Children who go into the foster system have usually been deprived of food. Poor people not only have little food, what they do have is often unhealthy. The children in the foster system have been at the bottom of this food chain. That is why foster / adopt parents see so many alarming food habits in the children that they are raising.
Various food banks in San Antonio, Texas, are trying to deal with the dietary problems of poor people in their area. They are dealing with it in two ways. First, they are trying to distribute healthy food and educate people about what they are eating. Second, there are educational programs being put into place that teach poor people to budget.
Disadvantaged people tend to eat good tasting foods that are cheap. They wind up having a diet that is mainly composed of white bread, tortillas and items like Ramen noodles. The problem is that these types of foods have very little nutritional value.
The food banks are also trying to educate the people when they come for free food about applying for food stamps. They have discovered that a very high percentage of San Antonio residents are eligible for food stamps, but very few of them actually use this benefit.
The second thing that the food banks are educating the people about is budgeting. Most poor people do their budgeting out of their hip pocket. Nothing is ever saved. When the money runs out, they go to pay day loan establishments that charge outrageous interest rates and spend the money that they will receive for the next week.
The sixty or more churches that finance and provide volunteers for these food banks in San Antonio should be commended for their commitment to ending hunger and poor nutrition for disadvantaged people. The children living in these areas should benefit from their work.
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