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Posts tagged "food stamps"

Race and poverty round-up: income inequality in the State of the Union, paid protest and food stamps

What’s moving in the world of race and poverty, on Chicago Muckrakers weekly. In President Barack Obama’s last State of the Union before the November elections, he called rising income inequality “the defining issue of our time.” Two people say they were paid to protest in support of the contentious school closings on the city’s... Read more »
By YanaKunichoff,
January 27, 2012 at 1:31 pm
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Food calculator shows food spending takes bigger bites out of poor people's income than the rich's

If you were to add up the money you spend on cereal, juice, bread, vegetables, coffee and the occasional late-night fast-food binge, how much would it cost? And how would you compare to other people in your income bracket or age group? Mother Jones’  food calculator allows you to tally what you spend and compare... Read more »
By YanaKunichoff,
January 24, 2012 at 5:17 pm
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USDA says food stamps kept more people from going hungry

There are a lot of hungry people in America–17.2 million households that were labeled “food insecure” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, not always knowing where their next meal was coming from. A third of those went hungry at some point because they couldn’t afford enough food. Children in 386,000 families went hungry some time... Read more »
By MeganCottrell,
September 9, 2011 at 12:08 pm
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Oh, SNAP: Another victory for lobbyists and maybe obesity

Oh, SNAP: Another victory for lobbyists and maybe obesity
New York City was hoping to try something new this year: banning food stamps being allowed to buy soda. But the feds have turned them down. The U.S. Department of Agriculture decreed this week that the pilot program is “too large and complex” to even try. Two camps are claiming victory. The first group is... Read more »
By MeganCottrell,
August 23, 2011 at 3:28 pm
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Churn, churn, churn--for those on food stamps, there's a season

Churn, churn, churn--for those on food stamps, there's a season
One in seven Americans is currently on food stamps. But from moment to moment, that one person might not be the same. That’s because food stamps–more properly known as SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–go through something called “churn.” Food stamp churn is the up-and-down nature of how many people are on food stamps at... Read more »
By MeganCottrell,
July 19, 2011 at 11:34 am
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Poverty-bashers like to forget: Drug testing for public benefits is unconstitutional

The headlines seem to surface every few months or so: So-and-so politician wants to drug test the (choose one) unemployed/welfare recipients/food stamp families/Medicaid enrollees/public housing residents. They make a big fuss for one news cycle, for the benefit of people not using these programs–so they can bang their fist on the dinner table and say... Read more »
By MeganCottrell,
April 25, 2011 at 8:38 am
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Nearly 1 in 5 in Chicago aren't sure about their next meal

What are you having for dinner tonight? It’s a question everybody thinks about, but not everyone has an answer to. According to the latest data from Feeding America, 16.1 percent of Chicagoans are food insecure–meaning they don’t always have access to enough food to make it through the day. Even more surprising is that many... Read more »
By MeganCottrell,
March 29, 2011 at 11:52 am
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Illinois House bill aims to end food stamp trafficking. But does the problem really exist?

This week, the Illinois House Human Services Committee approved a bill to “get tough” on food stamp recipients. How? Rep. Chapin Rose proposed a bill that would to try and ensure that people can’t sell their food stamps for money. If his bill passes, every LINK card–the state debit card that food stamp recipients use... Read more »
By MeganCottrell,
March 17, 2011 at 10:08 am
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Five years, and you're done: D.C. moves to set strict welfare time limits

In a surprise move, representatives from the District of Columbia’s poorest areas put forward a controversial regulation that would limit a family’s access to all public assistance to five years. Food stamps, medicaid, child care assistance, housing vouchers, welfare, education, job training –if the government has a program to help you out, you’ve got a... Read more »
By MeganCottrell,
November 18, 2010 at 9:36 am
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News Roundup: Seventeen million American children can't get balanced diet

Fifty million people, including 17 million children, don’t have access to a nutritious diet, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Twelve percent of Illinois households were “food insecure” at least some time in the past three years, the report says. More at chicagoreporter.com Also in the news… Federal prosecutors are... Read more »
By CRIntern,
November 16, 2010 at 11:32 am
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