While many poor are being aided by the federal Food Stamp Program and other federal nutrition programs, many eligible people, including millions of children, miss out and go hungry, according to a new report.
Compiled annually by the Food Research and Action Center or FRAC, the report was released June 4th. The report tracks the 50 states plus the District of Columbia on their poverty rates, the extent of hunger, and how well they are doing in making use of nutrition programs available to them.
The report indicate that the District is generally doing a much better job than its high income neighbors, Maryland and Virginia, in making the Food Stamp program available to its poor residents. However, the District is not performing as well as its neighbors in getting eligible working poor into the program.
The Food Stamp Program is the federal government's largest nutrition program, which 26.7 millions of Americans rely upon each month to eat and feed their families. While there are eight major federal food assistance programs, the Food Stamp Program is basic for families while the others, like the school lunch program, meet special populations.
This year the Food Stamp Program is up for reauthorization. FRAC would like to see something done about getting the benefits of the program to more eligible people. Only 60% of currently eligible people are participating in the program. Fewer still, 51%, of eligible low income working people are participating.
Food Stamp Participation Rates of DC, MD and VA
The District of Columbia ranks #1 in the nation for its child poverty rate (32%) and 3rd for its overall poverty rate (19%). Only Louisiana and Mississippi have higher poverty rates. Nevertheless, the District has the 4th best participation rate in the nation: nearly 8 out of 10 persons eligible (79%) were participating in the Food Stamp Program.
Maryland ranks second in the nation on its median household income, and its poverty rate (8.2%) is quite low—only New Hampshire has a lower rate. But its participation in the Food Stamp Program is disappointing. At a 53% participation rate, Maryland ranked 43 out of 50 states plus the District of Columbia.
Virginia, ranking 8th in median household income, has nearly as low poverty rate (10%) as Maryland's. But its participation rate in the Food Stamp Program is higher. With a participation rate of 59%, it is almost the same as the national average of 60%.
Food Insecurity
The government has a phrase— food insecurity —when referring to households that either lack the resources to feed themselves enough, or are unable to purchase a healthy diet, or are confronted with a constant struggle against hunger, according to FRAC. The "food insecure" population has risen from 31 million in 1999 to 35.1 million in 2005.
"More than 12 million children live in 'food insecure' households in this country," says the FRAC report.
Some research cited in the report concludes that the Food Stamp Program is instrumental in improving the health of the recipients. Most of the benefits are spent on basic food items; vegetables, fruits, grain products, meat and meat alternatives account for nearly three quarters of the money value, according to USDA reports cited by FRAC.
For children, studies show that the nutrient intakes are significantly increased by the amount of food stamps received. Another study cited by FRAC showed greater achievement on reading and math of those receiving food stamps than those whose families had stopped receiving them.
It is not hard to understand why children perform better in school when their families have food stamps and/or the children participate in school breakfast and school lunch programs. Obviously, they can better focus on school work when they are not hungry. However, Weill says that the average of $21 worth of food in a week, or only about a dollar a meal per person, is likely to make you feel "food insecure."
During the week of April 23-29, some Congress members and state governors got a taste of what it is like to be "food insecure." Representatives Jim McGovern, Jo Ann Emerson, Tim Ryan and Jan Schakowsy, and Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski agreed to exist on the average Food Stamp amount of $21 for a week.
"After being on the diet for a couple of days, they were light headed, fatigued, and found it hard to concentrate. All experienced a constant faint feeling of hunger throughout the day," says the FRAC report. They also found it emotionally difficult to have to evaluate every decision of what and when to eat. Should one eat the yogurt or roll now to stem the hunger or wait two hours longer to better get through the day? These are the kinds of questions the food insecure have to constantly resolve.
"Grocery shopping with only 21 dollars for the week was much harder than I imagined," said Governor Kulongoski. "While shopping, I had to make difficult decisions about the quality and quantity of food I purchased…," says the Governor's website.
Like many Food Stamp recipients are forced to do, the Governor had to return several items to the shelves in order to stay within his $21.00 budget.
Most Food Stamps Consumed by Children
While the Food Stamp Program has been around in some form since the late 1930s, the current program structure was implemented in 1977 with a goal of alleviating hunger and malnutrition. The food stamp coupons have long been gone, replaced by an electronic benefit card. The card makes participation much less visible and takes away the stigma in the checkout lane of participating.
The federal government pays 100% of food stamp program benefits. Federal and state governments share about equally the administrative costs.
Households with children receive 79% of all food stamp benefits. Roughly 18 percent of food stamp households contain an elderly person and 23 percent contain a disabled person.
"Approximately 88% of food stamp households have gross incomes below the poverty line ($18,100 for a family of four in 2002). Approximately 38.4 percent of food stamp households have gross incomes at or below half of the poverty line," says the FRAC report.
Low Income Working Families Use of Food Stamps
It's assumed by many that the recipients of Food Stamps are unemployed or unemployable. But in fact, many lower income working people, including those leaving welfare, have need for food stamps to supplement their incomes. Nationally, just over half (51%) of eligible working families are participating. Virginia's participation rate is the same as the total U.S. at 51%. Maryland is below average at 44%, and the District is lower still at 41% of eligible working families participating in the Food Stamp Program.
FRAC is an organization that receives support from a number of foundations and associations to work towards its objective of eradicating hunger and under nutrition in the nation. FRAC used official statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to compile its report on the nutrition programs. Data on poverty rates and population came from the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
For FRAC's website, visit http://www.frac.org/
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