Montana Food Bank Network

By PEGGY GRIMES Missoulian Guest Column for Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007
More than 240 families showed up to receive food for their household members recently during a special food distribution by the Montana Food Bank Network and City Food Bank. The distribution was part of a special program initiated by the Montana Food Bank Network to demonstrate that more people are in need of food on a more consistent basis and that local pantries struggle to meet the increased need.

Families in Missoula regularly visit the Missoula Food Bank, City Food Bank, the Salvation Army, the Poverello Center and other agencies providing emergency food assistance to the Missoula community. They are given a three-day supply of food at each visit. Many of these households are currently receiving food stamps as well.

As the cost of food continues to rise, causing the value of the food stamp dollar to decrease, more households are finding themselves without the resources to make it through the month. This means they are relying more heavily on the emergency food system to meet their food needs.
The Montana Food Bank Network is responsible for providing food to 23 emergency feeding programs in Missoula County and an additional seven programs in Mineral and Ravalli counties. Our organization doesn't normally distribute directly to individuals.

However, in recent years we have heard a consistent message from the agencies we provide food to that the demand for emergency food continues to increase. At the same time, the food stamp program in Montana continues to grow. In 2005, only 50 percent of those eligible to receive food stamps in Montana were actually on the program. In 2007, the food stamp program served 56 percent of eligible individuals.

In a two-hour span of time, Montana Food Bank Network and City Food Bank volunteers gave out more than 20,000 pounds of food to 240 individual households, representing 776 individuals. Of these individuals, 313 were children and 109 were seniors. What this reveals is that even though we have many excellent programs here in Missoula that work hard every day to provide food for our neighbors, it still isn't enough. This is not only happening in Missoula, it's happening all across Montana.

We were expecting to distribute about 10,000 pounds of food at this event, but when we saw how many people showed up to receive the food, we had to send our truck back to our warehouse to fill up again so we'd have enough food for everyone.

As we enter the holiday season, the struggle to meet everyday needs for many Missoula households with a limited income becomes more difficult. Several smaller food pantries around Missoula will struggle to keep food on their shelves, and the two soup kitchens here in Missoula - the Poverello Center and Missoula 3:16 Mission - will serve more meals.

The mission of the Montana Food Bank Network is to provide food for these and many other programs throughout the state, while working to change public policy so that everyone in Montana can access their food on a consistent basis without having to rely on an emergency food program to feed their family.

With a 2 percent unemployment rate in Montana, we're not talking about helping people who don't want to help themselves, we're talking about our neighbors who work hard to provide for their family. Your neighbors who can't afford to pay for health insurance, who have the same dreams and desires we all have. People who want their children to have the best they can offer. These are the people who struggle to keep a roof over their heads, food in their mouths and heat in their homes.

The federal food stamp program, WIC, school nutrition programs and commodities programs help meet this need. Three of these programs - food stamps and commodities programs - are currently being reauthorized by Congress as part of the 2007 Farm Bill.

Currently, the food stamp program provides benefits to households who are at 130 percent of the federal poverty level. That means a family of four making less than $26,000 a year is eligible to receive monthly food stamp benefits if they also meet additional household resource guidelines.

Many of the households needing emergency food assistance in Missoula are at a higher income level and don't qualify for food stamps. They still struggle to meet their needs, but must rely on one or more of the pantries to provide food for their family. The minimum allotment for food stamps is $10 per month. This amount will not even buy one bag of groceries for a single person, let alone a family.

The Montana Food Bank Network is asking Congress to raise the minimum eligibility for food stamps to 185 percent of the federal poverty level and to raise the minimum amount of food stamps provided to $25. By making these changes, more people will qualify for the program, the value of food stamps will be expanded, and the burden on our local emergency feeding programs will lessen as more people are able to meet their food needs.