Newsgroup: it.economia.borsa
Titolo: 1 su 9 americani mangiano con i buoni pasto

Bisogna proprio dire che la ripresa � cominciata. Bravo e grazie agli 
aiuti ipermiliardari del meticcio di Obama alle banche anche le 
famiglie indigenti possono mangiare, questo secondo i dati del US 
Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Ref:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/food-a20.shtml
One in nine Americans relied on food stamps in May, the highest 
proportion ever, according to recently released data from the US 
Department of Agriculture (USDA). In all, 34.4 million people used the 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a federal program 
that provides assistance to low-income people, an increase of more than 
2 percent from the previous month, and a staggering increase of 6 
million over the past year.
May�s increase was the sixth consecutive month that set a new record in 
food stamp use. Government food assistance increased in every state, 
with Florida registering the sharpest gain at 4.2 percent.
The year-over-year percentage increase in food stamp use is more 
striking, with 13 states, representing every region of the country, 
registering a spike of more than 25 percent. These were Utah (45.5 
percent), Nevada (39 percent), Idaho (36.3 percent), Washington (34.5 
percent), Florida (34.2 percent), Vermont (33.6 percent), Wisconsin 
(31.3 percent), Arizona (29.7 percent), Colorado (28.9 percent), 
Georgia (28.3 percent), Maryland (27.2 percent), Massachusetts (25.3 
percent), and Oregon (25 percent).
�Food stamp enrollment is rising because the economy is having a 
devastating impact on low-income families and they need this program to 
eat,� said Stacy Dean of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 
said. �Every single state has been affected.�
The food stamp program is largely funded by the federal government and 
administered by the states. Historically, recipients could redeem 
stamps or coupons for food assistance at grocery stores, but in recent 
years paper stamps have been phased out in favor of a debit card system 
called Electronic Benefit Transfer.
The program aims to assist the desperately poor. According to the USDA, 
the average gross monthly income of food stamp-receiving households was 
$640, with nearly 80 percent of all benefits going to households with 
children.
The program provides an average of $133 monthly per person requesting 
food assistance. By way of comparison, according to the USDA�s own 
estimates, a �low-cost� monthly nutritional scheme for a single teenage 
boy requires a minimum of $220 spending on food per month.
Federal food assistance for the poor was a Great Society measure 
created during the the Lyndon Johnson administration (1963-1969). Since 
the late 1970s, it has weathered round after round of cuts at the hands 
of both Democratic and Republican administrations and congresses, who 
claimed to be creating a �culture of responsibility� among the poor.
The most savage of these cuts came in 1996, through Bill Clinton�s 
�Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act,� 
which eliminated eligibility for legal immigrants (these restrictions 
have since been only slightly relaxed), limited stamp use for �able 
bodied� adults without dependents to three months during a 36-month 
period, and substantially reduced maximum food benefits.
The result is a food stamp program that, even in more favorable 
economic conditions, fails to meet basic nutritional needs and shuts 
out the vast majority of the working class from any assistance 
whatsoever. The economic crisis has laid bare the woefully inadequate 
character of the program and the �social safety net� as a whole.
In Texas, demand is such that in July the state was delinquent in 
processing nearly 40 percent of new requests. Rachel Cavazos, who has 
four children, is jobless, and is in the midst of a divorce, applied 
for food stamps in April and has not yet heard back on her request. 
�It�s very hurtful, especially when somebody doesn�t give you the 
benefit of the doubt,� the 32-year-old Houston native recently told the 
Houston and Texas News. �The help is not for me. It�s for my babies. I 
don�t want my children to suffer.�
Recently at a Dallas, Texas, food stamp office, a line of the desperate 
and hungry formed before 5 a.m. �I got a four, a five and a 15-year-
old. And right now I got $2.27. So we�re going to have some Ramen 
noodles tonight,� Kenyadda Momanyi told a local news station. A class 
action lawsuit has been filed against the state of Texas to force it to 
process applications more swiftly.
Mickey Warren, food directer of Christian Life Food Pantry in Knox 
County, Kentucky, recently went before the local Chamber of Commerce in 
a desperate bid for charitable contributions. �It�s toward the end of 
the month and people are starting to look for more and more food, 
because by now the ones that draw food stamps, they�re gone, the kids 
are hungry,� he said.
�Warren recalled [recently watching] a small girl rip open a whole 
pound cake package in the pantry parking lot, grasping it with both 
hands and eating it like a candy bar, because she had been hungry,� the 
local TimesTribune.com reported.
In Wichita, Kansas, a grandmother summed up her plight in a word. �The 
most simple word would be we�re hungry,� Kathi Boggs told a local news 
station, as she sat with her 6-year-old grandson, Alex, at a soup 
kitchen. �At the end of the day there�s not enough for food.�
�People are desperate,� said Gary Madden, a charity worker who assists 
people in gaining access to food stamps in San Bernardino County, 
California. �People calling now are saying things like �I�ve never 
asked for help in my life. I don�t know what I�m going to do. I�ve lost 
my job and I�m about to lose my home.� More men are calling. Families 
are doubling up in homes.�
�Callers are saying, �bank bailouts, auto company bailouts, where�s my 
bailout?�,� Madden told BlackVoiceNews.com.
-- 
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