The Faces of Food StampsOriginally published in The Hutchinson News on February 1, 2, and 3, 2014

Marvin George holds a picture of himself as a child and his mother as he sits in his apartment at the New Beginnings Fox Run Apartments.

Marvin George just wants ajob.He sits on the worn orange couch in

his low-income apartment –most ofhis belongings are in storage. Hiswalls are bare except for a black-and-white photo of him as a toddlerthat hangs above his head.Back then, he had no worries, he

says quietly. But these days, as hetalks about his life from his small,one-room residence, worry etcheshis 55-year-old face."A year from now I'll probably be

looking for a bridge to put my ad-dress on," he says. "My 401K won'tlast that long."His $25,000 in retirement is what

George has been living on for thepast three years – that and the foodstamps he receives. But even thatassistance has been cut from $200 tojust $18 a month as he continues tosearch for work – sometimes putting

out as many as five job applicationsa day.With little schooling, limited com-

puter skills and an age that is creep-ing toward retirement, no one wantshim.There are 47 million Americans on

food stamps. George is one of them. ***

On a recent Tuesday, Rep. TimHuelskamp stood in front of a meet-ing room at Lyons State Bank, ad-dressing a group of farmers andsmall-town residents about what ishappening in Washington.The topic of conversation was no

different from other town-hall meet-ings the Republican congressmanhad that day. One resident askedwhat it would take to impeach Pres-ident Barack Obama – a  viewechoed by a few others as the hourwore on. Some stressed resentmentregarding the president's healthcarereform and too much regulation.A few others wondered when a

farm bill would pass - a second year

of wheat had been drilled into theground without compromise onany legislation.Yet, even hailing from the wheat

state of Kansas - which received$930 million in farm subsidies in

2012 - Huelskamp hasn't supportedversions of the farm bill during histime in Congress. Wednesday hevoted no again, along with the otherthree Kansas representatives,on themost current proposal that is expect-ed to pass Congress Monday."I think it is wrong to continue to

pay healthy, able adults foodstamps," Huelskamp said, whichbrought a few comments of agree-ment from those in attendance afterthe meeting. "I think we should re-quire some work, to look for a job."While his own family has received

thousands in government paymentsthanks to the farm bill, Huelskamphasn't been timid about expressinghis concerns about what he calls an

assistance program that "is in des-perate need of reform."Despite its farm bill moniker, the

80-year-old legislation is more thanjust a bill affecting the nation's agri-culture producers, Huelskampstresses.SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutri-

tional Assistance Program, makesup 80 percent of the act - a sectionhe says has grown fivefold in thepast 13 years, from $15 billion to$76 billion today, according to theU.S. Department of Agriculture.His stance illustrates the sharp di-

vide in Congress – even within theRepublican Party. Some see foodstamps as a safety net for the coun-try's poorest, a large number ofwhom are children. Others, eyeingthe nation's budget woes, want it onthe chopping block, arguing thatwith the program reaching a recordhigh last year, too many Americansare abusing the system.Thus, for the past few years, the

farm bill has fallen victim to Wash-

Stories by Amy Bickel and Kathy Hanks. Photos by Sandra Milburn, Travis Morisse and Lindsay Bauman

ington gridlock, which is far fromhow things were done in 1973 whenKansas Republican Bob Dole andDemocrat George McGovern sat atthe table and reached a compromiseto put food stamps and farm pro-grams together.

 ***One in seven Americans depends

on food stamps to make sure there isenough food on the table – an in-crease of 123 percent in the pastdecade.In Kansas,about 318,000 people –

roughly 176,400 adults and 142,500children – receive food stamps – 11percent of the population. The num-ber of Kansans on food stamps hasgrown by about 100,000 since therecession started in 2008.On top of the 318,000 on food

stamps, another 115,000 are consid-ered food-insecure, meaning theirconsistent access to adequate food islimited by either lack of money orother resources at various times, ac-cording to Feeding America, a non-profit network of food banks.While the system continues to

grow, so does the disconnect be-tween those on food stamps andthose who are not, said Tonya Horn-back, a life coach at New Begin-nings, a Hutchinson nonprofit thatprovides temporary housing to dis-placed residents.Hornback said the people she as-

sists want to work. They want to getout of poverty and the situation theyare in.She has clients who walk nearly 30

blocks to get to a night-shift job. Shehas watched single mothers struggleto get food on the table. She hasclients making minimum wage whostill qualify for SNAP.The full-time jobs aren't there, ei-

ther, she adds. Job availability inrecent months has slanted towardpart-time work in low-wage indus-tries."There are people out there who

don't know what it is liketo live onnothing," Hornback said.There are cases of fraud - some-

thing Hornback didn't dismiss. Oneof her clients even admitted to TheNews that he has sold his vision cardto buy drugs.He, however, said he has been

clean for about a year.Still, it's enough to create an argu-

ing point by politicians that the pro-gram is out of control, even though,as Hornback assesses, it's far lessthan the racketeering that goes on inother government programs, as wellas on Wall Street."Give me a system that doesn't

have someone who abuses it," shesaid.Ken Thompson, director of fraud

investigations for the Kansas De-

partment of Children and Families,said that the USDA typically esti-mates fraud at 1 percent. InKansas,that equals about $5 mil-lion, he said."Even if it is just one percent, that

is a huge example of fraud," hesaid, adding the state has made abig push to crack down on fraudu-lent activities since Gov. SamBrownback took office.The state has beefed up efforts by

adding employees. Last fiscal year,the state issued more than $941,000in civil judgments. So far, for fiscal2014, the agency already has issuedmore than a $1 million in civil pen-alties for fraudulent food stamp ac-tivity as the state moves forwardwith its “more robust, anti-fraudagenda,” Thompson said."It is all driven by the fact that this

is the right thing to do in this worldof shrinking federal funds,” he said.Advocates for those in need, how-

ever, say such instances are a rarity."We don't see any of the things

that support the myths," said Debo-rah Snapp, executive director ofCatholic Social Services in Dodge

City."We see hardworking peoplethat just want to take care of theirkids, just want to be able to meettheir needs. We don't see peopletaking advantage of the system atall."

 ***For most Americans, a $10 or $20

decrease in the monthly food budgetwould be absorbed with littlethought. But the record number ofAmericans relying on food stampssaw cuts of about that much in No-vember.The American Recovery and Rein-

vestment Act had given food stamprecipients a temporary boost startingin 2009. That expired Nov. 1.While the enhancement never was

meant to last once the economypicked up, the cuts have been tough,said Gary Johnson. The 33-year-oldHutchinson resident lives with hiswife, Amanda, and their two chil-dren – Taryn, 5, and Baylee, 2 – in ahome owned by Interfaith Housing.He makes $9.89 an hour working asa head custodian for USD 308 – butit is the only income, besides foodassistance, that he has to support hisfamily.Amanda, 25, who has an associ-

ate’s degree from Hutchinson Com-munity College, stays home with thechildren. She said that after the No-vember program cuts, they now re-ceive $380 a month for groceries – a$100 decrease in assistance, orroughly 18 meals.

“It scared me,” said Amanda, whokeeps a tight budget on the family’sexpenses as a stay-at-home mom –even making her own laundry soapto save money. “I worry about mon-ey a lot.”The Johnsons’ overall budget has

little room for a $100adjustment.She had no choice, she said, but tomake the money stretch.“Our money for food stamps is for

food stamps; we don’t just have themoney to throw on food.”While the economy may be some-

what improving, however, demandfor food stamps remain at recordlevels, including in Kansas."The program is not broke – the

economy is broke," said BarryFlinchbaugh, an agricultural econo-mist and policy expert at KansasState University.He said Kansas Sen. Dole, who was

influential in farm bill legislation inhis years in office, did speak outabout the farm bill debate."Several weeks ago he took his

fellow Republicans to task on thefood stamp thing," Flinchbaughsaid. "He said, 'Where is your com-

passion?' "At the time, Republicans sought

$40 billion in cuts to SNAP over a10-year period."That means starving kids," Flinch-

buagh said. "You can throw (themother and father) off, but youaren't going to starve the kids,not inthe US of A. He really got afterthem."

