Reader's View: Teach self-sufficiency, not more dependence

The June 29 article “Summer servings: District offers free meals to kids 18 and younger, adult meals for less than $4,” was troubling for me. I am dismayed at what our government has done to its people. Are our social programs and employment so inadequate that parents cannot afford to feed their children breakfast or lunch?
A photo of the lunch showed pancakes in a box. How much does it cost to make a child pancakes, eggs or oatmeal for breakfast and a fried egg or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch? The parent is charged $4; a homemade lunch costs less.
Are these programs necessary because parents meeting the 185 percent poverty level do not know how to allocate resources and cook? Is responsibility for personal decisions gone? Are these programs just another free-something from the government?
Worse yet, the government advertises the program’s availability and requires no proof of need: Just show up. The government goal is to feed more. Aren’t systems in place to refer the truly needy?
A worthy goal would be to create an environment in which fewer would need to be fed. What has happened to Duluth when over 50 percent of the children meet the government poverty level required for these programs?  What business with well-paying jobs would locate to such a city?
This is not a condemnation of those who use the program but of our government agencies who devise programs with good intentions (meals served) but do not invest in effective programs to decrease the need for free breakfasts and lunches.
It is not only the poor who avail themselves of government handouts. All income levels take advantage of government freebies. Most of these programs are a legal bribe to the politicians to get elected under the guise of good intentions.
William Lundberg
Poplar