Sasha Abramsky - Breadline USA

Sasha Abramsky

Breadline USA: The Hidden Scandal of American Hunger and How to Fix It

First published 2009 by Paradigm Publishers

Published 2016 by Routledge

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711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

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Copyright 2009 by Sasha Abramsky

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Portions of this book appeared in a slightly different form in In These Times: Blue Collar, Bare Cupboards, March 26, 2008. In These Times, 2040 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60647. The Nation: Running on Fumes, October 17, 2005; Reversing Right to Work, October 27, 2006; and The Moral Minimum, November 6, 2006. The Nation, 33 Irving Place, New York, NY 10003. The Progressive: Is Idaho the Future? September, 2005. The Progressive, 409 East Main Street, Madison, WI 53703. Sacramento News & Review: Americas Dirtiest Secret, February 15, 2007, and Stagflation, April 24, 2008. Sacramento News & Review, 1015 20th Street, Sacramento, CA 95811. All rights reserved.

Book design: BookMatters

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Abramsky, Sasha.

Breadline USA : the hidden scandal of American hunger / Sasha Abramsky.

p.cm.

Includes index.

1. HungerUnited States. I. Title.

RA601.A27 2009

ISBN 13: 978-1-936227-09-9 (pbk)

ISBN 13: 978-0-981709-11-6 (hbk)

To my daughter Sofia and my son Leo.

I love you both more than words can say.
May you grow up in a world where all children have the chance to experience the same insane joy that you get when eating ice cream or chocolate cake.
May the world you inherit be fairer and friendlier than the one you were born into.

Though most of the reporting in these pages was done specifically for this book, in places I have borrowed either language or concepts from articles I published on economic themes over the past half decade. Thanks to the editors at the Nation, Mother Jones, the Progressive, In These Times, the Sacramento News & Review, and the UKs Guardian newspaper for understanding the importance of poverty in modern-day America and for commissioning these pieces.

I am deeply indebted to the hundreds of people who shared their stories with me; took me into hidden communities; at times, translated for me; helped me gather and interpret economic, hunger, and health-care data; and worked with me to navigate Americas complex food distribution paths. Were I to name you all individually, the list would run to many pages. I do, however, owe particular debts of gratitude to Dean Baker, Bob Pollin, and Jose Garcia for talking me through some of the more complex economic themes that show up in my book; to Amy Block Joy for the generosity with which she shared her expertise and scholarship; to Graciella Martinez, Edie Jessup, Liz Tate, Zack Wilson, Royce Wright, Kathy Gardner, and George and Billy MacPherson for welcoming me into their communities and helping link me up with food pantry clients; to Blake Young, executive director of the Sacramento Food Bank, for tolerating my numerous phone calls, welcoming me into the food bank as a volunteer, and accepting my intrusive journalistic presence on both sides of the food pantry windows.

While time and space constraints prevent me from telling as many stories, from as many parts of the country, as I would like, the information sent my way by individuals and groups from around the United States has helped me, I hope, to paint a comprehensive picture of the growing difficulties faced by Americas poor and hungry in all corners of the land. I started work on this mural when the country as a whole was still enjoying flush times. I finished with the country sinking into its worst financial and economic crisis in three-quarters of a century. As conditions changed, so the timbre of my work shifted. Gathering storm clouds increasingly darkened the landscape I was describing. Gary Dymski, at the University of California Center in Sacramento (UCCS), spent hours brainstorming with me about the changing economic and political climate of the country; so, too, did A.G. Block, Art Amos, John Griffing, Jock OConnell, and many other UCCS staffers and visitors.

Thanks to the staff at Demos, in New York, for making me a senior fellow, and for continuing to link me up with resources and contacts throughout this writing journey, and to my colleagues in the University Writing Program at the University of California at Davis for their ongoing interest in, and support for, my writing.

To my journalistic friends with whom I have shared ideas, laughter, and many beers over the years. To Eyal Press, Adam Shatz, George Lerner, Rose George, Maura McDermott, Steve Magagnini, John Hill, Carolyn Juris, Kim Gilmore, Silja Talvi, and Theo Emery. To Raj Patel, a fellow Balliol College, Oxford alumnus, whose book Stuffed and Starved did so much to bring the topic of global hunger to the forefront of political conversation. To Jason Ziedenberg for making every Thanksgiving a noteworthy one. And to Dave Colburn for his wonderful insights and his generous help over the years with my Web site.

For their confidence in the worth of this project, and their support in bringing an idea from its inchoate origins through to its publication, thanks to my agent Victoria Skurnick, and to Peter Richardson, my always empathetic editor at PoliPointPress. Your enthusiasm has, I am glad to say, been infectious.

And, of course, last but not least, I owe everything to my family. To my grandparents, Mimi and Chimen, Mim and Bob, whose homes provided me with warmth, comfort, and a joyous sense of the power of good food and fine company when I was growing up. To my parents, Lenore and Jack Abramsky, who raised me to care and who taught me the power of love. To my brother, Kolya, and my sister, Tanya, who have always been there for me when Ive wanted to laugh or needed to cry. To my wife, Julie Sze, an intellectual warrior in the best sense of the word, who has never yet encountered an idea she didnt want to know more about. Thank you for humoring me as I went down the sometimes dark road of reportage for this book. And to my two wonderful children, Sofia and Leo. You make our home come alive with joy and love, with curiosity and boundless chaos. You are the two most special little people in the world.

Breadline USA is a work of journalistic reportage. The people quoted in this book are men, women, and children I met in person, talked with over the telephone, or corresponded with via email. In some cases I met with them multiple times; in others, just once. In many instances I followed up on my in-person meetings with phone calls during which we discussed particular themes growing out of our earlier encounters.