Thanksgiving: Food stamp cuts leave pantries struggling to meet rising need

There are still almost 3 people out of work for every job opening. And not all job openings are really job openings.

http://inplainsight.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/28/21628659-thanksgiving-food-stamp-cuts-leave-pantries-struggling-to-meet-rising-need?lite

Thu Nov 28, 2013, Thanksgiving Day
By Elisha Fieldstadt

Food pantries and food banks struggled to meet demand this Thanksgiving, just weeks after food stamp cuts for millions of Americans took effect.

On Nov. 1, the 47 million people who rely on food stamps — also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — saw a decrease in benefits when Congress allowed a 2009 program funding boost to expire. As a result, a family of four will receive $36 less in food stamps in November and each month thereafter, according to the USDA.

“All of our food banks have really ratcheted up what they have had to serve,” said Ross Fraser, media relations director at Feeding America, a network of 200 food banks that serve 61,000 food pantries across the nation. In 2010, Feeding America determined that 37 million Americans turn to food pantries each year.

Across the nation, food pantry workers say they have seen a rush of clients, including many who have never turned to a pantry before but now “need help more often because they have fewer food stamps,” Fraser said.

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This month, Foodbank has seen a 40 percent jump in families seeking assistance compared with November 2012, and most of those families are first-time clients, Vargas said.

At NY Common Pantry in Manhattan, officials have seen a 25 percent increase in new families in 2013, “even before the SNAP cuts took effect,” said Kelly Barkley, a development associate.

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Barkley said that NY Common Food Pantry has also had to adjust to a lack of government funding this year. In 2012, the U.S. government purchased $560 million worth of food for charities, but in 2013 the funding was slashed to $495 million. Feeding America’s director of tax and commodity policy, Carrie Calvert, said food banks will have to find a way to compensate for the 25 percent decrease in federal food deliveries.

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After the cuts, SNAP benefits allow an average of $1.40 per person per meal, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Meanwhile the average cost of a meal in most states hovers around $2.50. In New York, the average price of a meal is $2.68.

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At the Door of Hope food pantry in Los Angeles, director Lydia Cardenas sees countless clients facing Trim’s predicament. Prior to Nov. 1, she saw one high-traffic day a week, but “now we’re always busy,” she said.

“It’s impossible to keep up with the demand, because everybody is struggling,” said Cardenas, who recently registered for unemployment herself after realizing it was impossible to remain salaried at the pantry due to funding cuts.

“I’m a volunteer, effective October 31,” Cardenas said, but added, “When you help somebody else, it takes the focus off your own problems.”

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