Hunger in Idaho

College of Western Idaho

Hunger in Idaho

The problem of hunger in Idaho

Heather Campbell English 102 011W Leslie Jewkes

3/12/2013

It is hard to know about a problem that you probably don’t see every day, so I am going to point out that problem. Hunger in Idaho is a growing issue with more and more people needing assistance to feed their families. Health and Welfare’s Food Stamp program and the Idaho Food Bank are the two biggest organizations helping people to supplement their food sources. This paper goes over various figures about those organizations and how many people in the state of Idaho need assistance. It goes over the increase of applicants to the Food Stamp program and free/reduced lunches for children at school.

Heather Campbell

heathercampbell@mycwi.cc

English 102 011W

Essay 1 Rough Draft

February 20, 2013

Hunger in Idaho

            It is hard to miss the commercials for the organizations promoting helping children by making money donations to help a child in Africa receive food and clean water. Those children do need our help and donations to survive, but what most people fail to realize is that there are children and families going hungry in our own back yards. People everywhere are fighting hunger. It could be a neighbor, a friend, a cousin, or even a coworker. Hunger is a growing problem all over the world but what most fail to see is that it is also a growing problem right here in Idaho. What most also seem to miss is that it is not just a recent problem, this problem has been going on for a while. What can be done to help this growing problem? Who is already trying to help and how are they doing so? What does it mean to be food insecure and in need of assistance? We are going to explore the problem of hunger in Idaho and what can be done to help it.

            Hunger is not just starving every day; it is being forced to choose between paying a bill and making sure your children have dinner on the table. It is not being able to make ends meet and needing assistance to make sure your family has food every day. People seem to think that it is only the extreme poor that has problems with hunger. It is not just them. A good percentage of middle class America is also having problems with hunger. Prices continue to go up while pay stays the same. Idaho is no different. Dick Shultz, administrator of the State Division of Health stated “If you look at the average family income in Idaho, you’ll see the income is quite low compared to other states. The job market here in not necessarily the high-end job market” (Abramsky). A study was done in the 1990’s that showed that Idaho was in the mid-range for hunger nationwide. Less than a decade later, Idaho is one of the worst for hunger, becoming the sixth worst state in the nation. Ambramsky also reports that on paper Idaho is thriving. Its unemployment rate is one of the lowest and it boasts one of the highest populations growth rates for the nation. The problem is that jobs are not being created fast enough to catch up with the demand for the ability to pay bills and buy groceries.

            People have to supplement the lack of money with government assistance such as food stamps and non-profit organizations and charities like food banks. Food Stamps, also known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is a government funded program that gives people in need extra money to be used for food items every month. Every six months they reevaluate each person or family to make sure they still need assistance and if the amount of assistance needs to change. Food banks are organizations that accept donations and redistribute what they get to those that are in need. According to the Health and Welfare, the food insecurity rate in Canyon County alone is 17.7%. Ada County is at 15.1%. In the past three years the amount of people helped by Food Stamps has gone up over one hundred thousand, although there was a small decline from June 2011 to June 2012.

            Christie Spaeth, a wife and mother of two, was able to give an inside look of what it is like to need help with getting enough food to support a family. Mrs. Spaeth is disabled and has been for over 10 years now. She is unable to work and has a steady income through SSI, or Social Security Income. Her husband is out of work right now and has been for a while due to severe back problems and while they are both going to school, it doesn’t bring in an extra steady income so it gets difficult for them to make ends meet. Mrs. Spaeth has signed up for food stamps and uses the local food bank location and other various nonprofit organizations to help get food for her family. When asked, she confided that she “does not particularly enjoy needing assistance to help her family, but that is why the programs are there and she is more than greatly for the help feeding her family”. Many others like Mrs. Spaeth feel this way. In fact, there are some people that are embarrassed to have to rely on a program to help get food, but they overcome that embarrassment because it is necessary.

            Mrs. Spaeth and many others would have more problems than comforts if a bill that is trying to going to go through in Washington D.C. is passed into law. The bill, which got a full vote from senate, would cut the SNAP budget by four million dollars and another version of the bill, the House version, would cut spending by sixteen million (Idaho Business Review). Lisa Davis, the vice president of public policy for Feeding America, was quoted in Idaho Business Review to have the standing that “food stamps are immediately put back into the local economy, which helps farmer, trucking operations and grocery stores, among others”. The cut would mostly affect the elderly and the children that are relying on the program. This cut could also cause a decline in the economy that currently has unseen repercussions. One of the politicians voting on the bill, Idaho’s own Rep. Mike Simpson was reported to have stated that “the House version of the bill is more of a necessity than a want” (Idaho Business Review). The bill is meant to help America start to climb out of our deficit, but it would cause even more problems for those that are relying on Food Stamps to feed their families.

