Food stamp work rule amid pandemic and ability to get food in doubt

For the most vulnerable among Americans, being able to get food should be the least of their problems.

Governors plead for food stamp flexibility amid pandemic

Associated Press
ASTRID GALVAN and ASHRAF KHALIL
April 6, 2020

There are only a handful of states in the country where food aid recipients can buy groceries online

PHOENIX -- Yvonne Knight, who has respiratory problems that make her especially vulnerable in the coronavirus pandemic, can't buy groceries online with her food stamps — even though each trip to the store is now a risky endeavor.

Going out to buy food terrifies the 38-year-old woman with cerebral palsy, but she is one of millions of people who receive food aid through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that can't be used in flexible ways.

The increased need for food aid and calls to make it more flexible come directly on the heels of a stalled Trump administration attempt to purge an estimated 700,000 people from SNAP rolls. The changes would have taken away states' ability to waive a rule that able-bodied adults without dependents show a certain number of hours worked per month. A court blocked the changes, and the USDA vowed to appeal.
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Trump administration delays new food stamp work rule amid pandemic

NBC 3 News
by Alexis Goree
April 13th 2020

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Before the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of Nevadans were at risk of losing their food stamps starting this month.

Now, because of the national emergency, the Trump administration is holding off on any change.

Unemployment numbers have now skyrocketed across the United States. The coronavirus forced the closure of non-essential businesses in an effort to stop the spread.

“Now, obviously given what unemployment has done, we cannot reasonably expect folks to engage in work or work-related activity now,“ said Julie Balderson with Nevada Department of Health and Human Services.

Due to the national emergency, the White House is now delaying their pursuit of a new work rule for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients, also know and SNAP.
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But the truth is, a Federal Judge had to order it first.

Federal judge blocks Trump rule that could have cut food stamps for nearly 700,000 people amid coronavirus

CNN
By Veronica Stracqualursi and Tami Luhby
March 14, 2020

(CNN)A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Trump administration federal rule from going into effect next month that could have seen nearly 700,000 people lose access to food stamps, noting in part a need for flexibility as state and federal officials work to address nutritional needs during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Especially now, as a global pandemic poses widespread health risks, guaranteeing that government officials at both the federal and state levels have flexibility to address the nutritional needs of residents and ensure their well-being through programs like SNAP, is essential," Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court in Washington, DC, wrote as part of her opinion issued Friday.

In an order handed down Friday, the Howell granted a preliminary injunction and a stay on portions of a federal rule from the US Department of Agriculture. The rule, announced in December, would require more food stamp recipients to work in order to receive benefits by limiting states' ability to waive existing work mandates.
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Farmers dump crops durning pandemic shut down...families go hungry?

update Dole donating more than 2 million pounds of fresh produce to food banks, communities in need

update Free milk, cheese and yogurt at SUNY Morrisville dairy drive-through to support families, farmers

update: Idaho farm gave away potatoes for free so they wouldn't go to waste Cranney Farms in Oakley has thousands of potatoes they were expecting to sell. Instead of dumping them, they gave them away.

Milk to be rescued from Wisconsin dairy farmers, given to people in need

In a press release sent early Wednesday morning, the Hunger Task Force said it will commit up to $1 million to the Wisconsin Dairy Recovery. The money will be used to buy it back from dairy farmers and supply it to those in need.

Stop dumping harvest when you can feed the hungry

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 14, 2020

We just had Easter, the day we honor the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, but too many forget what He taught us. That is apparent today when farms are dumping produce and milk, because they cannot sell it.

"About 7 o’clock Tuesday night, Golden E Dairy got the call that any dairy farmer would dread. They were being asked to dump 25,000 gallons of fresh milk a day because there was no place for it to go as the marketplace for dairy products has been gutted by the closure of restaurants, schools, hotels and food service businesses." USA Today

Dean and Betsy Brightly turned a farm of just a few hundred acres in the late 1970s to over 2,000 acres today and grow a plethora of plants with a focus on cabbage and butternut squash. Brightly Farms has never had to dump food like they did this year as demand dropped for their crop they refrigerate until this time. “We still have a couple hundred tons,” said Dean, “which is over $100,000 worth of product that we probably are going to have to dump.” RochesterFirst

They said they had no choice, but they did, and still do. They can choose to do the right thing by helping the food banks all across the country to feed the hungry.

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.

Matthew 25:44-45 ’

As they are dumping their harvests, this is what is happening as people line up for whatever they can get to help them feed their families.

