February 12th, 2016
Tracy Flahaven
1. The central
idea of this book so far is to introduce to the readers the struggles that
people have had to deal with in the past, in the present and will probably have
to deal with in the future. There are many people like me who are fortunate
enough to not have had to go through any of these heartbreaking conditions. Through
reading this book so far, I have learned so much about poverty and the
struggles people have gone through. Reading the passages from people living in
poverty gives me chills. The stories are very unfortunate, but they are real. I
think the central idea of this book is to inform people of what it is like to
live in poverty and how many people around the world are struggling to get by
each and everyday. It also states that there are many types of people who live
in poverty. I would never think that someone who can be highly successful, can
one day be poor and living in poverty on food stamps. In a blink of an eye life
can change from positive to negative, and that’s very scary.
3.
In chapter 2, there were a lot of statics that stood out too me. But, one in
particular was about the astronomical number of people who receive food stamps.
According to The American Way of Poverty, “a record number of people, upward of
46 million, were receiving food stamps and other nutritional assistance”
(Ambramsky 55). This was taken account a couple of years ago in 2011, and has
been increasing ever since. This means that 1 in every 5 people will be on food
stamps. I think that this quote has really made me realize how many people out
there are struggling. It makes me grateful for everything my family has
provided for me. I personally do not know anyone that has food stamps,
therefore I don’t know what it would be like to have to go through this. I did
some research because this is something has grabbed my attention while reading.
I found out that the number of people living off of foods stamps is increasing.
I learned that there is many factors that contribute to how much money you can
receive for food stamps. I learned that Households CAN use SNAP benefits to buy:
§ Foods for the household to eat, such as:
§ breads and cereals;
§ fruits and vegetables;
§ meats, fish and poultry; and
§ dairy products.
§ Seeds and plants, which produce food for the household to eat.
This information is found from http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligible-food-items
§ Also according to the United States Department
of Agriculture, “The Act precludes the following items from being purchased with
SNAP benefits: alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, hot food and any
food sold for on-premises consumption. Nonfood items such as pet foods,
soaps, paper products, medicines and vitamins, household supplies, grooming
items, and cosmetics, also are ineligible for purchase with SNAP benefits”.
8. Most poor families and individuals in the
Southern part of the united states are concentrated on getting healthcare
coverage. In 2009, according to the Census Bureau, “ of all the southern
states, only Arkansas and Tennessee provided some, albeit very limited,
healthcare coverage for this part of their populations” (Ambramsky 70). The
southern part of the country is where is where the majority of poverty all
seemed to be. A lot of the southern states were not getting medical coverage
and many people were suffering. Most poor families are concentrated in the
southern part of the country because of rural poverty. These families have lack
of resources and lack of job employment. Because the South had such a low tax base, “
they had neither the ability nor the willpower to create the soft of
comprehensive safety net system aimed at by the more liberal northeastern
states” (Ambramsky 69). Child poverty rates were extremely high as well. According
to the (US Department of Agriculture: US Census
Bureau figures), “ More than a quarter of
rural Hispanics, blacks and indigenous Americans such as American Indians, Inuit’s
and Aleuts live in poverty” (US Department of Agriculture: US Census Bureau
figures).
No comments:
Post a Comment