Portside

VC-backed startups are commodifying need and undermining food banks and CSAs while they're at it. It's a market solution disguised as activism.

U.N. study finds growing numbers of Americans are living in the most impoverished circumstances. The growth of extreme poverty in the land of plenty is an indicator that we shouldn't be talking about how to slash spending on social programs, but how to expand services and better meet the needs of the vulnerable among us. One and a half million American households live in extreme poverty today, nearly twice as many as 20 years ago.

Why “no job loss” is the wrong standard for setting the right wage floor.

When asked if they ever went without eating for an entire day because they lacked enough money for food, 7% of students at two-year colleges and 5% of students at four-year colleges said yes.

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According to a new report, roughly 1 million of the nation’s poorest people will be cut off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over the course of 2016, as states move to limit food stamp benefits for unemployed adults who aren’t disabled or raising minor children. These individuals, most of whom don’t qualify for other help, will lose their food assistance benefits after three months regardless of how hard they are looking for work.

The solution to malnourishment isn’t to produce more food. The solution is to eliminate poverty.

According to a report released October 20th by the National Coalition for the Homeless at least 21 cities have passed ordinances designed to restrict where and how nonprofits and individuals can share food with the hungry. Increasingly, local governments are passing laws designed to keep the homeless and hungry "out of sight, out of mind." The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that 50 million Americans are struggling with food insecurity.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer first reported on the food drive, which has sparked outrage in the area.