I may come off bitter but it’s because this is something that hits close to home. For someone like me who is getting the chance to put himself through college and do things like emergency funds and Roth IRAs, food stamps were a necessity to get there. I hope you understand this and not casually speak of “us” in such a manner.

An estimated one in five renters in my state is paying at least half their income for rent (NOT including utilities), which really get in the way of keeping enough food on the table.

The government definition of poverty is a joke and government poverty statistics shouldn’t be considered a good measure of anything.

According to the government, a retiree living in his free-and-clear $500K home on a modest retirement income can be “poor” while a childless adult working full time at minimum wage and paying half his income on rent is “not poor”. But who enjoys a higher standard of living?

Not to be unsympathetic to those who are seriously in need, but there are NOT 28 million people at risk of going hungry in America. Nowhere NEAR that many people should be on food stamps, and I really don’t think we need to be encouraging internet surfers to seek government aid that they almost certainly do not need. How insulting to those across the globe who are ACTUALLY hungry.

First of all, there are homeless shelters and food pantries all over the country which are stocked with food they’ll give to anybody who walks up and asks for it. Second, the average household “in poverty” in America might earn a relatively low income, but that’s not because they’re being paid $3.74/hr; it’s because the household is running on only 16 hours of work per week.

I know there are people in America who truly need help to meet their basic needs. But according to the US Census, 89% of those defined as “poor” had enough food to eat throughout the year, and only 2% of them had bouts with hunger on a regular basis.