WASHINGTON - On the very day that the government released information that the number of people struggling to put food on the table has increased for the fifth year in a row, the House Agriculture Committee passed legislation that would force an estimated 300,000 people off food stamps by cutting the program by $844 million.

Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the statistics on hunger and food insecurity for 2004. Findings show that the number of people living in food insecure households has risen by nearly 2 million people (from 36.3 million individuals in 2003 to 38.2 million in 2004). More than 13 million children live in food insecure households. The number of people who live in households that suffer from outright hunger rose from 9.6 to 10.6 million. These increases in hunger and food insecurity are sharper than in previous years and they do not yet include the impact of the hurricanes of 2005.

Simultaneously, the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee voted to cut the Food Stamp Program by $844 million. These cuts will affect roughly 300,000 poor and vulnerable people including:

• 225,000 people in welfare to work families; and
• 70,000 legal immigrants who have lived here at least five years.

These cuts are part of the House Republican package that includes $70 billion in tax cuts, mostly for wealthy people, and $50 billion in spending cuts. The spending cuts include cuts to other programs for low-income and vulnerable people-Medicaid, foster care, child support, and support for disabled people

"If the Agriculture Committee feels it needs to cut spending, it could simply limit subsides to no more than a quarter of a million dollars per farm per year. They don't need to take food away from hungry families," said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. "Katrina was a tragedy for many poor people, but cutting food stamps now is a scandal."

A recent survey by the Alliance to End Hunger found that 75 percent of voters think that the Food Stamp Program should be protected from cuts even in a tight budget year.

LINK TO USDA REPORT: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/err11/

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