<p>We&rsquo;ve watched in horror over the past year as socialist leadership coupled with a severe drop in oil prices has plunged the country of Venezuela into economic collapse. ;</p>
<p>As reported this week by <em>Fox News,</em> nearly 75% of Venezuela&rsquo;s population has lost a significant amount of weight over the past year; average weight lost is about 19 pounds.</p>
<p>&ldquo;For a single person to lose 19 pounds in a year is no small feat,&rdquo; writes <em>American Thinker&rsquo;s</em> Ronald Tinnell. &ldquo;For a whole country to have averaged such a loss is simply&hellip;revolutionary.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>This stat may sound like a good thing in the US, but in Venezuela this shocking weight loss is the result of severe food shortages. ;</p>
<p>The 2016 Living Conditions Survey found that an estimated 33% of Venezuelans eat only one or two meals per day. This is a sharp increase from just over 11% in 2015. ;</p>
<p><em>Fox News</em> mocks Venezuelan President Nicolá;s Maduro by calling the food shortage &ldquo;The Maduro Diet.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>The Living Conditions Survey also found that over 80% of families live in poverty; over 90% of respondents say their income isn&rsquo;t enough to cover three meals per day. ;</p>
<p>Venezuelans are forced into an unhealthy diet, replacing meat with cheap vegetables like potatoes. Over 60% of survey respondents say their children have skipped school to stand in food lines and for other food-related reasons. ;</p>
<p>A September poll found that 15% of Venezuelans rely on food found in garbage &ndash; mostly from restaurants, grocery stores, and industrial businesses. This puts families at an increased health risk, and incidents of entire households dying after eating spoiled food have occurred. ;</p>
<p>Such desperation has predictably led to an increase in crime in an already violent country, and gangs prey on families and individuals as they leave grocery stores with cherished foodstuffs. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;The food crisis has also created an education crisis, as more than 1 million children no longer attend school, mostly due to hunger and a lack of public services,&rdquo; reports UPI. ;</p>
<p>President Maduro has only made matters worse by handing control of the country&rsquo;s food supply to the military. He also established the Local Committee for Supply and Production (CLAP) &ndash; a federal program tasked with monitoring the distribution of food in urban areas. ;</p>
<p>The CLAP has been accused of giving extra food to government supporters and threatening to withhold food from those who express anti-socialist attitudes.</p>
<p>This week, President Maduro announced that CLAP officials would now be paid in food packages/ration tickets. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;A food ticket is not a salary,&rdquo; argues opposition politician Henrique Capriles Radonski.</p>
<p>He noted that the ration tickets may soon be worthless thanks to inflation. &ldquo;What does someone do when 100,000 bolí;vars in food tickets disappear thanks to inflation, because the price of food goes up every day?&rdquo;</p>
<p>Inflation in Venezuela was close to 700% in 2016. ;</p>