America can't wait for farm bill

From America's Second Harvest:


Soaring food prices, energy costs leave low-income Americans and food banks strapped from coast-to-coast

As the cost of food and fuel reaches record highs, lines are growing longer and shelves are growing emptier at food banks and emergency feeding organizations nationwide. Hope for low-income Americans depends on enactment of a strong nutrition title in the Farm Bill, but that critical piece of legislation has been stalled in Congress for months, while millions of Americans have remained stuck in the grip of hunger.

"The holidays have come and gone, and food banks continue to face one of the toughest periods in their history. We have seen dramatic declines in commodity support from the federal government and private food donations," said Vicki Escarra, president and chief executive officer of America's Second Harvest. "Every day that goes by without a new Farm Bill is a day without hope for food banks around the country. Our member food banks are being forced to dip into their limited financial reserves to purchase food and ration it to people in need."

Several critical factors have contributed to what is rapidly becoming a desperate situation for the millions of people who depend on food banks across the country:

-- Federal commodity support has fallen by nearly $200 million per year since the enactment of the last Farm Bill in 2002. This drop in federal support is due to less need for the federal government to buy surplus foods to support agricultural producers.

-- Economic downturn has created as much as a 30 percent increase in demand for food assistance at food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens in many parts of the country.

-- Food price inflation is higher than it has been at any time in recent memory, and people who rely on food stamp benefits to feed their families are seeing a rapid erosion in their purchasing power. Benefit levels are set once per year, but food prices have risen 5.5 percent since the last adjustment just six months ago.

"These combined factors have created a perfect storm of hardship," said Escarra.

As further evidence of the dire situation, the number of participants in the Food Stamp Program has risen by more than 1 million in the past year. Help for hungry Americans will only be available if Congress and the Administration will finish the Farm Bill now.

Congress is in recess and scheduled to return to Washington in early April. This week, President Bush signed a second extension to the existing Farm Bill, which will authorize current programs through April 18. He called on Congress to either get a Farm Bill passed by that date or to extend the current bill for one year.

"A one year extension to the Farm Bill would be catastrophic for food banks and those they serve," said Escarra. "The charitable sector does not have the capacity to meet dramatically increasing requests for food assistance. It is critical for Congress to show leadership by passing a Farm Bill, and for the President to show compassion by signing it. If that happens, none of those in our great nation who face hunger daily will have to wait longer for relief."

America's Second Harvest -- The Nation's Food Bank Network is the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through its network of more than 200 member food banks, America's Second Harvest annually provides assistance to more than 25 million people in need, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each year, America's Second Harvest secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of food and grocery products to support feeding programs at approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs, and Kids Cafes. To learn more, please visit www.secondharvest.org.