dignity of good food, too?

And while some people truthfully enjoy shopping for others, the absolute best way to support a food pantry usually is to give your cash. Somehow, a lot of people feel better about handing out a few cans of black beans when your $20 would go much further in the hands of a food pantry.

The reality is that a food pantry has significantly better purchasing power than a single person. So putting the cash in their hands gives them the opportunity to buy in bulk, buy at wholesale prices, or get special deals that normal people aren’t eligible for. People who work or volunteer regularly at food pantries have a better pulse on what’s really needed rather than what the average joe thinks someone else should eat.

And when people donate random items, it’s harder for food pantries to put together usable meals. One influencer spent $25 on a mystery box at his food pantry (yes he had to pay for this one) and ended up with 30 pounds of croutons. This is what happens when food pantries can’t make decisions for themselves about what to purchase and distribute.

If you do have miscellaneous food to move from your pantry, consider offering it in your local buy nothing group. Often times, people who are in immediate need will post looking for specific items or any items available and you can offer what’s in your pantry to them.

If you really want to get grassroots and boots on the ground, offer to drive for your local food pantry. They sometimes need people willing to go to the grocery store to collect items and then deliver it to the pantry where it can be distributed. Or perhaps you want to box items or be someone who actually hands it off to people who are in need.

At this moment in time, it looks like only 50% of the SNAP funds will be delivered in the month of November. Gov. Shapiro has made an emergency order to get more funding to food banks. But food pantries are going to be overrun and probably still won’t be able to fulfill the needs. So if you’ve got more than enough, consider calling up your local food pantry and seeing what they need.

Thanksgiving is around the corner and Christmas and Hannukah are not far away. Now is the time to share not just your old leftovers, but your cash.

Real people are in real need and it’s going to get worse as the month goes on.

So if you want to help – and I hope you do- call up your local food pantry and ask what they need. And while you’re out there dropping it off, check on your neighbor. You never know who might be going hungry today.

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The Poor Tax

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You’ve probably heard of the ‘pink tax’ – where manufacturers will make something in pink or even something breast-cancer related and charge extra for it.

The poor tax is even more insidious.

The poor tax refers to the phenomenon that it actually costs more to be poor than to be middle or upper class. So if you’re wondering why poor people can’t just ‘do better’ – this is one of the reasons.

For example, if your grocery budget is small, you’re being as frugal as you can. But you don’t have any money to buy more than exactly what you need. So maybe you buy smaller packages with less food in them – but food packaged that way actually costs more per ounce. You don’t have extra cash to take advantage of sales, either. Whereas someone with a little room in their food budget, or someone who has a full pantry they can rely on, can stock up on major sales. They might be able to buy a month’s worth of cereal when it’s only 1.77 a box, but someone who is poor can only buy one because there’s no wiggle room to stock up, even though it would save money in the long run. So although they are spending less per week they are paying more for the food they actually eat.

Someone who has a lower income is usually paid by the hour, which means if they have to miss work due to anything from the flu to jury duty, they’re out an entire day or more worth of income. That’s a big deal, so maybe they have to put this week’s groceries on the credit card. But because their income is low and their credit isn’t great, their interest rate is 34%, which makes that food cost 1/3 more! They’re trying to make the payments, but just putting a little bit of food on that card has maxed it out, because low income means a low credit card limit. So their score drops even more, and their interest rate might go up even further.

Now that they’ve missed work and have another bill to pay, they accidentally overdraw their account. Now, on top of being short money already, they have to pay a $35 per day fee for overdrawing their bank account. Where are they going to get the extra funds?

If you only make $15 an hour – which is double minimum wage by the way- it’s going to take you a long time to recover from even missing a couple days of work.

You’re trying hard to build up an emergency fund, but if you get more than $3000 in the bank – which is less than say first and last months rent if you need to move to a new apartment – you lose your SNAP benefits. So you can’t just move and find a cheaper place to live, you’re stuck where you are. Because if you save up money and lose snap, you’ll have to use that money for food.

Let’s talk about cars! You had an old but very reliable car to get back and forth to work. It wasn’t fancy, but it was paid off. You get rear ended at a stop sign, and because the car is old, the insurance company considered it totaled. They gave you $2000 to buy a new car. So you search FB marketplace and you put that money plus all your savings into the best car you can find. You don’t have money to get it checked out by a mechanic first, so you pick one that looks reliable and has an up-to-date inspection sticker.

You drive the car for 2 months, but you didn’t realize that the car was never maintained and the transmission goes. Your savings are gone, your car is too expensive to fix, and now you can’t get to work. What do you do?

