ADULT FOOD FIGHT 

When I was a kid in middle school, it wasn't uncommon for a food fight to break out on the outside lunch tables. Bread, apples, Twinkies, and other assorted items from lunch bags were used as weapons between the combatant students.
Now we have adults in our Nation's Legislative bodies battling with each other over/with food. Some Republicans are urging up to 40% cut in food stamp money. No doubt the cost has risen sharply. In 2001, $15 billion served 17 million people, now 47 million people get the stamps, costing 75 billion yearly.
Those supporting the drastic cuts argue that the program needs to return to the original eligibility limits and serve the "truly needy".
The fact is that by making heavy cuts, 3 million people would lose their benefits while nearly one million would see their food allotment reduced.
At least two facts need to be taken into account, food costs have have increased rapidly, and secondly, employment has taken a downward turn as jobs are being downsized resulting in lower wages for the family breadwinners.
The fight has turned bitter with comments from the Democratic side:"The Senate will never pass such hateful, punitive legislation." Thus spoke Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid. Florida's Debbie Wasserman Schultz weighed in, "What they are saying is that in America its OK for people to go hungry." Even the White House commented saying that it would veto the bill, calling "food stamps one of the Nation's strongest defenses against hunger and poverty".
It is encouraging to note that 12 Republicans voted against cutting billions of dollars from the the food stamp program.
Having worked for a time with Food For The Hungry in Arizona, I am familiar with with the tragic causes and hopeful cures for hunger across our world. Yet I never thought we in the US would fight over the basic right to feed our people with our great supply of food.
The wealthy CEO of one of our largest companies spent $4.20 for food for one day for a week, seeking to identify with the amount each stamp holder gets. He could only buy high calorie, mega carb foods, having to bypass fruits and vegetables. No one is eating high with food stamps.
No one in this great land of abundance should go to bed hungry because some legislators cut funding for their families' food!