Yesterday, we told you about the food stamp awareness scheme here in Michigan. Our Governor along with automotive executives have pledged to live on a budget of food stamps this week. Instead of doing their usual shopping, 300 people have pledged to limit their food budget to only what food stamps can provide. It isn't much, only about $5.80 a day.Here's is a quote from Governor Jennifer Granholm on how she is doing. We found this from Google's AFP news feed. "It's my second day on 5.87 dollars a day," Ahmed told AFP by telephone. "I've already calculated that I'll be out of bread by Thursday."...
This ought to be good. Again, showing my bias to stories in my home state. Here is one I found about our governor and executives from the big 3 American automakers. They have pledged to limit their grocery bills to only what you can afford to buy on Food stamps.Good Luck! In Michigan food stamps only get you $5.70 worth of food a day. I was unable to find any actual quotes or stories about automotive executives coming to the realization that they would have to live on ramen noodles or anything. But found this from the Traverse City Record Eagle about one who volunteered for the challenge. Lindsay Vanhulle introduces us to her.Valerie Shultz hasn't yet planned how she will prepare food next week for her family of three.She'll only have about $30 a person to spend on five days' worth of...
from Reuters There are plans for another economic stimulus package in the US. So politicians are coming up with add ons to the package. Help for those with food stamps is another one. - KaleWASHINGTON - With food-stamp enrollment at record levels, antihunger experts urged Congress on Wednesday to increase benefits, at least temporarily, in the largest U.S. program that helps poor people buy food.Some 28 million Americans received food stamps at latest count, the highest total ever except the 29.8 million recipients in November 2005, when emergency aid was given to victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Benefits average $1 per meal."We strongly support efforts to provide a temporary boost in basic food stamp benefit levels to help people afford a basic healthy diet," said George...
from Reuters By Charles AbbottWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some 27.88 million Americans received food stamps in March, up 1.5 million from a year earlier, according to the latest U.S. government figures which antihunger experts pointed to on Monday as a sign of economic distress."What's happening is we have a large number of families in poverty who are losing income while their expenses are going up," said Stacy Dean of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank.Food stamps help poor people buy food. Benefits average $1 per meal.Enrollment totaled 27.88 million in March, the latest month for which figures are available, up by 219,000 people from February and up 1.5 million, or 5.7 percent, from March 2007. The Agriculture Department, which runs the program, made the figure...
from the Washington PostBy Chris L. JenkinsWashington Post Staff WriterChristina Hall's weekly grocery shopping ritual begins Thursday night in the kitchen of her cramped mobile home in Fairfax County, with the low hum of the refrigerator and the steady drip of the faucet in the background."Shredded cheese, bagels, milk . . . Maybe we can do two gallons this week," she says hopefully, scribbling the grocery list on a sheet of notebook paper. She goes through a cabinet, looks in the freezer, checks a shelf behind the linoleum-covered table. "Yogurt, crackers, bananas." She jots down a dozen or so more items: salad dressing, frozen vegetables . . . "That should keep me at about $50 for the week."A divorced mother of two, Hall receives $219 a month in food stamps; the fastidious inspection...
from The Rockford Register StarBy Don BabwinCHICAGO —Danielle Brown stands outside a South Side market at midnight, braving the spring chill for her first chance to buy groceries since her food stamps ran out nearly two weeks ago.For days, Brown has been turning cans of “whatever we got in the cabinet” into breakfast, lunch and dinner for her children, ages 1 and 3, who finished off the last of the milk and cereal long ago.“Ain’t got no food left, the kids are probably hungry,” said Brown, a 23-year-old single mother who relies heavily on her $312 monthly allotment of food stamps — a ration adjusted just once a year, in October.This is what the skyrocketing cost of food looks like at street level: Poor people whose food stamps don’t buy as much as they once did rushing...
