Overstuffed Shelves and Bare Cupboards

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst
National Women’s Law Center

There was a striking juxtaposition of articles in the New York Times last week: one about Washington elites shopping at Costco, buying salmon, shiitake mushrooms, pâté, and other foods in bulk quantities for their dinner parties, and the other about food banks not having enough food to feed the hungry. 

It’s a question that’s been asked many times before, but there hasn’t been a good answer yet: How, in can this nation of plenty, can we allow so many people to go without their basic needs being met?

The 2007 Farm Bill would increase emergency aid for food banks as well as expand other critical food and nutrition programs, but the bill is currently stalled in Congress. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of low-income pregnant women, infants, and children are at risk of being cut from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) because of insufficient funding levels being proposed by the administration and Congress, according to a new analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 

While it’s nice that the Washington’s movers and shakers are being cost-conscious in their food purchases, it would be better if they acted to ensure their fellow citizens are getting enough food to eat before starting their holiday party planning.