Soaring Costs Force Some Renters To Choose Between Shelter and Food

In the Huffington Post, Yepoka Yeebo writes about an alarming trend - higher rents are eating up income that used to go to food:

Around 10 million American households -- or one in every four families that rent their homes -- could have to choose between paying rent, buying groceries or keeping current with bills, according to a report released Tuesday.

The number of households spending more than 50 percent of their income on rent and bills jumped by 2.6 million over the last decade, according to a Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies report. Economists generally consider "affordable" rent to cost about 30 percent of a tenant's income.

When housng costs hit certain levels, many Americans are forced to choose between rent and food. "In real terms, it means more people have less money to spend on household necessities such as food, health care, or savings," Eric Belsky, director of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, said in the report. Households which spend 50 percent or more of their income on rent also spend almost 40 percent less on food and over 50 percent less on health care than households with more affordable rent. Read more

NY Times' Mark Bittman Fasts to Protest Proposed Budget Cuts to Hunger Programs

New York Times food writer and author of the weekly Minimalist column is really going mimimal. He's joined a group protesting proposed Congressional budget cuts to hunger relief programs. Here is his Op-Ed about the fast:

I stopped eating on Monday and joined around 4,000 other people in a fast to call attention to Congressional budget proposals that would make huge cuts in programs for the poor and hungry.

By doing so, I surprised myself; after all, I eat for a living. But the decision was easy after I spoke last week with David Beckmann, a reverend who is this year’s World Food Prize laureate. Our conversation turned, as so many about food do these days, to the poor.

Who are — once again — under attack, this time in the House budget bill, H.R. 1. The budget proposes cuts in the WIC program (which supports women, infants and children), in international food and health aid (18 million people would be immediately cut off from a much-needed food stream, and 4 million would lose access to malaria medicine) and in programs that aid farmers in underdeveloped countries. Food stamps are also being attacked, in the twisted “Welfare Reform 2011” bill. (There are other egregious maneuvers in H.R. 1, but I’m sticking to those related to food.)

These supposedly deficit-reducing cuts — they’d barely make a dent — will quite literally cause more people to starve to death, go to bed hungry or live more miserably than are doing so now. And: The bill would increase defense spending... Read the entire article

Food stamps: More Americans keep signing up

The Christian Science Monitor reports that food stamp participation continued to rise in December - the latest in a series of record-breaking months for the food stamp program:

As a logical consequence of the prolonged economic downturn it appears that participation in the federal food stamp program is continuing to rise.

In fact, household participation has been climbing so steadily that it has far surpassed the last peak set as a result of the immediate fallout following hurricane Katrina.

The latest data released by the Department of Agriculture shows that in October, an additional 289,737 new recipients were added to the food stamps program, an increase of 14.67% on a year-over-year basis, while household participation increased 16.98%.

Individual participation as a ratio of the overall civilian non-institutional population has increased 13.72% over the same period.

Read more

One in Three Working Families Considered "Low Income"

The Wall Street Journal reported December 21, 2010:

Nearly one in three working families earned less than 200% of poverty line last year, as a bad economy pushed 250,000 families below that threshold, according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data.

The recession’s effects extended beyond the millions who lost jobs, according to a report released Tuesday by the Working Poor Families Project, which researches and advocates for working families. Among those who were working, more than 10 million families earned less than 200% of the poverty level, which the researchers considered “low income.” The low-income threshold for a family of four with two children last year was $43,512.

“Working families are taking it hard during the great recession,” said Brandon Roberts, one of the report’s authors. “We’ve got a whole lot of middle-income families, middle-class families that have now fallen back into low-income working families.”

Read the full story here.

Number of Americans relying on food stamps still on the rise - now at nearly 43 million

The Wall Street Journal notes the continuing rise of Americans relying on food stamps:

Some 42.9 million people collected food stamps last month, up 1.2% from the prior month and 16.2% higher than the same time a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nationwide 14% of the population relied on food stamps as of September but in some states the percentage was much higher. In Washington, D.C., Mississippi and Tennessee – the states with the largest share of citizens receiving benefits – more than a fifth of the population in each was collecting food stamps.

