food stamps
Food-stamp rolls fall by 2 percent as employment expands
With a decline in the unemployment rate, "economic improvement has started to yield decreases in participation [in food stamps] from the levels that we saw as a result of the recession," said Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon.
Poverty rate plateaus at one in six rural Americans
One out of every six rural Americans - more than 8.2 million people - lives in poverty, according to a report by the Census Bureau. The rural poverty rate of 16.5 percent for 2014 was not statistically different than the 2013 rate. As usual, the rural rate was higher than the rate in cities, which was 14.5 percent, and the overall U.S. rate of 14.8 percent.
Food-stamp enrollment is lowest in nearly four years
Enrollment in food stamps, the premiere U.S. antihunger program, at latest count was the lowest since July 2011, according to USDA data. Some 45.4 million people received food stamps in April, the most recent month for which figures are available.
More food-stamp shoppers at farmers markets
Food stamp recipients spent $18.8 million of their benefits at farmers markets, roadside stands and in direct purchases from growers, six times larger than redemptions in 2008, said the USDA.
House block grant for food stamps is a 34-percent cut
The House Republican plan to convert the food-stamp program into a block grant would cut funding by $125 billion, or 34 percent, by 2025. The House is expected to vote this week on the proposal, which is wrapped into the House budget resolution for fiscal 2016. Debate is scheduled to begin today, with amendments offered on Wednesday. The conversion wouldn't take effect until 2021.
House passes budget to turn food stamps into block grant
The Republican-controlled House passed a budget that boosts military spending and slashes domestic programs, including Medicaid and food stamps, said the New York Times.
USDA launches three-year employment and training pilots
Pilot projects in 10 states across the nation will spend three years trying different ways to help food-stamp recipients acquire training and find jobs, or better-paying jobs, so they no longer need help buying groceries, said the USDA.
Ten pilot projects will test food-stamps-to-work ideas
The Obama administration will announce today "grants to 10 states looking for a better way to get food-stamp recipients back to work," says NPR. The pilot projects are the result of a compromise by lawmakers over food stamp cuts in the 2014 farm law.
Conaway – “Disingenuous” to highlight food-stamp amounts
The answer to hunger in America is for government and charities to work together, said House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway, who said it is "confusing and disingenuous" to suggest food stamps are the only source of meals for poor people. Food stamps "are designed to be supplemental, leaving [the] household responsible for the remaining needs," Conaway said in opening remarks at a hearing on food assistance provided by charities. "Many do so with the help of local organizations ...."
Working families get 38 percent of food-stamp spending
Working families get 38 cents of each $1 in food-stamp benefits, says the UC-Berkeley Center for Labor Research in a research brief, "The high public cost of low wages." The paper says hourly wages for the median American worker "were just 5 percent higher in 2013 than they were in 1979" when adjusted for inflation. For the bottom 10 percent of workers, wages fell by 5 percent from 1979-2013. With low wages, people rely on social-welfare programs; "the taxpayers bear a significant portion of the hidden costs of low-wage work in America," says the report.
Senate budget proposal targets food stamps indirectly
The fiscal 2016 budget resolution proposed by Senate Budget chairman Mike Enzi calls for large cuts in discretionary spending outside of the military, which could include food stamps, but does not specifically ask for cuts in the farm program. During committee debate, Democrat Debbie Stabenow said 400 farm, conservation, anti-hunger and rural-development groups were on record against any cuts beyond the $23 billion required by the 2014 farm law.
Senate Republicans to target food stamps for big cuts
The budget package expected next week from Senate Republicans would convert the food-stamp program into something "similar to a block grant," says the Wall Street Journal, based on interviews with lawmakers and aides.
People shop around for groceries, even when they walk
Overwhelmingly, Americans drive to the grocery store and they usually don't go to the store nearest to their homes, even if they have to walk, take a bus or get a ride with someone else, says a USDA study.
House budget converts food stamps into a block grant
The House Budget Committee called for a nominal $1 billion cut over a 10-year period in the USDA's mandatory programs, including crop insurance and food stamps, and the conversion of food stamps into a block grant program in fiscal 2021. The block-grant idea has been a feature of House Republican budget proposals in previous years. The committee provided few details on the latest iteration, which was given three paragraphs in the its 43-page document, "A balanced budget for a strong America."
Food-stamp enrollment is lowest in seven months
Some 46.25 million people received food stamps in the latest count, the lowest figure in seven months, said USDA. Enrollment in December 2014, the most recent month available, was 11,000 lower than the month before.
Little gain if sugary drinks are banned from food stamps
Disqualifying sugary drinks, such as soda, from purchase under the food-stamp program would have little impact on consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, say USDA researchers.
States, tribes will test ways to reduce rural child hunger
Five pilot projects will test ways to reduce child hunger in rural America, with approaches that range from home delivery of food to providing three school meals a day, says the Agriculture Department. The USDA awarded $27 million in grants for the demonstration projects in Virginia, Kentucky and Nevada, and the Chickasaw and Navajo nations, from money provided in the 2010 child-nutrition law.
Food stamp review “is the big deal,” says Conaway
Food stamps, the largest U.S. antihunger program, "lacks a clear mission," said chairwoman Jackie Walorski of the House Agriculture subcommittee on nutrition. In opening a hearing on characteristics of food-stamp recipients, the Indiana Republican said the program, which helps poor people buy food, "is not helping lift people out of poverty." She also complained of "many levels of bureaucracy" and overlapping federal, state and local programs.
Think tank says SNAP time limit would hit California the hardest
One in six of the older Americans targeted by an expansion of SNAP work requirements in the debt ceiling bill negotiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden lives in California, said the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on Wednesday.