Snapshots Of Struggle In The Food Line

(CBS)  Snapshots of suffering in a small, southern town reveal a daily struggle for survival.

"Are there days that you …" CBS News correspondent Seth Doane began asking.

"That we don't eat?" Liz Thomas said while standing in line at a food pantry. "Yeah."

"Why is it getting more difficult?" Doane asked.

"Gas prices. Milk is just as expensive as gas these days - it's just really hard," food recipient Stephanie Smith said, tearing up. "I'm sorry."

Most of these people never imagined they'd wind up waiting in a food line.

"I think the best thing that people can do is stand back and pray - pray for better times," recipient Cynthia Graybill said.

Pray - and pitch in. People come from all over the county - the ones who don't need help volunteer to help those who do.

One volunteer, Wanda Stinson, said: "When they hug you and say 'I have one can of corn in my cabinet for the rest of the month,' you go to bed that night saying, 'oh thank you, lord, I was able to help that family.'"

The mobile pantry, and the others they've had in Dover, Tenn., was made possible by Second Harvest, which loaded up about 10,000 lbs. of food 90 miles away in Nashville.

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Learn more about Second Harvest's effort to feed the hungry at its Web site.
Read more about this story and the series at Couric & Co.

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For the organizer, getting the word out proves to be its own challenge.

"There's probably been, like, 40 people who've had their phones disconnected since the last time," said organizer Linda Hagen. "I think they're giving up their phones for food and gas."

One local factory moved to Mexico - another just canceled a shift. And the number of families signing up for food has almost doubled since last October.

In line, Doane met a woman named Georgia Bumpus. She started cleaning houses when she couldn't find an office job, but now she's become a luxury.

She said: "People have said, 'well, can we afford to have a housekeeper? when we might, you know, need that money for gas or for groceries ourselves.'"

Stephanie Smith had to leave her minimum-wage job because her salary didn't cover the cost of her commute and child care.

"This is hard to have your kids watch their parents go through this," Smith said.

The lucky ones are on one side of the table, giving out the food. But they know there's not much separating them from the other side.

"The scary thing is, it could be you," said Kelli Garrett of Second Harvest of Middle Tennessee. "We find so much more that folks who said I never thought that this would be me, I never thought I'd need food are needing help."

"Did you ever think you'd be standing in a line like this?" Doane asked.

"No," said Bumpus. "And it's humbling. It's humbling."

Humbling or not, there won't be a line to stand in much longer.

The state money that funded the program runs out at the end of the month. And that hasn't been renewed.

[rleary1234]

ljrader states: Why do so many people assume that the cause of being obese is overeating? Many people do not have the means to buy fresh fruit and vegetable or to have the money for diet clubs and special diet food. Going on and staying on a diet involves menu planning. Most of the hungry people cannot be so selective.

I beg to differ but staying under-weight doesn''t require special foods, vegetables, or diet foods. It requires self esteem and especially education. So many Americans are fat now and told that "It''s o.k. we''re all the same.." blah blah blah. It''s o.k. to be morbidly obese but it sure isn''t healthy. Most of the 1,200 people I work with starting around age 17 are obese and huge. They spend most of their time talking/texting on their cellphones and only take a break to go online and look at themselves on "myspace". I don''t believe that one of them could tell you anything about History, Geography, or even what happened in the world a week ago. I pray that there are enough smart future Americans that can help our great nation flourish... And be thin and fit! Anyone out there that takes offense to this is probably obese. Yes, it could be a "gland problem" but if it''s your "saliva gland" I''m not responsible for your weight problem. And please don''t wear all of the new tight fashions.

[ljrader]

Why do so many people assume that the cause of being obese is overeating? Many people do not have the means to buy fresh fruit and vegetable or to have the money for diet clubs and special diet food. Going on and staying on a diet involves menu planning. Most of the hungry people cannot be so selective.

[patriot12436]

I also feed the stray cats and dogs when they come around and are hungry. They have a hard life as they sleep in the day time because the cobra''s come out at night and they have to stay alert to keep from being bitten. When an economy suffers the animals suffer as well. Being a retired soldier has taught me to have compassion for people and animals.

[patriot12436]

i buy candy and pass it out to the neighborhood children. Some of their parents are so poor the children would ever get candy otherwise. This has enabled me to meet all my neighbors here. They may be poor but they are wonderful people. In this coutryif you do not work you do not eat. There are no social programs to help the people here. I take cobra''s when i find them and give them to the red cross so they can use for antivenom. The snakes lead a good life and help people that are bitten. I love interacting with animals and this has been a wonderful experience living here. I am going to miss the country, the people, and the culture when i have toi return to the states. I am already looking forward to when i can come back.

[patriot12436]

Where is the compassion we as Americans are known to have. I agree it is time we stopped trying to be the world police and telling veryone else how they should live. We need to stop foreign aid because we can''t afford it anymore. It is time we addressed the problems we have here at home and start taking care of our own people. We need to pull out of Iraq and start spending that money on our own country.

[patriot12436]

Also as far as the weight goes, i am diabetic, when i started insulin i started gaining weight, i tried every diet on the market nothing worked. I went to my doctor he told me that it was a side effect of the insulin and ther was nothing i could do. I joined a gym, hired a trainer and went 4 hours a day seven days a week, watched and kept a log of everything i ate. After two months i had not lost one pound. Went back to my doctor and he reccommended lipo and tummy tuck to get rid of extra weight. I just heard of a procedure where they go down your throat and swe your stomach in half. I think this might also be an option. I still exercize every day but cannot lose the stomach weight. So people who are over weight cannot always help it. Medical conditions cause problems.

[patriot12436]

This is to all the idiots worried about the peoples weight. They are losing their jobs and homes because we are in a recession. Their weight has nothing to do with this. If they could afford to move where would they go ? This problem is nation wide. I am living in Thailand and they are having the same problem. The average wage is $3 to $11 a day. They elected a new Prime Minister and food prices doubled over night, now they are protesting to remove him. Alot of Thai people are having trouble making a living and thigs keep getting worse. I am lucky i have an excellent retirement with a medical plan that pays everything for me and only have a $30 copay for the wife.I will return to the states in September. I am thinking of looking for a place like this where i can volunteer to help people who ned a hand up.

[michellem99-2009]

low cost food is just that junk. And no the food banks give far worse. It is nice idea to plant a ganden if ye can see to do so. I am for our money staying in America but the govt will send it over seas.

[mreadle]

Reading these comments makes me embarrassed to be an America! I CAN"T believe there is a 2 hr line for food and all the comments revolve around the weight of the people. Has anyone considered these people are probably VERY depressed and all the food donated is LOADED with carbs and fat? When was the last time you''ve seen chicken or veggies in a food bank? They can''t afford food or gas, I bet they can''t afford steak either! I''m sure they can''t afford to move to a new place where the economy might be a little better. You can all sit there and do nothing but make superficial comments and watch American Idol and donate your money to help other countries while ours is in DIRE need of help! Let the people here suffer and starve, but make sure to cut your check for the kids in Africa. Be AMERICANS - HELP YOUR OWN COUNTRY, YOUR OWN PEOPLE, YOUR OWN ECONOMY!!! or sit back and judge and wonder why you''re in a line waiting for food in the future. I''m sure someone will write nasty comments about you then.

[timdgrim]

libsluv2spit
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This guy is a F**king Idiot!
Oh, I''m sorry, it was a Richard Cheney slip.....