Low-income children bring pies to legislators to urge them to support full funding for the food stamp program.
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by Vivian Hain/PNN On November 5, 2007, two groups of low-income children in California from LIFETIME (Low-Income Families Empowerment Through Education), the California Association of Food Banks, California Partnership and H.A.L.A. delivered home-baked pumpkin pies and handwritten invitations to the Offices of both California Senator Barbara Boxer in Los Angeles and Senator Feinstein in San Francisco to encourage the senators to support full funding for the Food Stamp Program in the 2007 Farm Bill, which will be voted on this week. The children delivered handwritten invitations for thanksgiving dinner, along with homemade pumpkin pies that were cut up as "pie charts," depicting the percentage of a modest thanksgiving meal that the current average food stamp benefit of $1.09 per person per meal can purchase (8.9%). POOR Magazine youth elder Jasmine Hain demonstrated to Senator Feinstein's office that the small single slice of pie represented the very small amount of food subsidy low-income families like her own are forced to manage with, despite the drastic increase in the cost of food over the past 30 years since the food stamp increase in 1977. Monday marks the beginning of a week in which the Farm Bill will reach the Senate floor to fund a variety of programs, including food stamps for the next 5 years. At this point, neither of California's Senators has guaranteed that they would vote yes on a funding increase for the Food Stamp Program. The children, representing thousands of low-income children throughout California who are 80% of those receiving food stamps wanted to send a message to both Senators that all California's children deserve equal access to healthy, organic and affordable nutritious food. With the average food stamp benefit totaling just $1 a meal, setting even a modest holiday table is a monumental challenge. The price of a Thanksgiving meal for a California family of four has risen by over 300% since the Food Stamp Program's inception in 1977. The minimum monthly benefit has remained frozen at just $10, yet the cost of food has gone up. An increase in funding would not only benefit California families suffering from food insecurity, but California's economy as well. It is about $50.00 to afford a Thanksgiving meal, yet low-income families in California who receive food stamps have to try and create a nutritious family meal on just $4.86- what is provided for a Thanksgiving meal with the food stamp subsidy given today. Here's just a few examples of the increase in food costs since 1977, yet the amount of food stamps has not changed since then. A Thanksgiving meal for four: METHODOLOGY: Research regarding current costs of Thanksgiving Meal market basket items was done on Safeway.com using five California cities (Sacramento, Fresno, Oakland, Humboldt and Los Angeles). The consumer price index was used to generate a ratio of inflation from 1977 to 2007. This ratio was then used to calculate an estimate of how much Thanksgiving dinner would have cost in 1977. For more information, go to: www.cafoodbanks.org |