Steven Boone On Soup Kitchens In Toronto, New York

"The economic crisis accounts for the quadrupling of food lines since late 2008, yes, but not for the discreet desperation that was there when I went homeless long before that fateful September. The Great Recession was dramatic because it sent millionaires into the streets. But even in at its peak of health, during so-called bubbles and booms, I saw it breaking the backs and spirits of working people."