This article in the Columbus Dispatch website should remove all doubt that Ohio is still in a deep recession:
- Half of all babies born in Ohio receive services through the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program. Half! In a healthy economy, people would be working at jobs that pay well enough that they would not qualify, reducing demand for the program.
- More than 1/3 of all school children receive free or reduced-price school lunches.
- 10% of Ohioans get food stamps.
- Food pantries throughout the State are reporting increased demand, to the point where some have to close after running out of food. (This can also blamed on rapidly rising food prices).
Do the Feds care? Read the last paragraph:
"Despite the daunting statistics, hunger has yet to get much mention from the presidential candidates and Congress has been unable to seal the deal on a long-awaited farm bill that would boost nutritional aid to states."
And people wonder why we're bitter!
1 comment:
Think the number of babies (and new mothers) who receive WIC assistance might be correlated to the fact that 70% of all black babies are born out of wedlock?
This is not to say that Ohio's economy is not in trouble, but there are deeper roots that explain many of these statistics.
Post a Comment