European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 6, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Bread lines amid the plenty Matt Dillon left and other actors served thanksgiving dinner to homeless children who were being sheltered temporarily at a new York hotel to Many americans soup kitchens Are reassuring evidence of the nation s humanity above hunger activist Christina Walker in a Public food pantry in new York. Americans hungry by Nancy Shulins associated press hunger is something America has come to live with. Quot in the same Way that we have a football season we now have a hunger season Quot says Nancy Amidei a Washington ., activist. Quot it begins with world hunger Day in october and runs on through thanksgiving with a big orgy of stories about feeding people huge meals at Christmas  the season ends but hunger continues. And after eight years of economic improvement americans who pitched in to help their neighbors through an emergency now find themselves in a curious position. In a nation of supermarkets and surpluses they Are forging careers in food Banks and soup kitchens. Quot we used to show up for work in birkenstock and Blue jeans. Now we re talking pension plans and retirement and transferring from one part of the country to another As food Bankers Quot says Catherine d Amato director of the Western Massachusetts food Bank. No one knows How Many americans face chronic hunger. The Harvard based physician task Force on hunger in America estimated in 1985 that 20 million people were going hungry at least some Days of every month. A Louis Harris poll at about the same time concluded that a minimum of 21 million people were going hungry. The Federal government disputed both findings but has released no numbers of its own. The food resource and action Center Fra the nation s leading hunger research and advocacy group is conducting a nationwide study of childhood hunger. Based on its findings to Date Frac believes that 8 million to 9 million children Are either hungry or at risk of going hungry. Even though America has a Well developed system for carrying food from farms to markets the 1980s saw a grass roots anti hunger Effort develop into a second distribution network. By conservative estimates More than 20,000 food Banks soup kitchens food pantries Church groups Community action programs and civic organizations have helped deliver food since 1982. In an Era of lower wages higher housing costs and shrinking Public programs there s no doubt that private non profit food programs have become lifelines for Many people. But for some advocates the crisis driven Effort of the 80s is giving Way to new doubts in the 90s about whether Quot emergency Quot services that now seem All too permanent Are really an answer. To Many americans soup kitchens Are reassuring evidence of the nation s humanity proof that the private sector a the Quot thousand Points of Light Quot a is willing to shoulder its share of the Burden. Such programs intercept millions of pounds of food that would otherwise be wasted and make it available to people who need it. In the process they focus attention on hunger and provide people a Means of addressing it As donors fund raisers or volunteers. In some cases informal private programs offer More humane treatment than bureaucratic Public programs. For those on society s fringes the programs provide social Contact along with meals or groceries. They also bring together people who might otherwise fall through gaps in the governments safety net making it possible for social scientists to document the extent of the problem. Quot Federal programs Are designed to be of great assistance but government cannot do it All Quot says rep Bill Emerson r-mo., the ranking minority member of the House agriculture subcommittee on nutrition and a Champion of private sector initiatives. Quot there Are those who argue government ought to do it All. I think it should do what it needs to do what it can  total spending on food assistance makes up about 2 percent of the Federal budget according to Frac. Congress is considering spending an additional $2.3 billion for food programs Page 14 the stars and stripes wednesday lost of the increase would Benefit Ood stamp program described by iras a your Best and most consistent if defense against  written the Bill also provides ases of $70 million in each of the two fiscal years for the i modifies program known As Teap Horary emergency food Sta race program. Is temporary emergency program an eight years ago and was Ali Zed in 1983 As the Reagan administration began using non profit agencies to distribute butter and cheese acquired under the Dairy Price support program. Along with reducing stockpiles a the primary objective a Teap also played a key role in expanding the non profit food network. Critics Call it a poorly targeted Quot handouts program lacking nutritional goals. Supporters Point to the delivery of 6.5 billion pounds of food much of it High in protein to feeding programs otherwise largely dependent upon food Industry waste. The Mickey Leland Bill also continues through 1995 current funding Levels of $32 million a year for private soup kitchens which will still be necessary despite increased Public spending. A the nation will not see a major difference in terms of soup and bread lines Quot says Brown. A food Stamps will reach More people and last a Little longer. But people will still run out of food Stamps because the Basic level is so inadequate to begin  Brown and others worry that nonprofit programs Are becoming a Way for the government to hand off responsibility permanently. Many