‘Fragile families’ face SNAP cuts

On Nov. 1, more than 230,000 residents in St. Louis city and county saw a decrease in their food-stamp allotment – among 47 million people nationwide.

The cuts came after the federal stimulus money used in 2009 to increase funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, expired in November.

For a family of four, the average cut in food stamps will be $36 a month – from $668 to $632.

“That may sound insignificant, until you start thinking that these are families that had difficulty feeding themselves in the first place,” said Sandra M. Moore, president of Urban Strategies, a St. Louis-based nonprofit that provides resources to distressed urban neighborhoods.

For months, Moore and her team at Urban Strategies have been working with the 4,000 families they serve in North City to help make the transition easier. For some families, Moore said they will be able to tighten their budgets with some tips on how to shop wisely.

However, others will need support from local food pantries.

“I can’t emphasize enough the importance of the food pantries,” she said. “They are closing the gap, and they need the donations.”

Because of the cuts, many food banks and pantries expect to be hit hard this winter, said Jo Britt-Rankin, an associate dean at the University of Missouri Extension and director of the extension’s SNAP education program.  

“We haven’t seen the economy recover as we’ve hoped to,” she said. “Now families are going into the winter. Their utility bills go up, food costs go up. These are fragile families, and their resources are already stretched. Food banks are very concerned that they aren’t going to have enough to provide the resources these families need.”

In Missouri, one in 6 people, or 900,000 residents, benefit from food stamps, Britt-Rankin said. Many of these families may already receive other food assistance, such as free school meals.  

“Really, there’s not another safety net that I can think of, other than the pantries, to provide the support,” Britt-Rankin said.

The MU Extension works with local organizations such as the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis to teach people how to buy healthy food and stretch their food dollars.

“We know that when families go through education, they are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables, are better able to budget and don’t run out of food at the end of the month,” she said.

Urban Strategies provides such education to the neighborhoods it serves, including Murphy Park, North Sarah and Arlington Grove. Shaughnessy Daniels, vice president of Urban Strategies, said their case management team has been working with families for months to prepare them for the impact.

“We are working with them to develop shopping lists and help them plan their meals ahead of time,” she said.

Prepared meals are often less healthy and more costly, she said. She advises families to instead buy staple items, such as rice and pasta.

In the North Sarah HUD Hope VI development, 77 percent of the residents will be affected by the SNAP cuts.

“We are anticipating that there will be a lot of hardship within our communities,” Daniels said. “It’s not just low-income families. Our communities are mixed-income. There are middle-class and working-poor families who are having to reach out and take advantage of the government assistance as well.”

Across the state, many of the people who are signing up for SNAP benefits are first-time applicants, Britt-Rankin said. These are people who have never received food stamps before.

“I think we have a lot of fragile families, and more and more are becoming food-insecure,” she said.

That trend is true throughout the country. As a result, the program has more than doubled in cost since 2008, now costing almost $80 billion a year nationally. That large increase in spending has turned the SNAP program into a target for U.S. House Republicans looking to reduce spending. More cuts are expected in the future.

Daniels said she encourages those who are struggling with the food-stamp cuts to reach out to their local food banks and churches.

“There will be folks who don’t say anything, and they won’t eat,” she said. “Don’t be afraid, and call the food bank and ask for help.”

For a list of area food pantries, visit www.foodpantries.org/ci/mo-st._louis.