Philadelphia Cuts Its Food Pantry Budget While Families Go Hungry

by Taylor Leake · 2010-11-09 10:02:00 UTC
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What is your typical food budget in a month? According to a Department of Labor survey, most Americans spend about $500 a month or about $6,000 a year on food. But what about the growing number of families who rely on government assistance? Here in Philadelphia, the average amount of money a family gets on food stamps is just $258 a month, and many families are running out of food three weeks in to the month.

That is why, when benefits kick in on the first of the month, stores are seeing a surge in sales, often at midnight. Walmart noticed this trend too, and Bill Simon, CEO of Walmart US, nailed it right on the head when he said, "The only reason somebody gets out in the middle of the night and buys baby formula is that they need it, and they've been waiting for it."

Unfortunately, the problem is growing, in Philadelphia and across the country. Since December 2008, food stamp enrollment has jumped from 31.7 million to more than 40 million. That's a record: 1 in 8 Americans are now on food stamps. In Philadelphia, 416,587 people are receiving food stamps, up from 329,903 in December 2007. What do they do when it's only the 21st of the month and they're out of benefits? The Philadelphia Enquirer reveals a broken safety net for the hungry.

Many turn to food pantries, but those can be tricky to navigate. Some are only open one day a week, or only allow families to visit once a month. And many food pantries can only give out a few days of food to each visitor and have to turn people away when they completely run out of food. So Pennsylvania runs a program called the State Food Purchase Program (SFPP) that funds food purchases just for pantries. In 2007, 223,221 Philadelphians received food that was funded in-part through the SFPP; this year the number has nearly doubled to 411,075. Close to 40 percent of those people are children. Despite the skyrocketing number of families that rely on this program, the State Food Purchase Program's budget has been slashed. After a cut in 2007, the state legislature cut $487,000 this year.

Our safety net is indeed broken when families don't get enough food a week out of every month. You can help hungry families by urging Congress to stop cutting the food stamp program and urging the Pennsylvania legislature to stop cutting the SFPP budget.

Photo credit: Michael (mx5tx)

Taylor Leake has advocated for workers' rights for years, from running his college chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops to working for the Wake Up Walmart campaign.
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