            The problem isn’t just in the Treasure Valley area either. Kimberlee Kreusi wrote in the Twin Falls Times-News that Twin Falls and the surrounding area is also having problems. She reported that an average meal went up by twenty cents, which adds up to an increase of $220 a year per person. For a family, that adds up even more and can be a devastated difference.  She also reported that in 2010, 17% of Idahoans all of the state didn’t know where they were going to be getting their next meal. The whole state of Idaho is in trouble, not just one part or one city or one county. It is almost a guarantee that someone you know has food insecurity and is worried about how they are going to feed their families in the next days.

            Another problem that is arising is the rise in students being eligible for free or reduced lunches at schools. In an AP Regional State Report done in Idaho Falls, in 2011 nearly 50% of students were eligible to receive subsidizing lunches. That is a large increase from 2008 when it was at 37%. Even though the increasing number of students receiving subsidized lunches is helping the schools receive more funding and help, it also shows the increase in poverty and hunger in the area. There are more that schools are doing to help hunger with children. They are participating in the Backpack Program which gives families the opportunity to receive a bag of food with their children every week that is supplied from the local food bank.

            George Prentice wrote in the Boise Weekly in an October 2011 edition that a group of twenty Treasure Valley attorneys were participating in the Attorneys Against Hunger Challenge The challenge required them each to live on $30 for a week which boils down to $4.30 a day, the rough estimate of the budget of one in four Americans. One attorney, Jordan Taylor with the Idaho State Appellate Public Defender’s Office, was reported to say that “Our biggest challenge is to prepare healthy and delicious food”. One of the biggest problems that coincide with the hunger epidemic is that healthier foods cost more than the less healthy options. As a friend was quoted to say “why spend almost $4 on a salad when a cheeseburger is only $1”. It does not help matter that fast food restaurants have their dollar menus with cheap and quick food, but that food is high in calories and usually smothered in grease. Healthier foods cost more and as the people in your family grow in numbers, the less money per person you have to spend. Most families have to go with the cheaper choice.

            AARP reported that roughly 6% of elderly Idahoans are facing the risk of hunger. 1 in 11 elderly, 50 and over, Americans are at risk which is an 80% increase in a 10 year span. Elderly are some of the worst affected people when it comes to hunger. The majority of elderly are on a fixed income of SSI, SSD, or some kind of retirement or pension which makes it very hard for them to make ends meet. With the prices of things rising each year but their incomes not rising with them, it makes things even more difficult. The elderly have to take part time jobs and odd jobs to supplement their incomes. They have to seek help from food banks and Health and Welfare and family to make sure they have food for the month.

            The PR Newswire did an article on The Grocery Outlet, a well known store that sells food items and other household type items at a discounted price, stating that they did a huge food drive to help feed those that are facing food insecurity. With their 164,000 stores, they raised just under $300,000 in a variety of donations to help food banks to help food organizations in Idaho and a few other states on the west coast. With continued efforts and donations like this, we could really help the food insecurity that is growing in our state, in our own neighborhoods. Don’t forget that this isn’t just a problem for those without jobs or that are in extreme poverty, even those with jobs are struggling to feed their families.

            The problem of poverty and hunger is still growing and will continue to grow unless we find a way to stop it, or at least help more than is currently being done. The hunger rate is growing faster with each year as the cost of living rises but the wages don’t. Poverty and hunger go hand in hand, work on one and the other will be helped as well. Health and Welfare and the Idaho Food Bank are doing everything they can to help those in need and while Health and Welfare is government funded, the Idaho Food Bank needs help. They need volunteers and donations to keep helping those in need. As it stands right now, the Food Bank is struggling to keep up with the demand and the need for help with hunger. We may not be able to solve the problem of hunger immediately, but we can over time. It will take a few years, but it will be worth it to see our community in a better place and able to feed their families.

Works Cited

Abramsky, Sasha. "Is Idaho The Future?." Progressive 69.9 (2005): 28.MasterFILE Premier. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Facts, Figures, and Trends: 2012-2013.

Kruesi, Kimberlee. "Report: Hunger Grew in Idaho in 2010." Times-News, The (Twin Falls, ID) 01 May 2012: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.

PR, Newswire. "AARP Report: Over 6% of Older Idahoans Face Risk of Hunger." PR Newswire US 30 Aug. 2011: Regional Business News. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.

PR, Newswire. "Grocery Outlet Helps Feed People Facing Hunger." PR Newswire US 16 Aug. 2012: Regional Business News. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.

Prentice, George. "ATTORNEYS AGAINST HUNGER CHALLENGE." Boise Weekly 05 Oct. 2011: 41. Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.

Proctor, David. Media and Public Relations of the Idaho Food Bank. Personal Communication.

Sean, Olson. "Food Stamp Cuts Could Hurt Idaho Economies, Hunger Organizations Warn." Idaho Business Review (Boise, ID) (n.d.): Regional Business News. Web. 24 Feb. 2013.

Spaeth, Christie. Personal Communication Interview.

The Associated, Press. "More Idaho Students Qualify For Free School Meals." AP Regional State Report - Idaho (2012): Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.