from The Philadelphia InquirerBy Alfred LubranoInquirer Staff WriterFood prices are up, food-bank supplies are down, and more people in the area are receiving food stamps than at any time in years.These are, social-service advocates say, dire days for families already beset by climbing gas prices and declining wages.At the kitchen table, the gas pump and the workplace, people are being squeezed and compelled to live their lives with less and less.But food is the greatest worry."We have a crisis," said Sydelle Zove, interim food-stamp campaign manager for the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger."Meals are scarce," said Susan Smith, a 44-year-old Chester woman with diminishing means. "I'm 5-foot-10 and weigh 130. I should weigh 150."I need some food."Newly released state data...
from Spotlight on PovertyJames D. Weill looks at the successess and weaknesses of the Food Stamp Program.One of the important success stories in low-income policy during this decade has been the Food Stamp Program. It has achieved broad-based political support and reached more people in need during a period of generally stagnating or declining spending on other forms of assistance to low-income households, such as unemployment insurance, TANF cash welfare and child care assistance.In fact, at a time when poverty numbers rose and other government supports fell, the Food Stamp Program’s strength and resilience have been among the few bright spots. In an article published last year, the National Journal called food stamps one of the 10 great successes in American society, describing the...
from KNX 1070Alyn Luna has been struggling to give her family a better life. But after losing her job as a security guard three weeks ago, she did something Monday she hoped she'd never have to do again - apply for food stamps, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker."If it wasn't for this program, it would be really bad for me right now," Luna says.With jobs declining and prices for basics -- food, fuel and medicine -- on the rise, more Americans are expected to turn to food stamps in the next year than at any time since the program began in the 1960s.Already, demand is up in 43 states. Fourteen have hit record highs. In Michigan, one in every eight residents is on food stamps; one in seven in Kentucky."Their wages are going down or staying the same while the costs that they have to...
from the Akron Beacon JournalAmid a sluggish economy, a record 1.1 million Ohioans are getting food stamps, the state's welfare agency said. That's about 10 percent of the state's population.Caseloads have almost doubled since 2001, when an estimated 628,000 people were in the program, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.Low wages, unemployment and more expensive groceries, gasoline and other necessities have contributed to financial hardships facing many families. Ohio's jobless rate is 5.3 percent, up from 4.4 percent in 2001.Caseloads have been increasing for the past seven years, said Brian Harter, spokesman for the Job and Family Services Department, which oversees the food stamp program."The economy and loss of manufacturing jobs are at the root of what's...
from The Columbus Dispatch But price of food means they don't go as far nowBy Catherine CandiskyNearly one in 10 Ohioans now receives food stamps, the highest number in the state's history.Caseloads have almost doubled just since 2001, with 1.1 million residents now collecting benefits, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.Low wages, unemployment and the rising cost of groceries, gasoline and other necessities are to blame for financial hardships facing many Ohio families.Caseloads have been rising steadily in the past seven years, said Brian Harter, spokesman for the state agency which oversees the food-stamp program."Look at unemployment during this time," he said.Ohio's jobless rate is 5.3 percent, up from 4.4 percent in 2001."The economy and loss of...
from the Fort Wayne Journal GazetteBy Devon HaynieThe Journal GazetteA worsening economy and a state-driven outreach effort have led more northeast Indiana residents to apply for the state’s food stamp program, according to aid workers, state officials and economists.The annual average number of food stamp recipients in Indiana increased 22 percent from 2003 to 2007, according to figures from Indiana’s Family Social Services Administration. The increase in recipients was more pronounced in 10 northeast Indiana counties, where the annual number of food stamp recipients rose anywhere from 24 percent to 87 percent during the five-year period.While most northeast Indiana counties saw an increase in food stamp recipients of less than 30 percent since 2003, LaGrange County saw a 42...
from the FRAC362,000 More People Participated in August 2006Than in August 2005But Many Eligible People MissedIn August 2006 food stamp participation at 26,127,843 persons was up over the month by 136,800 people. The overall caseload for August 2006 was 362,308 persons higher than the prior August and nearly 8.4 million persons higher than in August 2001. Nonetheless, the Program still is missing nearly four in ten eligible people. At a time when more than 35 million people in the US face a constant struggle against hunger, continuing to strengthen the reach of the Food Stamp Program is vital.Food Stamp Program growth in recent years reflects continuing wage stagnation, state actions to improve access, the effects of the 2002 food stamp reauthorization implementation, and disaster relief....