April 11, 2008 11:23 AM

"Food is an important part of a balanced diet" - Fran Lebowitz

Wittily stating the obvious perhaps, but what happens to those on low incomes as the price of food and fuel soars? As the interminable wrangling over the Farm Bill continues, and with the April 18 deadline imminent, many are turning to the nation's food banks for help - numbers up by a reported 20% from last year.

But, according to America's Second Harvest, one of our 2008 ballot groups:

Food banks are living on the brink of catastrophe. We're in a perfect storm between high food prices, high fuel prices, continually declining commodity support and dropping contributions, while millions more are coming to us for support.

The one thing that hungry Americans, and food banks, most need is a farm bill.

The Farm Bill has been blocked for months, with two temporary extensions of the previous bill, the second running out on April 18. However, both the House and the Senate's new farm bills do increase nutrition spending, bolster The Emergency Food Assistance Program and increase minimum food stamp benefits and adjust eligibility. So how long before they make a final decision, and since costs have escalated alarmingly since the bill was written, what next?

To end with another quote - "Oliver Twist has asked for more!" - Charles Dickens, novelist and social commentator. This book was written 170 years ago, and it doesn't seem we've progressed that far. Today, food banks and customers are in crisis. Will Congress step up, or subside back into its rut with an apathetic shrug? Will the poor have to eat cake (to paraphrase yet another quote) for some time to come?