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The U.S. is one of the
wealthiest nations in the
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world. It ranks first
based on total GDP and
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seventh based on GDP per
capita.
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Yet when it comes to food
security, America ranks
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22nd among developed
countries.
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People are working hard
every day in this country
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to bring food home for
theirselves and their
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families. But right now,
in the United States, we
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are facing a hunger
crisis.
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33.8 million Americans
didn't have adequate
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access to food, according
to the latest report from
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the USDA. That's 13.5
million or 10.2% of all
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U.S. households in 2021.
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I literally stand on
Second Avenue at 4:00 in
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the morning. I'd get off
the subway and go around
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behind the restaurants
and wait for the bakeries
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to deliver bread.
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When you're that hungry
to steal bread from the
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restaurants behind the
stores, you're hungry.
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Spending on food
assistance programs has
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grown exponentially,
reaching a record of
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$182.5 billion in 2021.
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But food insecurity has
only improved slightly
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since 2001.
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While the number of
people experiencing very
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low food security grew
slightly during the same
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period.
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We see times when the
economy is doing better,
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it improves. But we
haven't seen major
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movements on the metric,
I would say.
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The latest research from
the Bread Institute in
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2014 says the U.S.
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has lost almost $5.5
billion due to lost
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productivity caused by
hunger.
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It's much less expensive
to feed you than it is
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many other of our
societal challenges.
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Let's start with food,
because the impact on the
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system is incredibly
expensive and will live on
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for generations.
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So why are so many
Americans still hungry and
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what can be done to solve
it?
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Food prices soared to
record heights in 2022,
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pressuring households
already in a pinch.
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Annual food at home
prices climbed by 11.4% in
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2022 compared to the year
prior.
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Food inflation, as we've
seen during the pandemic,
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has gone up, driven in
large part by supply chain
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disruptions and shortages
of food supply during the
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pandemic.
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Several experts point to
income as the major cause
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behind food insecurity in
America.
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Issues of affordability
and equity are the two
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driving forces across the
United States.
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You can be working, yet
you still need help.
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And so the wages are not
carrying Americans far
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enough.
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The resources they have
are so strange that paying
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the light bill, paying
for child care, gas to get
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to work is trading off
against food.
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The financial pressure
from buying food gets
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higher, the less you make
.
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In 2021, the bottom 20% of
households with the lowest
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income spent 30.6% of
what they made on food,
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compared to just 7.6% for
households in the highest
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income quintile.
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It's a problem that
Gregory Bruce, a bow tie
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maker in Harlem,
experiences every day.
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I have actually $0.88 in
my bank account right now.
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June was not a good bow
tie month.
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I'm not crying, but I
still come here every
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afternoon and get my
dinner, which I don't eat
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until 7:00.
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The food bank is open
five days a week,
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generally. Saturday and
Sunday, there's no food
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available. And that's
when it hits you.
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Meanwhile, nearly a
quarter of households that
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include a working adult
with a disability were
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food insecure, compared
to just 7% of households
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without disabilities.
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The leading predictor of
food insecurity in United
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States is disability
status by far, especially
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mental health challenges.
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Socially disadvantaged
individuals are the ones
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most heavily impacted by
food insecurity.
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Take communities of
color, for example.
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Nearly 1 in 5 Black
households and 16.2% of
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Hispanic households
suffered from food
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insecurity in 2021,
compared to just 10.2% of
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non-Hispanic minority
households and 7% of white
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households.
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Income is important, but
the more important thing
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is the constraints that,
especially those who are
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most vulnerable amongst
us are facing.
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If economic opportunity
isn't equally shared,
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which it isn't yet in our
country, that means that
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it's going to have the
same impact on food
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insecurity, and it's a
problem we need to
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address.
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Food deserts have also
been widely blamed as
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another main cause of
hunger.
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USDA estimates that about
53.6 million people, or
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17.4% of the population
in the U.S.
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live in areas considered
low income and low access,
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meaning the nearest
supermarket is more than
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one half mile or 10 miles
away.
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Food deserts are something
that plague us.
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It's part of the
systematic failure that we
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have in America.
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If you don't have access
to food, you are just
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increasing your chances
of greater food
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insecurity.
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But some experts argue
that access isn't the
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issue. A 2018 study from
the National Bureau of
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Economic Research
concluded that exposing
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low-income households to
the same products and
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prices as high-income
households had no
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meaningful effects on
eating habits.
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All of us in the food
insecurity space know that
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they're completely
irrelevant. I'd much
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rather have somebody
have, say, a Walmart
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within 1.5 miles than a
poorly stocked food store
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within two blocks.
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In other words, it's food
prices that matter, not
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food access.
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I think part of this is
how problems compound
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problems. If you are
someone who's living in
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poverty, has very low
income, you might be
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living in a neighborhood
that doesn't have great
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access to high quality
grocery stores.
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So they are a little bit
mutually reinforcing.
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But to me it is the
economics and the income
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are the biggest drivers.
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Food insecurity is an
expensive burden to the
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U.S. economy as a whole.
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Food security should be a
business imperative.
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It relates to
productivity. It relates
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to a team that can come
in every day and work and
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create a product.
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If your workers are
hungry, they're going to
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struggle with work.
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The latest research from
the Bread Institute says
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the U.S. has lost over $5
billion due to lost
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productivity caused by
hunger as of 2014.
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If a child is hungry, you
cannot teach them.
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It's not going to happen.
