Fighting hunger

A new state plan must address root causes, too

Last week, the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf announced its plan for reducing hunger in Pennsylvania. Following a one-year planning process, the governor and his Cabinet listed a set of goals that are to be reached over the next four years. While the goals are laudable, will they produce the desired results?

It is estimated that 1.7 million Pennsylvanians experience hunger at some point during the year. At the same time, the state is one of the top agricultural producers in the nation.

Many of the goals in the plan deal with ensuring that Pennsylvanians who qualify for food assistance sign up and receive that assistance. For example, one goal states that the food stamp participation rate will increase to 98 percent from 90 percent in the state.

Most food assistance programs, such as food stamps or the Women, Infants and Children program, originate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The state plan assumes that increasing the participation rate will not increase costs to the state, since guidelines and funding are established at the federal level.

Most important, the plan states that “hunger is a symptom of the greater issue of poverty.” It reminds us that one in eight Pennsylvanians lives below the poverty line. Therefore, hunger cannot be solved in isolation, and a wide range of supports is needed to bring families to self-sufficiency.

We believe that the plan is a good start in addressing this complex issue. To truly reduce hunger, however, the state and nation need to address deeper issues of wage stagnation, unemployment and the shrinking of the middle class.