Before heading to clean the scraps off of our plates after dinner, many of us do not spend much time thinking about the amount of effort goes that into producing and distributing the food that makes it into our homes weekly. Because of the United
40 percent of food in America is wasted due overindulgence.
States’ problem with food wastage, Republicans fight to approve anti-hunger laws that could reduce the amount of perfectly good food found in wastelands across America.
The Fighting Hunger Initiative Act intends to increase donations to food banks by providing farmers,restaurants, and food manufactures with tax incentives for contributing resources to charitable groups. While this legislation may seem like the right step towards addressing hunger in America, others in congress remains skeptical of whether or not the bill will do so.
President Obama and his administration are working to veto the bill due to the potential lost in revenue that could add as much as 1.9 billion to the budget deficit that this country faces.
“The Republicans insist that we have to pay for things like unemployment insurance, so I don’t understand why they would allow these provisions to add to the deficit,” he
1.3 billion metric tons of fruits, vegetables, and other foods are found in trash cans each year.
continued. “And maybe I’m just skeptical, but I have a hard time trusting a Republican Leadership that has gone out of its way, time and time again over the last several years, to shred the safety net in this country. Just because you call something an ‘anti-hunger bill’ doesn’t mean it actually solves the problem.” said Rep Jim McGovern.
Instead of passing legislation that would cause an offset to the county’s budget, those in the Democratic party believes that such funds should contribute to raising earned income tax and programs like SNAP which provides low-income families with food purchasing assistance.
With each of the political parties having their own ideas on how to end hunger, it will be interesting to see how congress will come together to deal with underlying problems of hunger and poverty in the United States.
#HungerNoGames 