Dichotomy

I had a round table meeting at the Food Bank today. We gathered some thought leaders to learn about where things stand and the state of Food Insecurity in our third of North Carolina. It was striking how bad the food deserts are in poor and rural areas. But poor is not limited to rural. Wake country where there is a high concentration of wealth has more poor people than many counties down east have people.

High cost of living hits people in the food wallet because it is the area of their budget which is variable. So more people are in need than ever, especially the very young and very old.

One thing that is frustrating is the fact that the farm bill has not been passed in DC. The farm bill historically has been a non-partisan issue. But the lack of getting anything done in congress along with the people who just say no to everything, controlling a portion of one party, means they are not doing their jobs and passing bills.

We will never end hunger, but it would be nice to have politicians in DC like Wake County Commission Matt Calabria who was at the meeting today trying to help the issue. The local people know what the needs are, but the DC people are too far from their constituents.

After the meeting, I went and taught a private lesson before I went to teach a class. I made a stop at Cameron Village before my class. I was a sitting in my car watching a man in a new Rolls Royce SUV trying to park. He pulled into a spot and got out and walked around the behemoth of a vehicle to make sure that if the 20 year old Toyota he parked next to could not hit his car with their door. He was not satisfied and got back in the Rolls and maneuvered it over a few more inches. He got out and checked again. He moved it a third time.

I sat in my car watching this whole thing. I thought, if you have such a valuable car that you can’t park it in public what’s the point? All that work, just to park. I hoped that guy spent as much time thinking about important issues and maybe helping the world, even just a little.

The world needs a lot of help.