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 ….”
“Individuals and organizations that highlight the SNAP [food stamp] benefit level in a manner that misrepresents the idea that it is supplemental is both confusing and disingenuous,” said Conaway. Food-stamp benefits averaged $127 a person during January, the latest month for which data are available. Some 46 million people were enrolled then, the lowest number in more than three years.
“A successful solution for nutrition assistance is the responsibility of government and the charitable sector, a combination of the two working together,” said Conaway. “Charitable organizations have greater flexibility to address the needs of their communities in ways the federal government is often not able to do by being accountable to the family in need and not the government program …. We all want to address hunger in America. To do that, we must focus on serving individuals and families in need, and less on who or what is providing the assistance.”
House Republicans have voted to convert food stamps to a block grant program to be run by the states, a move that is expected to save $125 billion over 10 years. It amounts to a 34-percent cut in the program. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, speaking at a trade conference, described food stamps as “the single best and most effective antipoverty program we have.” Vilsack said the block-grant proposal would result in sharply reduced benefits or the cutting of 11-12 million people from the program.
Enrollment in food stamps surged in the 2008-09 recession and has remained high. “Despite some improvements in economic conditions, food hardship and the need for food assistance remain relatively high,” said the anti-hunger group Food Research and Action Center.
During the hearing, Kate Maehr, executive director of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, said U.S. food banks handled 4 billion pounds of donated food last year, “and because we know that a good job is often the best solution … many of us have workforce development programs.” Maehr said coordinated public-private efforts would reduce hunger but the work of charities “pales in comparison to the tremendous job done by federal nutrition programs.”
In Texas, 1,100 community-based organizations “partner with the state to provide application assistance” for people applying for food stamps and other public benefits, said Dustin Kunz, research manager of the Texas Hunger Initiative at Baylor University. “Direct-service nonprofits have leveraged mutually beneficial partnerships with the state to both build relationships with and better serve their communities’ needs,” he said. For example, a church may provide aid in filling out an application but also consider someone’s needs “within the greater continuum of care in this faith community …. [T]he government can never know me and my needs the way a community-based organization in my city can” when it comes to helping a neighbor move to self-sufficiency.
To read testimony from the hearing or to watch the video, click here.