By Tom Eley WSWS.org
     20 December 2008
 

 As the economic crisis deepens, its human toll is becoming more evident. A new survey of food charities in the United States has revealed a dramatic increase in hunger. Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the US, says  that a growing number of families face difficulties in securing adequate nutrition. Meanwhile food banks have proven ill-equipped to meet the increased demand caused by layoffs and increased food costs, and many have collapsed or have restricted the allotments of food they make.

     In a chilling statement on social conditions in the US, 72 percent of surveyed food charities said that they are unable to
     meet the current demands of local communities for assistance. In most cases, the charities have responded by offering
     smaller distributions to the hungry, and some have been forced to close down.

     This is taking place in every region of the country. To cite a few examples, the Food Bank of New York City reported
     that organizations under its direction "have regularly reported over the past year that their shelves are bare and that they
     have had to turn people away due to their lack of food." The Cleveland Foodbank reported that the crisis "is moving at a
     pace so fast that our staff cannot catch a breath." The Food Bank of Corpus Christi, Texas, said that "our agencies are
     seeing such a drastic increase in new clients that they are having a hard time getting the money to acquire the food we
     need," while "other agencies are burning out and we are seeing a number of agencies closing their doors." Second
     Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee reported that its agencies have asked that it not refer new clients "because
     they are running out of food."

     In its survey of households, Feeding America found that nearly two thirds of low-income households—defined as having
     an income at less than 200 percent of the official poverty level—said that within the past year "their food didn't last and
     they could not afford to buy more." Forty percent "ate less than they felt they should," and 36 percent "cut the size of
     meals or skipped meals because there wasn't enough money for food." A large majority of low-income respondents, 70
     percent, said that they are reducing food spending, while 62 percent said they make multiple shopping trips for food
     "because they didn't have enough money to buy everything at one time." In New York City, in 2008, nearly 40 percent
     of all households said that they had faced difficulties in procuring sufficient food for their families, a sharp increase over
     figures from 2007.

     Hunger is affecting ever-wider sections of the working class, including two-parent households and the gainfully
     employed. The survey of food banks found user increases of 99.4 percent among "first-time" users, 74 percent among
     unemployed workers, 59 percent of those with jobs, and 48 percent among families with children seeking assistance.

     "When you hear someone say, ‘I never thought that I would have to come to the pantry to get food,' or to have someone
     say, ‘I used to donate to the pantry and now I am using it,' that's when you realize how tough things are," a
     representative of the Community Food Banks of South Dakota said.

     A food charity in Bloomington, Indiana, reported that a food bank in what it called "a higher income per capita" area saw
     an increase from 60 visits per month last year to 700 this year. A food bank in Long Island, New York, said that it has
     witnessed "increased need among middle class people making between $40,000-$70,000, who are recently
     unemployed, having health problems, having difficulties managing mortgage payments, and going to pantries and soup
     kitchens for emergency food assistance." A survey of New York City households found that even among the
     college-educated, 36 percent faced hardship in 2008 in buying needed food, an increase from 11 percent in 2003. A
     food assistance program in California reported that it is "seeing people coming to us who have never been a part of our
     system and who never thought that they would need food assistance."

     "We are in a national crisis," said Vicki Escarra, the president and CEO of Feeding America. "We have some food
     banks reporting as high as a 65 percent increase in need. There are record numbers of new men, women and children,
     who never thought they would need food assistance."

     Financial hardship forces many families to choose among necessities such as food, health care, and home heating. The
     survey of households revealed that 40 percent of low-income families had, in the past year, been forced to choose
     between eating and paying for utilities.

     The economic crisis is at the root of the growth in hunger. Upwards of 90 percent of food banks attribute the increase in
     hunger to rising food prices and unemployment. Sixty percent also cite fuel costs, and 52 percent listed the inadequacy of
     state food stamp programs as a cause.

     A press release by Feeding America calls on Congress "to pass economic recovery legislation that will offer desperately
     needed relief to both low-income Americans and the nation's food banks, as the recent surge in unemployment has
     pushed millions to the brink of hunger."

     Estimates on the size of the "economic stimulus" package that President-elect Barack Obama will put in place have
     ranged from $400 billion to $900 billion. Democrats have hedged their bets, moreover, by asserting that its passage will
     depend upon minority Republican support. But whatever its final size and content, Obama's "stimulus" will prove
     woefully inadequate in the face of the deepest social crisis since the Great Depression. The sums being discussed
     represent a small fraction of the more than $8 trillion that has already been doled out to the largest financial institutions.

     Meanwhile, in the 2009 Federal Budget, only $62 billion has been appropriated for all food assistance programs,
     including food stamps and school lunches, which for many children provide the only substantial meal of the day.

     More than 9 percent of all US households now rely on food stamps, the Supplemental Food Assistance Program, to
     help meet dietary needs. This is a sharp increase from 2001, when 6 percent used food stamps. But indications are that
     this number will rise sharply. A number of states, including Oregon and Washington in the Pacific Northwest, have seen
     record requests for food assistance. Food stamps function as vouchers that can be redeemed at grocery stores.
     Generally, they may be exchanged only for the cheapest items in stock, and only for staples such as milk, meat, and
     bread.

     The program will not meet the level of hunger provoked by the crisis. In the Feeding America survey of households, one
     third of food stamp recipients said "their benefits only lasted for two weeks or less." Bureaucratic hurdles prevent a large
     number of eligible families from receiving aid. Undocumented immigrants, as well as immigrants who have been in the
     country legally for less than five years, are not eligible. Assistance is pegged to 130 percent of the official poverty level,
     meaning that large numbers of the so-called "working poor" are ineligible, including many of those surveyed by Feeding
     America.

     Though they paint a grim portrait, the Feeding America surveys on hunger offer only a glimpse of the level of social
     misery to come. Significantly, the surveys were conducted at the end of November. Since then, layoffs have mounted
     precipitously.

     IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE FEEDING FAMILY, SIGN UP FOR FOOD STAMPS NOW.

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