FOOD BANK PROBLEMS STARTING WITH EBT REDUCTION

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/pa-food-bank-head-warns-demand-cannot-be-met_11042013


PA Food Bank Head Warns Demand Cannot be Met
Paul Joseph Watson
November 4th, 2013
Infowars.com
Comments (37)
Read by 1,892 people


SHTFplan Editor’s Note: The following article from Paul Joseph Watson of Infowars.com highlights the growing plight of millions of Americans. With the economy in shambles and decent jobs virtually non-existent, more and more people are being forced to depend on outside assistance to put food on their tables. This week the US government’s emergency food aid expired, leading to an average cut of about $36 for those currently on nutritional assistance. That number may not seem like much, but cumulatively it totals about $5 billion worth of aid, a massive number when you consider the amount of food that could be purchased with this amount.

In essence, $5 billion was literally just taken off the table, leaving many people scrambling to find their next meal. Now, food pantries across the country are struggling to keep up, and many have even warned of uprisings as a result of benefit cuts and ever-rising food costs. We’ll soon reach a breaking point, and it’ll happen when price inflation drives costs so high that people can no longer acquire the food they need to survive, or benefits get cut to such an extent that there simply isn’t enough on the EBT cards to go around. Once this happens, we can fully expect widespread protests, which will likely evolve into full-scale rioting and looting. If there’s one thing that will get even the most peaceful members of our society up in arms, it’s lack of food in their bellies. The trend has been clear for the last decade. The outcome, it seems, is inevitable.

By Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com

The head of the Pennsylvania’s largest food bank has warned that demand for groceries following a $5 billion dollar cut in the food stamp program cannot be met.

Joe Arthur of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank “says the donor network for the food banks is already stretched too thin to quickly expand,” according to an Associated Press report.

From November 1st, $5 billion was wiped off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as a result of a planned stimulus withdrawal. Almost 50 million Americans who are supported by the program face an average loss of $36 dollars a month, which is a significant amount for those living near the poverty line.

Food pantry organizers will be “unable to plug the hole being left by a reduction in federal funding for food stamps,” which will leave families of four in Pennsylvania facing the prospect of 20 fewer meals per month, according to Arthur.

The Association of Arizona Food Banks sounds a similar warning, noting that the 5 per cent cut, although appearing minor on the surface, equates to about half a week’s budget for someone whose primary source of food is SNAP.

Spokesman Brian Simpson illustrated how the massive surge in demand for food was linked to the struggling economy.

Before the 2007 recession, the five food banks in his association were handing out an average of 69,000 emergency food boxes per month. Last month, 108,300 boxes were handed out, an increase of around 80 per cent.

The true impact of the cut will really be felt in the final week of November, when food stamp recipients will begin to run out of benefits.

According to Margaret Purvis, the CEO of the largest food bank in America, members of her Food Bank for New York City organization, are“panicking” over the decrease in benefits, fearing a rush of hungry Americans.

“We’re telling everyone to make sure that you are prepared for longer lines,” Purvis told NBC News.

Her comments were echoed by Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, who stated, “It’s going to send people into a charitable system that’s already overwhelmed and screaming for help itself.”

Purvis also invoked the threat of riots caused by millions of Americans going hungry when she told Salon.com, “If you look across the world, riots always begin typically the same way: when people cannot afford to eat food.”

This has prompted some to speculate that the Department of Homeland Security is gearing up for potential unrest with its recent hiring of security guards to protect government buildings in New York, as well as the purchase of half a million dollars worth of fully automatic pepper spray launchers and projectiles that are designed to be used during riot control situations.