Our local news network has confirmed that we are dropping Poptarts for the starving in Afghanistan. The anchor, upon opening the actual packet marked �fruit bar,� gave a toss of her perfectly coiffed hair and gushed, �Wow! The kids are really getting a taste of America!� My reaction was different. I think I�d rather have been a starving child in Europe as we came through in World War II. If I�m to be given junk food instead of nutrition, Poptarts cannot possibly equal Hershey�s chocolate bars.

I�m not sure whether our general method of dropping food from planes for those in Afghanistan is a good idea or not. I question whether the way we are doing things endangers anyone, whether our method undercuts other more effective relief efforts, and whether our method disrupts the food cycle as little as possible. I don�t have enough information to draw good conclusions.

I am certain, however, that if we are serious about alleviating hunger we can do better than dropping Poptarts. Poptarts are just a big, expensive cookies. They are okay in their place (if you can stand the flavor) but their place is not as a meal. At best, Poptarts are snack food. They�re the kind of food we warn our own kids against.

One of the defenses I�ve heard of our food drop practices is that our hearts are in the right place. Perhaps. I�d be more convinced if it weren�t for the Poptarts. Those Poptarts make me wonder whether we care more about the Afghans or the corporate profits of Kellogg�s. For what it�s worth, I didn�t learn to be suspicious of the strange alliances of armies and corporations from the left. The words of Dwight David Eisenhower warned me about them and he was hardly a flaming liberal.*

Even if our hearts are in the right place, I�m not sure how much that absolves us of the consequences of our acts. I find Americans very confusing on our approach to such things. Often, we seem not to want to hear about the motives and intents of others when things go tragically wrong. Our criminal justice system is more and more outcome based. �Don�t give us excuses,� we say. �What does intent matter when you cause us pain?� On the other hand, when we are the ones with the good intentions, we seem to expect everyone to judge us on them rather than on the outcome, no matter how foreseeable. We insist that other countries should understand that we are just trying to help.

I don�t seek a perfect food distribution system or the use of the perfect foods. But can�t we do better than Poptarts? And if we can�t, what does that really say about us? When we ask, �Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?� I�ll be very surprised if the mirror says, �the people who give out the Poptarts.�

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*Please note that I read the words of President Eisenhower. Although I was alive in the Eisenhower administration, I had not progressed much beyond reading �The Cat in the Hat� at that time. I�m old but not that old.

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