Food Bank in Affluent Arlington Sees Record Demand

I've worked in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from DC for nearly 20 years, and in the past decade have witnessed a spectacular bout of re-gentrification that has dotted the landscape with condo towers and upscale shopping centers and restaurants. Here's how Arlington was described in a recent Washington Post story:

As the nation struggles with tenacious economic problems, Arlington County has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the United States, just below 4 percent. Half of the county’s residents make more than $102,384 annually, and the per-capita income is $74,035. Many residents are highly educated, and in August, a national magazine called Arlington one of the best spots in the country to be rich and single.

From my observations, Arlington certainly is affluent. But I've also noticed that there are also plenty of homeless people hanging around on its streets, and if anything their numbers seemed to have increased in recent years. My perception was confirmed by that same Post article, entitled, "Arlington Food Bank Sees Record Demand," as follows:

When volunteers open the doors at the Arlington Food Assistance Center these fall mornings, people are always waiting.

They are young and older, white, black, Hispanic, Asian and all of the other ethnicities found in the increasingly diverse county. Some have children in tow; others grasp only the handles of their reusable grocery bags. Some have familiar faces, but many waiting quietly in line are new clients, and there are more and more of them.

During the second week of September, 1,572 families went to the warehouse just off Four Mile Run in Shirlington for eggs, milk, frozen chicken, pastries and produce. That was an all-time record for the 24-year-old food bank — but it lasted only until the last week of September, when 1,602 families (4,050 individuals) were served.

“We’ve been increasing throughout the summer at the rate of 10 to 15 families a month, and lately we’ve seen a real spike,” said Charles Meng, the food bank’s executive director. “The people are the still unemployed or recently laid off and those we consider to be underemployed, [because] $7.25 an hour is not a living wage in Arlington County.”

So here we have a substantial pocket of obvious poverty embedded right within one of the wealthiest enclaves in the country. If things are getting this bad in Arlington, how much worse must they be elsewhere? The article concludes on an even more ominous note:

What worries Meng most is that he used to be able to predict when demand would increase. Cupboards would empty during the last week of the month, as food stamps, support checks and paychecks ran out. But the first few days of October are seeing a surge in demand, and it’s well ahead of the holiday season.

“This doesn’t bode well for the rest of the month,” he said.

This also doesn't bode well for the country as a whole. Note to the clueless news media: you want to know why the Occupy Wall Street protests have gained so much momentum so quickly despite your best efforts to disparage and ignore them? It's because the truth about the economy has become too obvious to deny. People are hurting and they are getting pissed off. And sooner or later no amount of lies and propaganda are going to be able to soothe them.