 ***Maybe Republican leaders took

their elder statesman to heart:SNAPcuts are minimal compared to previ-ous versions of the bill. The Housepassed legislation Wednesday thatultimately would cut about $800million a year – or $8 billion over 10years. The reduction would equalroughly 1 percent of the program'srecord $79.6 billion in spending forthe budget year.The Senate is expected to vote on

the farm bill Monday.However, for Huelskamp, the cuts

weren't deep enough. He and theKansas delegation voted against themeasure. Huelskamp said last weekat his town-hall meeting he wouldprobably vote against the farm billbecause there was no SNAP reform.However, how to solve the problem

of the  growing number of Ameri-cans on food stamps is somethingfor which Huelskamp doesn't have adefinite answer."It's a bigger picture than food

stamps," he said after the Lyonsmeeting. "Under the Obama admin-

istration, the economy hasn't im-proved."He offered statistics, such as 24.1

million Americans are looking forfull-time jobs. He said one solutionmight be to let states run more ofthe program, but added that eitherway SNAP needs restructuring."We are ending the greedy and

targeting the needy," he said, quot-ing Bob Dole. "How many of the47 million are in need, I don'tknow. USDA doesn't even know."Hornback, however, whose job

takes her into the heart of the issue,sees a different picture – one thatisn't black and white.Those making $7.25 an hour will

have a hard time getting ahead,shesaid.“It's a vicious circle," she said.

"I'm not saying assistance shouldsupport everyone for the rest oftheir life. But make it consistent.“Like any assistance program,

support them for a while, help themget the traits they need to take careof themselves and slowly back off.If I don't teach you to cook, how doI teach you to budget your food?”

Could the system be more effi-cient? Certainly, said Mariah TannerEhmke, an agricultural economicsprofessor at the University of Wyo-ming. For instance, she said, therecould be a greater educational com-ponent in the program to help peopleget out of the system.Nevertheless, she notes, the pro-

gram works for the purpose itserves. Most on food stamps don’twant to be on them – and they aren’tbragging about using a vision cardfor groceries.“It isn’t perfect, but it isn’t broke,”

said Ehmke, who grew up in ruralStafford County. “I’ve been to coun-tries where there is no social welfareprogram for families. In West Afri-ca, instead of having food pantries,you have children going out at duskpicking up leftover food thatwealthy people set on their steps.”

 ***As for George, he says he will work

anywhere and is willing to learn.Daily he sits at a computer in hisapartment complex, looking for jobsand submitting applications. He alsois trying to teach himself to type. Hehas a job interview at a local collec-tion agency – but typing is a require-ment.Still, he continues his search – con-

fident some employer will want him."The cuts in food stamps hurt," he

said. "But if I had a job, it would beOK."

- Amy Bickel

The Faces of Food Stamps page 2

The Faces of Food Stamps page 3

Economic reality hits home, hits hard for residentWhen Marvin George was a kid he dreamed

of being a writer.Encouraged by his teacher and classmates, he

saw himself as one day being successful. But,earning a living got in the way of his daydreams.These days survival robs the 55-year-old of

any creativity.Out of work since 2009, he sat in his scantly

furnished Fox Run apartment at the corner ofSecond Avenue and Monroe,on a recent morn-ing. The weight of his worry didn’t leave himmuch to smile about.George has no clue where he’ll go after March

15, when his two year time limit runs out atFox Run. According to New Beginningsguidelines,after two years a person in their pro-gram should be ready move on to a rental ortheir own home.“I want to work; I’m used to working and tak-

ing care of myself. At this point, I’ll do any-thing,” George said.He has had three interviews in two years. De-

spite using all his creative juices to figure outhow to earn enough food to eat and payrent,“anything” has turned up nothing.“They don’t want to hire someone 10 years

from retirement,” he said.January 1 his food stamps were cut from $200

a month to $18. He has been drawing out of hisretirement to pay his bills. His $25,000 nestegg has dwindled by half since he lost his jobthe day before Thanksgiving in 2009.“I’ll have nothing to retire on. If I don’t find a

job soon, I’m screwed,” he said. His shrinkingnest egg is also hurting him, making him ineli-gible for more assistance.Now he expects it will disappear quickly once

he finds another place to live. Because it’s hardto beat a deal like he has at Fox Run paying$150 a month, he’s not very optimistic.

“A year from now I’ll have to find a bridge andput my address on it,” he said, sadly.Currently he draws about $500 a month out of

retirement to pay his bills and live. Along withthe apartment rent he pays for a storage unit forall his belongings.In Kansas,Supplemental Nutrition Assistance

Program recipients must be working or in train-ing. But, at his age with no technical skills,George sees little hope. He knows he isn’t verymarketable. In desperation he even applied fordisability payments,even though he knows heisn’t disabled. He was declined.For 20 years he made a living in the wood-

working business,cutting, sanding and bundlingproducts at Woodwork Manufacturing and Sup-ply where he began work at $5.50 an hour. Intwo decades his salary increased to $8.50 anhour, George said. Still, he was able to save$25,000 in a 401K. But, then the day beforeThanksgiving he was laid off work.He started collecting unemployment with three

extensions, but hestill didn’t find another job.He was forced to move out of the home he rent-ed and in with his sister. They had a falling out,and he was able to get into New Beginningstransitional housing.A wisp of man wearing a Moody Blues shirt,

he sees the world through coke-bottle glassesand admits to being a Star Trek fan. The onlypicture on his wall is of him as a little boy, withhis mother and a few snapshots tucked insidethe frame. He’s soft spoken and speaks of a best friend in

Wichita. They could be more if she didn’t havea boyfriend, he says with a shy smile. He nevermarried - came close once, but has remainedalone.A 1977 graduate of Wichita’s North High

School,he has friends in Wichita looking forjobs for him.

While others might be able to pinpoint poorchoices in their life that left them struggling inpoverty, George doesn’t believe he’s in thissituation because of anything he did or didn’tdo. As far as the food stamp cuts go, he canunderstand the government making cuts, butnot 90 percent as in his case.“I wish they had left it up to the local DCF

office, they kind of know my situation,” hesaid. “But $18 won’t make it for one person.”He continues to meet with his life coach

Tonya Hornback at New Beginnings. She ad-mits his age is a deterrent.“Any time you have somebody who is older it

is more difficult to find a job,” Hornback said.Those hiring begin worrying about medical

issues. Can their body sustain the condition inthe work place? With their age, how close arethey to retirement and the probability of be-coming a long time employee?Younger people coming into the job market

have technical skills. They begin using tech-nology in grade school or younger.“Back in the day the diploma or GED went a

lot further,” Hornback said. “Now you needtechnical college or at least some of the skillstaught there.”Still they plod onward.“She’s a taskmaster,” George said of Horn-

back. She insists he applies for five jobs a day.He said that can be a grueling task.On January 27, George was down to his last

dollar. He imagined when his $18 arrived inFebruary he would purchase a case of ramennoodles and hope they lasted the month.But, in the meantime he isn’t the only one

worried about his future. Hornback is too.“Anytime you have client who is struggling it

bothers me,” she said. “He’s a really niceguy.”

