One in six Kentucky households report having serious problems affording nutritious food, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The report released on Wednesday also reveals basic hunger needs in the statehave increased over the past decade even as lawmakers in Washington are proposing to dump millions of food stamp recipients.
Of the approximately 285,000 Kentucky households experiencing food insecurity, about 113,000 had at least one or more members living in the home forced to reduce their food intake. The agriculture department's report shows 15.6 percent lack adequate food choices, a five percent increase since 2003.
Many argue government help such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program combat those hunger issues. But food stamps face a possible $40 billion worth of cuts in Congress, which could eliminate benefits for up to 6 million Americans.
Jason Bailey is director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. He says the cuts are coming at a time when many families are still struggling economically.
"It’s not like they’re also proposing to create 4 to 6 million jobs that these folks can get to provide enough income for them to pay for their food needs. It’s an incredibly cruel and counter-productive proposal at a time when unemployment is still high," he says.
Of course, Kentucky Republicans don't seem too interested in creating jobs. In fact, government employee Sen. Rand Paul will tell you that neither jobs nor food are in the government interest to worry about. In fact, plenty of red states are moving to do things like kick people off food stamps by reinstating work requirements during high unemployment. They know people can't get jobs to feed their families, but screw them, take their food stamps because they're probably those people anyway and hell, they don't vote Republican, right?
To make a few omelets, you have to starve a few million Americans, right?