As Congress crafts a budget that addresses our nation’s long-term fiscal challenges, Foodshare and our partner agencies — more than 300 food pantries, meal sites, shelters, senior centers and after-school programs — urge our elected officials to safeguard nutrition assistance and other safety net programs.
The number of families struggling to make ends meet increased significantly during the recession. With unemployment still hovering near 10 percent in greater Hartford, the need for food assistance remains high and Foodshare, along with other social service agencies, is already hard-pressed to meet the need in our communities.
Congress is now proposing cuts that would eliminate federal food assistance for hundreds of thousands of low-income seniors, women, infants, and children, pushing more people to local charities for food assistance. At the same time, Congress would reduce support for local emergency food providers, like Foodshare. Not only will we be hard pressed to meet the increased demand for food assistance, if these cuts to nutrition programs go through, we will likely have to reduce current levels of support for existing clients.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is an income-based federal program that provides food at no cost to low-income Americans in need of short-term hunger relief through organizations such as Foodshare. While we rely on generous donations from individual donors and community and business partners, the healthy and nutritious foods provided through TEFAP are a strong component of our inventory, providing 20 percent of the food that flows through our local hunger-relief agencies.
Last year, Foodshare distributed over 3 million pounds of TEFAP commodities. Without support from TEFAP, our network partners could not provide the current levels of food, nor could we meet added demand if the funding levels and structure of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) and other federal nutrition programs are eroded as has been proposed by Congress.
More than 128,000 of Greater Hartford residents rely on Foodshare and our 300 partner agencies to help make ends meet. Last year, over 12 million pounds of food was distributed to these nonprofit organizations, many of whom have experienced a 30 percent increase in the number of people seeking assistance since the recession began in 2009. TEFAP provides these private programs with foods that are high in protein, fruits, vegetables and staple food items such as cereals, pastas, and special foods for vulnerable populations including children and seniors.
The proposed cuts to TEFAP would devastate smaller operations like St. Francis Hospital Emergency Food Bank, which is already struggling to meet the rising demand for their services. If TEFAP food supplies drop as proposed by 50 percent, Foodshare and local pantries will likely face empty shelves, beginning this summer and continuing into the holiday season and beyond.
While I fully understand that Congress and the President need to make tough choices to get our nation’s fiscal house in order, deficit reduction shouldn’t come at the expense of the most vulnerable among us. I urge senators Richard Blumenthal and Joseph Lieberman and our members of Congress to do the right thing and ensure that the federal government does its part to feed our hungry neighbors here in Connecticut and across the country
Gloria McAdam is president and CEO of Foodshare in Bloomfield. Its programs serve residents of Hartford and Tolland counties.
