Advocates urge DC Council to invest in anti-poverty programs

WASHINGTON (7News) — Nearly 30,000 D.C. households are struggling with food insecurity, according to data from an annual U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report.

The USDA’s Household Food Security report states that 8.8% of D.C. households are food insecure, compared to 13.5% of U.S. households.

“Food is a basic human right,” said LaMonika Jones, the director of nonprofit D.C. Hunger Solutions.“As long as we still have a mouth that is experiencing hunger or a household that needs to be fed, we still have an issue here in the District.”

Jones is urging the D.C. Council to fund a Universal School Meals program, providing free breakfast, lunch and after-school snacks to all students in the District. She’s also calling for an expanded Child Tax Credit to help support families and for permanent added SNAP benefits.

The D.C. Council’s Give SNAP a Raise legislation provides temporary added benefits, which ended in September.

“If we take away that 10% allotment through Give SNAP a Raise, now we’re pushing people further back into poverty and into hunger, and what we will see shortly is we will see an increase of food insecurity,” Jones explained. “So those numbers will again go back up to where they were during the pandemic and then even pre-pandemic.”

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Jones said investing more in these anti-poverty programs can help combat hunger.

“D.C. continues to be a leader in addressing these issues, but there’s still more that can be done,” she said. “There’s still intentional efforts that can be done to address what hunger and poverty looks like, what grocery store access looks like, especially in our most vulnerable communities.”

7News reached out to several council members whose committees touch on these issues.

“Food security has been and remains a top priority for my work, especially as chair of the Committee on Health,” Councilmember Christina Henderson said in an emailed statement to 7News. “I’m glad to see that two of the top solutions recommended by D.C. Hunger Solutions were things I’ve already introduced and championed at the Council – universal school meals and permanent funding for Give SNAP a Raise. The Committee on Health has also been working on other food access programs as well, including a new grocery access pilot program which will enable some residents to be able to have their groceries delivered without fees. As always, I will keep fighting for these programs and others.”

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“I appreciate the work that went into this study,” Councilmember Robert White said in an emailed statement to 7News. “I hear from families facing food insecurity all too often. As a result, I have long advocated for increased food assistance for our families both through the pandemic and over the summer months. When the Mayor sends down her next budget, I look forward to considering the DC Hunger Solutions proposals and will continue to be focused on shoring up our core safety net programs. No one in our city should go hungry because they don’t have enough money for food.”