Hunger Is Everyones Problem
No one can truly understand how living on $4.50 can be unless you are one of the 47 million people on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). When lawmakers such as Rep. James McGovern tried to understand the effects of how cutting $39 billion from the program resonated with the families on SNAP, they were surprised to find out that the current fiscal amount just isn't enough. Rep. McGovern stated "There are people living on that food stamp allocation and you really can't, for us it was an exercise that ended in a week." (A Place at the Table). Rep. McGovern believes that the program needs to go under serious reform. SNAP is meant to be a temporary resource that helps the old, disabled, and low income families afford food, but the recent cuts to funding have been hurting the same people the program is suppose to be helping. Simply stated, the current amount is inadequate, if SNAP received more funding, families would be able to afford nutritional foods that would lead to an increase in the grades of students and we would be able to battle health problems caused by childhood obesity.
SNAP needs more funding, the current amount is inadequate for families that live below the poverty line, with bills and added expenses the allocated amount given to these families just isn't enough. Cuts to the annual budget for SNAP has left many single family households making dire decisions for something as simple as finding a meal to eat. Barbie Izquierdo a single mother of 2 from Philadelphia experiences this first-hand in the documentary A Place at the Table, she says "I do get food stamps now but they last about 3 weeks out of the month and for that last week I'm just going crazy", young mothers similar to Barbie are all to familiar with situations like this yet politicians take a blind eye to people like this for reasons beneficial to themselves. In an article by the Washington Post authors Ed O'Keefe and Niraj Chokshi examined and wrote about the cuts to SNAP, they explained that the House voted 217 to 210 approving a bill that would overhaul the nation's food stamp program, cutting about $39 billion with the next decade. In the article House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) was quoted saying "frankly its wrong for hard-working middle-class Americans to pay for that (SNAP)", given the stories from A Place at the Table, Mr. Cantor clearly doesn't know what hard-working Americans want. Many of those that receive supplemental assistance from the government are hard working Americans and it has become a sad story to witness as those same Americans can't afford nutritional foods and are suffering from food insecurities.
A 5 pound bag of apples cost about $4.50 according to Walmart.com, according to cbpp.org the average person that receives SNAP gets about $4.45 a day for food, if you do the math it just doesn't seem possible for the average person receiving SNAP to afford a balanced nutritional diet. The content of affordable food being bought by SNAP recipients are absolutely terrible and unfit for healthy everyday consumption. Its understandable to see why people on the program buy food that's high in sugar, trans fats and predominately empty calories. I encourage anyone who thinks they can feed themselves healthily on $31.50 a week to take the SNAP challenge. The challenge uses some humbling techniques to educate people on just why SNAP needs more funding by having them ditch their everyday routine and spend only $31.50 on food, that is the equivalent to $4.50 which those receiving the assistance spend for food on a meal to meal basis. Jamison Doran a writer for The Huffington Post took the challenge and shared her experiences. Ms. Doran found herself hungry often, many times right after she had eaten. She stated "Despite probably eating the same number of calories as I usually do, I found myself always hungry." She reported eating foods filled with sugar and empty calories, everything she could afford was processed and non-organic. Given the $31.50 a week budget she just couldn't afford to cook healthy, its no surprise why young children who live on SNAP are developing diabetes and other health complications.
No matter what your social stature in America you should be able to afford foods with adequate nutritional value, but with that being said wishful thinking does not put food in the mouths of people action and awareness does. A link can be made between the child hood obesity and the lack of affordability for healthy nutritional foods for many Americans on food stamps. Many families that receive food stamps have a hard time affording fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grain items. One group of people in particular are people that live in food desserts. These Americans live in rural sometimes urban areas where access to a nutrients filled diet are a rarity. A scene in the documentary A Place at the Table, introduces us to Tremonica, an overweight second grader, she was asked if she'd had anything to eat that morning and her answer was "no", but when she was asked what she eats at home after school she replies "cookies, chips and soda". Tremonica's mother claimed that because the fruits she shops for are so expensive, she opts out and usually gets chips or other processed food for her and her daughter to eat, unless those fruits are on sale. It should be shameful to each and every lawmaker who ignores the people who go hungry on a daily basis in this country.
Even though it remains underfunded SNAP is a good program in the fight to end food insecurities in America. The purpose of SNAP is to help low income families, the old and people with disabilities afford a decent meal, the program does a good job in feeding many Americans but it has to be understood that SNAP is supplemental and no one should plan on living on SNAP forever. SNAP promotes a good work ethic by taking away 24 to 36 cents from his/hers benefit for every dollar that is earned by the individual receiving it (cbpp.org). If the government decides to add more funding to SNAP, I think we'd have smarter kids in school, less chances for childhood obesity, and a healthier generation.
