I’m not going to mention the food pyramid being brought to you by special interest groups, or paraphrase Fast Food Nation and Super Size Me.

We’ve addressed the statistics in this blog before, 340 million people in the United States, and 47 million of them are facing hunger?
What is the working class to do?
You can’t complain to the republicans: you’re poor because you’re lazy. You can’t complain to the liberals because most are either starving right next to you, or completely out of touch with the working class.
You could try to get on welfare or food stamps, but depending where you live, that may not help at all.

So you get a job at a restaurant. Most restaurants you get at least one employee meal per shift. Sometimes there’s “dead” food up for grabs. At least you know you won’t go hungry. Perhaps you attend a church because of free food resources, or you frequent the local food pantry(s). You’re fed, but not in control of your diet.
Why?

For years, I fought food insecurity by being a part of the restaurant industry. All the jobs I worked, I ate a decent amount.
Even outside of work, I’ve had to fight food insecurity by going to hotels and taking the breakfast despite not being a guest. I’ve stolen food before.
My most recent fight against food insecurity just ended three days ago. I finally figured out how to use my college campus card to get food. I’ve spent the last 3.5 years in this college and never used the damn card because it’s all virtual. If they gave me a physical card-sure but any barrier to stop you from spending their money tends to be in the way.

This still limits me to the selection available, at the specific times they’re available. Like jail, or the army, you eat what you’re given when it’s given or you starve.
And I can go without eating. Since 18, I’ve fasted for spiritual reasons, and occasionally will jump back into it if I need a hard reset on my body. Most days though, I barely eat 1000 calories a day. Sure I could (and have) eaten more. I write this sitting at my absolute unhealthiest and not because I like to eat junk food- it’s all I can afford to eat.

I ran out of my campus card money (and consequently graduate college Friday) So until I see any money from the checks due me, I’m playing jazz with my diet. If something’s available I’ll take it. I can’t be greedy, and lord knows I can’t come across as desperate- but I’m going to put it in no uncertain terms:
This isn’t living.

It is not fair to have the cost of living just under the wages, and continue to raise the price of food. (Life’s not fair, heard it loud and clear).

And something I’ve noticed as a musician, and speaking for everybody here, we all struggle to make ends meet at one point or another in our careers. One of the nice perks of being a musician is free or discounted meals at the bars we play at. This takes a toll after a decade. When your diet is ten straight years of comped bar food because you can’t afford to eat- you’re going to get fat. I’ve seen it happen in real time with people I know and play with.

Days I’ve spent feeling complacent with food because I can’t afford to eat otherwise. I can’t be the only person who’s noticed how having a steady diet is a luxury. I do feel like the only guy who has an actual problem with the ratio of food to wealth being the norm.

“But diet is a personal choice.”

Fair point- Trump eats McDonald’s for every meal every day. He has access to anything in the entire world and the guy picks McDonalds- you can’t account for taste- but fair. That Oliver Anthony lyric also comes to mind.

Even take that down a peg. “Rice costs $1.50, and you can get a can of black beans for less than $1”
And how am I to cook it? Without the can opener, at the very least a propane stove and a pot (with hopefully a method of cleaning said pot) I’m subject to raw beans and raw rice? It’s not beneath me, short of dumpster diving I’ve probably resorted to it at one point or another.
Briefly, during my stint in the conservation corps, all of us who worked there were on EBT. One day our government stipend and EBT posted on the same day, and it almost felt like a normal paycheck.

I have a simple diet, I tend to have preferred the same 7 foods for the last ten years. Yet somehow, I’ve hit a point where I’m lucky if I get 3 of those foods in a given week.
Sure yes, I’ve eaten more than my usual 7 foods because of resources being pulled and creativity, but my point is, when you’re not in control of what and when you eat- and you’re lacking nutrition in some way shape or form- what kind of life is that?

Now to make it clear, I’m not part of the 47 million just yet. I know too many people, and the longest I’ve ever had to go without food outside of my own volition has been about 2 days. So don’t let my outcry be misled as crocodile tears or stolen valor. I chose this life, I accept what comes with it, and the skills I’ve built because of it pay off.

The point of this post is to say, as someone who’s fought the challenges of hunger for the last nine years: I couldn’t imagine what I’d do if I were destitute. Yet 47 million people remain in that position. Living daily with no control of their diet. If I played this tune, it would be cut short by my fat-man cries of, “Oh god someone please give me a steak for every meal” But a person’s diet should not be dictated to them by income. This should not be the norm.

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The quality of the food is pitiful too.

On the seven foods I eat:
Avocados, Sweet Potatoes, Chicken, Lamb, Eggs, Fruit, Nuts.
Sometimes throw hummus or some spring mix in there. I don’t eat lunch. Usually a large breakfast, and once at night. But because I can’t afford to eat any of those things right now (correct I can’t afford a sweet potato), I’ve had to eat so many carbs. Available to me 24/7 feels like every kind of cooking oil, bread, and deep fried thing in the world. Every office and AA meeting has free candy. The publicly available foods are of very low nutritional content.

But everyone seems to be okay with it.

Every meal looking like it might be the match to light the dynamite of a heart attack about to happen as a result of eating this shit every day.
I’ve gained weight, and experienced a gastrointestinal rollercoaster on account of venturing so far beyond my usual diet for so long.

As much information about nutrition and food science is out there- how else could we be complacent to substandard nutrition as the norm? I imagine people like it the way it is, and it’s cheaper to have it the way it is.