Cuts to food stamps will affect 47 million needy Americans
WASHINGTON — Some 47 million poor Americans who rely on food stamps for their meals will have to get by with less after their benefits were cut Friday.
The cut accompanied the expiration of a temporary boost in funding for the program approved by Congress in the depths of the Great Recession.
Though the cut was intended to come as the economy improved, the recovery has yet to lift many Americans on food stamps out of poverty.
And additional cuts are planned. Both houses of Congress have passed legislation that would squeeze billions of dollars more out of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Advocates warn the impact will be considerable. Even before Friday’s cut, government statistics show, the benefit did not provide enough to keep those on food stamps well-nourished. A family of four that relies on the program will nowget$36less per month.
“The recession is pur- portedly going away, but for the poor there has not been relief,” said Jessica Bartholow, legislative advocate with the California-based Western Center on Law and Poverty. “Unemployment is still really high among low-income communities. The economic outlook for them is not getting better. To have cuts in the middle of that and then to be considering more cuts is profoundly unbelievable.”
About 14 percent of all Americans are on food stamps. The program has grown rapidly, attracting the attention of deficit hawks, who note it now costs taxpayers $80 billion a year.
Republicans are seeking to tighten eligibility requirements for food aid and to impose new work requirements on recipients.
The legislation approved by the House could lead to nearly 2 million Americans losing access to the program, according to congressional analysts.
Obama administration officials say the reductions that went into place Friday are certain to result in missed meals for many of those in the food stamp program. There are 7 million Americans for whom food stamps are the only source of income, according to Kevin Concannon, undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“What was designed to bea supplemental source of assistance has become the solitary source for those people,” he said. The cut “is a huge challenge for those households.”
At the Alameda County Community Food Bank, one of the largest in the San Francisco Bay Area, officials say making up for the cut that took effect Friday would require the organization to provide some 5.5 million additional meals per year, which it is not equipped to do.
Thecut is taking effect as the holiday season approaches, adding to the challenge for stamp recipients. Children will be on vacation from school for extended periods of time, meaning they won’t have access in school to two subsidized hot meals per day, said food bank spokesman Michael Altfest.