Tuesday, November 5th, 2013
Stephan: Every other week, Ronlyn bakes dozens of organic healthy treats for a citizen organization Whidbey Island Nourishes that feeds homeless and low income children here on the island. She is one of about 20 women who participate in this project to see that the children have healthy meals, and it has made me very sensitive to the issue of child nutrition. Today at the Post Office I ran into two of the women who founded WIN and learned from them about the increased demand for food as poverty increases on our island.
I believe the Theocratic Teabagger drive to cut food assistance in the U.S. is one of the most shameful things done by this country to itself. It is evil as I understand that word, and ironically about as un-Christian an act as a 'Christian' could do. It tells you that whatever the religious beliefs of the Teabaggers, they have nothing to do with Jesus and his teachings, except the misuse of his name.
If you have an extra dollar or two please donate it to your local food bank. It can make the difference between a child going to bed with an empty belly or having something to eat. And write your Representative and Senators and tell them how you feel about food assistance. I would take it as a personal favor if you would do this.
Food banks across the country, stretched thin in the aftermath of the recession, are bracing for more people coming through their doors in the wake of cuts to the federal food stamp program.
Food stamp benefits to 47 million Americans were cut starting Friday as a temporary boost to the federal program comes to an end without new funding from a deadlocked Congress.
Under the program, known formally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, a family of four that gets $668 per month in benefits will find that amount cut by $36.
‘It may not sound like a lot but to a person like me, it is,’ says Annie Crisp, 30, a single mother of two girls in Lancaster, Ohio. ‘It’s not just a number.’
She says she received a little less than $550 a month in food stamps and now will receive $497. Crisp, a babysitter who brings home about $830 a month, says the food stamps help her buy her family fresh fruits, vegetables and meat.
Crisp worries now that she may end up trying to supplement her family’s groceries by going to a food bank or cutting into her electric or gas money for the month. The cut, she says, […]
