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US CITIES GET FOOD STAMP BENEFITS TO MORE NEEDY PEOPLE
BUT STILL LEAVE MANY ELIGIBLE FAMILIES UNSERVED

FRAC ESTIMATES 25 URBAN AREAS ALONE LEFT NEARLY 2.9 MILLION PERSONS UNCOVERED AND $2.1 BILLION IN FEDERAL FOOD STAMPS UNCLAIMED

CONGRESS CONSIDERS UNWISE PROGRAM CUTS WHILE HURRICANE EVACUEES ACCESS DISASTER FOOD STAMPS IN CITIES ACROSS THE US

Read the report: "Food Stamp Access in Urban America: A City-by-City Snapshot"

The Food Stamp Program is a critically important but very underutilized resource for urban America, according to the new Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) report, “Food Stamp Access in Urban America: A City-by-City Snapshot.” The FRAC report analyzes food stamp usage and the incidence of hunger and poverty in 25 of America’s largest cities, spread out over 20 states and the District of Columbia.

“Urban Americans are more likely to be poor and to suffer hunger and food insecurity than other Americans, and tend to have to pay more in stores for food,” explained FRAC President Jim Weill. “While millions of needy people are receiving food stamp benefits, many millions more in our urban areas are eligible and left unserved. In the 25 urban areas we estimate that nearly $2.1 billion/year in food stamps for 2.9 million eligible nonparticipants went unclaimed.”

The FRAC report identified a number of strategies that can increase urban participation. These include outreach, application assistance, documentation receipts, caseworker training, and links with other work supports.

One approach that can only harm participants and deepen poverty and food insecurity is to cut food stamps. “It is inconceivable that Congress, in the face of rising poverty and food insecurity, now exacerbated by the terrible effects of Hurricane Katrina, still is considering weakening the Food Stamp Program,” said Weill. “Congress must reject both food stamp budget cuts in any Reconciliation bill, and any structural changes that weaken the program.”

Among the 25 urban areas featured in the report, all but three had a higher incidence of poverty than the national rate of 12.7 percent in 2003. In most of the cities, at least one child in four lived below the poverty line in 2003. A recent USDA study shows, moreover, that the cost to families to purchase enough food was generally higher in the cities than in their immediate surroundings or in non-metropolitan areas of the same state.

Faced with low income and high food costs, in 2003, 14.8 percent of households in central cities nationally experienced food insecurity, as compared with 11.2 percent of households in the entire U.S. population.

Food stamps are a crucial support for families facing poverty and food insecurity. As of May 2005 in the 25 urban areas, more than 5.4 million people were receiving food stamps. More than half of the households receiving food stamps contained children, and nearly 80 percent of the benefits issued were paid to households with one or more children.

But millions of eligible people in these large cities and counties do not receive benefits. FRAC estimates that only 66 percent of eligible people in the 25 urban areas participated in the program in 2003.

The lowest food stamp participation was in San Diego County, California (26 percent); and Harris County ( Houston), Texas (40 percent). The highest was in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; and Shelby County ( Memphis), Tennessee, where 90 percent or more of eligible people accessed food stamp benefits.

“Underparticipation in the Food Stamp Program adversely affects not only low-income people who are missing out on benefits, but also local communities,” said FRAC Legal Director Ellen Vollinger. “Research shows that each dollar in federal benefits generates nearly twice that in economic activity.”

Of the 25 cities and urban counties in 2003, those missing out on the most federal food stamp benefits were New York, New York ($478 million); Los Angeles County, California ($410 million); and Harris County ( Houston), Texas ($227 million).

Currently, urban areas are providing federal disaster food stamps to thousands of Americans affected by Hurricane Katrina. These include cities in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi as well as cities in other states that have received evacuees.

FRAC is working with federal, state and local officials to connect hurricane victims with food stamps and other nutrition program benefits. Information is posted on the Hurricane Katrina Resources section of the FRAC web site at http://www.frac.org/html/disaster/disaster_index.html

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FRAC (www.frac.org) is the leading national organization working for more effectivepublic and private policies to eradicate domestic hunger and undernutrition.

Also see Local Access Indicator and Unclaimed Benefits in 25 Cities, 2003