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June 19, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels May 20, 2004 In the 14 years I have lived in the State of Oregon, this is the first I've ever applied for food stamps. I have never seen such a prohibitive form. The 1040 is a piece of cake compared to the food stamp form. No wonder Oregon has the highest hunger rate in the nation. Our government defines "hunger" as a condition which exists when one has gone 24 hours or more without food. It turns the stomach to know that so many children and adults in our fair state go to school or to work having had nothing to eat for 24 hours or more. I have been hungry. Nourishment is essential for life. It maintains the health of the entire body: brain, internal organs, muscles, skin, teeth, bones. Nourishment is essential for any who would successfully study in school or work. Some affluent people believe that the hungry just need to get a job. With home ownership, trust funds and dividends, a $7-per-hour job might work for them. But for the bereft, $7 an hour means food stamps or hunger. It's that simple. I was earning $7 an hour 30 years ago, as a dinner house busgirl. I was earning $7 an hour in 1978, as a sergeant in the U.S. Army. My first secretarial job in 1982 paid $7 an hour. In 1990, I earned $12 an hour cleaning a $50,000 house here in Ashland. Our government should conduct a study on the stultifying effects of hunger. They could make us a pie chart. Bush should get our government agencies working overtime on that one. I wonder what percentage of Oregon's full-time workers are hungry or on food stamps. I strongly think that many Oregonians are hungry as a result of that prohibitive food stamp form and its accompanying daunting application process. The food stamp form is many pages long. I had to go get written notes from the seniors I help, to prove my income for food stamps. That was kind of embarrassing. It should be enough that the person begs. Isn't begging for food sufficient? Then I had to talk with a social worker at the food stamp office who was half my age and education, and thus participate in a position of subjugation. I was starved and swallowed my shame. Thank goodness that for a family of two I qualified for about $200 per month worth of food. That worked out to about $3 each worth of food per day. Every three months, a food stamps recipient has to reapply. The reapplication process is even more prohibitive than the application process. What? Do they think that will encourage people to stop being hungry? Hungry people are desperate people. I believe that liberalizing food for the hungry can reduce drug use and crime, improve grade point averages, reduce worker absenteeism and unemployment, and promote clear thinking individuals who vote sensibly. We are talking about food. Patti Morey Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams