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I approach this topic with a fair amount of reluctance, because these days it seems that criticizing something automatically means you are in favor of the thing they're working to stop. So I'm going to criticize an organization the is dedicated to stopping childhood hunger. This does not mean I am in favor of hungry children.
The Montana Partnership to End Childhood Hunger appears to be intertwined with a national network (as well as other related organizations) that may or may not be working to end childhood hunger. Most certainly they're working for government funding, even lobbying the Montana Legislature.
My suspicion is that this tangled web of organizations is connected by individuals who sit on various boards with the objective of making the effort seem larger and more important. It appears that these organizations might be working the system to get the flow of money going from private parties, businesses, and government. And because it's "for the children," there is many a sympathetic ear.
I looked around quite a bit at the various organizations, and it appears that very few of them are actually supplying meals to children.
Let's look at the article:
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It is 6:30 a.m. and parents in many Montana homes are waking up their kids, while, preparing a simple breakfast of cereal, milk and fruit for them before they leave for school. Now imagine a home where mom had to leave for work at 6 a.m., and dad came home from work at 11:30 p.m. the night before and is trying to rest. The children need to wake themselves up, get dressed, and eat before leaving for school if there’s food and enough time. (The first thrust is the sob story. Here is where the tragedy is laid out for you so that your heart strings are pulled.) Dinner the night before may have been pasta and sauce with a small glass of milk. That will not hold them until it is time for school lunch the next day, unless the school has a breakfast program. (A curious hypothetical is presented. I guess the point is to suggest that children might not be getting enough to eat, even though they are not hungry.
I'm just kind of uncomfortable with the example. It suggests that these groups have the right to ascertain the propriety of nutrition being provided and intervene in the family structure as a result. This is not troubling until you realize how dependent these organizations are on government programs and funding. This means the possibility exists for the power of government to be brought to bear on families to measure up to certain standards of face sanctions.)
This scenario is all too familiar for thousands of Montana families, including single-parent families, trying to earn a living while having enough time and money to ensure that kids are properly fed. This situation plays out year round but becomes particularly challenging on weekends, school holidays or during summer when school is out because children are home, parents are working and there is little food at home. It is equally challenging for children coming home from day care to find there is no food for supper. (Of course there is hunger in America. But there really shouldn't be. There are so many programs, charities, and churches feeding people that a person would have to willfully avoid opportunities to be fed. It isn't a case of not being able to access food. That's why I wonder if this organization is more about fund raising than actually feeding children.)
The Montana Partnership to End Childhood Hunger is holding a statewide summit at Montana State University in Bozeman on Sept. 23 and 24 to bring this issue to light and to demonstrate pathways to end child hunger. (I don't think it's possible to end hunger. It sounds wonderful, but as a practical matter there will always be nutritional deficiencies. But beyond that, the activists will always need a cause, like the race baiters who ostensibly are trying to eradicate racism but make their living fomenting resentment and hatred. It keeps the money rolling in.) The summit will showcase best practices toward ending childhood hunger, create opportunities to meet others from their community, and provide resources to initiate public and private community action. Lori Silverbush, co-director of the film, “A Place at the Table” will be the keynote speaker and lead a discussion of the varied aspects of child hunger in the nation.
In Montana, more than one in five children — nearly 48,000 struggle with hunger and food insecurity. Food insecurity means limited or inconsistent access to healthy and nutritious food for growing children. Hungry children come from hungry families. Income is the single largest factor in determining if a family will have enough healthy food. Studies by the Montana Food Bank Network have shown repeatedly that families feel compelled to first use their limited dollars on rent, utilities, child care, medical costs, transportation, and other fixed expenses, with little money left for food. (Here's a hint at the underlying agenda - wealth disparity. This is a big issue for the Left. They really believe that every problem will be solved if everyone had the same amount of money.)
