Americans' Food Stamp Use Nears All-Time High

[kentuck]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/25/AR2008112502553.html?hpid=topnews

<snip>

Fueled by rising unemployment and food prices, the number of Americans on food stamps is poised to exceed 30 million for the first time this month, surpassing the historic high set in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.

The figures will put the spotlight on hunger when Congress begins deliberations on a new economic stimulus package, said legislators and anti-hunger advocates, predicting that any stimulus bill will include a boost in food stamp benefits. Advocates are also optimistic that President-elect Barack Obama, who made campaign promises to end childhood hunger and whose mother once briefly received food stamps, will make the issue a priority next year.

"We soon will have the most food stamps recipients in the history of our country," said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, a D.C.-based anti-hunger policy organization. "If the economic forecasts come true, we're likely to see the most hunger that we've seen since the 1981 recession and maybe since the 1960s, when these programs were established."

.....more

[FirstLight]

1. Shit...I was going to apply for FS next month...

Now I wonder with stories like this if there will still be "enough" for us?

This is a really scary time for those of us hanging on the bottom rung, and MY hours just got cut to 10 a week in January!

I am really looking forward to Jan 20th! I hope most of us will make it till then!

[kentuck]

2. Hang in there Journalgrrl...

I think this will be a very liberal Administration when it comes to food stamps and helping the poor.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. Historically FS programs had chronic underutilization.

The good news is that people are applying for food assistance. The bad news is that so many can qualify.

Please apply. That's why it's there.

[underpants]

4. That's 1 in 10-it had been projected to be 1 in 11

28 million

a few months ago

[Orwellian_Ghost]

5. We are all on the edge

We need radical alterations in everything.

Wall St. gets bailed out and the poor get nothing.

K&R

[qwlauren35]

10. No, happily that's where you're wrong.

The "poor" ARE getting something.

The change we need is for people to be able to stay employed and have opportunities to build wealth... instead of BECOMING poor.

I used to question the emphasis on "the Middle Class"... and was happy when it was expanded to include the Working Class (there are many, many Americans who distain the Middle Class and don't see themselves as such. They are proud to be Working Class, because it means that they take work seriously and don't sit on their butts all day.)

But now I understand. We have a lot of safety nets for the poor. But there isn't enough being done to help keep hard working middle class families from BECOMING poor.

I know there are many things that the progressives want, but I think this is something that we NEED.

I think he got elected because of the economy. Some people aren't remembering that.

[Ilsa]

6. 700,000 kids could go hungry in "the richest nation" blah blah blah

snip
Breaking the symbolically important 30 million mark comes on the heels of government data showing that 11.9 million people went hungry in America at some point last year. That included nearly 700,000 children, up more than 50 percent from the year before.

Food pantries and other charitable organizations are also reporting an increase in demand from those in need. Visits to local pantries are up by 20 to 100 percent over the past six months... snip

[mymessageboardid]

7. This graph says it all...

On what has happened over the last 8 years....



So glad the incoming administration doesn't want to "burden" millionaires by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for the rich.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[qwlauren35]

8. It should not highlight "hunger" per se.

Foodstamps are the first in a tier of safety nets available to the American people. I am very glad, in one way, that people are taking advantage of this safety net to make sure that their families do NOT go hungry. I am glad that people are sacrificing pride for practicality, even though I'm sure it hurts like hell.

I am very glad, and proud, that our country offers food stamps.

Obviously, the other way to look at it is as a mark of how bad things have gotten... but we knew that.

I would predict that Section 8 vouchers and Medicaid rolls will swell next. And, as a populist, I hope that funding for these services isn't cut so that we can fund bailouts... at least without a d d*mned good reason.

Maybe we should only offer bailouts to companies that offer to restrict their spending, cap their salaries and fire their CEOs... first. And enough of this golden parachute bullsh*t.

[lindbergh]

9. What timing...after we've spent all our money and credit on the Iraq "war",

and bailing out mega-corporations. "Let them eat cake" doesn't even begin to cover this disaster.