Feb 24 2009
Hunger During a Recession
My realtor and I broke away for lunch last Friday. The local restaurant, so packed in the first three years that I lived here was largely abandoned. The students that used to pack the place rarely come in, the old folks are at the end of the month and saving every dime they have, and even the “regulars” aren’t in as often. It’s not the food; nothing has changed there.
In between bites we talked about the economy. Their business, bought in the past couple of years, didn’t get enough time in the high sales years to get on its feet financially. Now his wife works checking out groceries. “She can’t believe how many people are on food stamps,” he said between bites of his burger. “Especially these past few months.”
“Well,” I admitted, “with the slowdown in December, I’ll bet we could qualify.” It was a humbling thought.
“I’ll bet we could, too,” he said.
It was sobering for both of us to concede that we, too, had fallen into the lower economic status, even if it is temporarily. However, this conversation came back to my mind yesterday when the Once and Future Farmer Friend dropped by with a link to share. He reminded us that it was Robin Landry who said that the difference between a recession and a depression was famine.
The link is to the U.S. Drought monitor , and is worth a good look. It is startling, until you click on “archives” and get a better look at the past several years. I realized quickly that although I had heard of the drought in the West earlier this decade, that I had no idea how serious and widespread it was. It lasted from the early 2002 until after 2005.
Now it may not seem worth spending any time knowing about droughts, but the effect of them can affect both your pocketbook and how you eat. The area covered in that particular drought affected the large beef farms of Colorado and nearby states. The result was higher beef prices, and if you had land at that time, beef would have been worth considering as a side profession. This ties into the Modern Portfolio theory which advocates rounding out your investments with things other than stocks, bonds, real estate and metals.
I will make a bold assertion here that the empty shelves of the local food banks across the nation would attest to the close proximity our citizens are toward true hunger. I will also assert that the number of families having to rely on food stamps, and how many parents admit to skipping meals so their children can eat, will give us a good indication just how close many people are to the edge financially. For those of you who wish to scold me about the “drive by media” or the “Messiah talking,” don’t. These are simple observations from a person in the trenches of life.
Having said all of that, I think the economy is turning around, despite the free fall of the stock market. Shipping is up, which means buying is up. Buying is up because money is slowly coming back into the business world. This hasn’t a thing to do with the stimulus package or any bailouts of big businesses. It has to do with the American people cutting back and spending more sensibly. The best thing that happened to us as a nation is that the banks quit lending to high risk businesses and overmortgaged homes. As a result, people began to spend more frugally, and as painful as all of this has been, it’s led to a healthier nation. That’s not to say that there aren’t individual cases of unfair pain, or instances of outrageous greed. It’s not to say there won’t be more layoffs, but the media gives no attention to the jobs that are hiring those people that are willing to work. Let’s face it: some people who can’t find work in their city might have to move, or rely on family to help, or government assistance to pull them through. But they will get through and be wiser money managers in the future.
Facing hunger during a recession is something people never forget. It makes them think twice when spending foolishly in the future; it makes them donate more to the food banks when their own stock is replenished. It is very true that flowers only can grow once it rains.
I can relate to your story. My brother had to use many food banks last year. We helped him quite a bit, as many times the food banks had lack of food. They also (well where he went) did not have meats, just canned goods. We always donate to the food banks, because my thought is you never know when you may be on the other side.
I feel things will turn around also.