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Kathy Fisher's Testimony to City Council

Good Morning. My name is Kathy Fisher, and I am the Policy Manager at the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger. Thank you, for taking the time to consider this very important resolution, to all of its sponsors, and to Councilwoman Blackwell for inviting me to testify today.

The Coalition works to build a community where all people have the food they need to lead healthy lives. We connect families with SNAP (Food Stamps) and other food resources, provide food pantries capacity building assistance; and, advocate for policies that improve access to nutrition supports.

As you know all too well, poverty and food insecurity are the day to day reality for far too many Philadelphians. These challenges negatively impact health, learning, and human potential, as well as impede the progress of our city. Currently, nearly half a million Philadelphia residents receive SNAP benefits, roughly one in three Philadelphians. About 40% those receiving SNAP are children. The average monthly benefit is $134 per person, just $1.43 per meal.

We know for the vast majority of families participating in SNAP, its benefits are not enough. We receive calls every day from those who need help from food pantries to get through the month. The inadequacy of SNAP is also documented by research. In 2011, Children’s Health Watch and Drexel’s Center for Hunger-Free Communities found that USDA’s “Thrifty Food plan,” upon which SNAP benefits are based, was unaffordable even with a maximum SNAP grant.

Philadelphia’s SNAP participation remains 61% higher than pre-recession levels. Despite slow improvement to the economy, more families rely on part-time, low-wage work, which often provides both unreliable hours and limited or no benefits. Those who had once made occasional trips to a food pantry now turn to them on a routine basis. The informal and growing network of food pantries across the county that had once been referred to as the “emergency food system” is increasingly being recognized as a “supplemental food system.”

Food insecurity is exacerbated by the fact that other safety net programs have not responded to growing needs. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), or cash welfare for families with children, serves just a fraction of those who are eligible. Pennsylvania’s General Assistance (GA) program, cash assistance for those without children, has been eliminated. Housing and child care subsidy funding levels are a fraction of what is needed. Tens of thousands of those who are eligible remain stranded on waiting lists.

Combine the shortfall of these supports with the fact that many families must stretch their SNAP benefits to help others – from those who have had their benefits temporarily cut off to family members who have returned home from incarceration who are not yet connected to benefits – and food insecurity deepens. Families do their best to provide for their children, but they cannot fully protect them from the repercussions of scarcity.

Why am I giving you all this background on SNAP and the limitations of other benefits? Because it helps to show that every meal matters. Improving access to food assistance is a key way to support children’s health and well-being, as well as to help families stretch their limited income to provide for other basic needs.

Philadelphia schools, including District, charter, private and parochial schools, provide more than 211,000 free and reduced-price meals to students on an average school day (see Table below). Emergency school closings not only cause children to miss these healthy meals, but often also cause parents to lose wages. When schools close unexpectedly, parents may miss work to stay home with children. In the case of severe weather, many businesses close or tell shift workers they do not need to come in. For parents who are paid hourly and do not have sick leave, the loss of school meals is a double-whammy. They not only have to provide meals their children would have eaten at school, but they also have less money to do so.

I am so pleased that this resolution has proposed a pilot to provide children with meals when schools are closed due to emergencies. While the logistics may prove difficult, I am certain they can be overcome through cooperation between city departments, the School District, SEPTA and others. However, I also want to take the opportunity to remind you that there is more that can be done to reach children not only on days schools close for emergencies, but also during scheduled school breaks.

The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is an incredibly flexible program that can be utilized on weekends, school holidays, and scheduled school breaks during the school year. In addition to schools and child care centers, recreation centers, faith-based and other non-profit organizations can provide sites and be reimbursed for meals. In addition, while the Department of Parks and Recreation and other sponsors in the city have done a tremendous job of increasing access to summer meals for children through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), gaps in summer coverage remain. Like CACFP, SFSP can also be utilized seven days a week at a wide variety of sites.

I hope this resolution is just the start of plans to broaden partnerships and use the federal nutrition programs so that no child goes hungry when school is out. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have, as well as to provide further information you may need as this pilot moves forward. Thank you.