NEW ORLEANS – Melanie McGuire knows better than anyone how needy and disadvantaged Louisiana residents get their food.
As chief impact officer for Second Harvest Food Bank—the largest anti-hunger network in south Louisiana— McGuire knows the challenges of providing healthy, accessible food to 100,000 people each month.
She knows what works, like allowing residents to choose food items that best fit their health needs, like educating them on how to cook nutritious meals, and like providing them with fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables.
She also knows what won’t work: Shipping them a pre-made, pre-packaged food box.
“It's the direct opposite of where food banks are going,” McGuire said. “The idea of a box is that it limits choices, and it’s not the kind of direction we feel would address the hunger needs.”
Yet, a food-box idea is a proposal in the White House’s fiscal 2019 budget. It would replace about half of the money families receive via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (also known as food stamps) with what the Department of Agriculture calls “America’s Harvest Box.”
According to the proposal, the box would be made up of "100 percent U.S. grown and produced food," and would include items like shelf-stable milk, peanut butter, canned fruits along with meats and cereal.
McGuire said that The Second Harvest Food Bank and several other anti-hunger networks have signed on to a petition from Food For America, a national organization that opposes the food-box plan and opposes cuts to the food stamp program. She added that around 42 million U.S. residents use the SNAP program.
“‘Box’ items, like canned products, tend to be higher in things like sodium,” McGuire said. “In Louisiana, we have high rates of heart disease and blood pressure (which have been associated with consumption of high-sodium foods). Food banks have seen an increase in fresh fruits and vegetables through retail programs and collaborations with farmers; a food box doesn’t address those needs.”
Natalie Jayroe, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank in New Orleans will travel to Washington, D.C. this week to discuss how the cuts to the SNAP program will impact local residents, and how food boxes would be counterproductive to their mission.
“There is a common misconception that there is a broken system, when, in fact, SNAP is a very efficient and effective program,” McGuire said. “The rate of fraud is around 1 percent, and it's really an important safety-net program for low-income working families.”
Mcguire outlined her concerns with the food box plan:
Costs
Although Tim Murtaugh, a US Department of Agriculture spokesman, clarified that states would “have flexibility” in how they choose to distribute the food to SNAP recipients and stated that the boxes would save over $129 billion over 10 years, McGuire contends that it would be a logistical nightmare.
“There isn’t a set plan for how states would manage these boxes," she said. "States having to be able to adequately distribute food to eligible participants would be very challenging and would cost much more than participants having access to a SNAP card,” she said. “The idea of a food box presents a lot of logistical as well as procurement challenges. How would you mass distribute them? How would you reach rural communities, where you frequently have a high level of need?”
She added: “Allowing people to have access to a card to go to their closest grocery store is much more efficient than mailing boxes to a designated location for distribution. Inevitably, people and families will fall through the cracks.”
Waste
In addition to residents simply throwing out some boxed food they don’t like (or aren’t able to eat), McGuire said the food-box plan doesn’t allow for flexibility based on economic factors.
“The way the SNAP program works is that it is able to expand or shrink as needed. When economy is surging, you see the trend that people are not using the program or not using it as much,” McGuire said. “Having that flexibility lets you manage costs. A food box doesn’t offer flexibility—you either get sent a box or you don’t.”
She said staff and volunteers at food banks also provide outreach on how to prepare food. “Providing a box of food, where a family may or may not know what to do with the items, ensures families can not build a healthier environment,” she said.
Different needs
McGuire points out that boxes would have to have countless customized options to address peoples’ individual needs.
“Especially with our aging population, seniors are more vulnerable and often are very limited in how they can cook food and what their dietary needs are,” she said. “A mother with three children has different benefit amounts and needs than those of a single person; a box can’t address that the same way SNAP benefits can.”
Not Blue Apron
McGuire said the food-box plan for those who cannot afford food, cannot be compared to the successful Blue Apron meal delivery service.
“The Blue Apron model is that boxes are sent to people so they can prepare three or four meals as a supplement; it doesn’t address the fact that in some cases, it’s the family’s only food.”
Mcguire added that among food banks, “Everyone is concerned” with the proposal and with cuts to the federal food stamp program. “This administration is proposing very deep cuts to the SNAP program over the next ten years—about 30 percent,” McGuire said. “That can not be made up by charitable donations. These federal programs supplement what food banks can do, and we would not be able to make up for it; it would directly impact the services we provide to families.”
-By Jenny Peterson, Associate News Editor, Biz New Orleans
