Ohio among worst states nationally for food security, report finds
Posted September 09, 2015 in Selected Press
Ohio now ranks third in the nation for families forced to skip meals or eat less because they didn't have the money or resources to put food on their table. Advocates for the poor blame the increase on a state decision to cut off food stamps to tens of thousands of Ohioans. According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Wednesday, 7.5 percent of Ohio households experienced "very low food security" from 2012 to 2014. That's up from the state's 6.4 percent average from 2009 to 2011, and worse than every state but Arkansas and Missouri.
Ohio now ranks third in the nation for families forced to skip meals or eat less because they didn't have the money or resources to put food on their table.
Advocates for the poor blame the increase on a state decision to cut off food stamps to tens of thousands of Ohioans.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Wednesday, 7.5 percent of Ohio households experienced "very low food security" from 2012 to 2014. That's up from the state's 6.4 percent average from 2009 to 2011, and worse than every state but Arkansas and Missouri.
The national rate held steady during that period at 5.6 percent.
Advocates for poor said who continue to struggle with hunger.
"Wage stagnation, unemployment or underemployment, part-time or contingent work – this is the new norm for Ohio," said Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks.
With the economic recovery bypassing thousands of Ohio families, Hamler-Fugitt cautioned that hunger makes it harder for students to learn, more difficult for workers to be productive, and contributes to poor health.
Kelli Trinoskey, director of community relations at the Salvation Army in Central Ohio, said her organization has seen a steady increase in demand for food assistance in recent years, particularly in summer when children aren't in school.
"It's the working poor. They have jobs but maybe their hours were cut and they can't make ends meet," she said.
The advocates and others have called on Gov. John Kasich to reconsider the administration's decision to deny so many poor Ohioans access to food stamps.
"We are one of the states which made the requirement for food stamps more difficult," Trinoskey said. "That's one reason we are struggling. The safety net was taken away."
Under federal rules, able-bodied adults, aged 18 to 50, without dependent children are restricted to food stamps for 3 out of 36 months unless they work at least 20 hours a week. Since the recession, however, states have been able to seek a waiver to that rule in areas of higher unemployment.
According to a recent report by Policy Matters Ohio, the Kasich administration requested a 2016 waiver for 18 mostly rural counties where jobs are scarce, but failed to include other counties and cities that also could qualify.
"In a state with hunger levels higher than the national average, state government needs to maximize access to federal food aid to help hungry Ohioans and stimulate lagging local economies," wrote Wendy Patton, Policy Matters senior project director, who authored the report.
Hamler-Fugitt said 140,000 have been removed from food stamp rolls since 2013, most due to failing to meet work requirements. At the same time, 500,000 poor Ohioans have been enrolled in Medicaid health coverage which has higher eligibility guidelines.
"They have a Medicaid card but no means of feeding themselves," she said.
Ben Johnson, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, defended the decision, saying "a job is the best anti-poverty program." He noted that the administration has expanded access to child care and job training while providing additional funding to food pantries.
"The decision to only accept a waiver in limited counties does not deny food assistance to anyone, it just means job training, or work experience, and we think that's an important part of the program," Johnson said.
The agriculture department report found that Ohio ranked sixth in the nation for food insecurity, more broadly defined as households facing uncertainty or limited ability to provide food.
Between 2012 and 2014, 16.9 percent of Ohio families households faced such struggles, up from 15.5 percent between 2009 to 2011.
The national food-insecurity rate was 14.3 percent between 2012 and 2014, down from 14.7 percent the previous three-year period.
"I think it's getting worse than it's getting better because my numbers don't drop," said David Drumm, who manages a pantry operated by Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio. The pantry serves about 8,000 people a month.
"The problem for food is it's too expensive," said Amimata Va, a 35-year-old unemployed mother of two who came to a South Side pantry for food Wednesday.
"Before, you have $100 and you go to something like Aldi ... you get a lot of food," she said, " but now, you don't get a lot of food."
Original Article: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015...