The impact of food insecurity in children is serious and unacceptable.Lack of good nutrition effects their growth and development from infancy on, reduces immunity, increases sick days in school, increases risk of repeated grades and lowers chances of graduation. Food insecurity affects health by increasing the risk of children developing chronic diseases and obesity. Hungry children also show multiple social and behavioral problems that in turn impact their academic success. This reduces their potential for future education or learning a trade, becoming part of the state’s workforce, and achieving economic independence as adults. (Thinking back to when I was a kid, we were poor. I didn't realize it at the time, but I can remember many times when we had only the most basic of necessities. Before my time, back in the Depression, people were desperately poor. But there was no crime spree. Kids behaved in school. So many of them grew out of desperate circumstances to become the captains of industry, innovators, scientists, and businesspeople. This is not to say that poverty is good, but it ain't necessarily bad...)
There are those who claim that poor families should pull themselves up from their bootstraps and solve their own problems. (Who claims this? Name someone, anyone. I'd wager that the writers would not be able to name a single person who believes this.) To do that, a family needs boots to begin with. This includes a living wage (Ah, here we go. A living wage is code for wealth disparity that needs to be remedied by government redistribution programs. It isn't fair that some people have to work so hard for so little, while others have been born with a silver spoon in their mouths!) that can meet the growing cost of food, housing and transportation, as well as affordable health care. (Strike two. See how this is interrelated? Obamacare is here to save the day.) Parents are the first and most important providers for food for their children, but are struggling to make ends meet. (Unfortunately due to the very redistributionist practices that got them, and us, into this financial mess. And they want more!)
Child hunger affects not just the family, but the community and state. Children are the future workers in the state, and the ability to acquire proper knowledge and skills in the early years can have lasting benefits for our economic progress in the future. Good nutrition is a key building block in a child’s life to maximize assurance of their future. Business leaders have a critical role in assuring the vitality of our future workers.
The good news is that there is tremendous work being done in the state to end child hunger. This will be showcased at the “Build a Stronger Montana: End Childhood Hunger Summit.” We encourage employers, faith groups, service organizations, health professionals, non-profit groups and others to attend this conference and learn about opportunities to resolve this problem in their own communities. For more information or to register for the Summit, go to https://tofu.msu.montana.edu/cs/childhunger2013.
We can end child hunger in Montana but it will take the combined efforts of all sectors in the community and state to develop sustainable solutions.
Minkie Medora and Lisa Lee are cochairs of the Montana Partnership to End Childhood Hunger. (And Ms. Medora is a board member of the Montana Food Bank Network, which also apparently receives government funding.
The Montana Partnership to End Childhood Hunger appears to be intertwined with a national network (as well as other related organizations) that may or may not be working to end childhood hunger. Most certainly they're working for government funding, even lobbying the Montana Legislature.
My suspicion is that this tangled web of organizations is connected by individuals who sit on various boards with the objective of making the effort seem larger and more important. It appears that these organizations might be working the system to get the flow of money going from private parties, businesses, and government. And because it's "for the children," there is many a sympathetic ear.
I looked around quite a bit at the various organizations, and it appears that very few of them are actually supplying meals to children.
Let's look at the article:
--------------------------
It is 6:30 a.m. and parents in many Montana homes are waking up their kids, while, preparing a simple breakfast of cereal, milk and fruit for them before they leave for school. Now imagine a home where mom had to leave for work at 6 a.m., and dad came home from work at 11:30 p.m. the night before and is trying to rest. The children need to wake themselves up, get dressed, and eat before leaving for school if there’s food and enough time. (The first thrust is the sob story. Here is where the tragedy is laid out for you so that your heart strings are pulled.) Dinner the night before may have been pasta and sauce with a small glass of milk. That will not hold them until it is time for school lunch the next day, unless the school has a breakfast program. (A curious hypothetical is presented. I guess the point is to suggest that children might not be getting enough to eat, even though they are not hungry.
I'm just kind of uncomfortable with the example. It suggests that these groups have the right to ascertain the propriety of nutrition being provided and intervene in the family structure as a result. This is not troubling until you realize how dependent these organizations are on government programs and funding. This means the possibility exists for the power of government to be brought to bear on families to measure up to certain standards of face sanctions.)
This scenario is all too familiar for thousands of Montana families, including single-parent families, trying to earn a living while having enough time and money to ensure that kids are properly fed. This situation plays out year round but becomes particularly challenging on weekends, school holidays or during summer when school is out because children are home, parents are working and there is little food at home. It is equally challenging for children coming home from day care to find there is no food for supper. (Of course there is hunger in America. But there really shouldn't be. There are so many programs, charities, and churches feeding people that a person would have to willfully avoid opportunities to be fed. It isn't a case of not being able to access food. That's why I wonder if this organization is more about fund raising than actually feeding children.)
