What's the best way to feed 35m hungry Americans?
Published February 01, 2009 @ 10:16AM PT
On Superbowl Sunday, when, in addition to watching football, we celebrate American excess and consumerism, the Washington Post has a must-read article on how to combat record hunger in the 21st century U.S. A new generation of anti-hunger activists argue that the charitable tradition of soup kitchens and food banks, which provide hot meals and groceries, respectively, is insufficient in meeting today's demand, especially for the low-income families headed by working mothers who make up a larger percentage of hungry Americans than homeless individuals in cities. Our current system reaches this latter population much more easily than these working poor families. Activists in cities like Austin and D.C. are demonstrating new ways to deliver food to people in their homes, including in hard to reach rural neighborhoods. They are also calling for greater investment in food stamps - highlighting our unfulfilled national, moral obligation to end hunger in the wealthiest country on earth.
"The first generation of soup kitchens are getting to the point of outgrowing their kitchens and thinking they have to build new multimillion-dollar facilities," said Robert Egger, president of D.C. Central Kitchen and a nationally recognized anti-hunger activist. "And we're saying, 'We need to be adapting to future needs, not building the same things but bigger.' [snip]
Operating soup kitchens during traditional business hours shuts out a large group of hungry people. About 30 percent of households headed by single mothers reported going without food at least occasionally in 2007, almost four times the rate for single people, according to Feeding America, an umbrella group for 200 food banks nationwide.[snip]
Like Campus Kitchens, which began in 2001, several newer efforts focus on bringing meals to people in their schools or homes. At the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, based in Austin, a mobile pantry travels the region, offering people a week's worth of groceries from a refrigerated truck. The vehicle visits housing projects as well as rural communities of migrant workers who have no access to traditional food pantries...The food bank also helps clients enroll in food stamp or Medicare programs and attempts to address other needs.
Did you know that the average food stamp check is $21 per person? Try sufficiently feeding your family on that! (And join the rare few Congressional members in accepting the challenge!)
Last year, a study led by Harvard professor J. Larry Brown concluded that the United States could end hunger as a serious national problem by spending $12 billion more on federal nutrition programs, primarily food stamps. That is less than the $14.5 billion nonprofit groups spend to feed the hungry.
"There has never been a nation that I know of that has ensured the nutritional well-being of its population through charity," Brown said. "There is a federal responsibility here that is not being met."
Of course, considering increasing food stamps might be economically more efficient means that there's no pending legislation to do this, although I did find this bill to take anti-hunger efforts out of the kitchen and into the community. Most bills never make it out of Committee, but we can still contact the House Agriculture Committee and tell them we want action on food stamp expansion. (You can view members of the relevant Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry here.)
There is aid to states for food stamp expansion in the stimulus; let's not let this moment pass to expand the program permanently, and nationwide.
If you'd like, please let us know in comments what your experience is with food stamps in the U.S., whether as a recipient or provider. (Here's some previous discussion on the issue.)
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Comments (9)
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Author
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Leigh is a PhD candidate in urban planning at MIT, and a consultant on U.S. Gulf Coast recovery. She sits on the Board of the Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation in Boston, and has worked with non-profits, foundations and local governments on policies and programs aimed at reducing urban poverty and inequality.
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Repeal the Hyde Amendment!
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Repeal the Hyde Amendment!
I suggest you recheck the House economic stimulus package. It provides for a temporary increase in the value of food stamps for all receipients nationwide. The aid to the states is for administration of the program.
Posted by Kathryn Baer on 02/01/2009 @ 11:24AM PT
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Kathryn - Thanks! I did see that it was temporary; I assumed that because it was given via aid to states that access would vary state-to-state in the usual way.
I believe Bush increased food stamp accessibility last fall as well. The problem it seems, is that it is still nowhere near sufficient.
Posted by Leigh Graham on 02/01/2009 @ 01:55PM PT
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There was a point in my life when I tried to live on food stamps. It was close to impossible. While it's possible to do if you live on mostly rice and beans and pasta that diet creates a lot of health issues for which society has to pay in the long run. To me this is extremely short sighted.
Posted by C E on 02/01/2009 @ 09:54PM PT
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Carman, what did you do instead?
Posted by Leigh Graham on 02/01/2009 @ 10:01PM PT
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Great article, I'm going to share this with my coworkers (I work at a Food Bank)
One nit-picky thing I'd like to point out for future reference, though:
"...soup kitchens and food banks, which provide hot meals and groceries, respectively..."
Food-banks do not distribute groceries to the general (impoverished) public - especially Food-Banks that are part of Feeding America's network which includes most food-banks in the country and prohibits it. Food-Banks are food solicitors and distributors who transfer bulk food to soup kitchens, feeding programs and... food pantries (or cupboards - depending on where you come from) which are the ones that provide groceries to people.
Sorry, that just stuck out to me, not that it would many others outside of Food-Banking.
Posted by Jeremy Keith Hammond on 02/02/2009 @ 06:06AM PT
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On a more optimistic and productive point: Many of the food pantries that I've worked with have volunteers available to offer emergency food by appointment if a family can't make it during normal times. Obviously this isn't a fix-all and I'm sure the current system could be revamped, but it is one way a food pantry, with a few caring volunteers, can be more flexible.
Ideally, we should be trying to make food panties and soup kitchens (tourniquets) obsolete by ending poverty of which hunger is often a byproduct.
Posted by Jeremy Keith Hammond on 02/02/2009 @ 06:20AM PT
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Jeremy - thanks so much for the clarification and the additional input!
Posted by Leigh Graham on 02/02/2009 @ 07:44AM PT
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There is another overwhelming population out here that has been denied access to Food Stamps and it happens to be Convicted Felons. Many ex-offenders are denied benefits if they have been convicted of drug charges. In all fairness, Sex-Offenders can receive benefits and other Government entitlements. Something needs to be done to fix the unequal distribution of the Government Food Stamp Program.
Posted by leatrice brantley on 02/07/2009 @ 12:51PM PT
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I think anyone eligible for food stamps based on income, etc. We have to change our laws to give people the basic necessities that they need. How did our society get to the point where it becomes more economical to throw away food rather than to distribute it?
I do agree with expanding the food stamp program. However, these programs have to start seriously considering people's REAL INCOME. That is the huge problem, people have many more expenses, and just because a person makes a certain income doesn't mean that he or she is able to buy all the food the family needs.
Another point, I would like to see HEALTHIER options in low income areas. Yes, one can buy vegetables and fruit but sometimes the condition of the produce is just gross.
Posted by Tsahia Hobson on 04/09/2009 @ 01:15PM PT
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