Here's the summary:
- According to a 2013 Natural Resources Defense Council report,
- Around 49,100,000 Americans lived in food-insecure households, which is defined by the USDA as "consistent access to adequate food [that] is limited by a lack of money and other resources at times during the year" or in other words, people who don't know how and if they are going to be able to eat at last once during the year.
- Between 33.3% and 40% of all food produced in America is never actually eaten
- America (growers, distributors vendors, consumers, etc.) throws away $165 billion with a b worth of food every year, which is enough to fill 730 football stadiums, and is the equivalent of about 20 lbs of food per person, per month.
- The primary reason for the waste (at least on the part of the companies instead of the individual consumer) is because it is expensive to distribute for charity. As JO pointed out, companies are not charities and shouldn't be expected to spend that much money out of the goodness of their hearts. Especially since they don't have hearts. I mean, corporations are people legally, just not anatomically.
- The government should offer tax incentives/breaks to companies that do spend the money to get all that extra food to the hungry people we have so many of in this country. And they do, but only for large corporations. We also do it for small companies, like local grocers or restaurants, but only on a temporary basis, so these companies don't know if they will receive a tax break until the end of the year and therefore have no financial incentive to donate that food because the distribution is too cost-prohibitive.
- In February 2015, HR 644 - The Fighting Hunger Incentive Act was introduced on the floor of the House which basically codifies the same tax incentives offered to large corporations who make charitable food donations (since they were just going to throw it out anyway) for smaller business entities. Small business owners get tax breaks and hungry people get food. Win-win, so this should be easy - but it's the government so of course it's not.
- The bill does pass through the House but only after getting a bunch of other crap added to it and a new name - the America Gives More Act of 2015. But the important part is that all the original language about rewarding small businesses for feeding hungry people instead of landfills was still in there, so still on track.
But then....but then the Senate happened. Specifically, Orrin-I'm-the-personification-of-a-conflict-of-interest-because-my-own-son-is-a-lobbyist-and-also-I'm-a-giant-piece-of-shit Hatch. So as JO pointed out, the Senate did something that he didn't even know they could do. I didn't know they could do it either, and it's quite possible it will come as a shock to you as well, BECAUSE IT'S COMPLETELY FUCKING BATSHIT THAT THIS IS LEGAL EVEN THOUGH IT PROBABLY ISN'T BUT THEY CAN DO WHATEVER THE FUCK THEY WANT AND NO ONE WILL EVER STOP THEM.
- Some-fucking-how Hatch took out all that stuff about feeding people and the corresponding tax incentives for small businesses - and I do mean ALL of it because he took out the ENTIRE text of the bill - and that angry little taint replaced it with a bunch of shit about immigration and U.S.-Israel relations. Because you know, that's the same.
- Then, just to be a totally crusty cunt, he changed the name of the bill to the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, because ya know, we wouldn't want all those hungry people to get confused and think they were getting food or some bullshit like that.
This is the kind of shit that makes me fucking insane. Our fucked up government barely functions as it is...and I'm not sure if I can even legally use the word "functions" to describe what they do. But my basic 5th grade knowledge of the legislative process is that if the House proposes a bill, they approve it and it gets over to the Senate, then the Senate should have to be voting on the same mother fucking bill!!! I don't know if Hatch is the first one to pull this bullshit (although I have to think there's been giant pieces of shit before him that thought of it) but this is clearly not what the system is designed to do. I have to go to bed now, but I seriously, seriously hope he fucking dies and I get to wake up to good news in the morning. And not just a regular, peaceful death in his sleep. I want him to die under some really embarrassing AND painful circumstances. If I wake up to an ORRIN HATCH CHOKES TO DEATH ON BRIGHT BLUE DONKEY DILDO I will definitely know there is a god and that he (or she) loves me very, very much.
