As crisis bites, more Americans turn to food stamps

[tsquared]

by Virginie Montet
Tue Oct 14, 11:36 PM ET



WASHINGTON (AFP) - Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm this week is doing something millions of her constituents are being forced to do year-round; she's living on food stamps.


"She is one of 300 people who are taking a pledge" to eat like a food stamp recipient, including executives of Michigan-based auto giants General Motors, Ford and Chrysler and dozens of legislators, said the state's human services department chief Ismael Ahmed.

"It's my second day on 5.87 dollars a day," Ahmed told AFP by telephone. "I've already calculated that I'll be out of bread by Thursday."

While penny-pinching among the wealthy may help draw attention to poverty issues, living on food stamps is a devastating reality for millions of Americans -- and the numbers are growing to alarming levels.

The number of food stamps being distributed in the United States approached a new record this summer and promises to reach a new peak with repercussions of the financial crisis starting to bite.

More than 29 million Americans received food stamps in July, an increase of close to one million over just three months earlier, according to the latest figures released by the US Department of Agriculture, which distributes the benefits -- these days most often by magnetized debit cards -- to households living below and just over the poverty line.

It is the highest number since 2005 when, in the aftermath of catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, some four million additional people sought food relief, pushing the total to a historic high of 29.85 million.

The latest figures do not yet count the new requests for assistance in September, when several financial institutions collapsed, stock values plunged, housing foreclosures soared, and job losses spiked to the highest level of the year.

"The food stamps program is very sensitive to changes in the overall economy," said James Ziliak, director of the Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky.

He said families have been broadsided by the rise of multiple household costs including food (6.1 percent in the past year), gas and heating. Hundreds of thousands have also been hard hit by the effects of Hurricane Ike which in September devastated parts of Texas and several southern and midwestern states.

"We've seen an increased participation in the food stamps program which is a critical component of the safety net here," Ziliak said of the federal program instituted in 1943 and which today costs some 30 billion dollars a year and provides an average household benefit of 95 dollars per month.

Karen Johnson, 54, explains that the 81 dollars in foodstamps she receives each month is not enough for her and her 17-year-old daughter.

"Sometimes I have to ask somebody to buy me a little food or something," says the Hurst, Texas resident. "I hate to ask people, 'Can I have some bread? Can I have some hamburger meat?' It's kind of rough on me sometimes."

In the aftermath of the November 4 presidential election, Democrats in Congress hope to pass a bill providing 150 billion dollars in funding for low-income families, including a more ambitious food stamp initiative.

Ziliak said he didn't expect the number of people receiving the benefits to fall for some time.

"Gas prices are still very high for low-income families," and with home heating costs expected to rise in the coming winter, energy costs will "take a big chunk out of the paycheck," Ziliak told AFP.

"For lower income America it's been a pretty tough economic time over the past year."

According to a new report by the Working Poor Families Project, one in four working families -- a total of 42 million adults and children -- are low-income, earning too little to meet their basic needs.

"Understandably, all eyes today are focused on the financial and economic crisis affecting America's working families," said the report's author, Brandon Roberts.

"But the stark reality is that America's working families have been in economic crisis long before this year."

According to the Census Bureau, more than 37 million Americans live below the poverty line, which is now set at 21,000 dollars per year for a family of four

[dv8grl]

The poor already know how to be poor., this isn't new to us.
Its the chumps in the high dollar SUVs with the McMansions that are having a real hard time now.

[tngirl]

We seem to be stuck in the middle of being poor and being able to afford to eat. We have asked for help since my husband's illness and have been turned down left and right because I make too much money. Doesn't matter to anyone that our income was cut in half but the bills are the same. I do good to keep a roof over our heads and the utilities on.

[Kimberly61]

I know, isnt it amazing how some can get gov. help while others cant.....there is soooooooo many cheating the system or abusing it while there is honest good hard working people out there that need the REAL help but just cant get it..............all those people driving suv's or better living in their beautiful big houses going to the store using food stamps is pathetic! I went with my niece to the welfare office so she could re-apply and the whole parking lot was FULL of nice new vehicles, I had the only run down rusty vehicle there lol and all the women there, some men too were loaded down with all their bling and name brand clothing....how in the world could they afford all that??? easy, they dont have to pay for their food or their bills, they let the gov. do that!!!! I have reported someone several times in the past for welfare fraud and they did nothing about it.

