Stressed Food Banks Hope Farm Bill Provides Relief
Posted on: Monday, 12 May 2008, 03:00 CDT
By Lutey, Tom
Lower-income Montana families are struggling to feed themselves in light of rising grocery costs and decreases in the real value of food stamps, a state health official said Tuesday.
"There really is sort of a new anxiety among lower-income families about affording food," said Hank Hudson, who oversees food assistance programs for the Department of Public Health and Human Services. "Benefits haven't changed much in the last six to eight years, and the cost of food keeps going up."
Milk has jumped more than a dollar a gallon over the past year. Eggs have increased nearly as much. And those prices for essential foods are worrying the 80,000 Montanans who rely on food stamps or other government commodities programs.
State officials and food bank workers said they hope to see some relief from the U.S. Farm Bill, which is stalled in Congress. House and Senate versions of the bill promise the first real increases in food stamp values and commodities programs since 2002.
On average, food stamp recipients get $99 a month, although some receive as little as $10. President Bush has said that the House and Senate are asking for more Farm Bill money than he's willing to approve. Congress has given itself until April 18 to come forward with a compromise that would spell out federal assistance for farmers and consumers for five years.
The result of the food stamps' being stretched thin at the grocery store is an increasing number of Montanans who visit food banks for emergency supplies. Nationally, the number of people enrolling in food stamp programs has increased by 13 million in the past year. The food bank organization Second Harvest estimates a 20 percent increase in the number of people are coming to soup kitchens and food banks this year looking to be fed.
"There are more people coming in, yes," said Sheryle Shandy, the director of the Billings Food Bank. "We're seeing an increase in our senior program. Folks who qualified for that program, and have for years but never came in, are finally coming in now and saying 'OK.' "
Low-income seniors can get a box of food a month. The box of food, worth $75, includes items such as cereal, juice, peanut butter, some cans of beef stew or chili, as well as canned or dried milk.
Shandy's organization gives out 1,800 boxes a month, and the number is increasing. The commodities program is funded through the Farm Bill and managed by the state Agency on Aging.
Beyond the commodities program, Shandy said her organization is seeing its own buying power shrink in the supermarket. The Billings Food Bank is an independent charity fueled by private donations and dedicated support from area churches. When Shandy goes shopping for food staples such as milk, flour and eggs, she can't buy as much as she could a year ago, which means there's less food on the shelf for emergency food packages, meant to keep a person in food for only a couple of days.
This is the time of year when food bank shelves, full after Christmas, are beginning to look bare. Shandy said she expects the diminishing buying power of food stamps to exacerbate the food bank's seasonal supply problems. What she really needs are some community food donations.
The demand for emergency food supplies is also up at charity warehouses operated by the Missoula-based Montana Food Bank, which operates a warehouse in Miles City and supports emergency food organizations in 12 Eastern Montana counties.
Last year, the Montana Food Bank gave out one-time emergency food supplies to 88,814 people. It also handed out 698,670 foot packages to repeat customers. Kate Bradford, the group's public policy director, said working families represented slightly more than half of the Montana Food Bank recipients, with disabled and elderly people making up most of the remainder.
Bradford said she hoped to see an increase, from $10 to $16, in the smallest amount of food stamps available. Food Bank officials had also anticipated a change in eligibility requirements allowing more people to qualify for food stamps.
Copyright Billings Gazette Apr 10, 2008
(c) 2008 Billings Gazette, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Billings Gazette, The
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