Millions hungry in US
By Debra Watson
3 December 2001
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A new study by America's Second Harvest reports that
23.3 million people in the US were forced to rely on
charities for food in the past year, a 9 percent increase
since 1997.
The Hunger in America 2001 study also reports that
more needy people are receiving assistance from
private food banks and charities than from the
government-funded Food Stamp program.
The report confirms that the number of hungry people in
the US continued to rise even as the US economy
experienced the longest expansion in postwar history.
One reason is that government food assistance for the
poor plummeted after the US Congress passed the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act
(PRWOA) or "welfare reform" in 1996. From 1997 to
2001, Food Stamp Program participation declined
more than 33 percent to an average of 17 million
persons each month.
America's Second Harvest is a network of food banks
involving 80 percent of all private food banks in US.
Nearly 6,000 soup kitchens, 4,000 homeless and other
emergency shelters and 26,000 food pantries across the
country rely on the network for well over a billion
pounds of food annually. The 2001 survey is the most
comprehensive study of domestic hunger ever
undertaken, according to the report's authors. It is the
third the network has conducted since 1993.
Once again, the organization reports seeing more and
more people who are hungry or at risk for hunger. Of
the agencies which depend on the network of food
banks, 60 percent reported increased demand for their
services since 1997. A 1999 review of several
municipal, state and national studies found a range of
increased demand from 14 percent (in Oregon) to 38
percent (at the sites managed by Catholic Charities)
since 1996.
A survey of clients showed that the faces of the hungry
they serve have changed dramatically over the past
decade. The summary report notes: "Based on the
findings of this study, the millions of needy people
served by thousands of food pantries, soup kitchens and
shelters do not meet the stereotypical profile of the
hungry in America."
Nearly three-fourths of the people served by America's
Second Harvest were "food insecure," which the
organization defines as having limited or uncertain
access to nutritious, safe foods necessary to lead a
healthy lifestyle. Households that experience food
insecurity have reduced quality or variety of meals and
may have irregular food intake.
Nearly 40 percent of individuals and 40 percent of
households with children were food insecure with
hunger, meaning they are missing meals because they
are unable to afford them. Two-thirds of those surveyed
reported they could not afford balanced meals and one
in four households did not eat for entire days because
they couldn't afford food.
Women and children
Significantly, the agency noted that a household that is
closer to the poverty level is more likely to be at risk
for hunger than one that is very poor.
The vast majority of food bank clients turn out to be
people living seemingly normal lives in modest
neighborhoods all over the country. One in three
emergency food recipients live in the suburbs, and
about one in six live in rural areas. Forty-five percent
of recipients are white and 35 percent black.
One-quarter of those surveyed are homeowners. While
soup kitchens and homeless shelters served two million
people in 2001, 10 times as many people use food
pantries to get canned goods, perishables and other
food to cook at home.
Women with children made up the majority of food
bank recipients in 2001. Nearly two-thirds of the adults
served by agencies were women and 40 percent of the
households served included children, 9.3 million
overall, including 2.1 million young children aged from
newborn to five years old. This represents more than
one in ten of all children in America and nearly
three-fourths of all children in poverty. One in four
people in a soup kitchen line is likely to be a child, and
more than one in three households served by the food
pantries include children.
The Census Bureau previously reported 31.1 million
were food insecure in 1999, including 12 million
children. Ten million people experienced food
insecurity with hunger. America's Second Harvest
notes: "Numerous studies indicate that even mild
under-nutrition, and certainly severe hunger, suffered
by children for even just brief periods of time can have
long-term negative effects on the cognitive,
psychological, social and physical development of
children."
The working poor
One of the biggest changes apparent in this year's
report was a rise in the number of the so-called
working poor utilizing food banks over the past four
years. Approximately one in four food pantry clients
were employed, up from about one in five in 1997 and
in 1993. Forty percent of households served had at
least one adult working and 7 percent had two adults in
the household working. Nevertheless the average
monthly income of recipients was 20 percent less than
the federal poverty level. Nearly three-quarters of
emergency food recipients had monthly household
incomes of less than $1,000.
In fact, income from employment was most frequently
cited as the primary source of household income and
the most frequent response to source of income (31.1
percent). Only 8 percent collected General Assistance,
a small monthly stipend to support childless adults
provided by some states. Ten percent of recipients
were homeless. Just 6 percent were on Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
The elderly and disabled with income derived from
federal entitlement programs such as Social Security
(retirement) or Workers Compensation made up half of
all food bank recipients in 2001. As income inequality
increased in the US, the cost of housing, prescription
drugs and other necessities skyrocketed, leaving
vulnerable populations unable to meet the increased
costs.
About 10 percent of the population over 65 lives in
poverty, but 20 percent or 2.5 million of those served
by America's Second Harvest were elderly. More than
half were food insecure, a number significantly higher
than the rate of food insecurity of seniors in the general
population (1.8 percent). The study's authors noted that
like childhood hunger, insufficient nutrient intake by
seniors adversely impacts the effect of prescription
drugs and other medical treatment, reducing the quality
and longevity of life.
Welfare reform
Private charities have only one-tenth the food resources
the federal nutritional programs have at their disposal.
The largest component of that government safety net is
the US Department of Agriculture's Food Stamp
Program. America's Second Harvest noted that Food
Stamp Program participation from 1977 to 1996
roughly matched US economic cycles, but plummeted
after welfare reform was signed by Clinton in 1996.
While there were roughly 3 million fewer Americans
living in poverty between 1997 and 2001, there were 8
million fewer Americans receiving government
assistance in the form of food stamps or welfare.
Though most food bank clients are eligible for food
stamps, onerous paperwork and tighter restrictions
under welfare reform led to this drop in recipients, not
a decline in actual need. The Food Stamp Program has
been singled out for attack by free-market advocates in
the US Congress, who pushed through a $26 billion cut
in the program at the time of welfare reform.
Though the vast majority of food bank recipients
qualify, only 30 percent are currently receiving Food
Stamps, though over twice that many applied at some
time for the program. Federal food programs
administered by schools had a higher participation rate.
Sixty percent of the households with school-age
children participated in school lunch programs and
about half in school breakfast programs. In households
with pre-school age children, about half received food
through the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
program.
The results of the 2001 survey again underscore the fact
that while the wealthy experienced huge income
increases in the last decade, millions of people in the
US were falling into the grip of poverty and hunger.
The onset of the recession and the wave of job losses
this year have already increased the number of laid-off
workers seeking help at food pantries and soup
kitchens.
Gleaners Community Food Bank in Detroit reports a 57
percent increase in food distribution from last year. The
food bank is expecting another large increase within the
next six months resulting from mass layoffs in the area.
The New York City Coalition Against Hunger released
a report showing a sharp rise in demand for food
assistance as far back as January of 2001. Last year
some pantries ran out of food and this year they expect
they will have to turn away close to a third of the
people who need food.
See Also:
Hunger and homelessness on the rise in New York
[29 November 2001]
"Ending welfare as we know it" spells poverty for
millions of America's working poor
[31 August 2001]
Reports highlight inequality and insecurity in America
[13 July 2001]
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