Senior food cuts on the table

Another take-away proposal from the federal budget would cut the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which provides food boxes for 11,600 seniors and 1,300 women, infants and children.

Barb Packett, state Health and Human Services System food distribution coordinator,  said seniors get $50 in food monthly, including canned fruits, vegetables and meat, cheese, juices, evaporated milk, cereal and one starch.

Some seniors, if they qualify, would get $20 in food stamps each month for six months to replace the boxes of food.

But many won’t qualify, she said.

“They’re devastated,” Packett said of the seniors who have written to her about the loss.

“They are losing a crucial benefit to their food supply,” she said.

U.S. Congressman Jeff Fortenberry last month sent a letter to the  Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, urging members to reject the proposed elimination and to adequately fund the program.

“America produces an abundance of food. We can continue to find efficient ways to distribute surplus food and the values of good nutrition to the disadvantaged poor,” he said.

Fortenberry was one of 12 Republicans joining more than 100 Democrats to formally voice support for the food program.