Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
November 4, 2013
The head of the Pennsylvania’s largest food bank has warned that
demand for groceries following a $5 billion dollar cut in the food stamp program
cannot be met.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
Joe Arthur of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank “says the donor
network for the food banks is already stretched too thin to quickly expand,”
according to an Associated
Press report.
From November 1st, $5 billion was wiped off the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as a result of a planned stimulus
withdrawal. Almost 50 million Americans who are supported by the program face an
average loss of $36 dollars a month, which is a significant amount for those
living near the poverty line.
Food pantry organizers will be “unable to plug the hole being left
by a reduction in federal funding for food stamps,” which will leave families of
four in Pennsylvania facing the prospect of 20 fewer meals per month, according
to Arthur.
The Association of Arizona Food Banks sounds
a similar warning, noting that the 5 per cent cut, although appearing minor
on the surface, equates to about half a week’s budget for someone whose primary
source of food is SNAP.
Spokesman Brian Simpson illustrated how the massive surge in
demand for food was linked to the struggling economy.
Before the 2007 recession, the five food banks in his association
were handing out an average of 69,000 emergency food boxes per month. Last
month, 108,300 boxes were handed out, an increase of around 80 per cent.
The true impact of the cut will really be felt in the final week
of November, when food stamp recipients will begin to run out of benefits.
According to Margaret Purvis, the CEO of the largest food bank in
America, members of her Food Bank for New York City organization, are“panicking”
over the decrease in benefits, fearing a rush of hungry Americans.
“We’re telling everyone to make sure that you are prepared for
longer lines,” Purvis told NBC
News.
Her comments were echoed by Jim Weill, president of the Food
Research and Action Center, who stated, “It’s going to send people into a
charitable system that’s already overwhelmed and screaming for help itself.”
Purvis also invoked the threat of riots caused by millions of
Americans going hungry when she told
Salon.com, “If you look across the world, riots always begin typically the
same way: when people cannot afford to eat food.”
This has prompted
some to speculate that the Department of Homeland Security is gearing up for
potential unrest with its recent hiring of security guards to protect government
buildings in New York, as well as the purchase of half a million dollars worth
of fully
automatic pepper spray launchers and projectiles that are designed to be
used during riot control situations.
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