A Republican-Dominated Government Decides Who Deserves Food
Donald J. Trump: a modern day Robin Hood and everyman here to give the poor people what they’re hungry for, right? Unless, of course, what they’re hungry for is food. If the Republicans and Trump cut the proposed 21% of Agricultural budget, which funds the Free Lunch Program, then these kids can kiss their one good meal goodbye.
Donald Hood and his merry band of “mostly” Republicans have been fighting against the Free Lunch Program for several years already, with Trump’s new budget slice transitioning them from a benign annoyance to actual Disney Channel Original Movie villain.
If you really need to find a hero, you’re going to have a hard time. Even Betsy Devos, the new supposed Protector of Education was reported saying that she taught Bernie Sanders “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
How are these people against giving kids food? The Free Lunch Program would be one of the first things to go with the proposed budget cuts, and Betsy Devos had the audacity to crack a joke about taking away what is usually these kids’ only source of good nutrition when their families can’t afford it.
Devos, let’s remind ourselves, is the one that expects the school kids to be able to fight off grizzly bears on an empty stomach.
These USDA programs offer free lunches, breakfasts, after school snacks, and even food services for when school is out of session. For the past three years, the Children’s Nutrition Program that provides these services has maintained the same budget, hovering between twenty and twenty-two billion dollars. For those three years, the program has been able to feed 30 million students.
The budgets of years past came from careful calculation, and an effort to increase participation and security for 100,000 schools. Funds were given to reduce errors in payments, improve automated information systems and equipment, and even exchange nutritional data with other states in an effort to have students get the nutrients they need, but also to reduce childhood obesity with healthier food.
Trump’s budget proposal has been dubbed his “skinny” budget, but I don’t think that the USDA planned on ending childhood obesity by starving them. To make matters worse, when the proposal was announced, Trump’s budget manager said that feeding kids hasn’t had any scientifically proven positive affect on their schoolwork. You know what it does have a scientifically proven effect on? Keeping them alive.
How sad is it that these politicians think that the main focus of feeding kids who can’t afford regular meals is getting them to have straight As? Not to mention it takes about one Google search to find out that that claim is as weak as this presidency.
The National Center for Disease Control and Prevention actually found the exact opposite to be true. Not having breakfast before school decreased cognitive function, and hunger due to lack of nutrition-rich food lead to lower grades, absences, and lack of focus in class. But I’m not surprised that Trump’s staff is ignoring obvious fact in favor of the Land of Make Believe Data and Figures.
This is the kind of thing that happens when people think they’re better than everyone else. This was the first budget in more than twenty years to be made without the help of a Secretary of Agriculture. Because, “Why would you need one of those to make an agricultural budget?” asserts (not asks) Trump.
So what exactly does Trump want to do with the 4.7 billion dollars he plans to cut from the USDA? I’ll give you two guesses.
2 billion of Trump’s diet budget is dedicated to funding the Mexican border wall. That’s right: who cares if the kids here eat three meals a day, but he’ll be damned if one more immigrant crosses the border into our country of immigrants.
I mean, there needs to be a moment when even a wealthy aristocrat realizes that, “Hey, maybe my priorities are a little wonky.” Even the Mexican president has told Trump straight up that the wall is not happening, and they sure aren’t paying for it or helping in any way.
We should feel fortunate to live in a country that has enough money to help those in need. Wasn’t that the entirety of Trump’s platform—helping the “everyman” get back on their feet? Well, you need to make sure that people make it to manhood in semi-decent health if you want them to be able to build your Xenophobia Wall---er, I mean get a job.
If the youth are going to fight against the oppression of an aggressive and egocentric government, then they need to be educated and healthy. Kids need food, and low and behold, it helps them get smarter. Maybe that’s something Trump wants to prevent, but Congress and the American public need to know better, and give the kids their damn lunch.