50% of SF Poor Denied Emergency Food

While the rich celebrate the Money Season, made possible by the labor of the workingclass, much of the workingclass goes to charity for food, and often there is not enough food for all, in a country that has the capacity to feed the world.

"In New Orleans, 66 percent of food requests were rejected, and in San Francisco 50 percent. In Los Angeles, 66 percent of all shelter requests made by families were turned down, and in Boston 50 percent."

From: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/dec2004/hung-d17.shtml

In this 12/17/04 article on the World Socalist Website by Rick Kelly, a detailed analysis of the "Hungry and Homeless Survey" of the US Conference of Mayors reveals the bitter reality of capitalist America at the beginning of the 21st Century.

The report makes clear that it is working families who regularly use emergency food banks so as to have enough money to pay the rent, medical bills, transportation and other basic needs. The crisis is described in basic terms:

"Chronic poverty afflicts wide sections of the working class, particularly those employed in the predominantly low-paid and casual service industry. Of all adults requesting food assistance, 34 percent were employed. Children and their parents accounted for fifty-six percent of all recipients of food aid. Families now make up 40 percent of the total homeless population in the United States."

The food crisis is at least matched by the housing crisis.

"The swelling of the ranks of the working poor has seen a parallel increase in the demand for subsidized housing. Requests for such housing by low-income families and individuals increased in 68 percent in the surveyed cities. Applicants for public housing now wait an average of 20 months before they receive any assistance. Fifty-nine percent of the surveyed cities are refusing to accept any new applications because they already have long waiting lists."

We can meet the chronic poor at the ever-longer lines for hot food on Christmas Day at Glide Church and St. Anthony's Dining Room. It is from the workingclass that change will come, and the change we need is a workingclass revolution now.