Someday, down the road,Gary and Amanda Johnsondream of owning their home

and not being dependent on foodstamps.For now this Hutchinson family offour relies on the Supplemental Nu-trition Assistance Program to putfood on the table.“The day we are off food stamps Iwill rejoice,” said Gary.The couple has set goals to ensurethat day will eventually come.Gary has a full time job with USD308 as a head custodian at HMS 8,but still his family is part of the13.2 percent of Reno County resi-dents receiving food stamp assis-tance. They are also part of the 1 in7 Americans according to The As-sociated Press, who are now cov-ered by SNAP. Economists arewarning that simply having a jobmay no longer be enough for self-sufficiency in today’s economy.Currently they are a one-incomefamily after Amber, 25, lost her joblast spring when Quiznos closed.She has found it cheaper to stayhome rather than work and pay forday care for Taryn, 5, and Baylee,2.“It’s a catch-22,” she said.She could work and make the sameamount of money that she wouldwith food stamps, because of thecost of paying for day care and gasto get to work. Instead she stayshome with their daughters, and re-lies on food stamps for the food ontheir table.Gary makes $9.89 an hour working40 hours a week. Their expenseseach month, not including food, are$1,100 and from that they pay $375rent, utilities, car insurance, phoneand non food items such as sham-poo and conditioner. Amanda evenmade her own laundry soap in Oc-tober and it lasted for severalmonths. They currently receive$380 a month in food stamp assis-tance; it was cut by $100 in No-vember. When broken down theirfood stamp allotment allows them alittle more than $10 a day for theirfamily of four. They make sure tobuy meat bundles at Berridge IGA,in Nickerson, that last about 22days. It also helps that Taryn, who

is in all day kindergarten, eatsbreakfast and lunch at school.Despite budgeting, “I always fearthat we will run short,” saidAmanda.“The days that stress us are themonths with only 28 days,” said

Gary, because there are fewer daysto earn money.Back when Taryn began with RenoCounty Early Head Start Program,the family learned about InterFaithHousing. They visited with LornaMoore who directs the CreatingAssets, Savings and Hope program,known as CASH.“Thanks to Lorna we have found acheaper way to live,” said Amanda.They rent their two bedroom, newlyremodeled home from HIS.As participants they must committo three parts of the CASH pro-gram: attend six hours of financialeducation, complete four life-skillsworkshops, and save for a mini-mum of six months with a mini-mum deposit of$20.00 per month.They automatically have $60 with-drawn from Gary’s paycheck everymonth to go into their CASH ac-count. That will eventually be usedto buy a home or for a college edu-cation.

“Despite their limited income theyhave been saving every month,”said Moore.Both Gary and Amanda were raisedin families that used food stamps.Amanda was removed from herhome and placed in foster care liv-ing in a series of both happy andunhappy homes. But, when sheturned 18 she aged-out of the sys-tem, and went to Hutchinson Com-munity College on a tuition waiverfor foster care recipients. She hasher associate’s degree with a focuson social work. Taryn was born be-fore Amanda met Gary on an on-line chat room. They hit it off andhe flew from his home in Californiato Kansas to meet her. They weremarried at the Reno County Court-house on Feb. 14, 2012.“I don’t like taking and not givingback,” said Amanda, who does vol-unteer work at the Reno CountyEarly Head Start Program.“They have been very kind,” shesaid.Gary says food stamps can be ahelpful tool for those who desper-ately need it and a necessity at themoment for his family. But, heknows that people abuse the sys-tem. He also knows there are ex-treme misconceptions by others.“People look at me using my visioncard and see my iPhone,” Amandasaid. It makes her feel like they are

judging her, but the iPhone was agift. Others see their shiny blackHonda in the driveway and wonderhow they can afford such a vehicle.But, it was a gift from Gary’s moth-er.According to Mariah Ehmke, anagricultural economist with Univer-sity of Wyoming, she has graduatestudents who use food stamps, stu-dents who have small children orfamilies and need help fora fewyears as they get through college.“There is a lot of research on howlong people remain in poverty. Six-ty to 70 percent of the people inpoverty today won’t be in a decade.“I don’t see the abuse. It is notsomething people brag about beingon food stamps. It is pretty shame-ful thing,” Ehmke said.On average, Kansans spend about26 months on food stamps, saidSandra Kimmons, benefits directorfor the Kansas Department of Chil-dren and Families.The Johnsons are well aware thatfood stamps are not a permanentsolution, but a temporary fix. Theycan see a bright future where theyare stable and food stamp free.“I want to go on with school,” saidAmanda. “I have a passion to workwith foster kids.”

- Kathy Hanks

The Faces of Food Stamps page 4

Trying to look beyond the needFamily looksforward to the dayit won’t need help

Amanda and Gary Johnson, with their children Taryn, 5, and Baylee, 2. Gary works as the head custodianat HMS-8 for USD 308. Amanda lost her job last spring, when Quizno’s closed. The family relies on foodstamps to make ends meet each month.

The Faces of Food Stamps page 5

Kansas House delegation votes “no” on new farm billKansas is the nation’s No. 1 wheat produc-

er. It’s known as the breadbasket of the na-tion.Yet, all four Republican Kansas representa-

tives in a state where agriculture is the back-bone of the economy voted against the farmbill.In fact, according to the New York Times,

which analyzed votes back to the 1950s, itis the first time all Kansas representativeshave voted against a farm bill.The bill is expected to cost $956.4 billion

over the next decade. About 80 percent goesto food stamps.“Eastern Kansans know I have been a

strong advocate for the passage of a longterm, five-year Farm Bill,which would pro-vide certainty and stability for those whoproduce food, fuel,and fiber for the world,”said Rep. Lynn Jenkins in a

statement defending her vote. “The final con-ference report was full of missed opportuni-ties and was one I could not support.”Jenkins also noted concern about Country-of-

Origin Labeling, as did Rep. Mike Pompeo,who, in a press release, warned the bill wouldleave Kansas producers vulnerable to globaltrade disputes while failing to address con-cerns about Grain Inspection Packers andStockyards Administration and Country-of-Ori-gin Labeling.“This legislation will cause serious trade and

regulatory problems for our state’s livestockproducers. Washington must not ignore howimportant livestock is to our Kansas econo-my.”A day before the House vote, the National

Cattlemen’s Beef Association released astatement Tuesday saying it opposed theFarm Bill the way it is presented because of

its mandatory country-of-origin labeling. Thegroup does contribute to Pompeo and Jen-kin’s campaign.As for Big First District Congressman Tim

Huelskamp, no food stamp reform remainshis top reason for voting no.

“This program is in desperate need of re-form, and yet this bill makes only nominalchanges,” he said. “Instead of status quo inthis, the fastest-growing welfare program inthe entire government, we should have tak-en the opportunity to provide meaningfulwork reform requirements, especially forable-bodied adults, as we passed in the U.S.House.”Rep. Kevin Yoder hasn’t vocalized why he

voted against the legislation.- Amy Bickel

Lynn Jenkins“Today’s Farm Bill costs too much and fails toachieve any significant regulatory reform. The inclu-sion of high target prices for commodities will createfalse production signals for producers and will lead tolarger subsidy payments. Also, as a member of theWays and Means Subcommittee on Trade, I could notignore policies which will trigger trade disputes.These are just a few examples of the many reformsthat were left out of this bill and are issuest o which I

have been a strong advocate for in the past.“I did not expect to make easy decisions when I came to Washington.There are many good provisions which I support in this legislation, butunfortunately, the negatives outweigh the positives. Kansans know thatthis bill not only impacts our farmers and ranchers but every singleAmerican family. Over the coming weeks and months ahead, I will doeverything in my power to continue to be a strong voice for both Ameri-can agriculture and the American consumer.”

Mike Pompeo“Over the past two years I have worked to craft a FarmBill that reflects Kansas values, supports Kansas pro-ducers, and respects Kansas taxpayers. While thislegislation contains some positive provisions -- in-cluding strengthening crop insurance, ending directpayments, and providing stability for Kansas produc-ers -- in total, this bill misses the mark.”“This open-ended welfare program continues to makeup 80 percent of this bill. That means $800 billion of

the $1 trillion legislation is out the door before the first dime is investedin agriculture. Unfortunately, this final bill makes only cosmetic changesto this out-of-control entitlement program.”"Last year I voted in favor of a farm bill that was not perfect, but a stepforward. Voting against this bill today was not an easy decision, but Ibelieve it reflects a step backward to the old Washington of pet projects,reckless spending, and harmful regulation. I remain committed to ensur-ing that Kansas farmers, ranchers, co-ops, and other agribusiness have thesupport they need to compete in the global economy."

Tim Huelskamp“There are some good things in the bill. I believe thecompromise dairy provisions are a positive step awayfrom government control of milk markets. The cropinsurance program has been strengthened, and is bet-ter equipped than ever before to assist producers intimes of trouble. But these bright spots are not enoughto warrant enacting this bill. We could have done somuch better for farmers, ranchers, consumers and forthe American taxpayer.”

