We knew things were bad on Wall Street,
but on Main Street it may be worse. Startling official statistics
show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States,
a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food
stamps just to feed themselves and their families.
Dismal projections by the Congressional Budget Office in Washington
suggest that in the fiscal year starting in October, 28 million
people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy
essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance
programme was introduced in the 1960s.
The increase – from 26.5 million in 2007 – is due
partly to recent efforts to increase public awareness of the
programme and also a switch from paper coupons to electronic
debit cards. But above all it is the pressures being exerted
on ordinary Americans by an economy that is suddenly beset by
troubles. Housing foreclosures, accelerating jobs losses and
fast-rising prices all add to the squeeze.
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Emblematic of the downturn until now has been the parades of
houses seized in foreclosure all across the country, and myriad
families separated from their homes. But now the crisis is starting
to hit the country in its gut. Getting food on the table is
a challenge many Americans are finding harder to meet. As a
barometer of the country's economic health, food stamp usage
may not be perfect, but can certainly tell a story.
Michigan has been in its own mini-recession for years as its
collapsing industrial base, particularly in the car industry,
has cast more and more out of work. Now, one in eight residents
of the state is on food stamps, double the level in 2000. "We
have seen a dramatic increase in recent years, but we have also
seen it climbing more in recent months," Maureen Sorbet,
a spokeswoman for Michigan's programme, said. "It's been
increasing steadily. Without the programme, some families and
kids would be going without."
But the trend is not restricted to the rust-belt regions. Forty
states are reporting increases in applications for the stamps,
actually electronic cards that are filled automatically once
a month by the government and are swiped by shoppers at the
till, in the 12 months from December 2006. At least six states,
including Florida, Arizona and Maryland, have had a 10 per cent
increase in the past year.
In Rhode Island, the segment of the population on food stamps
has risen by 18 per cent in two years. The food programme started
40 years ago when hunger was still a daily fact of life for
many Americans. The recent switch from paper coupons to the
plastic card system has helped remove some of the stigma associated
with the food stamp programme. The card can be swiped as easily
as a bank debit card. To qualify for the cards, Americans do
not have to be exactly on the breadline. The programme is available
to people whose earnings are just above the official poverty
line. For Hubert Liepnieks, the card is a lifeline he could
never afford to lose. Just out of prison, he sleeps in overnight
shelters in Manhattan and uses the card at a Morgan Williams
supermarket on East 23rd Street. Yesterday, he and his fiancée,
Christine Schultz, who is in a wheelchair, shared one banana
and a cup of coffee bought with the 82 cents left on it.
