It ought to give all of us pause that nearly one of every eight Michiganders is now getting what used to be called food stamps.
And Janet Cushman, Michigan’s food assistance program director the government estimates that another six hundred thousand people could be eligible for food assistance. That last figure doesn’t surprise me at all. Our society is full of forgotten people who you might call the “hidden poor.” They are often elderly women, living tucked-away lives in suburbia, trying to make a can of soup last for two meals.
These are folks who really do have to sometimes choose between meat and their medication. They tend to be terribly proud and never dreamt they would ever be dependent on any kind of “welfare.”
The Detroit News interviewed one of them, an 81-year-old widow named Marilynn Hardin. Three months ago, she finally applied for food assistance. “I didn’t want to put in for it at first,” she told the paper. She liked to pretend that she could go on “managing” somehow. “That’s what a lot of seniors do,” she told the paper. “We hate to feel that we are getting aid.” Eventually, she swallowed her pride so that she could have something to swallow.
Now, she is happy that she can buy enough yogurt to last the week. In contrast, Mrs. Hardin lives in a city where there are restaurants where one dinner for two costs more than the $126 dollars she gets in food assistance every month. Despite the economy, there are still so many affluent people that you can’t get into one of those fancy eateries on Saturday night without a reservation.
We are speedily becoming two Michigans, and the one which depends on food aid from the government for survival is growing far faster than the one that can drop into a fancy restaurant.
Nevertheless, there are still plenty of politicians and talk-show hosts who delight in bashing those who get food stamps. Frankly, I think the government ought to reach out to little old ladies like Mrs. Hardin and make sure, automatically, that they have enough food assistance to get by.
And soon, she may have a lot of unexpected company. But all it takes is a rough knowledge of what’s going on in the auto industry – plus a little math – to know that the food stamp rolls are likely to be swelling soon.
There are apt to be a lot of families that never imagined they’d be eligible for food assistance who are depending on it. This is not an immediate problem in itself. We live in a nation where food is abundant.
But the rising food stamp rolls really should be seen as a symptom. We need to reinvent an economy for the men and women who will be walking off the assembly lines for the last time.
If we don’t, whatever money Michigan spends running the food stamp program will be the least of our worries.
One of the unknown reasons there are so many on food stamps is due to motor vehicle law costs such as 250$ DUI schools, 500$ late traffic fines, and 300$ mandatory auto insurance costs.
I pushed for a survey (done in Billings, MT in 2004) which indicated 18 of 96 food stamp applicants listed those reasons for needing food stamps (DUI, fines, or auto insurance). (That would equal 70,000 over the last 20 years in Montana).
When an indigent has to pay 300$ for auto insurance, it is likely he will not be able to buy his own food, and he has food stamps waiting for him whenever he needs them.
There are also many food stamp skyrockets linked to mandatory auto insurance laws of many states.
Posted by: Don Birkholz | February 27, 2007 at 03:33 PM
Go to www.foodstampstudy.com and see the food stamp skyrockets linked to auto insurance laws and the Billings, MT survey which indicates 12 of 96 food stamp applicants listed auto insurance as a reason for needing food stamps.
Posted by: Don Birkholz | October 20, 2007 at 02:19 PM