There are days when John Richard Perrywonders how he ever got to this point inhis life.Like other 61-year-olds he should be

making a last ditch effort to save for hisupcoming retirement, but instead he’s liv-ing in a transitional apartment at New Be-ginnings, unemployed, and pretty muchunmarketable.“I’ve worked all my life,” Perry said. “I’ve been a janitor here, there and yonder.”Perry has the unfortunate luck of working at places that seem to close down or lay

off workers.His last full time job was in 2010. He was a janitor at Liberty Homes at Yoder. But

over the years he has been laid off from Cessna, Consolidated and Eaton, where hehad been a machinist.“Deluxe specialty, there was another place I shut down,” said Perry, recounting his

unfortunate work record. But, after losing his last job he became homeless. Always a renter, there was no

money left for the rent.For the first time in his life he was getting food stamps and sleeping on friends’

couches or porches. When he slept outdoors in the back of a house near the library,he would put a piece of cardboard down and then a blanket and pillow. The onlyproblem was all the mosquitoes and flies.“I appreciate my family and all they do for me,” he said. “But, I don’t like impos-

ing on family or friends.For a while he was living at the small storage unit he was renting for his belong-

ings, until the police kicked him out.It all began well for Perry, who recalls a happy childhood growing up in South

Hutchinson, graduating from high school in 1970, attending trade school and thenserving two years in the U.S. Navy.He was married for 12 years, and is thankful he has no children to worry about. He

doesn’t drink or have any addictions. It’s just that life passed him by. He also hasworked as a machinist, but there aren’t too many of those jobs left, he noted.He does have two part-time jobs he counts on annually, working as a janitor at the

Kansas State Fair and at the National Junior College Athletic Association tourna-ment every March in Hutchinson.He collects cans and walks to Midwest Iron with them to turn in for cash.He hopes to hold on until next year, when he can retire early. For a man who has

worked most his life he hopes there will be some social security coming in.He currently receives a $189 in food stamps, a cut from $200 he was receiving, but

he says that’s OK because he doesn’t eat much.But, Tonya Hornback, with New Beginnings, says that’s all the money Perry gets.

While he utilizes the soup kitchen, if he has spent $189 before the end of the month,he can go an entire weekend without food.He admits to being depressed. “I’m used to having a job. How did I get to this point in my life?”Retirement can’t arrive soon enough, he said.“I worked all my life, I deserve it.”

- Kathy Hanks

With work dried up,local man tries to hang on

The Faces of Food Stamps page 6

It all began with Mabel Mc-Figgin.It was 1939 and McFiggin, an un-

employed factory worker fromRochester, New York, bought sur-plus butter, prunes and eggs usingthe nation’s first ever food stamps.They came in two colors, orange

and blue. McFiggin, as the pro-gram’s inaugural recipient, paid $4and received $6 worth of stamps.It’s just the beginning of the

lengthy history of the welfare pro-gram, which turns 75 years old thisyear. The first program helped 20million people in a four-year spanat the tail end of the Great Depres-sion. That Depression-era programlasted but a few years, but now,more Americans than ever are re-ceiving food stamps, with the U.S.Department of Agriculture report-ing more than 47 million peoplerely on government assistance toput food on the table.

1939

In essence, the idea was simple:To help the nation’s farmers andfeed the poor at the same time.President Franklin Roosevelt

signed the first farm policy into lawin 1933 in an effort improve theagriculture economy and pullAmerica out of the Great Depres-sion.Yet, in 1939, agriculture surpluses

were driving down prices and un-employment was high. A March 14,1939, article in the WashingtonPost described the food stamp pro-gram as a farm recovery programwith the unemployed eating the na-tion's surplus food.“If the (commodity) prices fell be-

low a certain level, then the govern-ment went into the marketplace andbought those commodities to driveup the price support,” said BarryFlinchbaugh, a Kansas State Uni-versity economist and agriculturalpolicy expert.The government then distributed

the surplus food, such as milk andcheese, to the poor, Flinchbaughsaid.“We got a picture of a gorge, with

farm surpluses on one cliff and un-der-nourished city folks with out-stretched hands on the other,” saidthe program’s first director, MiloPerkins. “We set out to find a prac-tical way to build a bridge acrossthat chasm."

According to the Catholic Journal,for every $1 of orange stamps pur-chased, 50 cents worth of bluestamps were received. Those re-

ceiving benefits could buy any foodwith orange stamps, but recipientscould only use the blue stamps tobuy food determined by the USDAto be surplus. By 1943, the orange and blue

stamp program ended "since theconditions that brought the programinto being – unmarketable food sur-pluses and widespread unemploy-ment – no longer existed,”according to the USDA.

Poverty on the campaign trail

Despite the program’s end, Ameri-ca still had poverty. Advocates forthe poor worked to revive a foodassistance program.In 1959, Rep. Lenore Sullivan,

D-Mo., successfully championed alegislative amendment to launch apilot, USDA-administered food-stamp program, according to theUSDA history. While the Eisen-hower Administration never usedthe authority, President John F.Kennedy, moved by the poverty hesaw on the campaign trail in WestVirginia, used his first executiveorder to expand food distribution.Recipients were still to purchasestamps, with the government’s em-phasis on increasing the consump-tion of perishables.Mr. and Mrs. Alderson Muncy of

Paynesville W.V. were the first touse the new food stamp program,purchasing $95 in food stamps fortheir 15-person household. Theirfirst food stamp transaction wasbuying a can of pork and beans at alocal supermarket, according to theUSDA.By January 1964, the pilot pro-

gram had expanded from eight to43 areas in 22 states with 380,000participants. Later that month, Pres-ident Johnson signed a permanentprogram into law. By 1966, morethan 1 million people were usingthe food stamp benefits.By the late 1970s, recipients no

longer had to pay for stamps. Leg-islation in 1977 also establishedfood stamp guidelines and a pover-ty line, as well as penalized house-holds whose heads voluntarily quitjobs, restricted eligibility for stu-dents and aliens and eliminated therequirement that households musthave cooking facilities, accordingto USDA history.

A marriage made in heaven?It was Kansas’ own Bob Dole who

welded food stamps and farmspending into one bill.Call it political genius. That was

the 1970s and Dole, a Republicansenator, and George McGovern, aSouth Dakota Democrat, formed anunlikely alliance. However, thepairing helped gain support fromurban legislators for agriculturesubsidies, along with rural supportfor food programs.The precedent continued until last

summer, when the House split thetwo. However, food stamps and thefarm bill came back together latelast year. On Wednesday, theHouse passed farm and food legis-lation, sending the measure to theSenate, which will vote on it Mon-day.Tying the two together is a mar-

riage that Flinchbaugh says is need-ed.“We need each other,” says

Flinchbaugh. “If we get rid of foodstamps (from the farm bill), if youthink of it that way, you don’t un-derstand where little babies comefrom in the political world.There are 400 urban congressional

districts and 35 rural districts hesaid.“That is not rocket science,”

Flinchbaugh said. “Do you thinkyou can pass a farm bill when youlook at it that way?”

- Amy Bickel

Food aid had early farm link

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The huge, five-yearfarm bill that Congress sent to PresidentObama on Tuesday sets policy for hun-dreds of programs, including farm subsi-dies and food stamps. It would make smallcutbacks to both, eliminating some subsi-dy programs and cutting the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program by $800 milliona year, or 1 percent. Conservatives hadproposed much higher cuts.▪ Broken down by year, the bill is expect-ed to cost around $96 billion annually.▪ Almost 80 percent of the money will goto food stamps for the needy. In 2013, anaverage of 47.6 million people used foodstamps at a cost of $79.6 billion. Around15 percent of the money in the farm bill isdesignated for farm subsidies and cropinsurance subsidies. The rest would go toconservation, rural development, renew-able energy and other farm programs.▪ The bill would eliminate subsidiescalled direct payments, which cost about$4.5 billion a year and are paid to farmerswhether they farm or not. But it uses mostof those savings to create new farm subsi-dies and expand crop insurance. Farmersneed a government safety net because ag-riculture is a tough, unpredictable industryand the nation's food supply is dependenton family farms staying in business.▪ The bill would save around $1.65 bil-lion annually overall, but critics say thosesavings could be erased if the weather orthe market doesn't cooperate. Many of thenew subsidies would only kick in if afarmer has losses, and it's impossible topredict exactly how much the programswill eventually cost.

