Price Gouging the Poor... Why aren't Americans OUTRAGED? Why aren't we concerned that the rift between the haves and have nots is becoming wider and will have dire consequences on our society as a whole?
From the LATimes
Some of California's poorest children could soon be shut out of a government food program due to an explosion of stores that cater to low-income mothers but charge top dollar for milk, eggs and other staples.
Prices at the stores -- most in the Los Angeles area -- are as much as 16% higher than at supermarkets and other retailers. Many have sprung up in clusters near offices where young mothers go for food vouchers and nutrition classes.
Experts say the jump in the number of these businesses is now adding $33 million a year to the cost of the Women, Infants and Children program in California, which serves nearly 1.3 million people.
From MSNBC -
Berger, who runs the non-profit Racine County Food Bank, used to collect donations to buy individual boxes of food for poor families at Christmastime. But the boxes, which he bought from America's Second Harvest of Wisconsin, began to rise in price several years ago.
"They just kept raising the price higher and higher," Berger said. "It was $24 per box, then $26, then it jumped to $35."
Berger learned that Second Harvest, a Milwaukee-based non-profit, had created a for-profit business, Evoco, to sell food boxes to organizations feeding the poor.
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