“Hunger is an important problem” in America and public nutrition programs such as food stamps, WIC and school lunch “are addressing … but not fully solving” persistently elevated rates of hunger, said the co-chairs of the bipartisan National Commission on Hunger. The commission, due to report to Congress in coming weeks, used a USDA definition of “very low food security” that covered 17.2 million people, or 5.5 percent of Americans, in 2014. Malnourished children do worse in schools, reducing their future prospects, and adults who live in hunger are more likely to be overweight and have other health problems.
“Our vital safety net programs provide a strong foundation on which to build a more effective approach to fighting hunger,” said co-chairs Robert Doar of the American Enterprise Institution and Mariana Chilton of Drexel University in a joint statement at a House Agriculture Committee hearing.
Chilton and Doar said cross-agency collaboration and consistent White House leadership is vital to reducing hunger. At least five federal departments – Agriculture, Health, Education, Labor and Defense – would have a role because of the manifold causes of hunger and programs that could treat it.
Food stamps, created to help poor people buy food, could be altered to help recipients find work and smooth the transition to employment, said the co-chairs.
“It’s possible they are losing food stamps too soon,” said Chilton, because benefits scale down as income rises. But food insecurity – skipping meals or eating less because a household cannot afford enough food – often rises when recipients begin to move up the jobs ladder. Families may need more time for household income to stabilize before benefits are curtailed, she said. Doar said commission members agree that better coordination of social supports is needed.
Doar encouraged more flexibility in food stamp rules and leeway for states to experiment with ways to improve the program. “We are confident … better ideas will come forward,” he said.
Rep. Jim McGovern, Massachusetts Democrat, said the frequent emphasis on employment ignored that two-thirds of food stamp recipients are elderly, disabled or children. And Rep. Marcia Fudge, Ohio Democrat, said the committee wasted time by revisiting old issues about poverty and hunger. “When are we going to start trying to do something?” asked Fudge. “The next hearing I want to go to about (food stamps) is how to make it better.”
Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway, Texas Republican, launched the “top to bottom” review of the food stamp program early this year. “Throughout this process, we have had an eye on strengthening SNAP so it doesn’t become a trap but rather a tool to help individuals move up the economic ladder,” said Conaway, using the acronym for the official name of food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Conservative Republicans tried unsuccessfully as part of the 2014 farm law to change eligibility rules and remove millions of people from food stamps. The cost of the program more than doubled following the 2008-09 recession, peaking at $80 billion in 2013, and enrollment surged by 80 percent. At latest count, 45.5 million people received benefits.
Asked by Conaway to name their biggest surprise during the commission’s hearings, Doar said “the enormous amount of non-profit involvement” to alleviate hunger. Chilton said, “Their (recipients’) primary concern is finding access to good-paying jobs. There was a strong desire to be off” food stamps.
In a recent blog, Dottie Rosenbaum of the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said, “Work rates are high among SNAP households that can work.” More than 80 percent of household with a working-age adult report work during the year before or after receiving food stamps, she said.