Uber is expensive. You can’t afford that. It’s too far to walk because you can’t afford to live near where you work. Oh, and since you live in a semi-rural area (the only place you could afford) there are no buses. You can ride your bike, but the road is sketchy and all of the drivers get mad at you because there isn’t a shoulder to ride on. What do you do? (This is a true story, btw, although it didn’t happen to me).

Your only option now is to finance a car. So you go to a sketchy car dealership and they do give you a $2000 car, but they charge extra fees because you don’t have a downpayment. It has an R title because it was underwater once and everything smells bad.

And because your credit cards are maxed from buying groceries when you were sick, your interest rate is 29% over 3 years. How much more does that car cost verses someone who was able to buy a newer car at a much lower interest rate?

These are just a few real life examples of why it costs much more to be poor. Just getting a few hundred dollars of SNAP benefits a month doesn’t make up for this low-paying, hourly income and the extra cost of goods. You would love to enroll in school so you could get a better job, but you can’t afford it. And who would watch your kids while you go to class? It’s hard enough working while they’re in school, with all of the half days, holidays, and sick days. What do you do?

How are you supposed to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when there aren’t options for you to do so? You’re not lazy at all, you work really hard at your job and you show up. But you are stuck and worse, you are hated because you can’t ‘do better.’

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Who Deserves to Eat?

Who deserves to eat? Moreover, who gets to decide who eats? And what are the determining factors?

Does where you live determine whether you should be able to eat or not?

Does how much money you make determine whether you should eat or not?

Does your level of productivity determine if you should eat or not?

If you discovered your aging parent was missing meals because they didn’t have enough food, wouldn’t you bring them a hot meal? Or maybe you found out your college-age kid wasn’t getting enough meals at school- you’d probably send them a great big care package.

But what the grandma whose kids have moved away and she has no one to bring her food that covers the hungry times? What about the 20 year old who is on their own, doing their best, but still going hungry?

What precludes you from being worthy of enough calories?

People are quick to say work harder, get a better job, work more hours….

Imagine you are a single mom through no fault of your own. Child care costs as much as your mortgage, so in order to go to work you need someone to watch your children. If you don’t have family or friends that are able or willing to babysit regularly, you’re going to have to have a job that makes enough money to cover the all of the costs. This is hard enough for households with 2 working parents, but somehow our society expects single moms to do it alone without help and without complaining because “they chose this.”

Even if your children are school age, you still need after school care, which is more expensive per hour. But let’s not miss out on all of the half days, holidays, school programs, conferences, IEP meetings, and it’s not forget sick days, checkups, and dentist appointments. If your child or children have special needs, the number of appointments can easily triple or more. If they need speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational theory or other things, these are weekly appointments that can make it nearly impossible to work. Does that mom and child deserve to not eat because they have to spend all their business hours trying to get well?

Do homeless people deserve to eat? 50% of homeless people actually have jobs. They’re trying, they just don’t make enough money to afford a place to eat and live. They’re working but finding it impossible to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Do they deserve to eat?

What about addicts? Addiction is a disease. Yes, it may come with a lot of bad choices and mistakes but underneath that disease is another human being just trying to get through life the best way they know how. Do you really mean it when you say they don’t deserve to eat? Maybe a few hot meals, a chance to learn that there is some good in this world would give them the energy and security to invest themselves in rehab (which is another issue – rehab is expensive and hard and that’s not their fault).

Who decides what people get to eat? A creator on instagram said people on snap should be given a box of only healthy fresh foods. But here’s the thing…. processed foods are literally cheaper and they are much more shelf stable. Why on earth would you buy fresh meat or veggies that would go bad in a couple days when you could buy much cheaper noodles or even potato chips which will stay good for months? Furthermore, food is cultural and what is considered healthy in one area might not be the same in another area. Or even available. About 6% of the United States lives in a food desert – defined as a place where there isn’t easy access to healthy food or good quality fresh food. So do these people not deserve to eat?

Have you ever eaten a piece of chocolate to make yourself feel better? Or gone out to eat after a stressful day because you’re just worn out? Do you only deserve this kind of comfort if you are a certain social or economic status? or is it ok for a small child to eat a cookie after a long day at school?

We don’t need to police WHO gets to eat or WHAT they want to eat. Let’s just make sure that everyone has the opportunity to eat.

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Shady AI Videos

This shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. There are a number of AI-created videos rolling around on TikTok and Instagram solely for the purpose of perpetuating the myth of the welfare queen.

These videos usually portray a non-white, non-skinny, non-educated person crashing out at the cash register over frozen food stamps. They’re threatening to steal food or cause harm. There are a few variations and they just seem to further ignite hatred towards people who get assistance and push the stereotype about who gets help and why. That’s the whole point.