I know this is probably off the subject but I am a bitter person when it comes to welfare lol

[dv8grl]

I know this is probably off the subject but I am a bitter person when it comes to welfare lol

Me too sister.. Me too!!!!

[ssgjeg]

The problem is they know they can go back the way they were-rich. We can't. We can't get foodstamps because we make $300 too much a month. I can literally take one of dh's whole paychecks and spend it on food.They don't seem to take into account that a 5 yr old boy does not eat the same amount as a 14 yr old boy.

And, yes, I am bitter about the welfare system too. We could have qualified for it before but never asked because we could get along without it. Now when we need it we make just to much money.

[Jolie Rouge]

I am so sorry but after years working the check out at Albertson's, I can look at the contents of the grocery cart and tell with 95% accuracy if that person is paying with food stamps versus cash. All name brand products, prepacked snacks, expensive frozen foods, lots of sodas are usually a giveaway. The ones paying cash usaully have store brands or coupons, what ever is on sale, markdowns from the meat counter, and $1 packets of muffin mix instead of Hostess cupcakes $3 a box.

[Bahet]

I know, isnt it amazing how some can get gov. help while others cant.....there is soooooooo many cheating the system or abusing it while there is honest good hard working people out there that need the REAL help but just cant get it..............all those people driving suv's or better living in their beautiful big houses going to the store using food stamps is pathetic! I went with my niece to the welfare office so she could re-apply and the whole parking lot was FULL of nice new vehicles, I had the only run down rusty vehicle there lol and all the women there, some men too were loaded down with all their bling and name brand clothing....how in the world could they afford all that??? easy, they dont have to pay for their food or their bills, they let the gov. do that!!!! I have reported someone several times in the past for welfare fraud and they did nothing about it.

I know this is probably off the subject but I am a bitter person when it comes to welfare lol

I was one of those people. I have a lot of nice jewelry. I used to manage a jewelry dept in a dept store in college and bought it half off or better when I was single. In 2000 DH was working middle management at Ford and making a very nice income. We bought a brand new 2000 Windstar and a brand new 2000 Taurus that year. We paid cash for the Taurus and the Windstar was paid off in 10 months. We lived in a very nice home in a nice town. Our neighborhood was primarily made up of engineers and middle/upper middle management men and SAHMs.

In Nov 2002 DH got laid off. He went back to construction and was doing fine. We weren't living any differently and we weren't accumulating any debt. We didn't have much extra to put away but we were doing fine. In March 2003 DH was activated with his National Guard unit and was sent to Iraq. Now our income plummeted. We went from making a solid 6 figure income to being on WIC and free lunches at school for DS1 in less than 4 months.

So yes, I drove to the WIC office in my 2yo minivan and had on my fancy wedding ring, expensive watch, and other nice jewelry. I got some nasty looks for it too and more than a few snide comments in stores about how I was "sucking off the tax money" of whomever was in line behind me looking me up and down while I paid with WIC coupons. No one ever asked why I was wearing nice jewelry and using WIC. They assumed I was scamming the system or something. If they had asked I would have told them the truth. We took a 75% paycut when my DH was sent to Iraq fighting for your right to scorn the wife and kids he left back home.

[Jolie Rouge]

I was one of those people. I have a lot of nice jewelry. I used to manage a jewelry dept in a dept store in college and bought it half off or better when I was single. In 2000 DH was working middle management at Ford and making a very nice income. We bought a brand new 2000 Windstar and a brand new 2000 Taurus that year. We paid cash for the Taurus and the Windstar was paid off in 10 months. We lived in a very nice home in a nice town. Our neighborhood was primarily made up of engineers and middle/upper middle management men and SAHMs.

In Nov 2002 DH got laid off. He went back to construction and was doing fine. We weren't living any differently and we weren't accumulating any debt. We didn't have much extra to put away but we were doing fine. In March 2003 DH was activated with his National Guard unit and was sent to Iraq. Now our income plummeted. We went from making a solid 6 figure income to being on WIC and free lunches at school for DS1 in less than 4 months.