The Montana Partnership to End Childhood Hunger is holding a statewide summit at Montana State University in Bozeman on Sept. 23 and 24 to bring this issue to light and to demonstrate pathways to end child hunger. (I don't think it's possible to end hunger. It sounds wonderful, but as a practical matter there will always be nutritional deficiencies. But beyond that, the activists will always need a cause, like the race baiters who ostensibly are trying to eradicate racism but make their living fomenting resentment and hatred. It keeps the money rolling in.) The summit will showcase best practices toward ending childhood hunger, create opportunities to meet others from their community, and provide resources to initiate public and private community action. Lori Silverbush, co-director of the film, “A Place at the Table” will be the keynote speaker and lead a discussion of the varied aspects of child hunger in the nation.
In Montana, more than one in five children — nearly 48,000 struggle with hunger and food insecurity. Food insecurity means limited or inconsistent access to healthy and nutritious food for growing children. Hungry children come from hungry families. Income is the single largest factor in determining if a family will have enough healthy food. Studies by the Montana Food Bank Network have shown repeatedly that families feel compelled to first use their limited dollars on rent, utilities, child care, medical costs, transportation, and other fixed expenses, with little money left for food. (Here's a hint at the underlying agenda - wealth disparity. This is a big issue for the Left. They really believe that every problem will be solved if everyone had the same amount of money.)
The impact of food insecurity in children is serious and unacceptable.Lack of good nutrition effects their growth and development from infancy on, reduces immunity, increases sick days in school, increases risk of repeated grades and lowers chances of graduation. Food insecurity affects health by increasing the risk of children developing chronic diseases and obesity. Hungry children also show multiple social and behavioral problems that in turn impact their academic success. This reduces their potential for future education or learning a trade, becoming part of the state’s workforce, and achieving economic independence as adults. (Thinking back to when I was a kid, we were poor. I didn't realize it at the time, but I can remember many times when we had only the most basic of necessities. Before my time, back in the Depression, people were desperately poor. But there was no crime spree. Kids behaved in school. So many of them grew out of desperate circumstances to become the captains of industry, innovators, scientists, and businesspeople. This is not to say that poverty is good, but it ain't necessarily bad...)
There are those who claim that poor families should pull themselves up from their bootstraps and solve their own problems. (Who claims this? Name someone, anyone. I'd wager that the writers would not be able to name a single person who believes this.) To do that, a family needs boots to begin with. This includes a living wage (Ah, here we go. A living wage is code for wealth disparity that needs to be remedied by government redistribution programs. It isn't fair that some people have to work so hard for so little, while others have been born with a silver spoon in their mouths!) that can meet the growing cost of food, housing and transportation, as well as affordable health care. (Strike two. See how this is interrelated? Obamacare is here to save the day.) Parents are the first and most important providers for food for their children, but are struggling to make ends meet. (Unfortunately due to the very redistributionist practices that got them, and us, into this financial mess. And they want more!)
Child hunger affects not just the family, but the community and state. Children are the future workers in the state, and the ability to acquire proper knowledge and skills in the early years can have lasting benefits for our economic progress in the future. Good nutrition is a key building block in a child’s life to maximize assurance of their future. Business leaders have a critical role in assuring the vitality of our future workers.
The good news is that there is tremendous work being done in the state to end child hunger. This will be showcased at the “Build a Stronger Montana: End Childhood Hunger Summit.” We encourage employers, faith groups, service organizations, health professionals, non-profit groups and others to attend this conference and learn about opportunities to resolve this problem in their own communities. For more information or to register for the Summit, go to https://tofu.msu.montana.edu/cs/childhunger2013.
We can end child hunger in Montana but it will take the combined efforts of all sectors in the community and state to develop sustainable solutions.
Minkie Medora and Lisa Lee are cochairs of the Montana Partnership to End Childhood Hunger. (And Ms. Medora is a board member of the Montana Food Bank Network, which also apparently receives government funding.
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