In California, almost 3.5 million people count on food stamps - an uptick of 17.7% over September, 2009. Go here to read the entire article and see the individual stats for each state.

14% of Americans Now Rely on Food Stamps

The Wall Street Journal reports that, as of August, 42,389,619 Americans rely on Food Stamps - up 17% from a year ago:

A huge number of American households are still relying on government assistance to buy food as the recession continues to batter families.

Food stamp recipients ticked up in August, children consumed millions of free lunches and nearly five million low-income mothers tapped into a government nutrition program for women and young children.

Some 42,389,619 Americans received food stamps in August, a 17% rise from the same time a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which tracks the data. That number is up 58.5% from August 2007, before the recession began.

Read the entire article here.

We Did It! 300,000 Pounds of Tyson Chicken is on the Way!

Many thanks to everyone who left and comment on the Tyson Hunger Relief website and helped spread the word. For each comment, Tyson put another 100 pounds of chicken on the truck headed for the San Francisco Food Bank.

We've reached our goal, and the chicken is on its way!

Thanks also to Tyson, for their generous support of our Hunger Challenge - for the third year in a row - and for all their hunger relief efforts across the country.

Founding Hunger Challenger Genie Gratto on this Year's Challenge

Genie Gratto of The Inadvertent Gardener was one of the founding bloggers of the Hunger Challenge. In this post on BlogHer, she checks out what others are writing about their 2010 Hunger Challenge experiences:

Hungry for a Cause: The Hunger Challenge Gets Under Way for Third Year

Thanks for all your support, Genie!

Founding Hunger Challenger Faith Kramer Takes on Year #3

Founding Hunger Challenge blogger Faith Kramer of Blog Appetit has a wealth of observations, recipes and tips for eating on a budget. Here's an excerpt from her first 2010 Hunger Challenge post:

This is the third year that I've participated. You can see everything I posted on the 2008 challenge here, including shopping lists, daily menus, meal planning tips and more. In 2008, we only had $3 a person a day to work with, so filling up my family of four and keeping the food nutritious was even more challenging. (The extra dollar a day really makes a difference, but it is just a temporary change and is due to expire.) I think the Hunger Challenge Chili was my favorite recipe from that year. I also feel that what I wrote in my wrap up/recommendations for change post still sums my experience and what I learned and what I would like to see change to make it easier for Food Bank clients and those on food stamps to feed themselves and their families as well as possible.

You can read about my 2009 experience here. In 2009 we were able to use $4 a day per person. Like the year before, I also planned out a weekly meal plan, gave shopping trips, shared about my experiences and developed recipes. Probably my favorite from 2009 was the Hunger Challenge Cassoulet (a bean and sausage stew). I summed up my reactions here. READ MORE

CA Assemblywoman Fiona Ma Joins the Hunger Challenge!

Showing her commitment to supporting the issue of hunger in California, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma has stepped up to take the Hunger Challenge.

“I've been a food bank volunteer for the past 10 years," Ma says, "And the lines are longer and the clients are younger. In keeping with my commitment to a hands-on approach, I will take this Hunger Challenge to see for myself how difficult it is to survive on limited assistance in these trying times.”

Any other politicians out there who are willing to live for a week on a food stamp budget?

Senate Cutting Food Stamps Funding by $6.7 Billion

Ezra Klein reports in the Washington Post that the Senate is cutting food stamps funding by $6.7 billon. Klein notes that's a strange move, because money spent on food stamps may be the the best economic stimulus of all:

The Recovery Act included an immediate 13.6 percent increase in food stamps (which are now known as SNAP). That increase equals out to a maximum of $80 per household -- and these are not rich households. But the price of food has leveled out, and in some cases decreased, in the recession. Meanwhile, the number of people who needed help skyrocketed to more than 40 million. For that reason, the program's costs ballooned from an expected $20 billion to about $65 billion. The new price tag scared some, so people began talking about cutting the benefits back.

