Progress Illinois

As the state's unemployment rate grows, so too do the food stamp rolls. About 16.5 percent more households used the federally-funded program in August than the same period in 2008, translating to aid for about 100,000 additional families. "It's a new record every month," Department of Human Services spokesperson Tom Green told the Pantagraph's Mike Riopell.

A few things to note here. While it's unfortunate that so many people are struggling right now, it's great that more and more are using the benefits provided to them; many eligible people simply don't apply, which is unfortunate for their families and the economy at large. It's also important to remember that without the stimulus bill this year, which dedicated an additional $890 million in funding to the program, the benefits would be smaller, the state would bear a larger administrative burden, and the federal food stamp fund would be drained of considerable resources.

Most importantly, the new data illustrates just how deep this recession is. If this many people in Illinois now qualify as desperately poor, even more aren't earning enough to be financially independent. And it's a problem we will be dealing with for years.

In many areas on Chicago's South Side, residents have long complained that it's easier to get their hands on a french fries or a bag of chips than a potato itself. Despite eager consumers, corporate grocers have for decades ignored these corners of the Chicago market, creating the phenomenon known as food deserts. But a small farmers' market at the intersection of 61st and Blackstone Avenue is proving that big chains aren't the only hope for bringing locally-grown fruits and vegetables to such areas.  And thanks to an innovative foundation based in Connecticut, the organizers have found a way to lessen the main barrier for low-income shoppers: the high price of farm-fresh produce.

On October 3, the nonprofit Experimental Station (which runs the Saturday market) is launching Illinois' first "double-value coupon" program for federal food-stamp recipients. As they have at several markets nationwide, the Wholesome Wave Foundation is providing an initial grant of $10,000 to provide a dollar-to-dollar match to those shoppers using food stamps, thereby giving them twice the buying power.  Last month, the Washington Post reported on how the subsidies are bringing more and more needy shoppers into a Western Massachusetts market that received a similar grant from the foundation. From that article:

Between August and October of last year, sales using food stamps at the Holyoke market jumped 290 percent, and the number of coupons increased 60 percent. Organizers expect sales to be even higher this summer now that word about the program is out. [...]

"Our goal is to prove to the federal government that matching works," said Michel Nischan, Wholesome Wave's chief executive and the executive chef at Dressing Room restaurant in Westport, Conn. "By implementing these programs, a single dollar of stimulus impacts nutrition, helps farmers, stimulates the economy and provides a direct investment in reducing health-care costs."

"It's a really simple program," the Experimental Station's Dennis Ryan tells us of setting up the system to accept LINK cards (the system that doles out food stamp benefits in Illinois). "It's not always enough just to bring the food. We have to make sure [residents] have the money access it."

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Yesterday, we flagged new research estimating that 305,000 Illinoisans were spared from poverty this year thanks to the federal stimulus' investment in the social safety (unemployment benefits, food stamps, etc.). As we've pointed out before, food stamps can play a crucial role in providing economic stimulus. Not only do the enhanced benefits help put food on the table for millions of struggling families, they also provide a much-needed boost to local businesses and the overall economy. But is Illinois doing all it can to ensure we reap the full benefits of the program?

Perhaps not, according to the Washington D.C.-based Food Research and Action Center (FARC).  While food stamp enrollment grew in Cook County by 31 percent between 2005 and last year -- from 592,295 to 778,323 --  the anti-hunger policy group reports (PDF) major gaps in enrollment in the region. At least 141,843 eligible households failed to enroll in the program as of 2007 (the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture data available). By not getting those people signed up, Illinois left an estimated $85 million in federal food stamp money on the table that year.

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It's no secret that Wal-Mart has been making inroads at City Hall. But in those South Side neighborhoods targeted by the company for new stores, there's still of skepticism over the mega-retailer's intentions. Today, the newly-formed Good Jobs Chicago coalition -- made up of clergy and community organizations -- showed up at City Hall to let aldermen know that three years after Mayor Daley vetoed the big box living wage ordinance, they still want to see Wal-Mart raise its wages and benefits before elected officials support any expansion.

