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President's Budget Jeopardizes Food Security for Nearly
500,000 Seniors |
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 Budget calls for elimination of
the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
and will impact the 10,000 Missouri seniors receiving the
much-needed
monthly assistance. |
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CHICAGO --- February 6, 2006 --- The White
House Fiscal Year 2007 budget released today completely
eliminated funding for the Commodity Supplemental Food
Program (CSFP) which provides food boxes to low-income
seniors and women, infants and children in 32 states, the
District of Columbia and two Indian tribal areas. The
nearly 500,000 seniors currently receiving benefits from the
program, who often have to make choices between paying for
medicine and food, will be left without access to nutritious
food each month.
 “With hunger and food insecurity are at
an all time high, the thought of denying nearly half a
million seniors a box of nutritious food each month is
tragic,” said Robert Forney, President and CEO of America's
Second Harvest — The Nation’s Food Bank
Network. “Now is not the time to cut federal nutrition
programs. CSFP has been tremendously successful in ensuring
our seniors have adequate food supply where the program is
available.”
 Senior households account for almost 90 percent of CSFP
caseloads. CSFP food boxes include a range of USDA
supported commodities that help low income families
supplement their often meager diets. Approximately 40
percent of all CSFP commodity food packages are distributed
through America’s Second Harvest Network Members.
“It is time for the Administration to make the well being
of our low-income neighbors a top priority,” said Forney.
“Cutting federal nutrition programs only further burdens our
Member food banks and food-rescue organizations which are
already operating on extremely tight budgets and food
supply. Reducing access to food means more people in the
United States will go hungry.”
For more information on the America's Second Harvest
Network, please visit
www.secondharvest.org.
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The Commodity Supplemental
Food Program The President’s budget proposes to eliminate
all funding for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
This would cut off nutritious commodities to more than 400,000
low-income seniors (aged 60 and older) and children in an average
month. The program currently operates in 32 states, the District of
Columbia and two Indian reservations. The President’s proposal
includes a transitional food stamp benefit for seniors losing CSFP,
but that will not fill the nutrition gap that would be widened by
CSFP’s elimination.
Annually, CSFP provides more than 6.4 million food packages for
mothers, infants, children and seniors. Most recipients are seniors.
CSFP food packages do not provide a complete diet, but supplement
needed sources of nutrients typically lacking in the diets of the
target population. While CSFP participants can also receive food
stamps, they cannot also receive WIC. The typical CSFP food package
includes items such as canned tuna fish, meat and poultry, peanut
butter, formula, milk, juice, oats, rice, beans, cheese, cereal, and
canned fruits and vegetables.
To be eligible, seniors must have income at or below 130 percent
of the Federal poverty line (currently about $12,400 a year for a
single person and $16,700 for a couple). CSFP also provides food
packages to low-income pregnant and post-partum women, infants, and
children up to age six, generally up to 185 percent of the Federal
poverty line. Some low-income post-partum mothers and six-year olds
are eligible for CSFP but not for WIC.
Many of the local agencies distributing CSFP product are
grassroots community-based non-profit organizations. In addition to
food distribution, these agencies provide nutrition education and
referrals for additional assistance such as food stamps, Medicaid,
emergency food, low income energy assistance and the Earned Income
Tax Credit.
The Administration proposal to lessen the negative impact of
eliminating CSFP by providing transitional food stamps (for up to
six months at $20/month) is not sufficient to safeguard the needs of
CSFP’s vulnerable beneficiaries. First, under current law, elderly
people are eligible for both programs, a recognition that both are
supplementary programs for low-income seniors. Second, the
transitional benefit is lower than the value (in retail terms) of
the CSFP package to its recipients. Third, some of the CSFP clients
will not be able to meet the regular food stamp rules. Unlike CSFP,
which is based only on income, the Food Stamp Program applies
resource tests for household eligibility. While the transitional
benefit plan is a recognition that eliminating CSFP will have
consequences for its clients, it does not provide a long-term
solution to the harm the cuts entail. For more, visit
www.frac.org. |
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See also... |
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How does the Commodity Supplemental Food Program help St.
Louis seniors in need? |
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One important measure of the
strength of our community is how well we take care of our
most vulnerable members, including our older citizens.
These are the people who worked a lifetime to build the
foundation on which our economy and our high standard of
living were built.
A 2001 nationwide survey by America’s
Second Harvest found that nearly 11 percent of the people
its members, including the St. Louis Area Foodbank, serve
are seniors. A downright alarming statistic found in
that same survey is that 53.9 percent of client households
with seniors are food insecure … which means that the
household literally does not have enough food to meet their
basic nutritional needs. And, like other poor
households, winter weather forces many financially strapped
seniors to choose between paying their growing heating bills
and purchasing food.
Seniors
who experience hunger are at risk for serious health
problems. Hunger increases their risk for stroke,
aggravates pre-existing health issues, limits the
effectiveness of many prescription drugs, and may affect
brain chemistry, increasing the incidence of depression and
isolation.
Recognizing the increasing populations of area seniors who
are at nutritional risk, the St. Louis Area Foodbank stepped
up to the plate in 2002 to participate in a new program in
Missouri -- the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
We were awarded 3,500 caseloads that first year, and were
granted an additional 1,000 cases in 2003. As a result, the
Foodbank prepares and distributes 4,500 monthly food boxes
specifically for seniors. We rely on nearly 3,000
volunteers, who spend more than 7,000 hours annually sorting
and packaging CSFP boxes for local seniors in need.
Badenfest Senior Center is one of the Foodbank member agencies that, among other
services to seniors, distribute CSFP monthly food boxes.
“In the
area we serve in North St. Louis City, we’re seeing a
growing number of low-income senior citizens,” notes Jan
Quinn, executive director of Badenfest Senior Center.
“We also are seeing a rise in the number of diabetics, a
disease that creates its own set of nutritional challenges.
Click
here to read more about what Badenfest Senior Center
receives from the St. Louis Area Foodbank and how their
clients rely on the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.
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