Hunger in America

While I touched on the irony of obesity in Africa in a recent post, Rick Bella of America's Second Harvest reminded us in a comment that we don't have to go beyond our borders to find hunger. Thanks to Rick and his organization for helping to ease the hardship of those who find themselves in a chapter of their lives where they cannot purchase enough food for their family. The Food Research and Action Center also does a good job in highlighting stories that bring this reality to the attention of policymakers.

Here are some FRAC summaries of hunger related news reports.

California Budget Cuts Will Affect Assistance Programs
(Monterey Herald, January 11, 2008)

Cuts in the governor's proposed budget will make it harder for resident immigrants to access the Food Stamp Program in California. Resident immigrants counting on the Food Stamp Program, which assists the state's seasonal job force and children through CALworks, will have to wait longer to be eligible for the assistance. The budget also calls for major cuts in other assistance programs and school spending. Monterey County director of social services Elliott Robinson called the cuts "major" and said, "If they are implemented, it will be very challenging and difficult…for children and families trying to make ends meet."

Food Stamp Challenge Continues to Reveal Scope of Hunger Problem

(Colorado Springs Gazette, January 10, 2008)

In this letter to the editor, Care and Share Food Bank board member Richard Wood reflects on his experience trying to live on $3.72 worth of food per day. Subsisting on a diet of mostly potatoes, bread, rice, water drove home for him the need for the Farm Bill to "nourish families [and enable] them to become self sufficient" through food stamps, The Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

Food Stamp Boost Considered to Help Block Possible Economic Recession
(NPR, January 11, 2008; Associated Press, January 11, 2008; Reuters, January 17, 2008, New York Daily News, January 21, 2008)

Food stamp recipients could receive 20 percent more buying power for six months, one of several economic stimulus tactics being considered by the federal government. The food stamp suggestion, which would boost benefit levels for six months, is a method supported by former Reagan advisor Martin Feldstein in a recent Brookings Institution forum convened to address current economic trends (including the current real estate downturn and lower hiring rates nationwide). According to Feldstein, increasing food stamp benefits could proceed quickly and recipients would most likely spend benefits quickly. A few days later, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke went on record with a similar view, saying food stamps are small additions which could help stimulate the economy. Democrats view any plan as needing to be "timely, targeted and temporary." Experts see the issues are possibly affecting voter decisions in the fall, especially among those Americans worried about their well-being.

Some Women in WIC Buy More Fresh Produce in Farmer's Markets

(The New York Times, January 15, 2008)

Researchers found that women taking part in the WIC program who are given $10 vouchers for grocery stores or farmer's markets will eat three times more fresh produce than women in a control group. In addition, voucher recipients who shop at farmers' market eat more servings of fruits and vegetables compared to supermarket shoppers. WIC participants feel the farmers' market produce is fresher and told researchers they enjoyed the experience of meeting local growers. The report, published in the American Journal of Public Health, suggested that the new WIC allotment amounts still don't reach what's needed - the study's vouchers were for $10 each week, while WIC vouchers will only provide between $6-8 per month.

TK: The reader replies to this last story were illuminating. One comment decried LA supermarkets, another said that canned veggies would stretch the dollar more. Another wrote:

This policy on fresh foods should be implemented immediately, everywhere. I am appalled and disgusted by the so-called “food” that is given to WIC recipients. In my neck of the woods, virtually every recipient is African-American. And yet, the preponderance of products that some agencies give away to WIC recipients is dairy. Do government dairy farm subsidies outweigh the need to address lactose intolerance — something that affects 70 percent of the African American population? We won’t even get into the high sugar and fat content. A friend who is white stopped getting WIC long before she needed to because she really didn’t need a case of evaporated milk every month, or high sugar brand name yogurt cups, especially with a child diagnosed with ADHD. Put this together with the excellent recent column on the high price of healthy foods and you may start to figure out why low income people are less healthy. They start out that way, and it doesn’t get any better.