No one can truly understand how living on $4.50 can be unless you are one of the 47 million people on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). When lawmakers such as Rep. James McGovern tried to understand the effects of how cutting $39 billion from the program resonated with the families on SNAP, they were surprised to find out that the current fiscal amount just isn't enough. Rep. McGovern stated "There are people living on that food stamp allocation and you really can't, for us it was an exercise that ended in a week." (A Place at the Table). Rep. McGovern believes that the program needs to go under serious reform. SNAP is meant to be a temporary resource that helps the old, disabled, and low income families afford food, but the recent cuts to funding have been hurting the same people the program is suppose to be helping. Simply stated, the current amount is inadequate, if SNAP received more funding, families would be able to afford nutritional foods that would lead to an increase in the grades of students and we would be able to battle health problems caused by childhood obesity.
SNAP needs more funding, the current amount is inadequate for families that live below the poverty line, with bills and added expenses the allocated amount given to these families just isn't enough. Cuts to the annual budget for SNAP has left many single family households making dire decisions for something as simple as finding a meal to eat. Barbie Izquierdo a single mother of 2 from Philadelphia experiences this first-hand in the documentary A Place at the Table, she says "I do get food stamps now but they last about 3 weeks out of the month and for that last week I'm just going crazy", young mothers similar to Barbie are all to familiar with situations like this yet politicians take a blind eye to people like this for reasons beneficial to themselves. In an article by the Washington Post authors Ed O'Keefe and Niraj Chokshi examined and wrote about the cuts to SNAP, they explained that the House voted 217 to 210 approving a bill that would overhaul the nation's food stamp program, cutting about $39 billion with the next decade. In the article House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) was quoted saying "frankly its wrong for hard-working middle-class Americans to pay for that (SNAP)", given the stories from A Place at the Table, Mr. Cantor clearly doesn't know what hard-working Americans want. Many of those that receive supplemental assistance from the government are hard working Americans and it has become a sad story to witness as those same Americans can't afford nutritional foods and are suffering from food insecurities.
A 5 pound bag of apples cost about $4.50 according to Walmart.com, according to cbpp.org the average person that receives SNAP gets about $4.45 a day for food, if you do the math it just doesn't seem possible for the average person receiving SNAP to afford a balanced nutritional diet. The content of affordable food being bought by SNAP recipients are absolutely terrible and unfit for healthy everyday consumption. Its understandable to see why people on the program buy food that's high in sugar, trans fats and predominately empty calories. I encourage anyone who thinks they can feed themselves healthily on $31.50 a week to take the SNAP challenge. The challenge uses some humbling techniques to educate people on just why SNAP needs more funding by having them ditch their everyday routine and spend only $31.50 on food, that is the equivalent to $4.50 which those receiving the assistance spend for food on a meal to meal basis. Jamison Doran a writer for The Huffington Post took the challenge and shared her experiences. Ms. Doran found herself hungry often, many times right after she had eaten. She stated "Despite probably eating the same number of calories as I usually do, I found myself always hungry." She reported eating foods filled with sugar and empty calories, everything she could afford was processed and non-organic. Given the $31.50 a week budget she just couldn't afford to cook healthy, its no surprise why young children who live on SNAP are developing diabetes and other health complications.
No matter what your social stature in America you should be able to afford foods with adequate nutritional value, but with that being said wishful thinking does not put food in the mouths of people action and awareness does. A link can be made between the child hood obesity and the lack of affordability for healthy nutritional foods for many Americans on food stamps. Many families that receive food stamps have a hard time affording fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grain items. One group of people in particular are people that live in food desserts. These Americans live in rural sometimes urban areas where access to a nutrients filled diet are a rarity. A scene in the documentary A Place at the Table, introduces us to Tremonica, an overweight second grader, she was asked if she'd had anything to eat that morning and her answer was "no", but when she was asked what she eats at home after school she replies "cookies, chips and soda". Tremonica's mother claimed that because the fruits she shops for are so expensive, she opts out and usually gets chips or other processed food for her and her daughter to eat, unless those fruits are on sale. It should be shameful to each and every lawmaker who ignores the people who go hungry on a daily basis in this country.
Even though it remains underfunded SNAP is a good program in the fight to end food insecurities in America. The purpose of SNAP is to help low income families, the old and people with disabilities afford a decent meal, the program does a good job in feeding many Americans but it has to be understood that SNAP is supplemental and no one should plan on living on SNAP forever. SNAP promotes a good work ethic by taking away 24 to 36 cents from his/hers benefit for every dollar that is earned by the individual receiving it (cbpp.org). If the government decides to add more funding to SNAP, I think we'd have smarter kids in school, less chances for childhood obesity, and a healthier generation.