So yes, I drove to the WIC office in my 2yo minivan and had on my fancy wedding ring, expensive watch, and other nice jewelry. I got some nasty looks for it too and more than a few snide comments in stores about how I was "sucking off the tax money" of whomever was in line behind me looking me up and down while I paid with WIC coupons. No one ever asked why I was wearing nice jewelry and using WIC. They assumed I was scamming the system or something. If they had asked I would have told them the truth. We took a 75% paycut when my DH was sent to Iraq fighting for your right to scorn the wife and kids he left back home.

I appreciate your honesty ... but you are probably in the minority. Most - not all - of the ones we knew never had a job and treated welfare was a career option. Maybe it was just the neighborhood...

[nightrider127]

What happened to Bahet has happened to more than just a few. I try not to judge people by what they wear. When you have a good income, you buy nice clothes, nice autos. But what happens when the bottom more or less drops out of your world?

Unlike Bahet, most of those people driving around in the expensive SUVs do not have them paid for so what are you going to do, sell it and hope you get enough out of the sale to pay it off and get yourself a cheaper ride? Chances are, this is not going to happen.

I guess a person could have a yard sale and sell off your designer clothes and hope to get enough money to buy a few groceries and replace the clothes you sold with thrift store items but that is probably not going to happen either. We all know that you can't get what items are really worth at a yard sale. We all go looking at yard sales for name brand merchandise at way under thrift store prices.

Now don't get me wrong, I know there is plenty of people out there who are scammers and take the system for all they can get and I don't like that anymore than the next one does. I even get tired of listening to people talking about Christmas in February because that is when they are going to get that huge check back from the Feds which a large percentage of the recipients that tax credit is going to blow it on such things as a party with male strippers or a trip to a warm place in dead out winter.

Well, the nightrider is getting off her soap box now, heading upstairs to get on my big girl underwear.

Let's all give a big "HELL YEAH" for a big Black Lab named Spud

HELL YEAH!!!!!

Spud in '08

[kyliemeg]

I was recently laid off from my job. My husband makes pretty good money. But we are struggling to keep the bills paid on time.
My daughters no longer cheerlead at their school. We couldn't afford it. We don't go out to eat anymore. We have stopped doing anything other than sitting home.
It's hard. Very hard and the state won't help us because he makes over the limit.. blah blah blah

So, I'm in the grocery store with coupons....buying ramen noodles and hamburger helper which I am sick OF! And the lady next to me has a grocery cart full of nothing but t bone steaks and oreo cookies and kraft and blah blah. I'm buying generic food and cheap .99 cookies. And low and behold..... she paid with a food stamp card. It disgust me that my husband and I have worked hard all of our life just to be sure some people eat good! I think they should at least have to buy generic food, hell I do! I'm paying for theirs and they are eating way better than me.

Sorry... I got carried away.

[atprm]

I am so sorry but after years working the check out at Albertson's, I can look at the contents of the grocery cart and tell with 95% accuracy if that person is paying with food stamps versus cash. All name brand products, prepacked snacks, expensive frozen foods, lots of sodas are usually a giveaway. The ones paying cash usaully have store brands or coupons, what ever is on sale, markdowns from the meat counter, and $1 packets of muffin mix instead of Hostess cupcakes $3 a box.


I know, isnt it amazing how some can get gov. help while others cant.....there is soooooooo many cheating the system or abusing it while there is honest good hard working people out there that need the REAL help but just cant get it..............all those people driving suv's or better living in their beautiful big houses going to the store using food stamps is pathetic! I went with my niece to the welfare office so she could re-apply and the whole parking lot was FULL of nice new vehicles, I had the only run down rusty vehicle there lol and all the women there, some men too were loaded down with all their bling and name brand clothing....how in the world could they afford all that??? easy, they dont have to pay for their food or their bills, they let the gov. do that!!!! I have reported someone several times in the past for welfare fraud and they did nothing about it.

