More than 2 million Ohioans — one in six — turn to a food bank for help each year, and the Ohio Association of Foodbanks is requesting $40 million over two years.
Ohio’s food banks serve 40 percent more people than in 2010, according to a study released Thursday by the Ohio Association of Foodbanks. Ohio’s 12 Feeding America foodbanks distribute food to 3,300 agencies in all 88 counties.
The food banks want Ohio’s next governor to set aside $20 million each year in 2016 and 2017 to serve the growing number of Ohioans seeking food assistance. The association asked for $17 million each year in Gov. John Kasich’s 2014-15 budget, but instead received $14.5 million — a $2 million increase over the previous year. Kasich approved a one-time, $1.5 million boost weeks before signing the budget into law.
“We are not holding out our hands asking for more help without it being warranted,” Ohio Association of Foodbanks Executive Director Lisa Hamler-Fugitt said.
Changes and federal cuts to the food stamp program last year resulted in $235 million less in benefits for Ohioans. Across the board cuts reduced monthly benefits by $36 on average for a family of four.
Ohio officials reinstated for all but 16 counties a requirement that able-bodied adults without children must work or attend job training to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits beyond an initial three-month period. Seventeen counties have been exempted for the next year.
The association says the additional funding would increase food banks’ supplies from 45 million pounds of food to 75 million pounds of shelf-stable foods, protein items and fresh fruits and vegetables. Half the funding would go toward working with Ohio farmers to harvest and pack produce for much less than can be purchased in grocery stores.
Hamler-Fugitt said state lawmakers who want to improve health care costs for poor Ohioans should support food banks.
The study found 66 percent of Ohioans receiving food assistance had to choose between paying for food and medical care, and 81 percent said they purchased inexpensive, unhealthy food to save money.
Matt Habash, president and CEO of the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, said hunger is a much bigger crisis than the Ebola virus and other fears in America because people have a negative perception of people in poverty.
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