Due to an ongoing federal shutdown, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits ended on November 1. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said funding for the program has run out, prompting a reminder. “If you see someone stealing food, no, you didn’t.”
I’ve seen this advice posted on the internet and printed on the back of t-shirts. More than turning a blind eye, it is to see the systemic failure of a society to provide for the basic needs of its citizens.
The statement prioritizes our moral imperative to feed someone who is hungry over the legal implications of theft. While stealing is a crime, this dereliction of civic duty is understandable as the person is shoplifting as a last resort for survival.
While the online and in-person responses to this manufactured crisis have varied, there remains a stigma associated with seeking help. Some people feel it’s not the government’s job to feed its citizens. Others view eating as a universal and fundamental human right, which should include unrestricted access to regular and permanent food that is healthy and culturally appropriate.
Eating is also a part of living a dignified life, as food insecurity often leads to psychological distress like shame and depression. Worrying about “where your next meal will come from” causes anxiety and undermines a person’s sense of worth.
Still, millions of Americans criminalize poverty and food insecurity while continuing to patronize businesses credibly accused of wage theft, who steal from their employees to ensure year after year of record profits. Because our shareholders depend on us!
Back in 2015, Loren Wade celebrated his 103rd birthday as Walmart’s oldest employee. Not surprisingly, thousands of Walmart employees also qualify for SNAP benefits. The year before, a report by Americans for Tax Fairness found, “Walmart Cost Taxpayers $6.2 Billion in Public Assistance.”
A decade later, the adage holds true: “Capitalism is the gift that keeps on taking.” So, “if you see someone stealing food, no, you didn’t.”
This is government-sponsored starvation, a violent form of entertainment. The Roman satirist Juvenal concluded, “Two things only the people anxiously desire—bread and circuses.” It is a strategic distraction with no interest in or plans to offer substantive economic solutions.
Capitalism punishes “the least of these,” ensuring economic inequality for a steady supply of unwilling participants in a kind of “hunger games.” It is a part of a three-fold cord tightened to ensure the loss of bodily autonomy: social inequality, totalitarian control and media desensitization to violence.
Withholding food is violence. But as argued on social media: “Under capitalism, food isn’t produced to feed people. It’s produced to make a profit. When it’s not profitable to feed people, we let them starve. Even when our labor has conquered scarcity, capitalism must manufacture it in order to justify its existence.”
Making food for profit is a direct cause of food insecurity. Also known as food commodification, food is treated solely as a good to be bought and sold rather than as a necessity for human sustenance. This reframing has led to food waste, as edible food that does not meet the cosmetic standard is discarded.
So, “if you see someone stealing food, no, you didn’t.” Tell “a little white lie,” if you will. Look away and pretend you didn’t see it.
You can also pay for someone’s groceries. Volunteer your time and donate to food pantries.
Be inspired by the witness of a Portland coffee shop that raised more than $180,000 to offer free breakfast to SNAP recipients or the history of the Black Panther Party, which provided direct aid by launching the Free Breakfast for Children Program in 1969. But remember what the government did to this group, so “if you see someone stealing food, no, you didn’t.”
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Director of The Raceless Gospel Initiative, an associate editor, host of the Good Faith Media podcast, “The Raceless Gospel” and author of Take Me to the Water: The Raceless Gospel as Baptismal Pedagogy for a Desegregated Church.
