Missouri Child Hunger Denier Believes Life Ends at Birth

Missouri State Representative Cynthia Davis, lambasted by Keith Olbermann last night (June 22, 2009) as a "Worst person in the World" for opposing summer meals for low-income kids based on her belief that "hunger can be a positive motivator," is, ironically, one of Missouri's leading pro-life activists.

While the organization I manage, the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, has no official position on reproductive choice, I can't help but note how absurd it is for a state official who claims to care so much about the life of children in wombs to oppose a program that, by improving the nutrition of children who are born, reduces the likelihood that they will die early from diet-related causes.

In a recent column, Davis opined: "Some people say we should be satisfied in life with half-a-loaf. But when the issue itself is protecting innocent life, it is ludicrous to ask if we would mind compromising our basic core values." Yet when it comes to another basic value -- that of ensuring that those children, once born, deserve the nutrition necessary for a healthy life -- she seems to be for far more than compromising, she seems to be for eradicating that value entirely.

Davis proudly touts her religious convictions, but ignores that fighting hunger is a central tenet of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and virtually every other religious faith.

She denies that she has ever seen hunger in her district but, in 2008, the St. Louis Food Area Food Bank had to distribute an amazing 689,929 pounds of food to food pantries and soup kitchens, most of which were surely faith-based, in her home county of St. Charles.

Also in that county, according to federal statistics, one in 12 people, and one in ten children live in homes that can't afford enough food. (Missouri Hunger Atlas.)

If she hasn't seen hunger, it is only because she has her eyes closed. (And keep in mind that St. Charles County, a nice suburb of St. Louis, has far less poverty and hunger than many parts of Missouri.)

Rep. Davis cited the success of charities in the response to Hurricane Katrina, but seems wholly ignorant that the vast majority of food relief provided after the hurricane was government food, either in the form of USDA commodities or through the Disaster Food Stamp Program.

She claims that the existence of the Summer Meals Program funded by government is somehow an implicit criticism of the job that parents do raising their children. That's nonsense. The program is simply an acknowledgement that many families simply don't earn enough to buy their children enough meals during summer, when their children no longer get free meals at school. If anything, the need for the program should be seen as a criticism of elected officials such as Rep. Davis who stand idly by as government and economic policies make American children increasingly hungry.

Rep. Davis claims that a nation that has so much obesity can't have hunger, but as I prove conclusively in my book All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America?, obesity and hunger are flip sides of the same malnutrition coin.

Unfortunately, Rep. Davis's extreme claims are only the tip of the iceberg of a whole Right-wing cottage industry of hunger and poverty denial. Right-wing think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute are hard at work every day generating propaganda to dismiss or deny hunger and poverty. No matter how many times they are proven demonstrably wrong, they never seem to lose credibility -- at least in the world of Right-wing political zealots.

Perhaps most disturbing, Rep. Davis is Chair of the Special Committee on Children and Families and Chair of the Interim Committee on Poverty. I don't suppose the poverty committee is only an interim committee because they have a serious plan to wipe it out.

Davis claims to decry government programs, while taking home a government salary in excess of $31,351 a year for a part-time job. If Ms. Davis really thinks that "hunger can be a positive motivator," perhaps she should give back her salary and, after she runs out of money to buy food, go on a hunger strike to determine whether that gives her more motivation to get the Legislature to do more productive work.

Perhaps she should further demonstrate her anti-government credentials by refusing to drive on any roads built by government and only take roads privately built by churches. She wouldn't get very far.

Comments

[LeBeau59741]

"No Child Left Behind".... except at mealtime?

[CompashCat]

In Republican Ideology, poor = lazy, stupid and morally bankrupt. If you were motivated, intelligent and morally superior, you wouldn't be poor then, now, would you? This is their assumption; therefore, why should anyone who works hard, is blessed with "normal" intelligence, has social/family connections and access to higher education, etc., have to take care of these lazy, stupid and immoral people?

I wish conservatives would work for a social service agency for a week. What a great idea: challenge your lawmaker to a "Walk a Day in My Shoes" event where they have to work in a public school, social service agency or public health clinic, etc. It is easy to make ignorant assumptions and stick to negative stereotypes until you have a real experience with the population you're generalizing about.