This time around, organizers are looking for a legally-binding community benefits agreement from city officials that requires Wal-Mart to pay fair wages, make health care affordable, extend workers the right to organize, and sell locally-grown food. "It's the role of government to ensure its citizens that you should not have to work a 40-hour week and still be living in poverty and then have to rely on the government for food stamps and Medicaid," St. Sabina's Rev. Michael Pfleger said. Watch:

Representatives of Southside Organizing for Unity and Liberation (SOUL) pointed out today that, while they agree with Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. (21st Ward) that jobs are sorely needed in their communities, they take issue with the notion that any jobs -- particularly those with poverty wages --  will suffice.

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Earlier this month, the agriculture appropriations committees in both chambers of Congress agreed to spend an additional $13 billion this year on nutrition programs. Exactly how much of that money will go toward incorporating fresh fruits and whole grains into rotation at school lunch lines across the country remains to be seen. As we noted back in April, the effort to increase nutrition spending has been a bumpy one, with Illinois' own Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Crete) playing a pivotal role in defending a $1 billion agribusiness industry giveaway that President Obama had hoped to redirect to school cafeterias.

Today, cafeteria workers from across the country -- including nine from Illinois -- are on Capitol Hill lobbying members of Congress on the issue.  Their timing is key, as Congress is scheduled to take up the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Program this fall. Here's exactly what they are pushing lawmakers to do, via a press release from Service Workers United (a joint project of SEIU and UNITE-HERE, which represents the workers):

- Increase federal reimbursement rates for meals to enable schools to cover the rising costs of meeting dietary guidelines and to purchase fresh, healthy foods.

- Reach more struggling families by relaxing eligibility requirements, streamlining application processes, and allowing for regional variations in cost of living in determining eligibility.

- Improve food safety, nutrition, health and wellness, and customer service through additional training and good jobs with health care for food service employees.

The issue of low reimbursement rates is particularly damaging.

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This past winter, Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski and a slew of congressional Republicans took pot shots at the Obama administration for including spending on social programs like food stamps in their federal stimulus bill. The critics whined that the package was supposed to promote jobs, ignoring data proving that food stamps are the most stimulative type of expenditure government can make.

Now, as big infrastructure projects funded by the stimulus are slow to start, it's the hike in food stamp benefits that is rippling through the economy. The Wall Street Journal has the story:

Money from the program -- officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program -- percolates quickly through the economy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture calculates that for every $5 of food-stamp spending, there is $9.20 of total economic activity, as grocers and farmers pay their employees and suppliers, who in turn shop and pay their bills.

While other stimulus money has been slow to circulate, the food-stamp boost is almost immediate, with 80% of the benefits being redeemed within two weeks of receipt and 97% within a month, the USDA says.

The increase is modest -- a family of four on food stamps receives an average of $80 more per month. But for some struggling Americans, that boost makes a huge difference.

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With unemployment, foreclosures, and evictions all on the rise, social service providers warned months ago that ignoring homelessness, hunger, and other social service needs in Illinois wouldn’t make the problems go away.

Just as the cold weather sets in, demand for help among the state’s neediest is predictably surging—even in some unlikely places. Demand at suburban and rural shelters and food banks is reportedly spiking, growing between 50-90 percent is some suburban Cook County locations as compared with last year.

Sadly, those startling figures haven’t prompted state officials to develop a crisis intervention plan yet. And it looks like the worst is yet to come.

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Most Americans will spend Thanksgiving Day feasting on turkey and stuffing with loved ones. Unfortunately, a healthy, home cooked meal is out of reach for a growing number of families, as the Washington Post explains:

Fueled by rising unemployment and food prices, the number of Americans on food stamps is poised to exceed 30 million for the first time this month, surpassing the historic high set in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. [...]

“We soon will have the most food stamps recipients in the history of our country,” said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, a D.C.-based anti-hunger policy organization. “If the economic forecasts come true, we’re likely to see the most hunger that we’ve seen since the 1981 recession and maybe since the 1960s, when these programs were established.”

Illinois is not immune. The number of people participating in the food stamp program jumped almost 5 percent between August 2007-August 2008, totaling 1.34 million.

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