Editor, Manteca Bulletin,

Something has me very curious- why isn’t there coverage on this “free” sack lunch initiative that is covering Manteca and Lathrop parks?  In an age where cities are filing for bankruptcy and we are reading about millions if not trillion dollar deficits, we are providing x amount of “free” lunches to whomever wants one?

My first question is: Where is this “free” money coming from?  2.  Why is it that anyone who wants one can get one?  3.  Is there any accountability or adaptability to the amount of lunches handed out?

I am a 33-year-old with three kids and a wife with average debt, a mortgage and a car.  I refuse to let my family take this “free” lunch because we do not need it.  However, I believe I am in the minority on this.  Can anyone besides myself see how this aids in the ever-present attempt to have us cling to government help?  I have heard from several friends that wouldn’t qualify for “free” food who are taking advantage of the opportunity to feed their kids a free lunch during the week (as a way out of doing it themselves).  This awesome benefit somehow escapes the need for explanation. 

I get it; there are under privileged kids who are not getting proper nutrition, but can’t we at the very least see that these are the ones getting the lunches?  By and large I am willing to bet that the very families these “free” lunches are aimed for are not even taking advantage of it.  If I take a lunch break from work, my children and I can receive a “free” lunch though we have a refrigerator full of food, no questions asked.

I feel like we are being ushered in on dependence upon the government by a “free” sack lunch initiative that I do not even remember being something the taxpayers voted on.  If I am wrong and we did pass this, please tell me.

Jeff Morrow
Manteca
July 22, 2012