It’s not as new as the media seems to think, but I suppose it’s better late than never. When I went to the bank yesterday, the teller told me 50 percent of the people in her church rely on the food pantry.
I want to tell you that if you read this blog and you’re hungry, tell me. We will get you some food.
In the 22 years that Swami Durga Das has managed New York’s River Fund Food Pantry, he has never seen hunger like this. Each Saturday, hundreds of hungry people descend on the pantry’s headquarters, an unassuming house on a residential block. The first people arrive around 2 am, forming a line that will wrap around the block before Das even opens his doors.
“Each week there’s new people,” Das told MSNBC.com. “The numbers have just skyrocketed.”
The new clients are diverse—working people, seniors, single mothers—but many of them share something in common: they represent the millions of Americans who fell victim to food insecurity when the Great Recession hit in 2009, but didn’t benefit from the economic recovery.
People walk in from Fulton Street and register their information in the Bed-Stuy Campaign Against Hunger office.
And the worst may be yet to come.Food activists expect a “Hunger Cliff” on November 1, when automatic cuts to food stamp benefits will send a deluge of new hungry people to places like the River Fund Food Pantry, which are already strained.
“I thought we were busy now; I don’t know what it will be like then, because all of those people getting cut will definitely be accessing a pantry,” said Das. “It definitely will be a catastrophe.”
Those cuts were never supposed to be catastrophic; instead they were intended to gradually wind food stamp spending back down to normal levels, after boosting them in response to the 2008 financial collapse.
In the aftermath of that collapse, as employment stagnated and poverty increased, food stamp use exploded: From a little over 26 million users in 2007 to almost 47 million in 2012, an increase of 77%. At the same time, the average benefits per person rose from $96.18 to $133.41.
The 2009 stimulus bill raised the cap on food stamp benefits and pumped an additional $45.2 billion into the program over the next several years. But as provisions of the law expire, the program is scheduled to receive a $5 billion cut over the next year alone. Those cuts will reduce monthly benefits for every single food stamp recipient in the country; a family of four will receive $36 less per month, on average.
Billions more in cuts are scheduled to occur in the following two years, despite the fact that food insecurity in America has not even begun to return to pre-recession levels.
“I believe we have a hunger crisis,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, who sits on a House committee responsible for the food stamp program. “When 50 million people in the richest country on the planet are hungry, that’s a crisis.”
Hey, the DOW hit a new all-time high yesterday. What these hungry people don’t understand is that it’s not about income any more. It’s about asset appreciation. They just need to liquidate some stock. You can trust the FED to keep the bubble going and keep all of us fat and happy.
Happy days are here again….
The Village in which I live actually straddles Cook County and DuPage County in the northwestern ‘burbs of the Chicago area. Let me second a couple of statements in the above article. They are certainly true in our area:
“…The numbers have just skyrocketed…”, and “…I believe we have a hunger crisis…”.
Yes and Yes.
I serve as a volunteer on our Village’s Environmental Committee. This past August 16th, I attended as our Village’s rep. a conference sponsored by DuPage County on the desirability of establishing Community Gardens in your local town. The notes that I shared with the rest of our Environmental Committee concerning the conference discussions have this excerpt:
“Broad Workshop Themes –
1. Why and How is Community Gardening Important to Health and Social Issues in DuPage County?
2. Some Local Examples of How to Get Started in Community Gardens, and “Best Practices” Considerations
Concerning Theme 1 – This theme was further broken down into presentations on: nutrition and obesity related problems; and Food Bank and other efforts made to supply food to those facing food insecurity issues…
…Speakers – Stephen Ericson of the Northern Illinois Foodbank, and Jane McDonald of the Loaves and Fishes Community Pantry program
The speakers noted that until recent times DuPage County had felt somewhat immune from a variety of social problems, especially hunger. After all, in most years DuPage County either has the highest per capita income levels in Illinois, or is very close to the top. However, from 2008-2013, the number of DuPage County residents needing food pantry assistance has exploded, with an increase of participants of some 240% over that time. And 45% of the population of participants are young people under the age of 18. Mr. Ericson noted that food pantries tend to get the “leftovers”, and that fresh fruits and vegetables can be seriously lacking.
Mr. Ericson noted that while all food contribution donations are welcome, that there is “nothing green” about a shipment of somewhat older produce coming into Illinois food pantries from farms 2500 miles away in the State of Washington. It would be so much better if local farmers and gardeners in Illinois would set aside a row or two of crops for Illinois food pantries, or would consider starting community gardens to help ease this problem. Ms. McDonald noted that the single item most appreciated by food pantry participants is fresh produce. Ms. McDonald also noted that the working definition of “food insecurity” implies the financial ability to pay a utility bill OR a grocery bill, but not both at the same time…”
The cuts to the SNAP program are so hard-hearted and come at precisely the wrong times. I can only imagine food pantries are going to be swamped.