Writer's Journal: To tell, or not to tell
Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel Thursday, July 26, 2007

Cigarettes were a major discussion topic in one of our editorial board meetings about this series.

Why cigarettes? This is a series about hunger. But hunger afflicts people and in writing about a number of the people I interviewed for this series, I described them smoking -- how they “stubbed out a cigarette” or had a “cigarette-colored voice.”

That led to questions from others reading my drafts, “Do you really want to do that — that’ll allow some readers to just dismiss the people you’re writing about because they’re spending their money on cigarettes and not food.”

True enough — such descriptions do play into the hands of those who blame poor people for being poor, the argument being that they’re poor because they’ve made bad choices and now the taxpayers are paying for those bad choices. For example, I just read a reader’s comment on the Portland Press Herald website, in response to a column about poverty in Maine and how even working people can’t make ends meet: “Those people don't want better paying jobs,” wrote the reader. “The reason they work at low paying jobs is so they will qualify for all the entitlements. If they wanted a good paying job, they would get the education and training to get them.”

When I went around the state talking to food pantry volunteers, church workers, teachers and social service providers and even the hungry themselves, they did talk to me about some people who appeared to live permanently off of what we used to call welfare, who didn’t care to work or feed their kids nutritious food or even take care of themselves or their homes for that matter and were quite possibly the second or even third generation of their families to do so. “The parents need to be able to take care of themselves, first, before they can take care of kids” said one staff member at the Alfond Youth Center in Waterville. One mother I interviewed spoke about having lived in subsidized housing and seen some of her neighbors use their welfare money to buy alcohol or drugs.

There are cheaters out there who take advantage of the system. And there are people who dismiss all those on public assistance as cheats and slackers. That’s a pretty crude assessment. It’s also inaccurate. To define an entire group of people by the outliers isn’t rational, nor does it do justice to the reality of those who must rely on public assistance. Also, let’s be clear: You can’t use food stamps to buy alcohol and tobacco. You can only use them to buy foodstuffs.

Few of the people I met who were hungry wanted to be on food stamps. They were humiliated by having to go to food pantries. A number of the old folks wouldn’t even do it — they’d rather swallow nothing than swallow their pride. And consider this: It’s not exactly a piece of cake to have to rely on food stamps: Anyone out there just dying to eat on a budget of $3 a day?

So what we discussed in our editorial meeting was whether the use of the cigarette smoking detail in both cases was necessary for the story we were telling — or would have been a distraction that got in the way of telling the story. In the end, I took one reference out. And left one reference in. In the latter case, the smoking was essential to the story that I was telling; in the other, it wasn’t.

Bookmark and share this story: digg del.icio.us Reddit


Reader comments

Sort by: Oldest First | Newest first

Mohron of Gorham, ME
Jul 26, 2007 9:19 AM
It is intersesting that we readers get a chance to see that the papers really do have discussions about using particular facts which may "color" a readers view of the topic in one way or another.
The reality of people making choices about whither to feed themselves or spend money on smokes, is why people have issues with how this information is presented. We judge based on how we are, not on the reality of others. The judgement is not really because of the wording in the story, its about the preception that the words support ones' preconceived ideas.report abuse
R CoteRobbins of Brewer, ME
Jul 26, 2007 10:02 AM
Great series! I plan to use this material in my Women's Studies course at the University of Maine this fall. This makes for excellent discussion material as well as possible service learning projects for the students in the course. Thank you for this material. Also, more info on School Lunch Programs:

History of the School Lunch Program

...But, it was not until 1946, when young men responding to the draft call of WWII were repeatedly rejected from service due to conditions arising from serious malnutrition, that Congress approved the long awaited National School Lunch Act.

more:
Food TimelineAmerican public school lunches
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodschools.html
sample menus, etc.

more history:
The National School Lunch Program
Background and Development

By Gordon W. Gunderson

Early European Experience
Early Programs in the United States
State Legislation and Programs
Early Federal Aid
National School Lunch Act Approved
Child Nutrition Act of 1966
Public Concern
Nutrition, Behavior, and Learning
Technical Developments in School Food Service
Congressional Action
School Milk Programs

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/AboutLunch/ProgramHistory.htm
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/

and another excellent site for material:
"In the long view, no nation is healthier than its children, or more prosperous than its farmers."
President Harry Truman,
on signing the 1946 National School Lunch Act
http://www.foodmuseum.com/exhbitschoollunch.htmlreport abuse
RickinVa of Alexandria, VA
Jul 26, 2007 10:30 AM
The one problem I have with this topic is that you have it listed twice under 'news' in both the MS and KJ and also in each of the 'Viewpoints' of both papers. Listing it 6 times makes it difficult to maintain a dialogue with readers and comments . . .
report abuse
jdaugusta of Augusta, ME
Jul 26, 2007 11:15 AM
When I was a young mother I was on food stamps. I hope that things have changed since then because I know for a fact that back in the early 80's it was way too easy for people to use their food stamps for tobacco and alchohol. One store down the street from where I lived had a clerk that would actually buy your food stamps for something like .60 per dollar. Also, back then people would use 1.00 food stamp to purchase a .10 item and get .90 back in actual change to spend on things that were not covered by the food stamps. Fortunately I was not raised in a family where this was a way of life and I did not fall into the pattern.
It was more important to me to have food than cigs or alcohol.
Addicts will always find a way to support their habits and look to others to support their basic needs for life. Yes smokers are addicts.
How can you tell the true needy from the true scammer?
One of the articles you wrote describes a woman that rents her house which is situated in the middle of a bunch of trailers for 250.00 per month. I did not see it mentioned that these trailers house the womans family or that she is renting the house from her family.
One son refused to work more than 35 hours a week and did not allow his wife to work because it put him over limit to receive his state assistance. I will never forget this because I was a hard working single mother that didn't qualify because I was honest.
I know this is not always the situation but from past experience I am afraid that for every needy person on the system is another person that has learned too well how to take advantage of the system.
From the example above, the mother probably does need assistance because her family is not willing to be responsible. But her son has learned how to scam the system so the rest of us can pay for feeding him and his children. How does a caseworker (or reporter) really know the facts just from what people tell them. The information is only as honest as the people giving it.report abuse

Show all 9 comments

You must be a registered user of MaineToday.com to post a comment. Register or log in.