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In Delaware, a growing number of families rely on government food assistance and emergency food providers (food closets and soup kitchens) to feed their families. The number of households in the state receiving food stamps increased from 12,673 in 1990 to 21,634 in 1996. In 1993, 82,422 Delawareans (or 12.4 percent of the state’s population) used emergency food assistance programs. More than half (58.3 percent) had children aged 17 and under living with them. More than two-thirds (64.4 percent) had incomes of $10,000 or less. One half (50.6 percent) of the respondents were receiving food stamps, while nearly two-thirds (61.1 percent) reported that their food stamps lasted three weeks or less (Second Harvest 1994). During the past several years there has been a change in the framework that supports our understanding of "hunger." Beginning in the 1980s, researchers began to use concepts and language associated with food insecurity - a broad condition which incorporates hunger but also includes important community conditions which had been overlooked in the U.S. context. Food insecurity is a condition where individuals, households, or communities have inadequate or uncertain access to adequate food supplies. People, for example, can be food insecure -- meaning that their food supply is precarious -- without actually becoming hungry. At the other end of the continuum, food security means "assured access to enough food for an active healthy life." A household should have access to enough food, the food should be nutritionally adequate, it should be safe, and the household should be able to obtain it through normal channels. Although all of the dimensions of food security are important, whether the household has enough to eat is central. When food insecurity on this dimension reaches severe levels, actual hunger for household members is the result (USDA 1997). The concept of food security rests on a systems approach and a community development model. It is prevention-oriented and seeks to create partnerships among communities, businesses and government to ensure the access of all people at all times to nutritious, affordable food. Food security takes into account both individual and community resources including adequate personal income and access to transportation, cooking and storage facilities, as well as the existence of adequate local retail food sources, nutritious and culturally acceptable food choices, and competitively priced food. Research on food insecurity has documented problems in access, availability and affordability of food as significant obstacles to obtaining food and maintaining good nutrition and health. Other indicators of food insecurity include low-income, lack of transportation, and requests for assistance from food closets and soup kitchens. In 1995, the U.S. Census Bureau conducted the first Food Security Supplement (FSS) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). With about 45,000 household interviews, the Food Security Measurement Study provides the basis for the first comprehensive measurement of food insecurity and hunger in a nationally representative sample of U.S. households. Based on this data, a food security scale, that defines four categories of food security status for U.S. households - food secure, food insecure without hunger (concerns about food supply and adjustments to food management), food insecure with moderate hunger (reduced food intake among adults), and food insecure with severe hunger (reduced food intake among adults and children or significantly reduced intake for adults)- was developed. In the year ending April 1995, 12 percent of all households in the U.S. (11.94 million households including 34.7 million people) experienced food insecurity at some level. Most of the food insecure households are food insecure without hunger (7.8 percent or 7.8 million households). Households that are food insecure without hunger cannot afford to insure the nutritional quality of food eaten by household members and are forced to rely on a few low-cost food, often lacking required nutrients, to avoid actual hunger. However, 4.1 percent of all U.S. households are classified as food insecure with hunger. Thus one or more adult members of some 4.2 million American households are estimated to have experienced reduced food intake and hunger as a result of financial constraints in the year ending in April 1995. Among the households experiencing some level of hunger, about 800,000 (0.8 percent of all households) are classified as food insecure with severe hunger. In these households, children as well as adults experienced reduced food intake and hunger or adults experienced sharp reductions in food intake. People living in hungry households are repeatedly unable to afford enough food to avoid being hungry. State-level breakouts of results from the USDA Food Security Measurement Study show that 9.2 percent of Delaware’s households experienced some level of food insecurity in the year ending April 1995. These food insecure households included 70,000 people. About one half (55.4 percent) of the food insecure households are food insecure without