Barbara Lee to Take Food Stamp Challenge
(Washington, DC) – On Tuesday, in recognition of National Hunger Awareness Day, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) announced that she would be taking the Food Stamp Challenge – living on $21 worth of food for a week, the average weekly benefit for a food stamp recipient.
“There are thousands of people in my district and the millions of people in the United States for whom hunger is a daily issue and who rely on food stamps to get by. Taking the challenge not only shines a spotlight on hunger in our country, it also gives members of Congress a personal understanding of the daily reality of millions of Americans,” said Lee.
Approximately 65,000 people in Alameda County are enrolled in the Food Stamp Program, only 53 percent of those who are eligible. Nationally, the program helps more than 26 million low-income people purchase food for themselves and their families. The program is designed as a safety net to help ensure people have access to food during difficult times, with the majority of people leaving the program within nine months. More than half of food stamp recipients are children and eight percent are over 60 years of age.
In addition to raising the visibility of hunger in the United States and creating awareness of the difficulties faced by low income people in obtaining a healthy diet, Congressional participants in the challenge are hoping to build support for improving benefits and access to the food stamp program, which is due to be reauthorized this year as part of the Farm Bill.
Changes to the Food Stamp Program made during the welfare reform legislation in 1996 effectively eroded the purchasing power of food stamps, so while the price of food has increased, the value of the food stamps has not kept pace, resulting in the current average of approximately $1 per meal.
“This program provides a critical safety net,” said Lee, who received food stamps when she was attending college as a single mother of two. “I think it is important for the public to understand how many people rely on this program and just how limited their nutrition options are.”
In May, Lee and her Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congresswoman Lynn sent a letter co-signed by 94 of their House colleagues to, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, U.S. Representative Collin Peterson and Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, calling on them to support and fund a strong nutrition title in the 2007 Farm Bill.
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