Poverty in Philadelphia

          In a recent project undertaken by myself and three other justice 371 students, we have found some shocking statistics regarding poverty in Philadelphia. The project called for several groups to study different major cities throughout the U.S. in regard to poverty and hunger levels and statistics. Our assigned city, Philadelphia, proved to be one of the most devastated cities with almost 25% of its population at or below the poverty line. Our group divided various topics regarding the city up for our presentation. Before presenting, we compiled and shared our information for our own benefit and for the sake of the project. My particular topic was hunger in Philadelphia.

          Amongst the various sub-problems caused by poverty in Philadelphia lies the growing issue of hunger.  In 2009, 316,000 Philadelphia residents received help from a food pantry or hunger assistance organization. This was a 41% increase since 2008. The year 2010 saw a 62% increase in requests for food assistance from various social aid organizations and food pantries.  Though Philadelphia saw a 45% increase in the budget for emergency food rations, approximately 35% of the food demands went unmet. Since last year, Philadelphia has been projected to see a decrease in resources for food supplies and an increase in requests for food assistance. As of this year, 448,000 Philadelphia residents collect food stamps from SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) to provide for themselves and or their families. The National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Summer Food Service Program for Children, WIC (the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) are all federally funded programs implemented to combat hunger in Philadelphia and other major cities where high levels of poverty and hunger exist. Philadelphia also has approximately 700 soup kitchens though more may be needed to decrease the city’s high levels of hunger.

References:
http://www.hungercoalition.org/snap-campaign
http://www.usmayors.org/pressreleases/documents/hungerhomelessnessreport_121208.pdf