1 in 10 Ohioans on Food Stamps, Food Banks Short on Supplies

I mentioned food stamps in a post yesterday and today The Columbus Dispatch reports that approximately 1 in 10 residents of Ohio are enrolled in the assistance program, a record high for the state.

1.1 million residents are currently on food stamps, double the number of participants in 2001. Unemployment (the jobless rate is up from 4.4 % in 2001 to 5.3%), the low pay of available jobs and the rising costs of food and gasoline are contributing factors. It is estimated that another 500,000 residents are eligible but not currently enrolled in the program.

Individuals in households with incomes up to 130 percent of the federal poverty level and with assets no greater than $2,000 in most cases are eligble for food stamps. That’s earnings of no more than $22,880 a year for a family of three.

Recipients receive $100 a month. The federal government pays for the benefits while the state covers administrative costs.

But as the price of milk, fruits and other groceries climb, advocates say, recipients can buy less and less with that $100.

“Food stamps provide only about $1 per person, per meal. Who in the world is buying groceries with that?” asked Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Bank.

On average, food stamps are now providing less than two weeks of groceries.

“There’s the presumption that folks have the cash to make up the rest. Well, they don’t,” Frech said.

That is $100 per person per month, not per household, but that still is not nearly enough money to feed a family on. Food banks and soup kitchens are having trouble keeping up with the demand for their services.

In central Ohio, demand at the Mid-Ohio Food Bank in January was up 14 percent over the same period a year ago, with 120,000 requests for food.

The increased demand coupled with rising food costs and fewer donations have forced the food bank to reduce the five-day supply of food it had been giving out to a three-day supply.

“Milk is up 25 percent,” said Mid-Ohio president Matt Habash. “Applesauce, a big staple at food banks, has gone from $9 to $15 a case.”

In other areas of the state, pantries with their supplies depleted have been forced to temporarily close.

The Mid-Ohio Food Bank has a fantastic online food drive in conjunction with Giant Eagle supermarket where you can add food products like soup, peanut butter and canned vegetables (priced under $4 per item) to your shopping cart to purchase and donate. You can also donate a full bag ($5.00), several bags ($15), a shopping basket ($15) or a full cart ($50).   

The West Ohio Food Bank also has an online donation page of sorts. Rather than choosing individual products to purchase and donate, the site shows what the Bank is currently short on (for example: they need a case of canned Green Beans at a cost of $9.11) and allows you to fill that need. You can also donate money through the page. The page shows how many meals your donation helped serve. In the green bean example, it would be 36 meals.

The Freestore Food Bank (serving Cincinnati) has the same online donation process as West Ohio. But their needs are different and the site offers the chance to purchase a bag of food for a family of 4 for $20.00.

If you are aware of any other food banks in Ohio that have websites with donation opportunities, leave a mention in the comments and I’ll add it to the list.

Tags: poverty, Ohio, food stamps, food bank