"Who can't afford a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?"

Normally, I try to stay away from politics in my blog. When I worked for the paper, it wasn’t a good idea to talk about my leanings because it would create a perceived editorial bias, but I also was able to stretch my opinionated mind in editorials on occasion. Now I don’t have that, so I feel increasingly compelled to write down my feelings on the things that matter most to me — education, parenting issues, and, especially, poverty.

Recently, I read this in the Letters to the Editor. The woman was talking about why she didn’t think we need a summer lunch program in Pocatello. For background, the school district offers free lunches to anyone under 18 at various parks throughout town. Although anyone can eat the lunch, it’s designed to make sure children from low-income families don’t go hungry during the months that there is no school lunch program to ensure they get a meal.

“Seriously, who can’t afford a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an apple with a glass of milk?” she wrote.

Actually, a lot of people can’t. According to government statistics, more than 65,000 children in Idaho are considered food-insecure, meaning their families struggle to meet basic food needs. More than 20 percent of Idaho children under the age of 5 are food-insecure. The government tracks food insecurity by asking families questions about whether or not they have gone on an entire day without eating, or whether they worry that food will run out.

These children are our friends and neighbors. In fact, many of us are only a lay-off, injury or illness away from being food-insecure ourselves.

There was a time when I was growing up that my mom couldn’t afford a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for us. She was going through a difficult divorce, trying to hold down several jobs and pay the tremendous bills my father ran up just before he left. We were lucky- we weren’t homeless because we had family. We still had Christmas because I had grandparents who stepped in. And, most importantly, I had a mom who was willing to sacrifice just about everything to make sure we didn’t know we were poor.

When my brother was about 2, he started crying about the fact that he hadn’t had a birthday in awhile. My mom and I have birthdays in February and March — his isn’t until October. So my mom decided to have a half birthday for him. It took our last cent just to buy a cheap cake mix to make him a cake so he wouldn’t feel left out. It was a pretty simple gesture. I wouldn’t think anything of picking up a cake mix at the store for my kids. But for us at the time, it was huge. It was a sacrifice.

Luckily for us, poverty was temporary. In just a few years, we were on our feet. But it isn’t that way for everyone. My mom has students who said they couldn’t go on field trips because they would miss their free school lunch- it’s their main meal for the day. She asked the school if they would pack the kids lunches, and when they said they couldn’t, she packed them something herself. It would take a lot for a high school student to admit that they don’t want to leave school grounds because they need a school lunch. There is no doubt they are hungry. If they could afford a peanut butter sandwich, apple and milk, they would go to the store and get it.

It’s hard for me to understand how people can live on this earth and assume that everyone else has the same experiences and quality of life. We’re all in this world together — it’s our responsibility to make sure that few of us are hungry, hurt or lonely. To do that, we can’t be blind to the pain and struggles of others. Instead, it’s our duty to help where we can. At the very least, we need to understand that there are people out there who are less fortunate than we are, and say a prayer for them.