hunger. More than two-fifths of the food insecure households are classified as food insecure with hunger, about 9,000 households with hungry adults and an additional 2,000 households with hungry adults and hungry children. The USDA Food Security Measurement Study was conducted prior to the initiation of Delaware’s statewide welfare reform project, A Better Chance (ABC), which began to enroll clients in October 1995. Following the passage of national welfare reform legislation in 1996, Delaware’s TANF plan partially continues the waiver program, under the same name. (See the article on welfare reform by Chris White in this issue). Households who are sanctioned off ABC or drop out face an increased likelihood of food insecurity. Those who "graduate" and earn an average wage of $6.00 per hour are also at risk of food insecurity. In addition to changes in AFDC which fall under the ABC program, and other changes, PRWORA made substantial cuts in the food stamps program. The food stamp cuts are the largest cutbacks in any federal food program in the nation’s history. When fully implemented, PRWORA will cut food stamp benefits almost 20 percent (or $27.7 billion over a six year period), the equivalent of reducing the average food stamp benefit from its current level of 80 cents per person per meal to 66 cents per person per meal (in 1996 dollars). Most of the benefit reductions are across the board cuts that affect all recipients, including families with children, the working poor, the elderly, and the disabled. Only about two percent of the savings come from provisions to reduce fraud and abuse. Among the food stamp cuts is what is probably the single harshest provision written into a major safety net program in the last 30 years (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 1996). The provision limits food stamps to most unemployed individuals between 18 and 50 who are not raising minor children to three months while unemployed out of each 36 month period. After three months, these individuals can continue receiving food stamps only if they are working at least half-time or in a workfare or training slot. Unfortunately, Delaware is not tracking the number of food stamp cases who have lost benefits as a result of this provision. The USDA designates labor surplus areas (LSA) on annual basis. LSAs are eligible for waivers from termination of food stamps for unemployed 18 to 50 year olds with no dependent children. Delaware is one of 13 states that did not use waivers to reduce the number of such persons losing Food Stamps in FY ‘97. In addition to waivers, states also have the option to exempt an additional 15 percent of individuals who would be subject to the "3 months out of 36" limitation. Delaware is one of five states that do not intend to take advantage of the exemption at all. States can also choose to use state dollars to provide food assistance to able-bodied, unemployed adults who do not otherwise qualify for Food Stamps, but only two states, Maryland and Minnesota are doing so. According to the Center on Hunger, Poverty and Nutrition Policy at Tufts University, the $27.7 billion in food stamp cuts over six years is the equivalent of removing 24 billion pounds of food from low-income households - enough food to fill nearly 500,000 Army National Guard trucks, or feed the population of Texas three meals a day for an entire year. The 4.093 billion pounds of food shortfall in any single year from 1997 to 2002 is enough food to feed the population of Kansas or Iowa three meals a day for a year. In Delaware, there will be $50 million in food stamp cuts between 1997 and 2002, the equivalent of 42.962 million pounds of food, or 37.197 million meals - three meals per day for one year for 33,970 people. The Food Bank of Delaware, which distributes approximately 3.5 million pounds of food to member agencies each year will be unable to make up this difference. How should individuals and groups who believe in economic security and food security respond to these changes? Work with the University of Delaware’s Center for Community Development and Family Policy (CCDFP), DHC, and other community organizations to 1) monitor the effects of welfare reform, 2) foster the development of welfare related policy proposals by low-income tenants, 3) organize a Citizen’s Inquiry on Welfare Reform, and 4) prepare to conduct the National JOBS FOR ALL Coalition Job Vacancy Survey. Work with community groups, local businesses and government to 1) establish good transportation methods that will permit low-income Delawareans to shop at existing supermarkets and grocery stores, 2) facilitate the development of new supermarkets in low-income areas, 3) improve neighborhood stores through financing and technical assistance, 4) incorporate food systems planning through a statewide Food Policy Council, 5) foster local food production through community gardening programs and urban farms, 6) provide support for farmers’ markets and produce stands, and, 7) encourage the efforts of local food assistance providers to develop programs which provide on-going supplemental in addition to emergency food assistance. Contact DHC or CCDFP for further information. |