Successful program will battle hunger across countiesDate: 10/4/2010 Oct. 4, 2010
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
SPRINGFIELD -- The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts plans to repeat throughout the four western counties the program that has helped increase access to affordable food in Springfield.
"Target: Hunger Springfield" has been a five-year pilot program in which the Hatfield-based emergency food distribution program has assisted the city's food pantries to build greater capacity.
The announcement was made at the Food Bank's second annual Hunger Summit conducted on Sept. 29 at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.
Andrew Morehouse, the Food Bank's executive director, explained to Reminder Publications that, "Target: Hunger Springfield" connected local food programs to other program and activities such as farmers markets, community gardens and nutrition education. The effort also worked with local agencies to promote enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the federal food stamp program.
About half of the local food sites that serve the hungry -- food panties, meal sites, shelters and other feeding agencies -- are operated by faith-based organizations and 70 percent are "consistently concerned about their ability to survive," according to information supplied by the Food Bank.
About 54 percent of the sites rely on volunteers to run them and many of the sites cannot supply additional programs and information to help their clients. A survey conducted in 2009 indicated the programs want training in nutrition education, food handling and assistance in accessing local resources and in SNAP application.
Morehouse said he plans to expand the program throughout Hampden County and then bring it to the other three western counties.
The goal of the program was to slow down the trend Morehouse has seen: instead of the Food Bank providing emergency food items to people, it has become "an outlet of regular food distribution to address chronic food hardship," he said.
With the recession that started for many people in November, 2008, Morehouse said there has been an increase in demand for food from the Food Bank. From 2008 to 2009, the organization saw an increase in demand of 17 percent. From 2009 to 2010 there was only an increase of 1 to 2 percent.
The difference is that 15,000 people served weekly by the Food Bank are coming more frequently for provisions.
Morehouse said that, at one time, people sought food from the Food Bank once every two or three months. Now, people are coming once a month for help.
Over a third of the households that need emergency foods have at least one working adult in them. According to Food Bank statistics, 42 percent of the people seeking food assistance report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel. Thirty-six percent had to choose between food and paying rent or a mortgage and 26 percent had to choose between food or medicine or medical care.
He said the increase in frequency could be explained in part by the unemployment rates and the increases in the cots of food and oil. People trying to survive on minimum wage jobs have a difficult time coping with those increases.
"Hunger is a symptom of poverty," he said.
While trying to address the problem of hunger, one also has to consider jobs and a trained workforce, he added.
Morehouse said although Massachusetts has "seen the greatest increase in SNAP [participation] of all states in the last few years," the participation rate now stands at 65 percent.
There is room for greater participation, though, as Morehouse noted Maine is at 90 percent.
"The Participation Gap" is one of three gaps that affect the status of hunger in Western Massachusetts, Morehouse said. The other two are the "Hardship Gap" and the "Funding Gap."
"The Hardship Gap" addresses the difference between what people make on minimum wage and how much it actually costs to live here.
The difference between what is needed for funding and what is actually received from state and federal sources constitutes the "Funding Gap."
Morehouse said the federal stimulus funds will end Sept. 30 and organizations are "bracing for reductions in the amount of food and operating support."
Current legislation in Congress, he explained, would increase funding for breakfast programs for youth at the expense of cutting SNAP.
Morehouse said a discussion about hunger is also a discussion about society's priorities.
"If you're hungry you can't function," he said.
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