Snap Campaign
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Caseworker shortage delaying food-stamp applications
With food-stamp applications at an all-time high, state working hiring freeze leads to unnecessary denials in applications.
BY ALFRED LUBRANO
More people need food stamps than ever before, but there are fewer state workers in Pennsylvania to process the claims; this may result in applicants missing out on benefits, according to anti-hunger advocates.
Research by the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger shows that a major problem for people eligible for food stamps is communicating with their caseworkers at local offices of the state Department of Public Welfare.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Pa. broadens eligibility for food stamps
More families in need will be eligible for nutritional assistance now that the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare has raised the gross income limit for food stamps.
BY ALFRED LUBRANO
Javina Brown, who makes $9.75 an hour working for Boston Market, applied for food stamps in June but was denied. Her salary was $4 a month too high.
As of this week, however, Brown and others like her will be eligible for food stamps. For the first time in nearly 30 years, Pennsylvania has raised the income limit for the program.
"It's a blessing," said Brown, 32, who lives in South Philadelphia with her 10-year-old daughter and will get an estimated $360 a month in food stamps.
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE REVIEW: Eligibility for nutritional assistance expands in Pennsylvania
Coalition Food Stamp Campaign Manager Rachel Meeks comments on the state's decision to raise the income limits for SNAP from 130 percent of the federal poverty line to 160 percent.
BY CRAIG SMITH
Bonnie Frederick tried to get food stamps last year, but her $9.50-an-hour pay from a packaging company put her monthly income $3 over the limit.
But new guidelines, put in place July 27 by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, make Frederick, 61, of North Versailles and her husband Gary, 62, eligible for food stamps, they learned this week.
"I'm a couponer, and I cook. We don't eat out a lot," Bonnie Frederick said. "We eat a lot of chicken. It will be nice to have some pork."
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Food-stamp use, poverty up in the region
The number of households receiving food stamps is expected to rise, according to Rachel Meeks, the Coalition’s Food Stamp Campaign Manager.
BY ALFRED LUBRANO
The percentage of households receiving food stamps in Philadelphia increased by nearly 3 percentage points between 2007 and 2008 - the period of time marking the start of the recession - according to figures released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
And that number is only expected to rise, according to Rachel Meeks, food-stamp campaign manager for the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Poverty in Philadelphia suburbs up nearly 1%
Poverty increased nearly 1 percent in Philadelphia's suburbs between 2000 and 2008, partly because of two recessions, according to a report being released by the Brookings Institution.
BY ALFRED LUBRANO
Poverty increased nearly 1 percent in Philadelphia's suburbs between 2000 and 2008, partly because of two recessions, according to a report being released today.
Poverty in the suburbs reached a rate of 7.4 percent, compared with 24.1 percent within Philadelphia, according to the report by the Brookings Institution. Citywide poverty increased 1.2 percent between 2000 and 2008, the report showed.
Nationwide, suburban poverty increased by 25 percent during that time frame, nearly five times the rate of urban poverty, according to the report...
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: USDA: Hunger rises in U.S.
America is hungry and getting hungrier, with 49 million people - 17 million of them children - last year unable to consistently get enough food to eat, according to a report released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
BY ALFRED LUBRANO
America is hungry and getting hungrier, with 49 million people - 17 million of them children - last year unable to consistently get enough food to eat, according to a report released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
These figures represent 14.6 percent of all households, a 3.5-percentage-point jump over 2007, and they are the largest recorded since the agency began measuring hunger in 1995.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Half of U.S. children will use food stamps, study finds
A new study finds that nearly half of all children – 90 percent of all black children – will be on food stamps (SNAP) at some point during their childhood. In Philadelphia, 43 percent of all SNAP recipients are children.
BY ALFRED LUBRANO
In a stark and surprising finding, about half the children in the United States will be on food stamps at some point during their childhood, a new study of 29 years of data shows.
One in three white children and 90 percent of all black children - ages 1 through 20 - will use the program, according to the research, published this month in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
KYW NEWSRADIO: Area Food Banks Show Hunger Rising, Here and Nationwide
Executive Director, Carey Morgan says Americans must tell legislators that food insecurity is a major issue in the community.
BY KARIN PHILLIPS
A new federal report on the nation's hunger problem shows staggering increases in the numbers of Americans who can't afford enough to eat.
And organizations in the Philadelphia area that help feed the hungry say they are shocked by not surprised.
The USDA report, titled "Household Food Security," shows that 49 million Americans are unable to consistently get enough to eat -- and that's an increase of one-third from the year before.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Food-stamp administration: Pa. ranks high, N.J. low
The USDA has ranked state performance, with Pennsylvania listed among the best and New Jersey among the worst.
BY ALFRED LUBRANO
Critical of how some states administer food stamps for the hungriest Americans, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has ranked state performance, with Pennsylvania listed among the best and New Jersey among the worst.
USDA officials indicated last week that certain states "have not served . . . taxpayers well," according to a letter from the agency to state food-stamp administrators that was first reported on by the Associated Press.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Letter to the Editor - In America, hunger is still severe problem
Executive Director, Carey Morgan, joins with other anti-hunger advocates to address inaccuracies in Charles Lane’s response to the USDA’s food security report.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
It's important to correct the inaccuracies in Charles Lane's response ("Hunger overblown," Tuesday) to the USDA's food security report:
(1) Respondents were classified as "food-insecure" if they reported at least "three or more food-insecure conditions," not simply because they were "worried" about running out of food.
(2) Since 1995, the USDA has used consistent measures in this annual report and the startling fact remains: A record number of Americans - including 17 million children - are now at risk for hunger.