The writer, of Omaha, is president and CEO of Food Bank for the Heartland.
As Congress crafts a budget that addresses our nation’s long-term fiscal challenges, the Food Bank for the Heartland and our agency partners — 375 food pantries, meal sites, shelters, senior centers and after-school programs — are urging our elected officials to safeguard nutrition assistance and other safety net programs. The number of families struggling to make ends meet increased significantly during the recession, and the need for food assistance remains high.
We understand that the United States needs to make significant cuts in its expenditures. Some cuts, however, are not right.
Congress is proposing cuts that would eliminate federal food assistance for hundreds of thousands of low-income seniors, women, infants and children, pushing more people to local charities for food assistance. At the same time, Congress would reduce support for local emergency food providers like Food Bank for the Heartland.
Not only would our food bank be unable to meet the increased demand for food assistance if these cuts to nutrition programs go through, but we also would have to reduce current levels of support for existing clients.
Programs like the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) provide food at no cost to low-income Americans in need of short-term hunger relief through organizations such as Food Bank for the Heartland. While we rely on generous donations from individual donors and community and business partners, the healthy and nutritious foods provided through TEFAP are the backbone of the charitable food system, generating 23 percent of the food that flows through our local hunger relief agencies.
More than 175,000 people in Nebraska rely upon the food bank and our partner agencies to help feed their families. There has been a 48 percent increase in agency visits since 2009. This year, many agencies are again seeing double-digit increases in the number of people served.
TEFAP provides our partner agencies with foods that are high in protein, as well as fruits, vegetables and staple food items. The proposed cuts to TEFAP would devastate operations of pantries and food banks that are already struggling to meet the rising demand for their services.
If TEFAP food purchases drop as expected by 50 percent, Food Bank for the Heartland and our 375 partners will likely face empty pantries, beginning this summer and continuing into the holiday season and beyond.
With one in six of our neighbors struggling with hunger, demand for charitable food remains high across our community. We must keep TEFAP and all of the nutritional safety net programs strong. The health of our communities depends on it.
While we agree that Congress and the president need to make tough choices to get our nation’s fiscal house in order, deficit reduction shouldn’t come at the expense of the most vulnerable among us.
We urge you to contact Sens. Mike Johanns and Ben Nelson and Rep. Lee Terry to let them know that you support the federal government doing its part to feed our hungry neighbors here and across the country during these trying times.
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