Details of the farm bill

The Faces of Food Stamps page 7

Grandchildren climbed onChristy McGee as sheslapped a cockroach com-

ing out of the cushion of the couchinside this apartment at the Land-mark.“We spray, they shouldn’t be

here,” she said.At 42, McGee thought she was

done raising kids. But when herdaughter decided she didn’t want tobe a mother to Shakai, 4, and De-shaun, 2, there was no secondthoughts about it, she became theirlegal guardian.Her love for the children is appar-

ent as she beams and does a littlegrandma bragging; explaining thatShakai knows her ABC’s and cancount to 13. But, Shakai was busyplaying with a girl from anotherapartment and didn’t want to slowdown to recite. Deshaun disap-peared, shyly hiding under the ta-ble.“He really isn’t shy,” she laughs.Though she desperately wants to

work, McGee is on disability afterbeing injured in a car accident in1997. For the past year and a halfshe has been getting food stamps tofeed her grandchildren. At first shereceived $381, but this fall it wascut almost $100 to $299.Since Jan. 1, her food assistance

was dropped to $290.“My disability payment went up so

the food stamps went down$9,”McGee said. When other in-come goes up food stamps godown.She also receives $271 in cash as-

sistance through the GrandparentsRights program, which is assistancefor grandparents with custody oftheir grandchildren. They can re-ceive that money until they are 18.She uses that money to buy diapersfor Deshaun and clothing for thechildren.She’s diabetic so it’s important she

eat healthy, and she budgets plentyof fresh vegetables and fruits intheir diet. Because she doesn’t havea vehicle, usually they walk the fewblocks from the Landmark to Dil-lon’s for groceries. But when shecan get a ride, she’ll load up hergrocery cart at Aldi’s.McGee and her grand kids moved

into the Landmark inSeptember,because it was cheaperthan the house she was renting.She pays $500 a month, utilitiesincluded, for the two bedroom/twobath apartment. They have prob-lems with mice eating the labels offthe cans of food in the cupboards.

She has set out mousetraps, but themice just nibble the peanut buttershe puts down for bait.Shakai opens a lower cupboard

hoping to show off the mouse, as ifit’s the family pet. There is a cat inresidence at the Landmark, whichMcGee hopes will help with theproblem.While McGee tries to manage her

food stamps, by Jan. 30 they wereout of money and would have towait until Feb. 6. before a newround of food stamps arrived.While the Reno County Food Bankcould be an option because shehadn’t been there since October,she thought they would be OK withtheir food supply for another week.“We eat a lot of ramen noodles,”

McGee said, as she opened up abag of chips for Shakai to snack on.“I like noodles,” said Shakai.“Tonight it will be sandwiches and

chips for supper,” McGee said.Back in the 1990’s when McGee

was raising her three children aloneshe received food stamps.“The program was different,” she

said. “For three kids and myself Igot $500. Now for me and the kidswe get $290 and prices are moreexpensive.”For now she says she’ll have to

make adjustments in what shespends. She’s not too concernedbecause her grandchildren areyoung and don’t eat much. As theyget older and their appetites in-

crease it will be more of a chal-lenge.If she could speak with her repre-

sentatives in Washington she wouldask them to consider cutting theirown pay before they cut any morefrom food stamps.“They aren’t looking at the fami-

lies in need,” she said.And for any politician that says

she needs to get a job, she certainlywishes she could.

“If I could, I would go back towork,” she said. “Before the acci-dent I would work 14 hour days.”As the kids continued to jump on

her, she offers hugs and kisses.“Sometimes I get mad at my

daughter,” McGee said. “But, Iwouldn’t trade this for anything.”

- Kathy Hanks

Snap cuts take bite out of budget

Christy McGee holds her grandson Deshaun, 2, while her granddaughter Shakia, 4, looks on. McGee was disabled in a car accident in 1997and has legal custody of her grandchildren. She relies on food stamps to feed her grandchildren, but her food assistance has been reducedin recent months due to program reductions.

The Faces of Food Stamps page 8

Survival has become couple’s aimRebecca Call gripped the

giant sign as if she wastrying to keep the mast of a

sail boat from blowing out to sea.Despite robust winds, she was glad

to be standing where she was at thecorner of K-61 and 17th Avenueholding the board that announced“Huge Inventory Blowout” forSears’ going out of business sale.After all, she was out of work, so

being paid $8 an hour to work fivehours, several days a week bringingin money she desperately neededwas like manna.In recent days she quit her job at

the Chinese Kitchen at Dillon’sMarket Place where she hadworked part time for the past fourmonths, adding extra hours whenever they were available. She hadbeen warned she would be firedonce the boss returned. Customerscomplained one too many timesco-workers said. She felt like shewas being targeted so withoutthinking it through she told themshe’d do them a favor and just quit.Call knows it was an impulsive

act. Now more than ever she needsan income because her food stampswere cut Jan. 1. Up until this fallshe was receiving $200 a month,and then in October it was cut to$189, before being totally cut offJan.1 from the Supplemental Nutri-tion Assistance Program.“They said it was because I was

making too much money,” Callsaid. “But, that’s not true. Theylooked at my gross pay but that’snot what I was bringing home.”She was being paid $7.45 an hour

job. In reality her take home, afterchild support, was $137.   Call is trying to make a clean

break from the past four years ofdrug addiction. She met her fiancé,Pat Mahoney, through a drug deal-er.Together they have come from

what she describes as “a very darkplace.”“I lost my house, my job, my kids,

everything went downhill,” shesaid, during her time of addiction.The mother of four children, the

38-year-old is also a grandmother.Her daughters were taken awayfrom her and back child supportwas drawn from her paycheck forone of the children’s dad. Anotherdaughter, 20 year-old Tea West, ison her own and also a mother of ason being raised by the father.  An-other daughter has been adopted.She and Mahoney moved to a

small apartment at Fox Run Dec.

30, after four months of living atNew Beginnings transitional hous-ing.“We were bound and determined

to get on our feet,” said Call. Nowthey are paying $180 a month forthe furnished apartment, as theytransition further into one day rent-ing their own place.On Feb.8 Call will be drug free

one year.  For four years she hadbeen an I.V. drug user.“I self medicated on meth,” she

said. “The drugs were killing me.” Some days death seemed like the

only option and she tried to commitsuicide.She realized she couldn’t stoop

any lower, nor could Mahoney,who was faced with drug court, andalready had a criminal record.“The main thing helping me out is

my kids,” said Mahoney.  He staysclean for two children.  It also helpsto have Rebecca by his side.“She’s my woman, she sticks with

me,” he said. He is currently working with a

counselor in the Kansas Depart-ment of Children and Families’ vo-cational rehabilitation program,who is helping him prepare forwork.Call is proud there has been no

backsliding into the previous life,which she says was evil. She’sproud to be back to her Christian

faith and has been baptized, and isnow accountable to her CelebrateRecovery group at CrossPointChurch. And she’s equally pleasedthat Mahoney is now a Christian.That’s all the good news. But

some days the challenges are over-whelming. Like trying to find work“I’m gruff and I’m loud,” she said.

“That’s my personality. I’m bi-po-lar and you never know what willhappen.”For now she can’t afford her pre-

scription medications, but thankful-ly because of the sign holding jobthey can pay their rent.By late January they were out of

money and food stamps and headedto the Reno County Food Bank.

If food stamps were cut complete-ly, Mahoney said he would dowhatever was necessary to feed hischildren.“I guarantee you if food stamps

are cut, crime will go up,” Mahon-ey said.Meanwhile Call says they are

lucky they can hold the signs andget paid.“That gives us another month to

get money.”By then hopefully she will have a

job. She says she will put in 110percent with her work.“If you show me how to do it, I

can do it,” she said. “Right now Ihave to do all I can to survive.”

