Editorial about Food Security Policies

Here is a student paper about hunger and food security policies.

The food and hunger policy in America is very beneficial for our fellow Americans. The policy has its ups and downs but throughout the years it has become a huge success for those who suffer from hunger. While there is still a high number of people who don’t receive a sufficient amount of food throughout the year, the numbers of people who receive government assistance are increasing with the help of the government and our local communities. Do you ever wonder how the awareness of hungriness is discovered? The Economic Research Services plays a large role in research on a federal level of food security. From the statistics gathered in 2008 by the Economic Research Services, it was found that in the United States eighty-five percent of people in the United States were secure with food in their households, while 14.6 percent did not have a secure amount of food in their houses sometime throughout the year. There are many different food programs designed by the government that provides assistant for those who have an insecure amount of food in their homes. The most popular program is SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is a very good program and provides people with a reasonable amount of grocery voucher money monthly. This program has helped over 24 million low-income Americans each month, according to the United States Department of Agriculture from 2008 figures. There was also a total of $37.5 billion used to supply the SNAP program amongst those low-income American families.

This program is sufficient because it focuses on helping those who are in need for food the most based on their income status and household size. While this program provides food for families it also educates them on proper dieting that helps them maintain their health for the better. So because of this requirement, education around the United States is increasing and helping people to make wiser food choices when they shop at grocery stores.

Although State participation in SNAP Education is voluntary, I feel as if it would be beneficial if it was a requirement and not an option. This education is given to improve the life of the Americans and it would help people to live longer and have less health problems as they age. This program is also beneficial to the low-income Americans because it decreases the number of children living in poverty. According to the Economic Research Service, the number dropped 4.3 percent because of SNAP. With the SNAP program more people are likely to feel secure about the amount of food they have in their homes versus not having SNAP and people feeling insecure. When people have the needed amount of food in their homes for their families they are more likely to succeed in taking care of other areas in their households. Some of those things would be employment, education, parenting, and basically life skills.

One student thinks we should cut food assistance to the homeless.

Check out this editorial by one of my students:

I have long been aware that food stamps are available in this state for the poor, children, and homeless in our society; however I was unaware that those who live in shelters are approved for $200.00 a month per person in food stamps.

I have worked with the homeless for about three years and I see flaws in the system. The clients who live in shelters in Springfield without cost to them for anything (including meals, shelter, social services, bus tokens, telephone use, or any clothing we may have on hand), yet these clients are automatically eligible for food stamps. The client only has to stay overnight and they can qualify as a homeless person and therefore qualify for this benefit.

This seems to me to be a form of either fraud or double dipping. I have long asked many questions about this procedure and I believe that a homeless client should not be eligible for food stamps as long as he or she lives in a state or federally funded free shelter. I do believe that each case is unique and should be look at individually, and I am sure there are cases where it is necessary for the client to have food stamps, but I have not seen many in the three years I have worked there who did not need food stamps.

We need to assess the needs of each client, and if the client is staying at a shelter he should be required to donate the card or a portion of the card to the shelter while in the shelter. We must stop some of the waste so that we can use the funds for those in the need most.

Here is my reaction.

This is certainly a thought-provoking editorial, and I am glad you wrote such an interesting piece. You present a “fact” (I wonder if it’s really true that each person living in a homeless shelter qualifies for $200 per month in SNAP benefits, so that a family of four living in a homeless shelter would receive $800 in credit on their LINK card) and then point out that this is a flawed policy. You seem to be saying that since homeless shelters provide meals to their clients, those clients should, as part of a “payment” for staying at the shelter, be required to share their food security income (SNAP benefits) with the shelter, at least so that the shelter can use this money to supply the client with meals.

You also point out that persons who stay in a homeless shelter may have incomes that would make SNAP benefits unnecessary. For example, a person earning $13 per hour might be able to afford a low-rent apartment, but they could be saving up for a down payment on a better housing arrangement, and using the shelter as a place where they can reduce their costs of living while they save up money to pay for a better living space. In such situations, it seems fair that such persons not be given automatic benefits of $200 per month for food expenses, especially if they are eating at their homeless shelter.

It might be the case that you are suggesting that persons in homeless shelters should be disqualified from receiving food security benefits, because they can rely on the shelter for food, and so they should not receive SNAP funds. I wouldn’t agree with that because some shelters to no offer meals, and I prefer that clients have autonomy, and giving a person $200 to spend on food allows them to enjoy some freedom in making choices about what they eat. Also, if a person is relying on a shelter for their food and has no SNAP money, they became more dependent on their shelter, and less able to strike out on their own, so that is a concern for me.

