We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.
George Bernard Shaw
Breadline USA is one mans experience of food, as viewed by the grandchild of a Holocaust Survivor. Sasha Abramsky manages to intersperse childhood stories of his grandmothers overflowing kitchen, his own attempt to only eat food from a food bank, and journalist exploration of hunger in abundance. It is a very poignant read exploring how it is possible for some many people in a very wealthy land to be so dependant on Charity for sustenance.
This book is not ideological rant, but rather a practical exploration of the role that food, economics, and poverty play in American life where 9 % of Americans rely on food banks for food. He shows that many of those who use food banks are working, and trying ever harder to make ends meet. Sasha introduces the reader to some of these people and attempts to show the real face of food banks in large cities as well as rural America. He introduces you to an elderly couple who started a food bank in Fort Jones California and then endeavors to unravel the complex story of why Fort Jones has a food bank by introducing you to a community of working people who just can’t pay the bills. He then takes you to Oregon, Texas and around America telling the stories of the people who use food banks across the US.
If this was all he did it would be an interesting read, but what makes it more interesting is hid documentation of his own attempt to live on what he would earn as an employee of McDonalds for a month while living in Sacramental. He documents how he spent his money, and then his experience of trying to make ends meet, and then the humiliating experience of going to a food bank.
The icing on the cake is his analysis of how the reliance of food banks came to be. He documents the history, the failed policies, and the reality faced by the working class in the USA, as well as making suggestions as to ways these issues can be addressed by suggesting policies that citizens, government, can follow to right the wrong that is when large numbers of people rely on food banks.
While this book is about the USA, it is still an important read for anyone in Canada who wants to understand poverty here in Canada, and find workable ways to address it.
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