The Cost Of Food Put Into Perspective

Clearly there is something broken in a government that sees nothing wrong with spending $7 million dollars on ridiculously themed lavish conferences for government employees while millions of Americans struggle each year with hunger in our own country. Remember all of this the next time you want to know where your tax money is going, when you look at your pay stub and see all of those deductions, when you write that check every April to the IRS. Is this why the government wants to cut spending in Medicare and education?

Hungry attendees at Justice Department conferences have been enjoying millions of dollars in meatballs and other goodies courtesy of U.S. taxpayers, according to an inspector general’s report released Friday.The report cited $5 meatballs and cans of soft drinks each costing $4.55 among reasons 10 conferences during 2005 and 2006 cost nearly $7 million. (Taxpayers eat $7 million government lunch tab)

• 36.4% of the members of households served by the A2H National Network of Food Banks are children under 18 years old.
• 8% of the members of households are children age 0 to 5 years.
• 10% of the members of households are elderly.
• 68% have incomes below the official federal poverty level during the previous month.
• 12% are homeless

In addition to the platters of Swedish meatballs and soda pop, the Justice Department paid more than $13,000 for cookies, according to the inspector general’s office.(Taxpayers eat $7 million government lunch tab)

• 42% of clients served by the A2H National Network of Food Banks report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel.
• 35% had to choose between paying for food and paying their rent or mortgage.
• 32% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care.

The 2005 Los Angeles event — which was called the “Weed and Seed” national conference — attracted particular attention from the audit’s authors.

It “included a $53 per person two-entree and dessert lunch for 120 attendees, a one-hour $64,000 ‘Stars and Stripes’ themed networking reception and a post-conference meeting for 30 DOJ employees who were provided a sandwich buffet lunch at a cost of $44 per person and an ‘At the Movies’ theme snack (candy, popcorn, and soft drinks) for an additional $25 per person,” the report said.

The report, from the Office of Inspector General, Glenn Fine, expressed concern that most of the conference attendees failed to deduct their allowable per diem meal costs because they received free meals.

“When component managers do not systematically review vouchers to ensure that such deductions are made, the government effectively pays for the meals twice,” the report said.(Taxpayers eat $7 million government lunch tab)

• 35% of client households served by the A2H National Network of Food Banks are receiving Food Stamp Program benefits; however, it is likely that many more are eligible.
• Among households with children ages 0-3 years, 51% participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
• Among households with school-age children, 62% and 51%, respectively, participate in the federal school lunch and school breakfast programs.

Another meeting detailed in the report was a 2006 COPS National Conference in Washington. Some 1,100 attendees were offered daily breakfast buffets, two lunches, a networking reception, and two “themed breaks.”

“The networking reception itself cost more than $60,000 and included a chef-carved roast beef and turkey, a penne pasta station, and platters of Swedish meatballs at a cost of nearly $5 per meatball,” the report said. “The average food and beverage cost per day for the COPS conference was $83 per attendee — $19 dollars over the $64 federal per diem meal rate for Washington.”(Taxpayers eat $7 million government lunch tab)

• The A2H National Network of Food Banks includes approximately 29,700 food pantries, 5,600 soup kitchens and 4,100 emergency shelters.
• 74% of pantries, 65% of kitchens, and 43% of shelters are run by faith-based agencies affiliated with churches, mosques, synagogues, and other religious organizations.
• At the agency level, 69% of agencies with pantry, kitchen, or shelter and 56% of all agencies including those with other programs are faith-based.
• Private nonprofit organizations with no religious affiliation make up a large share of other types of agencies.
• 65% of pantries, 61% of kitchens, and 52% of shelters of the A2H National Network reported that there had been an increase since 2001 in the number of clients who come to their emergency food program sites.
• Food banks are by far the single most important source of food for the agencies, accounting for 74% of the food distributed by pantries, 49% of the food distributed by kitchens, and 42% of the food distributed by shelters.
• Other important sources of food include religious organizations, government, and direct purchases from wholesalers and retailers.
• 69% of pantries, 49% of kitchens, and 46% of shelters receive food from government commodity programs.
• As many as 90% of pantries, 86% of kitchens, and 71% of shelters in the A2H National Network use volunteers
• Many programs rely entirely on volunteers; 66% of pantry programs and 40% of kitchens have no paid staff at all.

Please take the time to find out about Second Harvest and food banks, soup kitchens, and pantries in your own community. It doesn’t take much to donate some time, money or food but it could mean far more to someone else than you may ever know.

Source: Hunger statistics from “Hunger in America 2006” study