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Update: Just before Thanksgiving the supercommittee failed to meet its deadline for a comprehensive budget reduction plan. Now $1.2 trillion in automatic across-the-board budget cuts are slated to go into effect on January 1, 2013. While it's disappointing that the committee couldn't reach a balanced approach to cutting the deficit, it benefits families and communities that Federal Nutrition Programs and other programs that support healthy child development and provide an economic boost to local economies didn't get cut for now. Still, Congress will soon begin its work on the Farm Bill, so it's still important to inform our legislators of the importance increasing funding, not cutting, for Federal Nutrition Programs especially during these tough economic times.

Call to Action: Advocate to increase smart investments in food programs

This is the second in a series of three blogs on Food Support. Food Support is Minnesota’s version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but is known on the streets as “food stamps.”  The first blog featured the history of Food Support and its economic boost to communities and the last blog will tell the author’s personal experience with the programs.

Increasing unemployment and poverty across the country means not only that more people are in need of Federal Nutrition Programs like SNAP, WIC, and the School Meal Program, but that communities, too, are relying on the economic stimulus these programs provide. Still, politicians, in particular the supercommittee, are discussing deep cuts to food programs that won’t just affect people facing food insecurity – including the nearly 1 in 10 Americans enrolled in SNAP – but will mean reduced economic stimulus and increased future costs of reversing the adverse affects of hunger.

The supercommittee has to come to an agreement of how to cut more than $1 trillion of federal spending by November 23, and the food programs are all on the table (pun intended). During a time of increased poverty and unemployment, programs like SNAP and WIC should be expanded, not cut. Food shelves, homeless shelters, and community meal programs can only go so far, and can’t stimulate the economy like SNAP and WIC can. With only 59 percent of food insecure U.S. households enrolled in government sponsored nutrition programs, the programs have the ability to relieve hunger for millions more people, resulting in increased productivity, better performance in school, and better health – outcomes that will save public money in the long run. In addition, there are ripple effects on the economy when federal dollars are spent at local grocery stores. See the first blog in this series for more information on how Food Support stimulates Minnesota’s economy.

When nutrition programs are supported, the return on investment can be greater than the initial costs. For instance, in November 2010, Minnesota state legislation changed the Food Support program to eliminate the asset limit and increase the gross income guidelines from 130 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines to 165 percent. The Minnesota Department of Human Services stated the goals of the legislation were “to increase Food Support access for the working poor, to prevent long-term poverty by enabling households to retain assets, and to make it easier for financial workers to process cases.” A new report by the Minnesota Department of Human Services analyzed the effects of these changes from November 2010 and May 2011:

• During this time period, 9,522 new households enrolled in Food Support that otherwise wouldn’t have been eligible prior to the changes. That meant an additional $4.6 million in new benefits were spent at Minnesota grocery stores to put food on the tables of needy families.  
• 22,307 existing Food Support cases that would have otherwise closed remained open during this time period due to the changes, resulting in $18.1 million in benefits that would have otherwise been taken away. 
• For every dollar in Food Support benefits brought into a state, the USDA estimates $1.83 in economic activity, so that means the changes generated about $41.3 million in economic activity in Minnesota.

Of course, there are still thousands more eligible Minnesota families who aren’t enrolled in Food Support – worth an estimated $210 million in food and money the state doesn’t get.  So in spite of these improvements, there is a lot of work to do in supporting the Food Support program that feeds our hungry family members and neighbors and stimulates the economy – a win-win for us all. Here is what you can do:

• Contact your legislators and tell them not to cut, but to increase access and enrollment outreach for federal nutrition programs, including SNAP, WIC, and the School Meal Program. The Supercommittee’s decision whether or not to cut food programs ironically, will be made the day before Thanksgiving, so now is the time to call your Congressperson to tell him or her to defend federal nutrition programs because the programs support the working poor and stimulate local economies. While Minnesota is not represented in the Supercommittee, Minnesota politicians, notably Sen. Amy Klobuchar, are highly involved in the Farm Bill (the bill with provisions for federal nutrition programs) so are influential in protecting and expanding these programs. Click here to look up the contact information of your state and federal representatives.
•  Take the Food Stamp Challenge. Find out what it’s like to live on “food stamps” by eating only $4 worth of food per day for one week. While choosing to simulate what it would be like to live on food stamps alone is not the same as having to struggle month to month, it will increase your understanding of the tough decisions and careful budgeting people receiving SNAP benefits have to make. Moreover, you can tell your family and friends why you took the challenge to increase awareness of the benefits of Federal Nutrition Programs.

• Find out if you or someone you know is eligible to receive food program benefits on Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota’s Bridge to Benefits website. The website includes an online eligibility screening tool that determines potential eligibility for several public programs, including Food Support, School Meals, and WIC and connects eligible persons with information on how to apply.

Together we can eliminate hunger.

Sources:

“Increased Food Support Income Limits and Elimination of the Asset Test: Effects on the Caseload”

Minnesota Department of Human Services, August 2011

Farm Bill policy position paper

Hunger Solutions Minnesota and Minnesota Partnership to End Hunger

SNAP Access Study

Hunger-Free Minnesota, April 2011