Proposed food stamp cuts could push Minnesotans off the program

 by Julie Siple, Minnesota Public Radio
July 13, 2012

 ST. PAUL, Minn. — The $500 billion farm bill making its way through Congress concerns those who work with hungry Minnesotans.

The House Agriculture Committee voted Thursday to pass its version of the five-year bill, which would cut food stamps by $16.5 billion over the next decade, largely by tightening eligibility rules. About 80 percent of the farm bill funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The cuts would have big consequences for some of the more than 520,000 Minnesotans who receive food stamps, state Department of Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson said. Some would become ineligible for the program.

"What it means is a number of Minnesotans will no longer have access to food, food that they need keep those children in school and doing well in school, to keep our seniors from having to make hard choices between paying their rent and buying the food they need," Jesson said.

That's because the bill curtails categorical eligibility, an option that allows states to adopt looser requirements for food stamps.

In 2010, Minnesota raised the income limit to 165 percent of poverty, or $38,033 for a family of four. Minnesota also eliminated an asset test, so food stamp recipients can still have assets like a car or a savings account.

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 The House bill would force states to follow stricter income guidelines and give applicants an asset test to determine eligibility.

"It would mean that a senior citizen who perhaps had saved $4,000 for burial costs would no longer be eligible," Jesson said. "It would mean that a young mom who's working and has kids at home, but has to have a modest car to get to her job, she wouldn't qualify for food support for her family."

Such cases fed a contentious debate in the House Agriculture Committee. Underlying that debate was a philosophical question: How poor should one be to qualify for food stamps?

Advocates for the hungry say allowing people to keep some resources can help them get back on their feet quickly. But supporters of the House bill say the food stamp program has grown too big.

Although the recession has contributed to the number of people on food stamps, loose eligibility rules have helped pushed up the food stamp rolls to a level the nation cannot afford, said Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

"The original idea of food stamps is that if you lose your job, you spend down your liquid assets, and when you run below $2,000 in cash, you get some food stamps," he said. "The current way the system works, you can have $100,000 sitting in the bank, and if you're unemployed, you can get food stamps. It's a total waste of money. It's like a bad joke."

Rector points out that the asset test doesn't count burial plots. He argues that food stamp applicants should have to take such a test, even if some people who need help are denied benefits.

"I'm sure you can find one or two, or a dozen, or a hundred very sympathetic cases like that," he said. "But you're also going to find tens of thousands of people that are now taking assistance under this program who don't really need this."

Deborah Huskins, an area director for the Human Services and Public Health Department in Hennepin County, said cases of people who don't need food stamps acquiring them are not common.
"The people who come to us are quite, quite poor," she said.

When people apply for food stamps, they come to Huskins' department. She said she doesn't see people coming in to apply for food stamps who have lots of savings or extra resources.

"This is a last resort," she said. "Most people who apply for assistance really would not like to be applying for assistance."

State officials do not know how many people would lose benefits. The Congressional Budget Office estimates 1.8 million Americans would become ineligible if the House bill became law.

The fate of the Farm Bill is unclear. House Republicans leaders appear reluctant to bring it to the floor before the month-long August recess. Even if the House passes the bill, it will need to be reconciled with the Senate bill, which makes far smaller cuts to food stamps.

The current farm bill expires Sept. 30.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/07/13/news/food-stamp-proposal/

Take Action Against Hunger - Watch a great video!
Bremer Bank kicks off the annual “Taking Action Against Hunger” campaign today with a special video they created that includes dance performers “Rhythmic Circus” and a custom song to promote taking action and supporting the campaign. Bremer will donate $1 to the Feeding America Food Banks in Minnesota (including Second Harvest North Central Food Bank) for every view of the video up to 15,000 views or $15,000!

Check out the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGN77ghs_7M

I guarantee it will make you smile while you take action against hunger in our region.

Second Harvest North Central Food Bank is outraged by today’s vote by the House of Representatives to slash hunger relief spending by nearly $36 billion. The food bank is already stretched to the breaking point trying to keep up with increased need. Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, would be devastating to our community, and there is no way charities like ours would be able to make up the difference.


“SNAP is targeted at our most vulnerable: 76 percent of SNAP households include a child, elderly person, or disabled person, and 85 percent have gross income at or below 100 percent of the poverty line. Deficit reduction is an important national priority, but it must not be undertaken without regard to our national values and it must not come at the expense of our most vulnerable.”    Sue Estee, Executive Director

U.S. food stamps helped reduce poverty rate, government finds

By Sabrina Tavernise
New York Timestwincities.com
April 10, 2012

WASHINGTON - A study by the Agriculture Department has found that food stamps, one of the country's largest social safety net programs, reduced the poverty rate substantially during the recession.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, reduced the poverty rate nearly 8 percent in 2009, the most recent year included in the study, a significant impact for a social program whose effects often go unnoticed by policymakers.

"SNAP plays a crucial, but often underappreciated, role in alleviating poverty," said Stacy Dean, an expert on the program with the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington-based research group that focuses on social programs and budget policy.

Enrollment in the food stamp program grew dramatically during the recession and immediately after, rising 45 percent from January 2009 to this January, according to the USDA website.
The stimulus package pushed by President Barack Obama and enacted by Congress significantly boosted funding for the program as a temporary relief for families who had fallen on hard times in the recession.

But the steady rise tapered off in January, when enrollment was down slightly from December, a change that Dean said could signal that the recovery was having an effect even among poor families.
In a year of elections and rising budget pressures, social programs such as food stamps are coming under increased scrutiny from Republican legislators, who argue that they create a kind of entitlement society.

In an email to supporters Monday, April 9, Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., called the increase in food stamps a "highly disturbing trend."
He said he had seen a sign outside a gas station in his district alerting customers that food stamps are accepted.

"This is not something we should be proud to promote," he said.

National Nutrition Month

March is National Nutrition Month and Feeding America Food Banks like Second Harvest in Grand Rapids MN are taking this opportunity to promote the healthy food choices that food shelves and other hunger relief providers have to offer.  People are usually surprised to learn that fresh produce is almost always available from local community food shelves.    The amount of produce available from food banks has exponentially increased in the last several years greatly increasing the quantity and variety of fresh nutritious food given out to food shelf recipients. 

This year USDA has partnered with 80+ national organizations to promote healthy eating messages to their constituencies.  Feeding America is a National Strategic Partner in the MyPlate program and we are pleased to have the tools available to promote healthy eating to our clients.   Check out all the great information on healthy eating at http://www.choosemyplate.gov/.

Many food shelves are able to provide nutrition education to participants thanks to the University of Minnesota Extension Community Nutrition Educator program called Simply Good Eating.  Nutrition educators work right in the food shelves and provide samples and recipes that encourage participants to try new foods and learn cooking techniques. 

Food banks are providing much more than the cans of donated foods that were traditionally distributed.  These days we are diversified into fresh produce, perishable dairy, meats, frozen foods and the non-perishable canned and boxed food.  Healthier diets lead to healthier children and adults.  This is an outcome we all can benefit from.