These videos are shared by creators looking to get extra views by promoting harmful stereotypes. Don’t fall for it! AI is quickly improving in its capabilities and the best thing you can do is arm yourself against falling for it.

Remember, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Maybe you’ve seen videos of a small child being rescued from a tree falling by a dog. Another video depicts a bull defending a toddler from another bull. Bunnies or raccoons jumping on a trampoline. Grandma taking a herd of cats on leashes for a walk. And my personal fav, Grandma getting in trouble with the police for feeding a bear.

How can you tell if it isn’t real?

Look for a watermark or a blurry spot where someone used poor editing to erase a watermark.

Look for a timestamp that doesn’t make sense.

Watch for strange body parts – such as odd shaped fingers and hands, a weird arm, etc.

Keep your eye on the background – parts will move or not move in ways you would expect.

Watch facial expressions – those faces may look overly botoxed, filtered, – AI doesn’t make the face move as much as it normally would.

Any unusual artifact – objects in the video don’t look right, the video may be blurred in areas you would expect detail, or you may see spots where the AI didn’t generate everything that should be there.

Security cameras. The trampoline bunnies look like the footage came from a Ring camera at night – this is intentional, because it’s easier to cover up the AI mistakes. Also, the videos of animals bringing random animals into their owner’s beds – these are AI. Who films their bed with a security camera while they are sleeping?

Things that are out of character. I watched a video of Mr. Rogers crashing out and screaming obscenities. That is completely out of character for his personality, both real and on-screen.

If you have to question if it’s AI, it probably is.

AI videos are a lot of fun to play with but they can be very damaging, especially when they are used to further stereotypes that can cause significant harm to people (imagine the ramifications of the ‘welfare queen’ video or a video of real person doing something illegal they never actually did).

Use your common sense and please stop the stereotype narratives at every opportunity.

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How Much Do You Spend on Food?

How much do you actually spend on food? How do you compare to the national average?

The USDA offers several food budget suggestions based on the national cost of groceries. You can find it here: https://www.fns.usda.gov/…/cost-food-monthly-reports.

The thrifty plan is the cheapest budget, and you wouldn’t be able to afford organic or luxury foods on this level, it’s just the absolute cheapest most basic amount that the government thinks you should be spending on groceries. They even break it down according to age. Check it out and see where you fall! Then think about SNAP benefits – because SNAP doesn’t cover the entire amount of a thrifty food plan. So the government knows that this amount doesn’t fully cover your food for the month, it’s a supplement.

You have to reapply for snap benefits every 6 months and if you don’t complete your application on time, you lose them. In order to apply, you have to fill out a pretty large packet of information, which can be especially challenging if English isn’t your first language or you don’t have a good education. The directions are pretty confusing, and you will also need to include verification – copies of your bank statements, maybe your mortgage or rent, your utilities, etc. If you don’t have a computer or internet access, it is harder and slower to apply.

Also, you cannot directly call the Department of Human Services or the caseworker that you are assigned. You have to call the call center, and you wait on hold for about an hour. Then you speak to a call center rep who will take your information and forward it to right person. I think they have 3 days to call you back and if you miss the call, you have to start all over again. And if you’re at work you might not be able to answer your phone, so it could literally take you weeks to actually discuss your case with someone who can help you. But the caseworkers don’t make the decision, the supervisors do, and you don’t get to speak with them.

If you don’t upload the right documents, they will reject your case but until you get a chance to speak with someone, you might not even know why your case was rejected. If you are self-employed or a contractor, it’s even harder to prove your income. Last year’s tax returns aren’t enough, you need last months paystubs. If you don’t get paystubs, you’ll have to work with a caseworker to figure out what type of documentation is acceptable, because it isn’t always the same based on your particular supervisor for your case.

Getting – and keeping – SNAP benefits just isn’t that easy. And you likely have to miss work time to get them done because caseworkers are only available during business hours. You have to jump through a lot of hoops.

You aren’t getting rich off of benefits. One woman used her SNAP benefits to make baked goods to sell in order to help her family. As far as I can tell from the story, her intentions were wholesome. But she got caught, was arrested, and may face up to 10 years in prison. If you commit fraud trying to get SNAP, you may have to pay them back, pay fines, face jail, or get booted off the program for life.

Two judges voted that the president must release the emergency funds earmarked for keeping SNAP going through a government shutdown. Hopefully, he complies, but even if he does, SNAP benefits will be delivered late this month.

People are quick to judge what SNAP users put in their grocery cars, but the reality is that food is more than filling bellies. It is security. It is health. It is comfort. It’s a little bit of hope. A little bit of joy.