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RE: Anabaptist Culture
Point taken, but even our welfare system requires you to travel some distance to get to the office. There is no office in the town where I live; it's about 10 miles away in York.
I don't think it could really work unless people (on average) don't have to travel much more than, say, twice as far as it is to the nearest post office.
Fortunately, the demand for the service in small towns is correspondingly tiny. If there are only a handful of meals to be served, almost anybody could handle the subcontract.
However, Angel Food Ministries shows that a system like yours *could* work. Serve good, solid food--nothing fancy.
My guess is that their food is probably even better that what I'd propose. The only requirement for my system is that the food be nutritious. It doesn't have to be anything anybody would otherwise seek to eat, since the whole thing is intended as a last resort. Nor does it require any variety - it can be the same vegetable soup and bread every day.
but I think it would be better as a community-run program rather than a government run program. Funding and oversight on the part of the government, but run by non-government entities.
The government has historically done it, and effectively, feeding the military. But today's government doesn't seem to run that way. My guess is that it would be contracted out - the government specifies nutritional standards and such that have to be met, and then lets the lowest bidder do the actual work.
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RE: Anabaptist Culture
Point taken, but even our welfare system requires you to travel some distance to get to the office. There is no office in the town where I live; it's about 10 miles away in York.
However, Angel Food Ministries shows that a system like yours *could* work. Serve good, solid food--nothing fancy.
Of course, the US Welfare system is more than food. It encompasses programs for Women, Infants, and Children (commonly called WIC), HUD payments for housing, help for utility bills, child care, etc. etc. etc. It's an all-encompassing system, noble in cause, but poorly administered--much like many programs where you have the government involved, sadly.
Also, you're correct on the subject of system abuse--for every one person I can cite that is a system 'abuser', I can also probably point to 3-4 more who aren't. I wish there were a way to eliminate all of the abuse, but your assertion that it would probably not be cost effective rings true.
We both agree there is a problem--and you provided one facet of a solution; but I think it would be better as a community-run program rather than a government run program. Funding and oversight on the part of the government, but run by non-government entities.
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