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And if that brain doesn't
develop properly, then
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there is going to be all
kinds of societal problems
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carried on for
generations.
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Bread Institute also
estimates the cost of
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special education caused
by hunger to be over $5.9
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billion in 2014, while
nearly $13 billion are
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lost due to dropouts
attributed to food
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insecurity in the United
States that same year.
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It frustrates me that our
political system and
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politicians don't grab
something so easy.
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It's much less expensive
to feed you than it is
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many other of our
societal challenges.
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Let's start with food,
because the impact on the
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system is incredibly
expensive and again, will
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live on for generations.
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The latest data from
Feeding America estimates
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that food insecurity
costs the U.S.
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$52.9 billion in
health-care costs back in
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2016.
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There's so many negative
health consequences
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associated with food
insecurity.
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A 2022 analysis from the
American Action Forum
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estimates that just four
nutrition related chronic
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diseases among 18 to 64
year olds cost the U.S.
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$16 trillion between 2011
and 2020.
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When you are hungry, your
body takes your body away.
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You are consumed by your
inner self.
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Your brain doesn't
function right.
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You don't think well.
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Everything goes wrong.
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And if you're a senior
citizen, especially if you
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have some problems with
walking or you've got some
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kind of intrinsic ailment
or something like that,
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that's going to get
exacerbated beyond
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control.
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Food insecurity is
absolutely a solvable
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problem.
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In a wealthy country like
ours, that people are not
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having enough food. This
is a solvable problem.
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The U.S. Department of
Agriculture budgeted $163
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billion for major
nutrition assistance
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programs in 2022.
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Among them, Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance
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Program, or SNAP, is the
largest domestic food
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assistance programs for
low-income Americans.
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Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities estimate
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that SNAP reduces the
overall prevalence of food
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insecurity by as much as
30%.
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SNAP or the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance
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Program is what we have
called food stamps for
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many years. This
electronic benefit is
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available to Americans
that qualify based on
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their household size and
their income.
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You give individuals an
EBT card which allows
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people to shop alongside
their neighbors and
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friends in their local
food stores.
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SNAP is an amazing,
amazing program.
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It sets out to alleviate
food insecurity and study
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after study has
demonstrated that it does.
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But despite its
effectiveness, many are
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falling through the
cracks. SNAP eligibility
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is based on the poverty
threshold, but the Union
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of Concerned Scientists
estimate that almost 1 in
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5 households with incomes
between 130% and 185% of
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the poverty threshold do
not qualify for SNAP, even
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though they are
considered food insecure.
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We have heard concerns
that SNAP isn't available
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to enough families in
need.
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It is a program that is
highly targeted to very
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low-income families, and
Congress sets the
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eligibility criteria for
SNAP, and they certainly
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have the opportunity to
review those rules and
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take a look at whether
the program could be
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expanded.
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A major complaint
concerning SNAP also
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revolved around its
amount.
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In 2021, 1 in 3
households that received
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SNAP still had to visit
the food pantry due to a
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lack of budget.
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6 out of 10 SNAP
recipients also reported
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that food prices
prevented them from buying
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nutritious food.
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That was until a big
change was made the same
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year.
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The Thrifty Food Plan was
increased by 20%, which
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means everybody's across
the board, SNAP benefits
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increased by 20%.
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I mean, that was a big,
big deal.
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So in other words, yes, I
think SNAP benefits should
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be somewhat higher.
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But on the other hand, a
20% increase in benefits
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is great. I think we
should increase them
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further. 20% is great,
though, and I don't want
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to, I never want that to
be diminished.
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So we're really pleased
with the benefit that the
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program offers. We'll be
able to do that
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reevaluation every five
years under federal law.
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And we'll keep looking at
whether the program is
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accomplishing its goal,
which is supporting
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families with enough
money to purchase a very
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basic but healthy diet.
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Aside from increasing
SNAP, advocates suggest
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additional programs that
focus on feeding the most
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vulnerable.
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America doesn't seem to
like us or think about us
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in the way that they
think about other things.
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You know, this is not
political. This is far
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beyond politics.
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We need to feed our
elders. They've served.
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We need to feed our
veterans. They have
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served. We can start with
some simple things.
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We just need to feed
children. We need to make
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sure there is good food
in every school, every
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public school in the
United States.
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Big task. But it would
make a huge difference.
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In 2022, the Biden-Harris
administration pledged
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more than $8 billion to
end hunger by 2030.
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We can do this, end hunger
in this country by the
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year 2030 and lower the
toll.
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Lower the toll that
diet-related diseases
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takes on for too many
Americans.
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This goal is within our
reach.
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Ultimately, the key to
ending hunger lies in
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solving the core issues
that cause Americans to
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struggle in the first
place.
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At the White House
Conference on Hunger,
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Nutrition and Health, the
president called for an
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all of government, all of
society approach.
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I think what's really
different and special is,
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in addition to saying we
need to strengthen our
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federal nutrition
programs to tackle hunger,
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the president is also
saying we need
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investments, again,
further upstream in the
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problem, whether it's
better wages, affordable
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child care, affordable
housing, investments or
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refundable tax credits.
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Investments in those
places will result in
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fewer people needing food
assistance.
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And think it's really
core to our approach in
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addressing hunger.
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I can assure you there is
enough food in America.
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I can assure you there's
enough money in America.
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The challenge is
connecting those and
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ensuring that people have
enough money to get enough
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food.
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