And here we are. Democrats needed to offset spending on two worthy, important programs [Medicare and teacher funding]. So they're cutting another important, worthy program. But you really can't think of a worse program to cut than SNAP. SNAP is an extraordinarily well-targeted stimulus. It goes to poor households, for something they need to buy. According to Mark Zandi's numbers, it's literally the most stimulative way to spend a dollar: Better than state and local aid, or unemployment insurance. You get more than $1.70 of economic activity for each buck you put in...

But this is also a question of priorities, of what gets cut. Bernie Sanders put up an amendment last month to cut about $35 billion in oil and gas subsidies. It failed. Republicans are arguing to extend Bush's tax cuts for the rich with no offsets, and they may well succeed. But food assistance for poor families? You can get the votes to slash those. Read more

What's it Like When the Hunger Challenge Never Ends? A Family Living on Food Stamps

Hunger Challenge participants are lucky - we only have to live for seven days on a food stamp budget. For many people, it's just life, non-stop, with no end in sight. Here's a National Public Radio series about a family from Carlisle, PA, struggling to make ends meet. They live on an income of $18,000 and have to stretch $600 in food stamps to feed two adults, an eight year old boy and two teenage girls.

A Daily Fight To Find Food: One Family's Story

Aired: July 19, 2010 (9:01)

Eating Nutritiously: A Struggle When Money Is Scarce

July 20, 2010 (6:58)

Food Stamp Use Up 55% in San Francisco

Need for food assistance continues to rise in San Francisco. Requests for help from the San Francisco Food Bank are up 25%, and the number of people on food stamps continues to grow. Here's an update, from the San Francisco Examiner:

The number of San Franciscans on food stamps has grown by some 55 percent in the past 17 months. Today, about 41,743 San Franciscans rely on food stamps, according to San Francisco’s Human Services Agency.

But despite the recent spikes, San Francisco food-security advocates say the food-stamp program is not carrying its fair share of the burden. Today, just one-twentieth of San Franciscans are on food-stamp rolls, compared to one-eighth of all Americans.

One might imagine that disparity could simply mean there’s less hunger in wealthy San Francisco than elsewhere in the nation.

But, in fact, the San Francisco Food Bank believes the opposite is true. It estimates that fully one-quarter of all children and senior citizens and about one-fifth of adults in San Francisco live each day with food insecurity. That’s compared to a national average of about 15 percent, according to the latest estimates by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The cost of living in San Francisco is a major problem for residents who need food stamps, according to food-security advocates.

Read the entire story here.

7 Million More Food Stamp Recipients vs. Last Year - and Half Are Children

The Los Angeles Times reports today:

A study finds 7 million additional people receiving food stamps compared with a year ago, half of them children. California had a 21% increase in recipients. As more families are hammered by the recession, more are using food stamps to feed their kids, according to a study by the Brookings Institution and First Focus, a bipartisan child advocacy group. Read the full story

New York Times: Living on Nothing but Food Stamps

A New York Times (Jan. 3, 2010) piece by Jason Deparle and Robert M. Gebeloff reveals the surprising story of those who have been forced to rely food stamps as their only source of "income":

After an improbable rise from the Bronx projects to a job selling Gulf Coast homes, Isabel Bermudez lost it all to an epic housing bust — the six-figure income, the house with the pool and the investment property.

Now, as she papers the county with résumés and girds herself for rejection, she is supporting two daughters on an income that inspires a double take: zero dollars in monthly cash and a few hundred dollars in food stamps.
With food-stamp use at a record high and surging by the day, Ms. Bermudez belongs to an overlooked subgroup that is growing especially fast: recipients with no cash income.

About six million Americans receiving food stamps report they have no other income, according to an analysis of state data collected by The New York Times. In declarations that states verify and the federal government audits, they described themselves as unemployed and receiving no cash aid — no welfare, no unemployment insurance, and no pensions, child support or disability pay.

Their numbers were rising before the recession as tougher welfare laws made it harder for poor people to get cash aid, but they have soared by about 50 percent over the past two years. About one in 50 Americans now lives in a household with a reported income that consists of nothing but a food-stamp card. Read the entire story...