of today a Federal nutrition programs a food Stamps women infants and children wic school lunches and breakfasts and senior nutrition a were started or expanded to fight an epidemic of hunger discovered in the late 1960s. Within a decade Domestic hunger had been greatly reduced. But during the 80s, spending cuts dramatically diminished the scope of these and other Quot safety net Quot programs at a time when High unemployment a Down scaling of wages and rapidly rising housing costs left millions of americans below the poverty line. The epidemic returned. Lift r Robert Egger runs a two Man operation in Washington  That collects unwanted leftover food from hotels restaurants and catering firms and delivers it to homeless shelters soup kitchens and churches Janet Poppendieck right is director of the Center for the study of family policy at Hunter College new York and author of a a breadline knee deep in wheat a Quot a thousand Points of Light do not hold a Candle to Well managed and adequately funded Public programs. The main argument for not improving these programs and stamping out Domestic hunger is a financial one a that priorities must be set for government spending in the face of the budget deficit Quot says Rob Fersh fracas executive director. Massive cuts in food Stamps Are a major Factor behind the Long lines at soup kitchens and food pantries. Between 1982 and 1985, the program lost $7 billion 13 percent of its budget. Scraping by in Suburbia by Leslie Dreyfous associated press summertime is Tough for Jean Brissette of Wellesley mass., who Longs to give her kids the backyard barbecues and baseball outings she knew while growing up in an affluent suburb. Today the divorced Mother of four is scraping by on $100 a week. Making sure her children have new sneakers Means months of crimping. Quot i figured id have everything my Mother had the Nice Home and All that Quot Brissette 42, said recently. Quot but i m robbing Peter to pay Paul and still barely getting by. How can i Hope to get ahead Quot she is part of a suburban secret 9.5 million poor people scattered among the nations manicured lawns and backyard basketball hoops. They  be evident to first ladies Barbara Bush and Raisa Gorbachev who came to the town about 10 Miles outside Boston to deliver a commencement address at Wellesley College. A they Are the invisible poor Quot said Sheldon Danziger a University of Michigan poverty researcher. Quot they Are Seldom  these people live on the Edge of bankruptcy foreclosure and life on the streets. Many have already been pushed off the precipice by new England s broken Down Economy and inflationary Cost of living. Like Brissette fellow Wellesley resident Frank g., who spoke on condition that his family s name not be used measures his life in checks paychecks unemployment checks checks from relatives lending hand. Jobs Are scarce so the 31 year old construction worker and his wife Are raising three children on about $600 a month in a town where the median Home Price is about $340,000. Quot in a two paychecks away from getting thrown out on the streets Quot he said. Quot i was treated better in the inner City. At least there you were on the same  his family and Brissette and her children live in Barton Road a faded housing project for financially strapped families. Franks wife has to walk two hours round trip with children in Tow to a supermarket because they have no car and there is no Public transportation residents of wealthy communities in the United states Are beginning to face pockets of despair camouflaged by country clubs and in Wellesley s Case a prestigious women s College. Since 1986, suburban welfare cases have jumped 12 percent compared with a 5 percent increase in the number of Urban poor. Officials estimate Massachusetts has 44,000 suburban welfare cases just 4,000 fewer than in the cities. More than 28 percent of the 520,000 people living below the poverty line in Massachusetts now reside in Suburbia where about 80 food pantries have sprung up to feed them. Quot the poverty has been masked for a Long time Quot said Westy egmont executive director of the Boston food Bank. Quot but social service providers Are documenting the  Frank found himself homeless after leaving the Navy in 1980. Quot we be been dirt poor but we re a family. And that s what it s All about a he said. Frank s family moved to Wellesley from Boston five years ago when their number was called for the Low Cost housing project. But the Cost has t turned out to be that Low. Each time Frank gets a decent Job the rent is adjusted upward. It has climbed As High As $700. Jobs have been hard to come by and welfare is not for Frank who is built like a football player and More than ready to work. He never gives up but being broke gets him Down. Quot it s Tough when friends say lets  to see the Bruins play and your priority is in diapers Quot said Frank. Living on the Edge takes its toll on everyone. But its perhaps hardest for the children whose schoolmates Are dressed in the Best and Riding Brand new 10-Speed bikes. Quot sometimes they say mean things like your mothers on welfare Quot said Frank s 10-year-old daughter Janelle. Brissette with two Young sons still at Home had a Stormy marriage that ended in a divorce seven years ago. When the Money runs out she joins the line of people seeking help from the local food Bank. Things Arentt at All the Way she planned. Quot it s a Story of incredible pain because of the contrast Between being poor and living in Wellesley Quot said egmont. Quot we can t escape the fact that we Are All  6,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 15