- Kathy Hanks

Rebecca Call and Patrick Mahoney load groceries from their shopping trip at the Reno County Food Bank.

Below: Rebecca Call holds signs at the intersection of 11th Avenue and K-61 in Hutchinson.

The Faces of Food Stamps page 9

Sitting alone in a packed Mc-Donalds, a woman with pinkstreaks in her short blond hair bentover her breakfast occasionallyglancing around diffidently.With reservation, Laura agreed to

talk about how she was trying tobetter herself for her son.Since September she has been re-

ceiving monthly assistance from theSNAP program. Like most Kansanson assistance she did see a $20 cut-back in November and is currentlygetting $347.“I have an 11-year-old. I have to

put food in his belly,” Laura said.While Laura was willing to talk,

she declined to give her last nameor the name of her 11 year old son.She admitted to enjoying an early

morning indulgence at McDonald’sas she waited for classes to begin atHutchinson Community College.Thanks to a Pell grant, the 39 yearold will finally attend college.“I’m a late bloomer,” she said.She was separated from her hus-

band, a truck driver. Maybe theywill get back together, but for nowshe is on her own with a child tofeed.“I figured I needed to do some-

thing to take care of my son andme,” she said, explaining why shehad enrolled in college.Laura has lofty dreams of becom-

ing a social worker, and workingwith children.“I am a survivor of the state’s fos-

ter care system, “she said. “ I wantto improve the system.”For now all she knows is being a

waitress and working in fast foods,but she knows there is no wayworking in fast food can buy all herfood and pay the rent.“I got it in my head that one way

or the other I was going back toschool,” Laura said.With determination, she is ready to

do more with her life, and thanks tothe guidance of a mentor throughVocational Rehabilitation Services,that might be possible. BecauseLaura has some learning disabili-ties, she has been assigned a coun-selor through the vocationalrehabilitation program with theKansas Department of Children andFamilies.A bond is forming with the two

women. The counselor helped herrealize what she wanted in life,which is to help others as she hadbeen helped in her life. She has seta goal of becoming a social worker.

“She directed me in the right di-rection,” Laura said. She was cur-rently waiting to learn what job shewould have through the work studyprogram, which is a requirementwith her Pell grant.The vocational rehabilitation pro-

gram is for anyone with disabilitiesthat are barriers to employment.They can range from difficultyhearing to a double amputee, to aperson with learning or cognitiveproblems. The program empowersKansans with disabilities to becomegainfully employed and self-suffi-cient.Twenty percent of the national

population has some form of dis-ability, said Michael Donnelly, di-rector of rehabilitation services, adivision of DCF.Generally counselors meet once a

month, if not more, with their cli-ents. Laura knows she can call hercounselor any time, and becausethere is someone cheering her onand who she must be accountableto, her chance to succeed is greater.Donnelly said the objective of the

program is to find employment thatmeets and matches up with the tal-ent, skills and interests of the client.If they are not interested in the job

they generally won’t keep workingat it. The program offers the servic-es and support that helps the clientbe successful.According to Donnelly, 1,700 peo-

ple got and kept those jobs for atleast 90 day, in 2013, closing outtheir VR cases. Their average wagewas $9.80 an hour and they wereaveraging 30 hours a week.“The other thing important to note,

as a result there are $21 million inthe return on investment, it’s verygood. It's good for the economy.For each dollar earned as a result ofa VR placement, there is about$1.66 in total earnings generatedthrough the economy, according toa study done by Wichita State Uni-versity. Further, for each personemployed through VR, there areabout 1.85 total jobs created in theoverall economy,” Donnelly said.Now that Laura is a student, she’s

receiving $2,822 for the semesterthrough the Pell grant and is en-rolled in 12 hours of study. It’s a lotto digest for this first time fresh-man. She is enrolled in an orienta-tion class, English Composition I,Psychology and Introduction to So-cial Work.

She has told her son, who is cur-rently a student at Lincoln School,that college will not be an option,but a requirement.“He wants to be a bull rider, a bull

fighter or a fire fighter,” she laughs.“He’s a cowboy all the way.”Laura is making it happen because

she and her son are able to live withtheir in-laws, despite the separationfrom her husband.“My husband and I get along bet-

ter now,” she said. Because he is atruck driver, he lives most the timein his truck.Her parents divorced when she

was a young child.“My mom couldn’t care for me

and my dad didn’t want to,” shesaid. “I was a child in need of careat 12.”She has been on and off of food

assistance since 1998.Despite the current cuts, thanks to

the Pell grant, she says she canmake their food stamps stretch.Using her Vision card, she makes

monthly trips to Aldi’s where shefills her cart to overflowing. Thenshe makes trips to Nickerson’s IGAto purchase meat bundles.“I shop smart,” she said.

- Kathy Hanks

Vocational rehab helping woman get education

Mark figures it is time tomove on.The bearded man sat at a table eat-

ing chicken and noodles, welcom-ing a warm meal on such a coldday. He doesn’t have the money topay his heating bills, or his rent forthat matter – bumming electricityoff his neighbor to run a heaterwhile spending recent chilly daysunder a pile of blankets.Mark, too humiliated to tell his last

name, had been receiving $189 infood stamps since he lost his job 11/2 years ago – something he sayswas no one’s fault but his own. Butin early January, his food assistancewas cut off – the same month hereceived his eviction notice.The problem, he says, is he can’t

find another job – or, at least, onehe is willing to take.“I don’t think anyone wants to

jump headlong into the system,” hesaid, but added that the governmentmoney he received for groceries“did help.”Across Kansas Jan. 1, more than

20,000 able-bodied residents losttheir food stamp provisions under anew state policy Republicans arehoping to implement nationwide,according to the Kansas Depart-ment of Children and Families.It’s all part of an effort to crack

down on food stamp spending un-der the Brownback administration.In the past year, state officials haveramped up efforts to curb fraud. Inaddition, last fall, DCF decided todrop its participation in a federalgrant program designed to helppoor people apply for food-stampbenefits – sending more $70,000administered by five Kansas agen-cies, back to Washington.The most recent change on those

on food stamps, however, camewhen the state reinstated work re-quirements for recipients between18 and 50 who are able-bodied andhave no dependant children.The federal government requires

adults capable of work who have nochildren in their home to receivefood assistance for only threemonths out of 36 if they don’t havejobs or have signed up for school-ing, said DCF Benefits DirectorSandra Kimmons.States, however, can waive this

requirement during times of highunemployment, she said. Moststates did so as part of the 2009stimulus package and have beenallowed to keep using the waiver aslong as they meet certain criteria.

On Oct. 1, Kansas let the waiverlapse, thus joining a handful ofstates that didn’t waive the workrequirement.For the 20,000 Kansans affected,

such as Mark, their food stamp ben-efits ended Jan. 1.Republicans, including Kansas

