• themeatbridge
    link
    English
    1603 months ago

    And it’s entirely preventable. We can afford to feed every single student every single day. It doesn’t have to be a brown bag, sad little whitebread and cheese slice sandwich. It can be the same food everyone else eats. In fact, we spend more administering a for-profit food service payment system than we spend on the food. It would be cheaper to just give it away to everyone.

    We know this because we did it during COVID. All of the schools closed, and the for-profit food providers were going to lose a lot of money. Sysco and Aramark and US Foods and Sodexo are all big donors to both parties, so we had to bail them out by buying the food. There wasn’t a debate in congress, there wasn’t any tax increase or funding shortfall. The money was just there because they wanted it.

    Schools had more food than they knew what to do with. Food banks and public pantries were fully stocked, and school districts were begging parents to come take home some breakfasts and lunches.

    It could really just be like that. No registers, no accounting, no shaming poor kids, no threatening demand letters, no lunch cards, no websites. Just feed children, because hungry children don’t learn.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      69
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      There wasn’t a debate in congress, there wasn’t any tax increase or funding shortfall. The money was just there because they wanted it.

      And then states like Missouri refused the money because Republicans hate children.

      • themeatbridge
        link
        English
        423 months ago

        It’s so much worse than that.

        During Covid, the money just went straight to the corporations, and the food went to the schools. With schools back in session, the Conservatives in the federal government put restrictions on the funding, requiring documentstion and forms for all of the students participating in the program. They wanted to make it as onerous and invasive as possible. This administrative red tape disproportionately affected the more densely populated regions, and also gave the conservative states a reason to decline participation. Because if Republicans are going to be forced to help children, by God they’re going to use the statistics against their enemies.

        • chingadera
          link
          English
          203 months ago

          This alone should be enough for a revolt

          • LeadersAtWork
            link
            English
            133 months ago

            Sure. Except those on the Left won’t. Couple reasons:

            1. Can’t agree on a reason.

            2. Won’t agree on a where and when.

            3. Will disagree whether it’s worth it right now.

            • @[email protected]
              link
              fedilink
              English
              3
              edit-2
              2 months ago

              1 exploitation of capital.

              2 right now, wherever you are.

              3 yes it is.

              the ones who disagree with it are probably the majority of liberals who perpetually think they can fix it in the next election. liberalism is not leftism though.

    • Diplomjodler
      link
      English
      123 months ago

      But how are you going to maintain an exploitable underclass, if you actually help poor people? Bet you didn’t think of that, huh? Checkmate leftists!

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      73 months ago

      Please discard your “logic”, in favor of some vitriolic spew from an angry white man (or woman) that I heard on the radio / saw on the TV. /s

      Just bc we can, doesn’t mean we should.

      We should (no /s), but that doesn’t mean that we will.

      Democracy requires the good faith of its voting citizenry, e.g. to edumacate themselves.

    • morgan423
      link
      English
      72 months ago

      I’m going to be exceedingly gracious and assume that the one person who downvoted your comment (as of the time I’m typing this) accidentally hit the wrong button and didn’t realize it.

      • themeatbridge
        link
        English
        10
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        I have definitely done that. But I also think I might have a stalker who follows me around and downvotes comments. Especially when I post something stupid, they all come out of the woodwork.

        But yes, I agree, I wouldn’t expect “feed children” to be a contentious suggestion.