[Opygollopy]

Nice dream and it could work. The holdback is that Republicans have never done an honest or meaningful job in their lives. Their idea of work is bossing people around to feel the "power" of being in charge. They do not absorb hardships of others because they do not care unless it directly affects themselves and they have never had to scrape for anything in their lives.

They are self absorbed people who are not flexible in any way. They profess to love God but in truth they love the almighty dollar and the power that comes with it. They care about as much for their faith as they do for the poor - which is nada.

[findingmuse]

i teach in an elementary school where about 90% of our children are on free or reduced meals. sometimes the only meals they get all day are breakfast and lunch. when it's vacation time? we have children who cry because school is where they know they'll get at least 2 good meals.

this is the united states of america. no child--NO CHILD--should be hungry or cold at night. NO CHILD. people like this woman infuriate me. the fact she proclaims to love and follow a man who spent his life healing the sick and feeding the hungry infuriates me. the fact she sits in her holier-than-thou house, with her well-stocked holier-than-thou cupboards, telling everyone else what to do and how to do it infuriates me.

clearly, she's never read the Jesus story where he tells the one dude it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. all bibles should be recalled and reprinted, with her picture next to that parable.

[Badbone]

"government and economic policies make American children increasingly hungry."

Isn't that just like a liberal? Government created the problem, so hey, let's get government to solve it!

And while we are at it, why don't we have the government subsidize everything? Healthcare, food, education, housing- it's all under the umbrella of 'for the children' right?

[jglass54]

Badbone, where do you get your quote that "government and economic policies make American children increasingly hungry." It wasn't in the article.

I suppose you'd like impoverished people to do without government assistance and be able to feed their children, live in adequate housing, pay for health care and pay for pre-school programs on their meagerly salaries, if they have any......or just "pull themselves up by their bootstraps." As someone who has worked with the poor, you can't imagine how many obstacles they have to overcome just to get to a job interview.

I hope you never have anything bad happen to you that necessitates government help. Because if it does, you should stick to your principles and refuse it.

[ArthurTwoShedsJackson]

From the looks of her photo on The Colbert Report, Cynthia Davis obviously never misses any of her five square meals a day!

[ArthurTwoShedsJackson]

And from the looks of things, the final irony is Cynthia Davis has certainly not missed any of her five square meals per day.

For far right Jesus jingos like her, stomach-wrenching hypocracy is a holy sacrament.

[USA1776]

She is working under the assumption that poor = lazy.

[KarateKid]

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/80fc8238cc/george-carlin-pro-life-is-antiwomen-from-classicstandupfan

The immortal George Carlin describes Pro Lifers to a tee in this classic vid.

[Barbara Gasta]

Ms. Davis: Saying that "hunger is a positive motivator" is as logically correct as "an aborted fetus will not grow up to become a criminal, therefore, abortion is good." You obviously grew up in a family where meals were automatic. I am 60 years old and I did not. You could stand to miss a few meals, physically and mentally. Maybe you could share your lunch with a child (under the age of 16 if you insist). Hopefully, we will hear a roar of outrage from the poor and non-poor in Missouri over this portrayal of that state. Does she not realize that even a starving 16-year-old will one day be able to vote and that her hopes for higher office end then, if not now. Worst Person indeed.

[Konnie]

thanks to the christian coalition a few years back......they encouraged all their followers to get
elected to local offices...­........sc­hool boards, library boards, pta's..........dog catcher, justice of
the piece, local councils etc......well they heard the call......­..........­and this my friends is what
you get when little tiny minds and little flinty hearts are in charge....­..........

talked to a lady yesterday - in Indiana mind you - she just got a thank you note from
the principal of her kid's school. while she was talking to one of the lunch ladies, a little
one came up and said she wanted to eat lunch - and the lunch lady told the little one, sorry
honey, there is no more money in your account. did the little hungry kid understand?
my friend handed the lunch lady a dollar.
that's all it was. a dollar! for the reduced fee lunch! later it was found that the mom had
ticked a dollar in the kids back pack............

is this who you want to be? is this what you want our country to be? talk about a
WWJD moment. sickening. just sickening.