Rep. Tim Huelskamp, blame part ofthe increasing cost of food stampson the more lenient enrollmentstandards. The food stamp program,officially called the SupplementalNutrition and Assistance Program,or SNAP, grew to more than $76billion in 2013 – a 52 percent climbsince the waiver was implementedfour years earlier during the reces-sion.“The program is in desperate need

of reform and yet this bill makesonly nominal changes,” Huelskampsaid after voting against the currentHouse farm bill proposal Wednes-day. “Instead of status quo in thisthe fastest growing welfare pro-gram in the entire government, weshould have taken the opportunityto provide meaningful work reformrequirements, especially for able-bodied adults, as we passed in theU.S. House.”But Huelskamp also stated the

economy hasn’t improved muchunder the Obama Administration.He quoted that 24.1 million Ameri-cans are searching for work.Hutchinson resident Rebecca Call

is one of the millions looking foremployment. Call, who was receiv-ing $189 a month in food stampswhile trying to pick up as many ex-tra hours as she could from herpart-time, minimum-waged job atDillons, also was one of the manywhose benefits disappeared in Janu-ary when here income rose abovethe SNAP guidelines.Call, whose life story is complex,

still is food insecure. She essential-ly lost her job a few weeks laterafter customer complaints and Call,who is bipolar, decided leavingwould make it easier on everyone.Now she is living off her fiancé’s$189 a month in food stamps –which also supports his two youngchildren when he has visitation.A recovering drug addict who has

been clean a year, Call tries to hideher worry. Yet, when she was try-ing to make ends meet on minimumwage - $7.25 an hour – it didn’tseem to put her ahead, she said.“You have to work 20 hours to get

food stamps, but I’ll either maketoo much money or I won’t makeenough,” she said, later adding,“You’re damned if you do, damned

if you don’t. Who can survive onthat?”While her financial situation is

tough right now, she won’t reapplyfor food stamps. She is optimisticthat she will find work.Mark, meanwhile, the nameless

man who wants to get out ofHutchinson, doesn’t seem too wor-ried about his situation. He hasgood friends and neighbors whohave helped him out.Yet, there really is nothing for him

in Hutchinson, he said. He stayed intown after he served a five-yearprison sentence for aggravated rob-bery. For eight years, he worked a

laboring job, but his mouth got himinto trouble.So, on this cold day, he began

searching out a charitable organiza-tion that could help him get a trainticket out of town.“I want to move back to Kansas

City where my mom lives,” he said.“Or, maybe, to Colorado with mybrother, he’s a computer guy. Iheard there might be places that arehiring.”But his ticket, which he secured

with Hutchinson Catholic charitySt. Vincent de Paul, a society witha mission to help those in need,hasn’t been picked up.

- Amy Bickel

The Faces of Food Stamps page 10

State toughens up work requirementsThe Faces of Food Stamps

Above: Rebec-ca Call worksas a signholder forSears.

Left: Amandaand GaryJohnson intheir homewith their chil-dren.

Rebecca Call andPatrick Mahoneyshop at the RenoCounty Food Bankwhen their foodstamps don’t carrythem through themonth.

The Faces of Food Stamps page 11

Array of lobbyists have stake in farm billFor the past two years, the farm bill has been

caught up in congressional gridlock, the debatecentered on just what a trillion-dollar food andfarm program should include.Finally on Wednesday, the House passed legis-

lation, sending it to the Senate, which is expect-ed to vote Monday.Nevertheless, at the end of the impasse, there

were winners and there were losers.The legislation, with its hefty price tag, attract-

ed companies and organization from across thecountry, all wanting a piece of the farm bill pie.According to opensecrets.org, the farm bill was

the sixth-most heavily lobbied measure inWashington in 2013. More than 350 organiza-tions - from Pepsi and Wal-Mart to the Ameri-can Farm Bureau - spent cash to get their voicesheard on what they thought should be in the leg-islation.The American Farm Bureau spent the most

time on the issue filing 23 times about their ef-forts in 2013, which show the farm organizationspent hundreds of thousands of dollars, withcrop insurance the most listed reason on disclo-sure reports.Not that farm organizations just use their cash

for lobbying, as OpenSecrets notes. They'vesunk money into the campaigns of congressionalrepresentatives, including Agriculture Commit-tee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., who re-ceived nearly 46 percent of his campaign total in2012 from agribusiness.Meanwhile, farm groups weren't the only one

wanting to shape the farm bill. PepsiCo lobbiedabout potential restrictions in food stamp spend-ing, as well as childhood obesity and wereamong the top 10 farm bill lobbyists.A few years ago in New York, Mayor Michael

Bloomberg proposed prohibiting soda from be-ing purchasable with food stamps, but the US-DA shot down the idea.Meanwhile, according to a report by Michele

Simon, who spearheads the firm Eat Drink Poli-tics, some of the top groups who teamed up tofight the New York proposal included the Gro-cery Manufacturers Association, The NationalGrocers Association, the American BeverageAssociation and the Snack Food Association.The candy lobby is equally as great, Simon

notes in a 2012 report "Food Stamps: Follow theMoney." She notes the candy lobby even wor-ries children may be deprived.

From the talking points: Sometimes goodintention goes too far. For example, limitingfood choices in SNAP could deny children anoccasional treat during the holidays such asChristmas, Halloween, Hanukah, Easter."Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Depart-

ment of Agriculture, 82 percent of SNAP

benefits were redeemed in supermarkets andsuperstores in 2012. Wal-Mart stores, which al-so lobbies on SNAP - is no doubt one of the topfor SNAP receipts. According to a Tulsa Worldstory, Oklahoma Wal-Mart stores received $506million in SNAP receipts between mid-2009 toearly 2011. The newspaper received the data

from the Oklahoma Department of Human Ser-vices.Repeated Freedom of Information Act requests

by The News during the past several years toobtain SNAP spending data in Kansas from theUSDA have been denied. Similar requests toobtain the data from the Kansas Department ofChildren and Families ended with a statementthat the information should be obtained from theUSDA.Others in the top 10 for farm bill lobbying in-

clude: National Cable and TelecommunicationsAssociation, International Dairy Foods Associa-tion, Comcast Corp, American Sugar Alliance,Monsanto, Purdue University, Grocery Manu-facturers Association, Dairy Farmers of Ameri-ca.

- Amy Bickel

There is some public confusion over what are eligible food items on the Supplemental Nutrition Assis-tance Program."You shouldn't be able to buy cigarettes with food stamps," said Jeff Glendening state director of

Americans for Prosperity.Actually, a person can't buy cigarettes, according to the USDA Food and Nutrition Services. While some

people receiving food assistance might smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol and have lots of hungry catsto feed, those items can't be purchased with food stamps. Yet, as state and national officials note,there is a black market where individuals sell their food stamps for cash, alcohol or cigarettes and, asone on food stamps admitted about his past - drugs.Here is what households can buy with SNAP benefits under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008:

Foods for the household to eat, such as: breads and cereals, fruits and vegetables, meats, fish andpoultry, and dairy products, seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat.In some areas, restaurants can be authorized to accept SNAP benefits from qualified homeless, elder-

ly, or disabled people in exchange for low-cost meals.Here is what households cannot use SNAP benefits to buy:Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco; any nonfood items, such as: pet foods, soaps, grooming

items, cosmetics, paper products, household supplies, vitamins and medicines; food that will be eatenin the store and hot foods.In an interview with The News, Glendening stated the food stamp program is broken and should be

separated from the Farm Bill. Loopholes and fraudulent use of the program by recipients are two bigissues that concern him."I think you could safely say it is a broken program. Unfortunately, you have a number of loopholes

that are helping people who aren't truly in need and are not truly struggling," Glendening said.Soft drinks, candy, cookies, snack crackers, and ice cream are food items and are eligible items for

purchase under SNAP. Seafood, steak, and bakery cakes are also food items and are also eligibleitems.Since the current definition of food is a specific part of the act, any change to this definition would re-

quire action by a member of Congress. Several times in the history of SNAP, Congress had consideredplacing limits on the types of food that could be purchased with program benefits. However, they con-cluded that designating foods as luxury or non-nutritious would be administratively costly and burden-some.For more information go to http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-

program-snap

Rules debunk rumors on SNAP purchases

From “Ask Hutch”

For the past month, Kathy Hanks and Ihave been working on a series lookingat the food stamp side of the farm bill.Often, I write about how the 80-year-oldlegislation affects Kansas agriculture,but I knew little about how it affectsthose who rely on the assistance to pur-chase groceries for their families.

We decided to put a face to Kansasfood stamps.

On Saturday, I received this questionabout an issue we did not address in ourstories. The question references a part

of the state that we typically do not cov-er.

Saturday's paper included a mapmade by Ken Stephens and Jim Heckthat showed the percentage of residentson food stamps in each Kansas county.The data we used, from the Kansas De-partment for Children and Families,showed most counties in the southeast

corner had a higher percentage on foodstamps than the rest of the state. Mont-gomery County, for example, has 17.4percent of the population using foodstamps. That's higher than urban Sedg-wick County, where just over 16 percentof the population is getting Supplemen-tal Nutrition Assistance Program dollars.

