In Edinburg, Texas, 200 miles south of San Antonio, Denise Acosta, 36, a mother of four children aged 14 and under, described how being laid off from her job as a healthcare administrator seven months ago had caused a crisis. An $800 medical bill, no longer covered by insurance, meant Acosta quickly fell behind on the $1,200 monthly payments on her house, then the car. She lost both, and was forced to move in with her sister.
In October, the family's food stamp scheme, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (Snap) benefits were $113 a month, a sum that lasts them about a week and a half. In November there was a $11 cut for each family member. An expansion of the programme designed to keep low-income Americans out of hunger put in place when the recession was biting deepest, was allowed to expire in November, cutting benefits.
Acosta has learned to be creative with the children's meals. “ I used to buy Lunchables [lunch packs] for snacks, now I get a big pack of ham and cheese and we make our own. They say: 'Why can't we have Lunchables?' I tell them, 'This way they get more.' I buy larger packs of cheaper meat and stretch it out...The younger ones will have a tuna sandwich or Roma noodles, around 19 cents a pack. The older ones say 'This isn't even a meal.' ”
As these cuts begin to bite, even harsher reductions are in prospect. Republicans in the House of Representatives have proposed $38bn cuts over 10 years, in their latest version of a long-delayed farm bill that would also require new work requirements and drug tests for food stamp recipients. The House bill would deny Snap to 3.8 million low-income people in 2014, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office, and to an average of 3 million people a year for 10 years. Those who would find themselves no longer eligible include some of the nation's neediest individuals, working families, children and senior citizens. In addition, 200,000 families would lose access to subsidised school meals.
That would make it really difficult for people who struggle to find work like me to get back on their feet,” Acosta said.
Even since the November cuts took effect, those involved in emergency food distribution reported higher demand and longer lines, with new clients they had not seen before. Demand is outpacing supply. Of the 58,000 clients fed by the San Antonio Food Bank every week, Cooper said, half are working families, many are underemployed, the rest are seniors and people who, through mental or physical disability, cannot work. There are a lot of veterans in Texas, some of whom have been disabled through military service. But on the whole, Eric Cooper, the CEO said “Hunger is biased towards women and kids. A divorce, a separation can put a lot of women in poverty.”
In October, the family's food stamp scheme, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (Snap) benefits were $113 a month, a sum that lasts them about a week and a half. In November there was a $11 cut for each family member. An expansion of the programme designed to keep low-income Americans out of hunger put in place when the recession was biting deepest, was allowed to expire in November, cutting benefits.
Acosta has learned to be creative with the children's meals. “ I used to buy Lunchables [lunch packs] for snacks, now I get a big pack of ham and cheese and we make our own. They say: 'Why can't we have Lunchables?' I tell them, 'This way they get more.' I buy larger packs of cheaper meat and stretch it out...The younger ones will have a tuna sandwich or Roma noodles, around 19 cents a pack. The older ones say 'This isn't even a meal.' ”
As these cuts begin to bite, even harsher reductions are in prospect. Republicans in the House of Representatives have proposed $38bn cuts over 10 years, in their latest version of a long-delayed farm bill that would also require new work requirements and drug tests for food stamp recipients. The House bill would deny Snap to 3.8 million low-income people in 2014, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office, and to an average of 3 million people a year for 10 years. Those who would find themselves no longer eligible include some of the nation's neediest individuals, working families, children and senior citizens. In addition, 200,000 families would lose access to subsidised school meals.
That would make it really difficult for people who struggle to find work like me to get back on their feet,” Acosta said.
Even since the November cuts took effect, those involved in emergency food distribution reported higher demand and longer lines, with new clients they had not seen before. Demand is outpacing supply. Of the 58,000 clients fed by the San Antonio Food Bank every week, Cooper said, half are working families, many are underemployed, the rest are seniors and people who, through mental or physical disability, cannot work. There are a lot of veterans in Texas, some of whom have been disabled through military service. But on the whole, Eric Cooper, the CEO said “Hunger is biased towards women and kids. A divorce, a separation can put a lot of women in poverty.”
No comments:
Post a Comment