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Hunger
Quick Hit
by Steven Ross Johnson
3:38pm
Thu Jan 5

Bleak Picture For Illinois Food Banks In 2012

By most measures, 2011 will be remembered as one of the most challenging years for many of the state’s food banks, pantries, shelters and soup kitchens.

Efforts to feed those residents who don’t know where their next meal is coming from has been a daunting task - as the level of demand has risen to some of its highest levels in recent memory.

With government and private donations on the decline, many charitable food providers have been forced to do more with less in order to continue operating, which has raised concerns that conditions for the state’s hungry might get even worse in 2012.

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Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
9:57am
Tue Dec 20, 2011
2 comments

Addressing Chicago's Growing Hunger Problem

With the holiday season in full swing, the news is grim for hunger in Chicago – more and more Cook County residents don’t know where the next meal is coming from and food pantry donations are down.

Also, Congress is scheduled to reauthorize the farm bill next year – and the new legislation might include cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, i.e. food stamps.

On Monday, hunger relief workers and city officials testified at a City Council hearing on food insecurity in Chicago, convened by the committees on Health and Environmental Protections as well as Economic, Capital, and Technology Development.

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PI Original
by
1:08pm
Fri Aug 5, 2011
4 comments

Poverty, Food Stamp Use Hits Record High

Poverty

The most recent numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows the country now has a record-breaking number of people receiving food stamp benefits. Alabama saw a huge uptick following a major natural disaster but one root to their problem is their high poverty rate --something the Chicago-area knows well too.

Quick Hit
by
11:41am
Thu Mar 31, 2011
1 comment

Number Of The Day: 845,910

That’s the number of people in Cook County who are “food insecure,” according to a report by the Chicago Reporter citing data by Feeding America, a hunger-relief charity. That means 1 in 5 people or 16.1 percent of people here don’t have enough food every day. What’s more frightening is that 36 percent of them are actually living above the federal poverty line.
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PI Original
by Angela Caputo
9:29am
Tue Mar 2, 2010
5 comments

Bringing Food Stamps To Farmers Markets

Hunger

What if vast swaths of Illinois' food deserts could be filled by bringing farmers markets to low-income communities? A new bill circulating in Springfield aims to make that happen.

Quick Hit
by Angela Caputo
12:35pm
Tue Feb 9, 2010

Number Of The Day: 141,843

As the recession lingers, food stamps have been a saving grace for Illinois families struggling to get back on their feet. But because of the state budget crisis, Illinois is still failing to extend food aid to families who need it most. In 2007 alone, $85 million worth of assistance went unclaimed in the Chicago area, according the the Food Research and Action Center's analysis of federal data.

The problem, the Illinois Hunger Coalition's Diane Doherty tells the Chicago Reporter, is that the Illinois Department of Human Services is increasingly "understaffed at the same time that the number of households who are seeking help has skyrocketed.” The stress on the agency only grew worse when they decided to shutter numerous field offices last year.  It's no wonder that 141,843 impoverished Illinoisans are missing out on this crucial subsidy.