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Editorial: Move toward food pantries
Op-Ed · October 20, 2016
Hoover Elementary hosts an “Operation Backpack” that reaches pupils up through sixth grade with food and hygiene products. This year, volunteers cooperating with West Branch’s middle and high schools started a similar project for those grades. And over the weekend, Iowa City High School senior Lucia Wagner reported on her new food pantry in front of a panel of judges at the Hoover Uncommon Student Award Presentation Day.
Hunger in West Branch and surrounding communities is certainly a real problem, and we are glad to see citizen-volunteers stepping up to meet the need. Let us take a moment to stress that citizen-volunteers are spearheading these projects, not government.
That is a very good thing, because it feeds hungry youth when other programs are not available outside the school day.
According to Iowa Department of Education figures, about 23.5 percent of children attending West Branch schools qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. A look at neighboring communities shows an astounding 60.5 percent in West Liberty. Others show 35.7 percent in Iowa City, 23.3 percent in Tipton, and a surprisingly low 7.9 percent in Solon.
We do not mean to state that the government ought to do away with food programs for the needy like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) but a 2012 U.S. Department of Agriculture report in 2011 showed about $750 million in waste in the $75.3 billion program.
A Brookings Institution report in 2008 showed about 13.4 percent of the SNAP program pays for overhead like administrative costs. Add that to nearly 1 percent lost to waste, and that 14.4 percent accounts for nearly $11 million that does not directly benefit the needy.
When food pantries enlist the help of volunteers and donated space, the amount of waste and overhead drops dramatically. The largest single savings comes from not having to pay salaries.
Other benefits to volunteer-run food pantries:
• Fewer taxpayer dollars used
• Fewer complaints about who benefits
• Less chance of fraud
• Fewer restrictions on access
The more people who get involved, either through volunteering or donations, the less government programs like SNAP are needed.
It is true that the USDA is constantly advertising SNAP to get more people on the program, especially children. However, imagine if the reason not every eligible family uses SNAP is because friends, family and food banks provide all they need to get by until they can support themselves.
That’s a goal in which we should strive to achieve.
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