I know this is probably off the subject but I am a bitter person when it comes to welfare lol




After working in grocery for many years myself, it's not the name brand items that would signify a food stamp recipient. Some --not all-- would get things like lobster tails, crab claws, jars of caviar...and then pay using food stamps....but others, like myself, earned too much from our minimum wage jobs to get the same benefits.

Then there are some that shop at places like Aldi's because it is all they can afford with food stamps.

When I did qualify for food stamps, all $92 a month for a single-mom-family of 3, I still got name brand items, but I also got markdowns and use coupons heavily. I stretched that $ to cover the whole month.


I did the conversion of $21,000 annual -- that's $10.09 an hour, so if you earn less than that, you are considered Poverty Level. That's just a shocking number. (because you wouldn't think $10 is poverty).

As far as Granholm goes, I don't think a week of being on food stamps is long enough for her to "get it" ... I don't hold much regard for her at all, and she is the governor of my state.

I think the whole system needs to be rebuilt -- there are many that cheat the system (let's have another baby so the gov't can give us more $$ to support them, while we work on the side for cash and afford our cadillacs), and there are others that really deserve the help but make too much money but are still struggling to make ends meet.

And I think that 1 week of living on food stamps for those that have the kind of $$ that most of these "participants" have is more like going 1 day without food -- not really a true experience for them.

[Jolie Rouge]

I think the whole system needs to be rebuilt -- there are many that cheat the system (let's have another baby so the gov't can give us more $$ to support them, while we work on the side for cash and afford our cadillacs), and there are others that really deserve the help but make too much money but are still struggling to make ends meet.

:yeah:

[tngirl]

When I was talking about not having enough money to cover our car insurance I was told to sell my vehicles and whatever else I could sell. About the only thing I hadn't sold was my vehicles and had no plan to sell them. Why would I sell my vehicles to pay a month's worth of bills and then the next month be in the same position? Plus, not have anyway to get back and forth to work and when and if my husband could get back to work he would need his truck and we would have to go in debt to get another one? Oh wait! Our credit is totally screwed from him being off of work so we wouldn't even have the priveledge of going back into debt for a car!!

I do not look down my nose at people on assistance due to what they wear, times are tough. And Bahet, I thank you hubby and all of the men and women that fight for our freedoms and Rights.

[ssgjeg]

Unfortunately, we are going to see more stories like Bahet's in the near future. People who did earn a good living suddenly without the means to feed their families.

I don't look down on those who need assistance either. I am only asking for assistance not for the government to buy all my groceries for the month. I think that is what most people are asking for. Just a little help.

Just after I found out that we were just over the income limit to qualify I had to go to the store. I was standing in line with a handful of change I had scrounged to buy a small pack of hamburger for dh's dinner. This well dressed lady was standing in front of me and bought a .33 cent pack of m&m's on her ebt card. Things like that tick me off. You should not be allowed to buy candy with food stamps.

[jeanea33]

It's great for the leaders to give more food stamps to the poor. But what about the rest of us? We don't have any gimmie programs. I get so mad watching some people here on food stamps. They eat way better than I do. Last week couple had best cuts of meat and all fresh veggies. Plus some nice desserts from the bakery. Actually thought they were having a nice get together. Then they pull out the qwest card. I thought son of a B*tch, I am eating mac and cheese to get by and they are eating top of the line. How is that fair? Needs to be restructured. I think they should require classes, to teach them how to shop and budget.

[kyliemeg]

It's not fair at all. They definately need more guidelines. I know this is kind of off topic but I also have wrote my congressman (not that it will do any good) because I strongly think that everyone on government assistance should be required to take a drug test. We (as a society) must take one in order to get a job. (Not all jobs but the majority require a drug test) We are working, they are taking our money and supplying food stamps and other benefits to people. Why not require them to take a drug test in order to get those benefits? I am willing to bet, over half the people on assistance would not qualify.


It's great for the leaders to give more food stamps to the poor. But what about the rest of us? We don't have any gimmie programs. I get so mad watching some people here on food stamps. They eat way better than I do. Last week couple had best cuts of meat and all fresh veggies. Plus some nice desserts from the bakery. Actually thought they were having a nice get together. Then they pull out the qwest card. I thought son of a B*tch, I am eating mac and cheese to get by and they are eating top of the line. How is that fair? Needs to be restructured. I think they should require classes, to teach them how to shop and budget.

