Food Banks Anticipate Impact of Cuts to Food Stamps

[ProSense]

Food Banks Anticipate Impact of Cuts to Food Stamps

By RON NIXONJAN

WASHINGTON — Late last year, staff members at the Capital Area Food Bank here began fielding requests for larger deliveries from the dozens of soup kitchens and food pantries that it supplies as more and more people showed up seeking help.

The food bank said it was not unusual to see a surge before Thanksgiving or Christmas. But this time the lines were caused not by the holidays but by a $5 billion cut to the federal food stamp program that took effect in November when a provision in the 2009 stimulus bill expired.

Now the food bank, which provided about 45 million pounds of food last year, says it is preparing for even greater demand as Congress prepares to cut billions of dollars more from the food stamp program, which is included in a farm bill that has yet to pass. About 47 million Americans receive food stamps.

<...>

It is unclear when the new cuts will kick in, even if Congress manages to pass a new farm bill, an effort that has taken almost two years. The House and the Senate appear to have worked out most of their differences on the bill. That compromise is expected to cut about $9 billion from food stamps over 10 years. House Republicans had wanted to trim financing by $40 billion over the same period, and a bipartisan Senate bill sought a $4 billion cut.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/22/us/politics/food-banks-anticipate-impact-of-cuts-to-food-stamps.html

[ProSense]

1. Kick! n/t

[herding cats]

2. I don't understand what these people are supposed to do.

In some cases there's an overlap of the cut in UI benefits and the proposed additional cuts to the Food Stamps program. It's a double hit on families who are already suffering. We're essentially going to be starving people so we can continue to hand out welfare to the big agriculture industry who benefit the most from this bill.

[ProSense]

3. Here's the

"I don't understand what these people are supposed to do."

...Republican suggestion:



http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017147274

[herding cats]

4. Translation.

Shut up and die already, you're not on our rolls of likely voters. You're nothing to us.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

5. This is bad news for many Food Banks.

Many have not enough for people as it is. Thanks to the growing number of poor, as well as the fact that it was the poor that did much of the donations ( now they can't spare a can of food like they use to to help) , many a Food Bank is starting to have to turn people away.