(Philadelphia, PA) August 11, 2011 – Nearly half of households with children in Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District (49.6 percent) reported not having enough money to buy the food they needed during 2009-10, according to a new analysis of national food hardship data released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC).
This distressingly high rate places the District, represented by Congressman Bob Brady, as the second hungriest of the country’s 436 Congressional Districts. At 32.2 percent the Second Congressional District represented by Congressman Chaka Fattah placed 42nd on the food hardship list.
FRAC’s Food Hardship in America series analyzes data collected by Gallup. The FRAC analysis examines food hardship rates – the inability to afford enough food – for households with and without children in all states and Congressional Districts, as well as the country’s 100 largest metropolitan areas. Findings for Southeastern Pennsylvania are as follows:
Congressional Districts in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties (represented by Congressmen Gerlach, Meehan, Fitzpatrick and Congresswoman Schwartz) having food hardship rates placing them fairly low in the national rankings should not be a point of pride, says Kathy Fisher, Family Economic Security Associate for Public Citizens for Children and Youth.
“The food hardship rates for all households – and particularly for households with children – are far too high,” Fisher notes. “With additional deficit reduction decisions to come, each member of Congress who votes to cut vital nutrition assistance should look a hungry child in the face and explain why they are choosing to cut programs that provide food for families.”
Additional Pennsylvania findings of the report:
• In 2009-2010, 21.6 percent of households with children in Pennsylvania were unable to afford enough food. The food hardship rate for households without children was 13.3 percent.
• High levels of food hardship exist across the Commonwealth. In over half of Pennsylvania’s 19 Congressional Districts more than one in five households with children report food hardship in 2008-2010; in 17 of 19 districts the rate was 15 percent or higher.
• In the U.S. as a whole, 23 percent of households with children faced food hardship.
• Nationally, in 312 of the nation’s 435 Congressional Districts (72 percent), at least one in five households with children faced food hardship in the past twelve months from 2009-2010.
“These new data reaffirm what we’re seeing in our communities – far too many families continue to struggle with hunger as unemployment and underemployment remain high,” Fisher says. “This is not the time to make our safety net weaker. Without SNAP (formerly Food Stamps) and other child nutrition programs responding during the recession these appalling food hardship numbers would likely be even worse.”
Congress returns in September to begin the next phase of work stemming from the recently-passed debt ceiling deal legislation. Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey was named to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (“Super Committee”) charged with developing plans to cut an additional $1.5 trillion in spending. In this special role, PCCY urges the Senator – and all of Pennsylvania’s Congressional members – to protect from cuts nutrition assistance programs such as SNAP (food stamps), school meals, and WIC, as well as other critical programs for children.
“Hunger is a problem in every corner of America, and should be a concern for ordinary citizens as well as elected officials at every level of government,” Fisher says. “In our extraordinarily wealthy nation, far too many people are not able to afford enough food for their families.”
The full FRAC analysis is available on their website: www.frac.org.