Rep. Ilhan Omar compared childhood hunger in America to what she “experienced in a refugee camp in Kenya”:
11 million children in the U.S., a nation of tremendous wealth, face the kind of hunger I experienced in a refugee camp in Kenya.
It’s unacceptable that our students go hungry and into debt for not having lunch money.
Children’s futures depend on making school meals universal.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 16, 2020
Where the eff is she going with this?
This is a lie. https://t.co/uZjirGGU9S
— Tom Giovanetti (@tgiovanetti) February 17, 2020
As far as we can tell, she’s quoting from this USDA study which is quite clearly not the same as living in a refugee camp:
More than 11 million children in the United States live in “food insecure” homes, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). That means those families don’t have enough food for every family member to lead a healthy life. This doesn’t always mean that there is nothing to eat. But it can mean that children get smaller portions than they need, or parents aren’t able to afford nutritious foods.
For a more comprehensive understanding of food insecurity, we recommend the USDA’s annual report on Household Food Security in the United States.
And regarding school lunches, why is this not something that should be done at the state level? Why does it have to be a federal program?
You want to make those children
& as many others as possible
Dependent on the governmentWe want to make them dependent on responsible parents https://t.co/Ph8qjaorvW
— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) February 17, 2020
This also ignores a very real health problem in America, which is the opposite of what you’d find in an African refugee camp:
Nearly 1 in 3 kids in North America are overweight or obese, with childhood obesity having tripled over the past 40 years. https://t.co/KXna7GSdqV
— AJC (@ajc) February 4, 2020
And people are mad at the Trump administration for actually giving kids the food they’ll eat in school:
Are you kidding me with this? @realDonaldTrump and Republicans want to expand obesity & heart disease in America. This is the nutritional equivalent of child abuse. And of course this will further drive up health care costs in America long-term. https://t.co/awkBvfkVx0
— Kurt Bardella (@kurtbardella) January 17, 2020
“This is the nutritional equivalent of child abuse”? Feeding your kid pizza and potatoes is child abuse? They’ve lost it.
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