[CABANN]

It's great for the leaders to give more food stamps to the poor. But what about the rest of us? We don't have any gimmie programs. I get so mad watching some people here on food stamps. They eat way better than I do. Last week couple had best cuts of meat and all fresh veggies. Plus some nice desserts from the bakery. Actually thought they were having a nice get together. Then they pull out the qwest card. I thought son of a B*tch, I am eating mac and cheese to get by and they are eating top of the line. How is that fair? Needs to be restructured. I think they should require classes, to teach them how to shop and budget.



I hear you. The economic state is sending low middle/middle class deeper in the hole. The only thing I qualify for is healthy families health insurance for my kids. We can't afford insurance for me. The kids are covered, there dad is covered but I can't be because we can't afford it. Lately I am finding my funds can't cover feeding my family. I use coupons for everything and buy what is on sale and also plan our meals around that, it doesn't cut it. I wouldn't/can't qualify for food stamps but the families around us who do, live much better than my kids and I.

It is a sad economic state that the people who want to help themselves are made to feel less deserving.

[SurferGirl]

One of the things that really makes me mad is when I see a couple in the store and the woman pays for the food with her food stamp card and the man then pays cash for a half gallon of alcohol and a 12 pack of beer and then some nasty magazine.

For the honest people struggling, don't be too proud to go to your local food pantry. Many people work hard to make sure there is food available for families that really need it. Don't let it embarrass you in the least when you need the help. When things get better for you remember the food pantries and pick up a few extra cans of soup and a few extra jars of peanut butter to help other families out. That is people helping other people and that is what makes our country one of the greatest on earth.

[SurferGirl]

It's not fair at all. They definately need more guidelines. I know this is kind of off topic but I also have wrote my congressman (not that it will do any good) because I strongly think that everyone on government assistance should be required to take a drug test. We (as a society) must take one in order to get a job. (Not all jobs but the majority require a drug test) We are working, they are taking our money and supplying food stamps and other benefits to people. Why not require them to take a drug test in order to get those benefits? I am willing to bet, over half the people on assistance would not qualify.


Writing to your congressman and your assemblymen does work.
Look at the results in congress over the first bailout, they had their email boxes full and they are all up for re-election. I sure hope they get Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi out of there.

[kyliemeg]

I sure hope it works. :)


Writing to your congressman and your assemblymen does work.
Look at the results in congress over the first bailout, they had their email boxes full and they are all up for re-election. I sure hope they get Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi out of there.

[atprm]

when we qualified for food stamps in Ohio, in 2002, I offered to teach a class to food stamp recipients on how to stretch their food stamps by using coupons and stockpiling.

I was denied and told that they don't want that to happen.

It has to do with federal funds for the programs offered by the states. If recipients realized that they could save money or stretch their money, then the "neediness" that is usually displayed by those running out of funds each month would diminish, and that in turn would diminish the need for food stamps.

It was explained to me as the same thing for children in public schools -- they have "head count day" and encourage (or threaten suspension if you don't send your child to school) each child to be in class so that they can get the $$ from the govt coffers to "pay" for each child that attends.

It needs to be revamped. The guidelines are from the 1950's as far as who qualifies, and the amount given certainly is up to par with today's prices either.

[CABANN]

[QUOTE=atprm;96020508]




It was explained to me as the same thing for children in public schools -- they have "head count day" and encourage (or threaten suspension if you don't send your child to school) each child to be in class so that they can get the $$ from the govt coffers to "pay" for each child that attends.

QUOTE]

Here in Ca, the schools count on "The Head Count" to get their fundings. Now, at least least at my youngest children's school, the schools don't want them to miss unless they are running a temp over 100 degress or throwing up. If your child does miss more than 10 days throughout the school year, us as parents can be held liable. I just want to know where all the monies from the lottery are going.

[tsquared]

What is sad here is that some on food stamps always seem to have the cash for cigs and liquor, but their kids go without or are thought of last.