Here in Washington state, we know the answer: exactly 456,000 children and 234,000 elderly or disabled people.
A new interactive map released by the Pew Charitable Trusts shows how recent cuts to the Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) affect each state. Sixteen percent of Washingtonians rely on food stamps to feed their families. And eighty percent of food stamp recipients live in poverty.
Cuts to SNAP are part of expired funding that went into the federal stimulus in 2008. The
cuts went into effect November 1st and amount to at least a five percent cut for those in need. For a family of four who previously received $668/month, they will now receive $632/month. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, this amounts to less than $1.40 per meal.
SNAP cuts put extra pressure on food banks and state-funded food programs. A recent piece in Real Change quotes Deborah Squires, a spokesperson for Northwest Harvest, an organization that represents 360 local food banks, as saying, “Hungry families have increasingly relied on food banks to survive. The West Seattle Food Bank tallied about 30,000 visits a year before 2008. Now the food bank gets about 40,000 visits a year.”
It’s also important to note that food stamp cuts don’t just affect hungry children. Grocery stores are feeling the pinch too. As US Senator Patty Murray and 38 of her colleagues stated in a letter to Farm Bill Conferees, every $1 invested in SNAP has a $1.79 return.
While Congress negotiates on a final Farm Bill they are considering even greater cuts SNAP, anywhere from $4 billion (Senate proposal) to $39 billion (House proposal).
Photo Credit, Freedigitalphotos.net; David Castillo Dominici