Thoughts on Pantry Vending

I really liked the idea of Pantry Vending. I feel like it would help a lot of people in metropolitan areas like Memphis if this were to become a real organization. One thing that surprised me was the technical income level you need to be at in order to be considered impoverished; I would've thought it would be higher because while basically no one can live decently off of the income level associated with poverty, basically no one can live comfortably even if you are above it by a couple thousand. So I definitely think that the income level in which you can be considered impoverished should be changed or the federal government should have classifications of impoverishment based off income, location, and how many you need to provide for. Another reason I liked the idea of Pantry Vending was because the poverty levels are only going to continue to rise.We discussed it in class when we were talking about Karl Marx and it definitely seems like it's the way we're headed. So as more and more people presumably more impoverished, this would be an increasingly more helpful tool, especially in regards to eliminating the stigma associated with receiving help in this sort of way; I say this because as more and more people become impoverished and the poverty rate rises, more people who were once moderately financially stable will have to start getting help, so eliminating this social stigma will benefit so many people. One thing that was brought up in class was where to put these vending machines. I think that the best place to put the vending machines would be in churches. Since this would currently be a Memphis based organization and you can't drive five minutes down the road without running into a church, I feel like it would definitely be the best option. Not only would most, if not all, churches be willing to go through with this idea, but it would also be another source for donations. If you were partnered with churches, you could also put a drop box near the vending machines in the churches so that members of the church could easily and directly donate to the organization rather than have to drive to the store location. Overall, I really liked the idea and wouldn't be surprised if this became an actual organization as the need for this type of service is only going to keep rising.