Denver (CO), Apr 3 (EFE).- Millions of families in the United States who, due to the pandemic, received emergency food assistance have been left on the brink of the “hunger cliff” following the US Congress. without effect that aid, warned a coalition of 600 Colorado community organizations.
At least 25 states ended in March the emergency increase established in March 2020 to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which has set off activists’ alarms. More than a dozen states had already done so since February.
“The precipice of hunger is very real and it is happening across the country as households see an immediate drop in access to necessary nutrition through SNAP, with few resources to fill that void,” Marc Jacobson told EFE. , director of Hunger Free Colorado, a coalition of 600 community organizations.
The end of this aid came at a time when grocery prices rose more than 10% over last year and families are still recovering from the pandemic, the activist added.
He maintains that “a new food crisis is looming”, a warning that is part of the report “Precipice of Hunger Campaign”, revealed last week.
The most recent Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics indicate that 41 million people (12% of the country’s population) face hunger or food insecurity, the most affected being families of single mothers, children (22 million minors depend on of free school meals) and the elderly.
USDA ranks California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois, in that order, as the hardest hit states in actual numbers (not percentages) in terms of hungry people. At the same time, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and New Mexico are the states with the highest rates (between 17% and 18%) of people who are food insecure.
In the case of Colorado, Jacobson warned that “with the reduction in SNAP benefit levels, more than 289,000 Colorado households (regarding 554,000 people) will have to find alternative ways to feed their families.”
“We anticipate that Hunger Free Colorado will be inundated with requests for assistance in the coming months,” he added.
The coalition had already experienced problems before the emergency allocations ran out. As a comparison, during 2022, Hunger Free Colorado helped some 85,000 families in this state to access food in the quantity and quality needed.
Simultaneously, “food banks and food distribution programs have already seen a strong increase in demand and are anxious regarding the future of their services,” a report notes.
Among the Coloradans nearing the “hunger precipice” is Daniel (he asked to use only that name), a Venezuelan who arrived in Denver two months ago seeking asylum but has so far found neither permanent housing nor a source of income, nor enough food aid.
“We are migrants. We need food. They tell us where they distribute it, but we don’t have a way to go looking for it. We have a place to be in Denver, but we don’t have a car or a job. We have looked for a job, but they don’t give us,” Daniel told EFE.
In fact, those local community organizations that helped newly arrived Venezuelans last December and January are now overwhelmed by other calls for help and, at the same time, no longer receive the municipal funds they previously received.
For her part, Silvia (she did not give her last name due to her unresolved immigration status), arrived with her husband from South America to Colorado more than two decades ago. The recent and sudden death of the man left her, already in her sixties, practically bankrupt.
“A church raised the money for my husband’s funeral and also gave me food every week. In my country I was a lawyer. I am now an undocumented widow. I cannot return to my country nor can I stay here. I have some friends, but the crisis also affects them,” said the immigrant.
In his report, Jacobson called for working towards “a world in which all people have equitable access to food resources so that they can prosper and reach their full potential.”
In the United States, that task has become more complicated. Since the beginning of the year, 36 states have reduced public food aid and cut funds for emergency aid, the Pew Trust organization reported last week, which anticipated that other states will take similar measures starting next May, with new budget cuts in 2024.
