Re "When holiday tables are bare," Column, Nov. 26
While the Thanksgiving holiday is a time of celebration for many families, for the 49 million Americans experiencing food insecurity, these are tough times.
The Great Recession forced many families and individuals into food pantry lines. It is seldom reported, but the economy has recovered a little more than 7.2 million of the 8.7 million jobs lost between the start of the recession in December 2007 and early 2010. It's not surprising that 47.6 million Americans have turned to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, called CalFresh locally) to help make ends meet.
This trend should indicate that this is the wrong time to cut SNAP, but nevertheless, benefits were cut on Nov. 1 due to congressional inaction. Consequently, a family of three receiving benefits was hit with a cut of 20 meals per month, a difficult hole to fill when the household budget is already tight. Food banks and the agencies that we serve are already stretched, so we can't make up for a cut of this magnitude overnight.