Letters to the Editor | Nov. 5, 2025

“There is nothing but hunger.”

This haunting phrase has come to be associated with Migrant Mother, a Depression-era photograph of an impoverished farmworker, Florence Owens Thompson, staring into the distance while her three starving children huddle around her. Thompson’s eyes reflect the hollow ache of hunger — a feeling no one should endure again.

As a pediatrician in Philadelphia serving a community with one of the highest rates of Medicaid insurance in the country, this image weighs heavily on me. It echoes in my mind as the winds of SNAP benefit cuts, tied to the ongoing government shutdown, begin to gather strength. These cuts threaten to crash upon the most vulnerable in our communities: children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

For children, even temporary disruptions in food assistance have lasting consequences. Hunger doesn’t just empty stomachs — it disrupts sleep, worsens behavior, impairs development, and leaves deep scars of malnutrition.

Every day, our team screens families for social needs. Increasingly, we hear the same fearful question: How will we feed our children? As the unnatural disaster of food cuts approaches, families are scrambling to shield their little ones from the terrifying prospect of an empty fridge, an empty stomach.

In Philadelphia alone, 500,000 people rely on SNAP. Half a million neighbors may soon face impossible choices: heat or eat; delay the daycare payment or the rent; skip car fare or skip meals.

As families turn to emergency resources — the SHARE Food Program, Philabundance’s emergency food line (866-3-HUNGRY), or the city’s free food finder at www.phila.gov/food/#/ — we are witnessing an unnatural disaster unfold in real time.

Unless action is taken, “There is nothing but hunger” will once again describe not a distant photograph, but the living reality of too many children in our city as the storm of food insecurity tears through the streets of Philadelphia.

Daniel Taylor, Philadelphia

I’m so grateful and excited that Councilmember Jamie Gauthier introduced the “Stop Trashing Our Air Act.” When passed, this law will stop our dangerous, decades-long practice of burning our trash (and recyclables). Incineration releases toxins into the air and contributes to high cancer and asthma rates. Children in Chester, where much of our trash is burned, have asthma rates that are five times the national average. There are five incinerators near Philadelphia. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Philly is the fourth-worst city for asthma. Sending trash to landfills is a better, less toxic alternative. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, there are 43 landfills in the commonwealth, many of which have so much room that they often import trash from other states. Landfill costs are often the same as incineration costs, without the hidden toll on our health.

I’m looking forward to showing my support for this important law by attending a public hearing on Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. in Room 400 at City Hall. I hope you’ll join me.

Ann Dixon, Philadelphia

It appears once again that our transportation officials in Philadelphia are somehow willing to settle for half a solution when it comes to the resolution of the intercity bus terminal. The recent news that Greyhound would return to its former terminal at 10th and Filbert Streets seems to be an expedient and short-term fix given the city’s needs for the upcoming America 250 celebrations, the FIFA World Cup, and other local events during the next year.

As I recall, a private bus operator, Peter Pan, offered to purchase and renovate the Roundhouse for repurposing as the city’s intercity terminal last spring, but there was little discussion about that. One of the benefits of the Roundhouse proposal was that it was funded by private investment, which would eliminate or reduce public expenditures for what is essentially a project that would benefit private, for-profit carriers (NJ Transit being a major exception). Using the Roundhouse as a bus terminal would also allow hundreds of bus trips a week to be rerouted from the busy streets of Center City and Chinatown, reduce gridlock, and enhance service for the riders of those routes. Yet, our shortsighted transportation leaders, who seem to obsess and devote most of their resources to accommodating bicyclists, feel that a return to the Filbert Street location is a better solution.

Hopefully, our public officials will take a long-term look at the terminal proposals and take the private operator up on its offer to use the Roundhouse. Perhaps the $13 million that the Philadelphia Parking Authority will be reinvesting in the Filbert Street location could be better spent matching and extending the private investment in the Roundhouse to give the intercity bus terminal we need and deserve.

R.M. Wright, Philadelphia

Joe Biden should never have run for a second presidential term. Polls indicated that 75% of voters believed he was too old, at 81, to serve effectively. Biden exhibited signs of physical and mental deterioration.

Now, I am watching the sequel. At 79, Donald Trump, the oldest president to take the oath of office, is also showing undeniable signs of physical decline and mental infirmity.

At a recent checkup, Trump was diagnosed with “chronic venous insufficiency,” an age-related condition in which there is insufficient blood flow in the legs.

Recently, after speaking to the press in the U.S. Capitol Building, a confused Trump almost walked into a wall before being pulled away by Speaker Mike Johnson.

Trump stumbling up the stairs to Air Force One. His speeches are rambling and incoherent. He frequently confuses names and places, e.g., saying he was “going to Russia” for a meeting in Alaska. He refers to Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem as Cristie Kerr, an LPGA golfer.

It’s no wonder polls show more and more Americans are concerned about Trump’s age and health.

Biden made the correct decision not to run for president. However, Trump is in office, and will be for another three years.

Ed Vreeswyk, Yardville

It is heart-wrenching to hear of the loss of life and destruction in the Caribbean caused by the latest hurricane. But there is one island where there has been no loss of life. Where, you may ask? Cuba.

Regardless of one’s opinions about the government, credit should be given to Cuba for taking care of its people. When a hurricane is approaching, people are given clear information about where to shelter, and transportation and supplies are provided. In spite of the loss of power and communication, Cubans are safe during a hurricane. We could learn some lessons from Cuba’s successful disaster preparation program.

It should be noted that in spite of the serious economic problems on the island, Cubans still have free healthcare, free childcare, and free education, including medical school. We could learn from that, too.

Sandra Dunn, Bala Cynwyd

I find it interesting to note that in Portland, Ore., and Chicago, among other places, it’s private citizens on the left who are peacefully resisting the tyrannical actions of the federal government. It seems the tables have turned: the left are now the champions of states’ rights, free trade, free speech, and individual freedom, while the Republican Party now embraces censorship, tariffs, and federal restrictions on individual rights, enforced by a hostile federal military presence in our own cities and states. So much for those angry right-wing rants about freedom from tyranny. The former party of “law and order” has now abandoned the constitutional order in favor of a “do whatever you can get away with” mentality, compounded by a blatantly racist enforcement regime led by a convicted felon who is enriching himself and his family at our expense, just like all dictators do. Historical examples do not bode well for the current fascist takeover — these things almost always end badly for the perpetrators, and for the people. There will be a mess to clean up after it ends. And with regard to ICE, it should be remembered that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t even exist until 2003. Somehow, our nation of immigrants survived without ICE for its first 225 years, and it will certainly manage without it again once it is abolished.

Patrick J. Ream, Millville

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