I am also uncertain about what you mean when you say that persons in shelters receive $200 in SNAP money each month. From your essay, it seems you are saying that even if a housed person spends a single night in a shelter, they could receive the full benefit of SNAP money at a maximum level. It seems to me that the last time I checked, the food security policies did not work this way. When I last checked, food stamps (SNAP) benefits were determined through a complex formula that took into consideration one’s income, the number of dependents in one’s family, and one’s housing arrangement (as well as some other factors, such as one’s disability status and other forms of welfare benefits received). And yes, in such a formula I think it’s reasonable for persons who are designated as homeless (as those who live in a shelter should be designated) would enjoy a slight increase in their benefits because of their homeless situation. I understand why you might argue that homeless people should receive lower benefit levels, because they can have free food at shelters, but I think the program goal is to help clients establish autonomy and independence, and so I am for giving clients a bit more money to use on their own outside the shelter (money they could keep if they left the shelter and found housing in some other situation). Also, persons who are homeless may need to eat more prepared meals if they have no access to a kitchen or cooking equipment. Housed persons can presumably enjoy savings in their food costs by cooking at home.

If homeless shelters provide meals to their clients, that is their decision. Certainly they can choose to not provide meals and let their clients use their SNAP funds to keep themselves from becoming malnourished. Also, isn't it possible for shelters to charge their clients for meals, perhaps using food stamps (SNAP benefits)? In some places people have been using food security welfare to eat in restaurants for years.

Food security in Illinois

I thought this essay letter written for an assignment by one of my students was worth sharing here on the blog.  It's about the food stamps program, now called "SNAP".

Dear Senator [Name],

I am writing in regards to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the federal Food Stamp Program. One of the primary goals of this program is to help put healthy foods on the tables of low income families. The change has given the program a new focus on extending benefits to as many families as possible by making the program more accessible to those in need. The average monthly household participation in Illinois alone was 595,832 for 2008! Only four states have a higher participation rate than Illinois: California, Florida, New York, and Texas. 

The number of Illinois households participating monthly in the Food Stamp Program has shown a significant increase of almost 30,000 households yearly since 2004. I believe this indicates to our community that the need for food assistance shows no signs of slowing down, especially in today’s unstable economic times. Job loss, homelessness, and hunger are on the rise.

These are all issues that can not be ignored that we must face together. Our current President, Mr. Barack Obama, has shown that he is committed to doing his share in helping SNAP during these rough times by recently putting into action a pilot program to help senior citizens, one of the hardest populations to reach that is served by SNAP, receive the benefits they qualify for. He also supports the recent additional nutrition provisions that were included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to temporarily increase the benefits and services that individuals and families receive through SNAP. This will greatly increase the food purchasing power of low income families during this American hardship.

Still, the United States Department of Agriculture, who oversees SNAP, only has a discretionary budget authority of $24.6 billion for 2009 compared to that of the Department of Defense’s roughly $650 billion budget for 2009. Remember, only a small portion of that $24.6 billion will go to SNAP, and many needy families with young children will inevitably still go hungry this year.

Hunger is defined as “the uneasy or painful sensation caused by lack of food; the recurrent and involuntary lack of access to food.” In Illinois during the years of 2004-2006, 3.5% of households experienced hunger on a regular basis. Food insecurity can be defined as “the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.” Some food insecure households are lucky enough to obtain enough food to avoid going hungry, but not all of them are as fortunate. Between 2004 and 2006, 9.8% of Illinois households experienced food insecurity. 

This is why I, along with the rest of our community, need your help. You have the power to educate within the political arena. This is such an important issue and immediate necessity. Don’t let a chance like this pass you by. Please help push for more spending for SNAP and related programs this year and in years to come because, together, we can make the difference these families so desperately wish for.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely, 

[Name]
University of Illinois at Springfield
Social Work Program

If you're interested in more information, here are some web sites the student used or else that I'm recommending where you can learn more about food security policies in Illinois.

Illinois Department of Human Services description of LINK.

A pdf file of the Department of Agriculture proposed FY 2010 budget (from the White House).

The USDA's page giving an overview of nutritional assistance programs.