there is so much food available even if you dont have money to buy it...when i was raising my son (in american type poverty) several nights a week i would put on my best clothes and go to restaurants at closing time and ask them if they had any food to give to me and my family that was still good but could not be used the next day or that they had been planning to toss out -some people are very generous some try to be mean -i would say thank you and move on if the answer was no or abuse. also vegetable trimmings for my rabbits created excellant vegetable soup - another resource for me has been dumpster diving and knowledge of the location of berkeleys many free and low cost food giveaway programs both church and state sponsored...vegetarian,hindu christian and others give away food also -the city is literally overflowing with free food-i also knock on doors of houses with unpicked trees with good results - if i get too much i share it - this is one way to fight poverty - yes i am a fanatic and i decided to live as far from a materialist life as possible when i was a kid-im 62 and do believe in and practice this still.its very hard to be generous having been raised to believe in profit and wealth..ive loved reading every ones remarks -this is an essential subject - which leads me next to the question "who pays the rent"love/peace/karendenise