March 29, 2024
Letter

Hogging the food

Recently in the Bangor Daily News at least two articles appeared discussing hunger in Maine. One of the subjects was food stamps and the fact that many of the elderly who are entitled never apply to receive them.

It is humiliating to stand in line at the cash register with food stamps, but much less humiliating to go to the food pantry. In recent years, the distribution of food has been left to the soup kitchens. They offer some free meals for the poor and homeless but there is a lot of extra food that never reaches the people who need it most. Not everyone is able to travel to the soup kitchen every day for their free meal. It would serve the poor much better – especially families with children – to pick up their fair share of the food and serve it in the privacy of their own home.

I have a family member who lives in a small coastal town. In that town, the government surplus food is passed around to everyone whether they need it or not, which leads me to believe that there is quite a lot of food available but the same groups are hogging it all.

Jane Ogden

Bangor


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