The southeast Kansas area, whichonce had a large economy centered onmining, has a higher rate of generation-al poverty, according to a report by theSunflower Foundation.

Residents of Crawford and Cherokeecounties have among the lowest per

capita incomes of any areas of thestate, the report said. Moreover, it's notsimply an economic downturn, KristaPostai, a native of Pittsburg who is thechief executive officer for the Communi-ty Health Center of Southeast Kansas,said in the report.

"We're talking about generational pov-erty; 100 years of poverty," Postai said."What's different about this kind of pov-erty is that people do not hope for any-thing different. But I am proud to say weare bringing hope."

Map shows areas of longstanding poverty in Kansas

The Faces of Food Stamps page 12

"Be Kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a greatbattle," Philo of Alexandria

Leaving the woman's home, Amy Bickel and Ithought we had found the perfect face to portray thefood stamp series.We were excited to tell her story after listening for

over an hour as she told us how she stretched the$236 her family of three received from SNAP allthe way to the end of the month. She came across asthe perfect example of someone trying to better her-self in society after a few rough patches, includingdivorce.This lady had big dreams to become a lawyer, get

an MBA and eventually start her own nonprofit.She also had great ideas, sharing how she could

prepare a meal by planning, and making each dimecount. Things others took for granted, she thoughtthrough. She managed by using brand and storecoupons and other online coupon offers, scopingout bargains.She could fix a meal for three, spending only $2,

and her kids ate it. Despite her scrimping, she wasable to find bargains so they had the latest techno-logical toys and would never run out of shampoo.It helped that she had a Pell grant, though still

eight years into her studies at Hutchinson Commu-nity College, currently all online. Between Pell,SNAP, Low Economic Energy Assistance, an ad-justed rent of $34 and her daughter's disability pay-ments, she managed.Searching for the faces of food stamps should have

been easy to find in Reno County with 8,494 peoplelocally receiving money from the Supplemental Nu-trition Assistance Program.Finding people brave enough to share their stories

was the hard part. Going to the soup kitchen or the

FriendshipMeals at theSalvation Ar-my were plac-es to begin.But here was a32-year-oldmother tryingto make it, andshe was sowilling to talkwith us.She was highly excitable as she shared how some-

times trying to make the right choices at the storegave her chest pains. Would it be cheaper to pur-chase this brand or that? She was always on thelook out for a savings. That's how she survived."If it's not on sale, we don't buy it," she said. "I al-

ways research before I buy something. I have to fig-ure out how to make the money last."She even agreed to go shopping with me and a

photographer so we could see how she cost com-pared and used the Vision card."Yea! Shopping," she said happily, when I called

the night before to confirm what time I would pickher up at her home.The next morning a photographer went ahead to

the store and I dropped by her townhouse to get her.I knocked and she didn't answer. I knocked harderthinking maybe she was asleep. Then I called her,but her cellphone was turned off.I pounded on her door, and then called again to no

avail. One more knock on the door, and I heard anasty voice shout "Go away."Then the door opened and a man stood there say-

ing the woman I was looking for was gone."But, who did I just hear?" I asked

"That was someone else," he said. "She left with afriend. I'll tell her you were here."Then he slammed the door.I was stunned. She had been excited about shop-

ping. Maybe something bad was happening in theapartment? I went to the manager of the apartmentcomplex. She and a maintenance man went tocheck. The woman was indeed inside with severalfriends. She told the manager she wasn't goingshopping with me so I could watch her spend mon-ey on her Vision card.They were just getting ready to do something in

there the manager said. She was uncomfortableabout it.I was angry. We had been duped.In retrospect we did have doubts about her. For

example, how can anyone get a Pell grant whilespending eight years in junior college and whywould the government allow it?Does this coupon clipping, frugal, mom know how

to play the system? Are her big dreams real? I don'tknow what to believe. Some might see her as a par-asite on society. Others might feel sympathy andwant to mentor her. A friend told me that everyadult in this situation has something in their back-ground that brought them to this point in life.One thing is certain, while it might sound like the

same story heard over and over, everyone is differ-ent and there is no perfect face of food stamps.

Interview takes a turn for the worseThey were just getting ready to do

something in there the manager said.She was uncomfortable about it.

I was angry. We had been duped.

For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty,and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took mein: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visitedme: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, whensaw we thee hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gavethee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took theein? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we theesick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily Isay unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of theleast of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Matthew 25: 35-40

The Faces of Food stamps are many.Sometimes those faces are of a working family strug-

gling to stay afloat in an increasingly difficult economy.Sometimes, those faces are of the disabled, who becauseof misfortune or misjudgment are not able to provide forthemselves. Sometimes it’s the face of a child, and some-times it’s the face of a widowed grandmother.

And, yes, sometimes, the faces of food stamps are thoseof the afflicted and addicted, who have learned throughthe years to treat a compassionate social safety net as agame and a way of life.

But every one is the face of a person, the least of these ofwhich Jesus spoke.

The fortunate among us - whose lives have fallen neatlyin place, who have held on to our health and our hopes forthe future - cannot control the actions, desires or out-comes of another, even if we think it just. We can’t makeanother’s choices, nor can we hold as ransom another’slife if they don’t conform to our ideals.

We can choose, however, to view those faces of foodstamps with compassion or contempt.

With compassion, we offer help without judgment andassistance without the expectation of favor. We offer a

path to a better life, with the hope that another will acceptit freely.

With judgment, we offer neglect, shame and condemna-tion. We refuse to lay out a road to hope and prosperity,but instead outline what we will require to in order to winour love and approval.

Will a compassionate heart toward the hungry, thethirsty and the sick lead some to exploit our kindness?Almost certainly, but it is better than the caustic effect ofa view tainted with hatred, ownership and disdain of ourcountry’s weakest people.

Last weekend, The News explored the issue of foodstamps, as well as the people who rely on the food pro-gram to meet their basic needs. The stories shined a lighton both the merits and faults of the program, and on thepeople for whom food stamps is a daily fact of life.

Some argue the food stamp program is broken, that toomany people game the system and in the process losetheir motivation to work. Others argue the program is per-fectly effective and should continue in its current form.Neither view is completely right, and the solution - ifthere’s one at all - won’t be simple or easy.

But maybe the discussion can begin with recognitionthat the debate over food stamps isn’t a debate about poli-cy, nor should it be a debate about whether the weakshould comply with demands of the strong.

The issue of food stamps is a debate about faces and thepeople behind them.

It’s about people who suffer misfortune, who lack thecapacity to work, who aren’t as strong, fit, intelligent, ed-ucated, charismatic or as mindful as most of us.

It’s about people who have grown up poor and know noother way to survive. It’s about people who have experi-enced trauma or who have made bad decisions for whichthey’ve spent their whole lives paying.

It’s about people born with severe illnesses or people indebilitating car accidents. It’s about people born to brokenand tormented families or in a part of the country that suf-fers from chronic poverty.

And it’s about people who see welfare as a better hopethan work.

If we remove judgment, however, and view the issue offood stamps through the lens of people, maybe we beginto examine the underlying problem we originally set outto solve, which is how 47 million people in the richestcountry on earth can be so grossly excluded from the na-tion’s prosperity that they must rely on the public’s mercyfor food.

So long as the debate is founded in judgment of anoth-er’s decisions or lifestyle, the food stamp program neverwill fully serve as a tool to help the poor attain self-suffi-ciency. Instead of finding ways to help more people find away to a better life, we’ll continue to piously shake ourheads in shame and disapproval at the faces of thosewhose lives don’t mirror our own.

A conversation that begins with compassion, however,compels us to ask how we can best help and serve the lessfortunate. A compassionate view moves us away frominflammatory language that reduces our brethren to some-thing less than human and instead starts with the biblicalidea that we should freely offer an open hand to the poorin our land.

The Faces of Food Stamps are many, yet it's worth paus-ing long enough to consider that one of those faces couldbe ours, our children, our friends or our families. Then wecan rejoice for what we have and let compassion guideour decisions about how best to help the least of these.

- Jason Probst

Compassion, not judgment, should define food stamp debate

Opinion