“The 35 million Americans who go hungry, the 37 million people who live in poverty every day, the 47 million Americans have no health care coverage – they have no lobbyist. They depend on us. When is our party going to show a little backbone and strength and courage and speak up for those people who have been left behind?” – John Edwards

More than 35.5 million Americans went hungry last year, including almost 13 million children. The nation’s food banks are reporting increased demand, particularly among working families. The cost of food is rising faster than at any time in nearly 20 years. The average family is earning less than they did in 2000 and household costs like health care and energy are going up. Food insecurity is one more sign that the economy is not working for regular families. [USDA, 2007; America’s Second Harvest, 2007; AP, 10/8/07; N.Y. Times, 8/21/07] John Edwards has made helping working families and ending poverty the centerpiece of his campaign. He has already outlined his plans to:

· End poverty within a generation by raising the minimum wage, cutting taxes for low-income workers, turning around struggling schools, expanding affordable housing near good jobs and schools, and encouraging responsible families.

· Provide true universal health care that will make provide quality, affordable care for every American. Nearly one-third of families served at America’s food banks have had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care. [ASH, 2007]

· Make work pay by cutting taxes for low-income and middle-class families, strengthening unions, and raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2012.

· Strengthen the safety net for workers who lose their jobs by expanding unemployment insurance to cover 500,000 more workers.

Today, as American families begin to gather together to celebrate Thanksgiving, John Edwards laid out a six-point plan to address widespread hunger. He released new proposals to expand food stamps and other food aid for low-income families, children and seniors. He will also help families struggling with home heating costs and improve access to healthy food in every community.

1. Pass a Farm Bill with Strong Nutrition Programs: The nutrition programs in the Farm Bill are critical to increasing food security in America. Just two programs – food stamps and the Emergency Food Assistance Program for food banks – help about 25 million Americans a year each. Unfortunately, federal funding has not kept pace with growing need and rising costs. Last week, Senate Republicans used a filibuster to block the farm bill, sending Congress home for Thanksgiving withouthelping overtaxed food banks or hungry families. Edwards believes that Congress should quickly pass a strong and fair farm bill with robust funding for federal nutrition programs and President Bush should sign it. [ASH, 2007]

2. Get Food Aid to More Eligible Families : Food stamps – cash assistance averaging only about $1 per person per meal – help families purchase food and provide nearly a two-to-one benefit for the local economy. But one out of every three eligible families is not enrolled in the program, including millions of families who visit food banks and other community food services. Edwards will expand a pilot program, Express Stamps, which provides online enrollment kiosks at local foodpantries. He will expand alternative hours at food stamp eligibility offices so that working families can enroll without missing work. To modernize eligibility and benefits, Edwards believes that Congress should quickly pass reforms to raise the minimum benefit level (which has remained at $10 since 1977), allow families to deduct their actual child care costs and protect families with modest retirement or education savings so they do not have to chose between putting food on the table and their longer-term need of preparing for the future. [CBPP, 2007; USDA, 2006 and 2007]

 

3. Provide Healthy Meals for Children : The 12 million American children who go hungry are 90 percent more likely to be in fair or poor health, have 30 percent higher hospitalization rates, and have lower test scores, attendance and other academic indicators. As president, Edwards will ensure robust funding to meet the nutritional needs of low-income school children through school breakfasts, free and reduced lunches, after-school snacks, fruit and vegetable programs, and the critical but under-used Summer FoodProgram. [Cook et al., 2004; Frongillo et al., 2005]

 

4. Strengthen Food Support for Seniors : One in six low-income elderly families does not have a regular, reliable source of enough to eat. President Bush has repeatedly proposed eliminating funding for the critical Commodity Supplemental Food program, which delivers nutritious food packages to nearly half a million seniors in 32 states and two Indian territories. Edwards will strengthen support for this program and expand other supportive servicesincluding Meals-on-Wheels for seniors and people with disabilities. [CBPP, 2007]

 

5. Address the “Heat or Eat” Crisis : Nearly half of the families served by the nation’s food banks have been forced to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel. Without assistance, even more families will struggle with this winter’s anticipated record home heating prices. Today, Edwards called on President Bush and Congress to fully fund theLow-Income Home Energy Assistance Program — nearly doubling it to $5.1 billion – and adjust the standard utility allowance in food stamp eligibility rules to reflect soaring prices. He will help states implement new low- and no-interest consumer loan programs through states and non-profits and double the funding for weatherizing homes. He also has a plan to fight rising oil and gas prices by creating energy competition, reducing speculation in the oil and gas markets, and bringing down demand through greater building conservation, fuel efficiency and access to renewable sources. [ASH, 2006; EIA, 2007]

 

6. Support Food Access in Every Neighborhood : Wealthy neighborhoods have over three times as many supermarkets as non-wealthy neighborhoods. Small corner stores are usually more expensive and offer less nutritious food. Food-insecure families in rural areas often face high transportation costs to reach the nearest food pantries. As president, Edwards will launch a public-private partnership to bring fresh, nutritious food to new neighborhoods. He will create a national food access map that identifies neighborhoods lacking grocery stores, emergency food banks and regular access to fresh produce. His new Healthy Neighborhoods Seed Fund will offer needy communities challenge grants for projects including full-service supermarkets, community gardens and food stamp-friendly farmers’ markets. [PolicyLink, 2005]