This Ain't no Mecca, Man

Dear Carolyne Mistake-


I live in San Francisco, one of the most expensive places in the USA, in a hallway under the stairs and make about 200 bucks a week. A great number of the people I know in this really high cost of living area have food stamps. Some of them come from really economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and some are, let's face it, just really into getting "free" food because it's "punk". For years, I have never felt that food stamps were appropriate for me, me of the whitey upper middle class college educated background that I have, should be more than capable of foraging for my own food and not taking advantage of a system that is supposed to help people who are actually in need. But lately I might be re-thinking my position. Food stamps are attractive to me not because I think poverty is at all cool (though that guy who wrote EVASION might care to differ) but because shit man, food is expensive and the amount of money I make is tiny compared to the majority of the people living in this area. SO, my question to you is, how ethical are food stamps for punks of a certain privileged background? I know there is the whole argument of not wanting to work because work is hella not punk, or to be able to go on tour and cook for the people who's house you stay at, but I fit into neither of those categories. So tell me your thoughts.



Sincerley,


This ain't no mecca man...






Dear (This Ain't No) Mecca Man,



Everything sucks right now. No one has jobs and the people who do
have jobs aren't making enough to survive. To be honest I don't
really understand national economics. Interesting how I an understand
my own money, and have a fairly good grasp on global economics, but
how we are able to live as luxuriously as we do as a nation and still
no one has any money and the country as a whole is in a huge debt,
completely escapes me. So keep that in mind as I try to help you out.



I have often felt the same way you do. That food stamps are for
people who need it, not "us," not "people who choose to be poor." But
hey Mecca, guess what, we are no longer choosing to be poor. You got
a job, you are trying to make it, and there's no real reason why you
should have a job and live in a staircase and starve while there are
people out there eating (through whatever means necessary). Even my
mother recently suggested I apply for food stamps, as I have been
eligible for years upon years now. There was a time when dumpstering
was pretty profitable but it seems like even that has stopped, with
many places trying to save as much as possible because even they don't
have any money (not to mention so many other people who have started
looking there for a change of a meal).



The one issue I suppose I still have with punks who are on food stamps
is when they talk about how shitty the government is. At this point,
come on man we all know it sucks, but if you are getting free,
not-from-the-trash food then there is little justification to complain
about the government on at least that level. It's still probably
alright to rise up against those horrible international policies and
fear-tactics.



But if you are going to go on food stamps, also consider other methods
of food (easier said than done, right?). I met a guy in D.C, years
ago, who grew herbs and vegetables in his apartment, on his
windowsills, and that's where he got the majority of his produce.
There are also community gardens and sometimes even farms that are not
too far outside a city's limits. While these aren't really food-stamp
accessible, they are cheap ways of getting food and you will be giving
your money directly to a family, and possibly could work out a system
where you work for your food or for some of your food, depending on
your availability. Check out Alemany Farm (alemanyfarm.org) or the
Green Gulch Farm at the San Fransisco Zen Center (sfzc.org/ggf) for a
few options but there are probably lots more out there. Here in
Pittsburgh there is even a squat dedicated to community farming, that
the government recently decided to legalize (if I have my facts
correct). And of course there is always Food Not Bombs. You might
feel better about being on food stamps if you alternately volunteer
your time with another organization trying to feed people (including
yourself). Or use some of your extra food stamp money to feed some
friends who are also struggling but who do not quality.



What ever you choose, don't feel like a jerk for needing to feed
yourself. Maybe being punk in general isn't ethical. Or maybe it's
as ethical as we can get. Would Steve Ignorant be on food stamps if
he lived in a city where a college educated person made $8/hr and rent
for a real room (yeah I know he lives in a teepee somewhere) cost at
least $550/month? A person can only sacrifice so much, but a person
can also usually give a lot more than they give themselves credit for.