Last week, the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) issued its annual State of the States report. The report uses data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide state-by-state profiles of poverty levels, food insecurity and participation in federal nutrition programs for school-age children.
According to FRAC, an average of 32,000 D.C. households had difficulty providing enough food for all their members at some time during each year between 2005 and 2008. In 10,000 of these households, members sometimes went hungry because there wasn’t enough money or other resources for food.
The situation is actually worse because these figures do not include homeless people. Nor do they reflect soaring food costs or the economic downturn in 2008.
FRAC offers a four-point anti-hunger strategy for the Administration, Congress and state and local governments. As an immediate step, it advocates a boost in food stamp benefits as part of the next package of economic recovery legislation.
At this point, the maximum monthly allotment of food stamps for a family of three covers, on average, less than $1.70 per person per meal. This is hardly enough to nourish growing children–or adults.
But, as FRAC points out, eliminating hunger will require a broader strategy aimed at improving the economic situation of low-income famiies and supports to ensure they always have enough nutritious food for an active, healthy life.
– Kathryn
Pennywise Budget Cuts
Published November 30, 2008 Political Animal , Social Commentary , Sustainable Cities 1 CommentTags: affordable housing, budget, City Council, Council, DC, district of columbia, homeless, homelessness, housing, washington dc
No one who’s ever looked for an apartment in D.C. needs to told that there’s an affordable housing problem here.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, housing is affordable if it costs no more than one-third of income. By this standard, rental costs are unaffordable for nearly two-thirds of D.C. households that rent.
In fact, a person earning the current minimum wage would have to work nearly 158 hours per week to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment here. No wonder so many people are homeless or going without basic necessities like nutritious food and medicine just to keep a roof over their heads.
The District can do something about this problem. It can put more money into its affordable housing programs. Instead, the City Council recently cut funding for two of the major programs.
But, as Marc Fischer pointed out in his Washington Post column, providing housing for homeless people costs far less than the alternatives–emergency room visits, incarceration in jails or mental hospitals, overnight shelters, rescues of people who are freezing to death.
Some members of the City Council think the affordable housing budget cuts are worth a second look. Let’s hope the whole Council sees that it is being pennywise and pound foolish.
– Kathryn