Six THOUSAND families line up in their cars for hours at a food bank in San Antonio as millions across the country turn to charity organizations to keep from going hungry during coronavirus lockdown

Families in need waited hours to get their hands on fresh fruit, vegetables and other non-perishable goods that have become hard to find in traditional stores as panic-buying leaves shelves empty. The sight of long rows of cars waiting outside food banks has become more frequent since the pandemic has made its impact on the United States, with similar scenes seen in Florida and Pennsylvania in the last two weeks. Daily Mail

Do the right thing and contact your local food bank to see how you can help instead of wasting what you were blessed with.

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:

And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Luke 12:17-21

VA workers chip in to feed families

VA workers chip in to feed families
For the Commercial-News
Commercial-News
September 23, 2012

DANVILLE — Many food banks are experiencing severe shortages of non-perishable food items, which result in the needy going hungry. Whatever can be contributed will go a long way toward helping replenish food banks so they can assist families and individuals who need the most help.

This is why the Feds Feed Families Food Drive was sponsored by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) — to provide federal employees with the opportunity to collect goods for delivery to local food banks to feed the needy. The Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Human Resources Management, was proud to assist OPM with this food drive and established a goal of collecting at least 230,000 pounds nationally of non-perishable goods during the 2012 drive.
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The price of hunger in America

June 29, 2008

The price of hunger
ANP: Hunger is a growing crisis in US, stagnant economy and rising fuel price cause cost of food to soar

American News Project: Hunger is a growing crisis in America. With a stagnant economy and rising fuel prices the cost of food is soaring. Congress is reacting, but will their efforts be enough? ANP spends a week with Brian Duss who agrees to take the Food Stamp Challenge and live off a dollar per meal for 7 days.



The Price of Hunger
By Garland McLaurin

JAMES P. MCGOVERN, CONGRESSMAN (D-MA): Hunger is a political condition. That is absolutely the best way to characterize it. We have the resources, we have the infrastructure, we have everything to end hunger except the political will.

VOICEOVER: Hunger is growing in America, and food banks are scrambling to keep up with the need. Higher oil prices mean higher food prices, and the stagnant economy means more unemployment. It's estimated that a record 28 million Americans will be using food stamps in 2009. Millions more depend on community food banks like Bread for the City in Washington, DC, to provide free food from time to time.

JEANETTE CHANCE, NORTHWEST FOOD COORDINATOR: You know, we never can predict a time and an amount of people, but they're coming, and probably between about 100 to 150 people per day. The first two weeks of the month, it's really 200-plus families every month.

VOICEOVER: The elderly living on fixed incomes are among those who need the most help with food donations. For many, the food stamps they receive are just not enough.

CHANCE: A person who picks up from us every month—I don't know if I should say his name—but he'll be 110 years old this year, and he's the talk of Bread for the City, and stronger than two people, two normal people. But he comes faithfully and picks his food up every month.

DONNA HENDRICKS, SENIOR IN NEED OF FOOD ASSISTANCE: I have to go wherever I can go to get groceries, because the cost of living has gone up so high. It's like a vicious cycle. It reminds me of a hamster running on its wheel, just going around and around and around. And I feel overwhelmed right now. I live on a single income, and it's true I do get food stamps, but all I get is $70 a month, and that doesn't stretch for one month. So I come here and I get food once a month, and that helps tremendously.
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When do we get about doing what Christ told us to do? If anyone wants to claim the title of being a Christian think of this.

Galatians 6:2 (New International Version)
2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+6:2

You can find many more times when Christ Himself talked about how to treat others in the Red letters of the New Testament.

How can anyone dismiss this and still claim how important faith is to them? Is it was faith can do only for them, their needs, wants and desires? Or is it what faith is supposed to transform within them? Do they think it's ok to face Christ and say what they bought for themselves instead of what they did for others? Do they think it's ok that they claimed they fought for Christ to stop abortions or gay marriages when they failed to take care of the least among us? If they think what someone else does in their own personal life is what Christ was talking about fighting against, they missed the entire reason He came at all. Read the Red Letters of the New Testament and find me the time when Christ said we were to hate or judge anyone. Find me the part where He talked about making sure we got what we wanted first and leave everyone else on their own. Sure you can point to Leviticus and how the sins were worthy of death like eating shell fish, or maybe even go to the Acts and the speeches given by Paul, but you can't show me where Christ said anything about any of this or where God said anything written in Leviticus in the Ten Commandments. We twist what is right around because we just don't want to do it His way. Take a look at the words above and then tell me how allowing people to go hungry in this country is suppose to be a thing to ignore.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation."

- George Washington