Food Banks Brace as Pentagon Gets Another $80 Billion
As American food banks brace for a surge in demand, threatened by a potential federal aid pause amid government shutdown talks, one might wonder: where did all the money go? While critical domestic programs face the chopping block, the Pentagon's budget just swelled to $886 billion for 2024, an $80 billion increase over 2023. This is precisely the kind of selective austerity that leaves millions
scrambling for food on one hand, while ensuring defense contractors and interventionist foreign policy are well-fed on the other. It appears Congressional priorities align perfectly with what keeps the military-industrial complex humming, rather than keeping literal food on American tables. Perhaps if our food aid programs offered more opportunities for Lockheed Martin or Raytheon contracts,
they'd sail through budget negotiations without a hitch. How many hungry American families constitute a 'national security threat' compared to a hypothetical one abroad?