The Psychology of Politics
The importance of federal nutrition programs and the people who benefit
It was a weird feeling to be volunteering at a food drive on the same day that President Trump paused funding with the potential to impact key food programs in the country. Someone I was volunteering asked, “what do you make of it?”
“They just don’t fucking get it,” I said.
The administration claims that it won’t impact federal nutrition programs, but federal nutrition programs have long been in the crosshairs of republicans as a way to reduce government spending.
The organization I volunteer with recovers food that would’ve otherwise ended up in a landfill. Perfectly good food like organic blueberries, oranges, apples, frozen tilapia, walnuts, canned salmon and tuna, the list goes on. All this food gets redistributed to people in need. If it were not for We Don’t Waste and other organizations like it, all of these items would end up in the trash, and millions more people would end up hungry.
At least 50 percent of food in this country ends up in landfills. At least 60 million people are food insecure (a number that I personally believe to be extremely under reported).
The people who attend our food drives are a diverse group. Young and old. Americans and immigrants. Able bodied and not. Every ethnicity under the sun. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, grandparents. People wait for hours to receive food. Mothers wait in the heat or the cold holding their children. Grandparents wait to get food for their families while their children work.
This diverse demographic isn’t unique to this organization. It’s been the same across all the organizations I’ve volunteered with. People of all walks of life are hungry, they are struggling, they need food, the same way WE ALL NEED FOOD. Knowing that they have a place to get food eases the burden of their stress just a slice.
It’s a strange thing to think that these people are just trying to “game” the system. I don’t know about you, but if I go to the grocery store and a line builds up in front of me and there’s no extra cashier in sight, I start to get angry. Why do I have to wait at all just to check out? Open another lane!
Here these people wait in line for hours at times. Trying to find shade from the Colorado sun, or keep warm in the frigid winter temperatures. Just to get some food. Completely unsure of what they might get, because every week it’s different. What’s available is dependent on what’s donated by the local vendors. And that varies from week to week. So I find it hard to believe that if they had the option to go to the grocery store that they would choose to wait here, outside, for an unknown.
They are also the most grateful people. They are constantly thanking us. One young kid even shook my hand today as a gesture of his appreciation for us being there. They are also the most considerate people. Constantly declining food when they already have enough.
“O no, I already have plenty of rice.”
“We have a lot of macaroni and cheese already in the house.”
“Take as many apples as you want. Do you want more?” I asked someone today. “No, there are more people in line, leave it for them,” was the reply I got.
This notion that these people are not actually in need. That they are gaming the system. That they are not worthy of the most basic and fundamental resource, is an idea that could only be considered by someone who has never seen it in person.
It can only be considered by someone who just doesn’t fucking get it.
Tell your lawmakers to visit a food bank and see if it doesn’t change their mind. Only a cold hearted person wouldn’t.