Reporting the Truth About Food Stamps Earns Journalist a Pulitzer

In Texas, almost 4 million people relied on the food stamp program according to the latest reports and participation is on the decline as expected with an economic recovery.  Food stamps help Americans to eat healthy while they make ends meet. This federal program is carefully designed to grow when times are bad and shrink when things get better. In spite of successes the program is consistently under attack at budget meetings in Washington, and its participants are often negatively portrayed.  At the Food Bank, we know that the truth about food stamps are complex  affecting  communities, businesses, individuals and families in complex, and often paradoxical ways.

We applaud the media’s efforts to share real stories of Americans who turn to the program for assistance and help dispel the myths and lies surrounding the program. For Washington Post journalist Eli Saslow, it earned him a Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. In this PBS News Hour Interview Eli shares why he chose to write about these American families:

“The truth is there’s this lasting scar of the economic collapse and it’s these 47 million people, one in seven Americans, who are now dependent on the government for their food…and I think those are people worth paying attention to.”

 



We agree.  The more we pay attention, the better chances we have to come together and solve this hunger crisis.

Read his stories here:

Food stamps put Rhode Island town on monthly boom-and-bust cycle

In Florida, a food-stamp recruiter deals with wrenching choices

In rural Tennessee, a new way to help hungry children: A bus turned bread truck

Hard work: A Florida Republican pushing to overhaul the food stamp system toils to win over a divided Congress

Too much of too little: A diet fueled by food stamps is making South Texans obese but leaving them hungry

Waiting for the 8^th: The months seem a bit longer for a D.C. woman and her family after recent cuts to the food stamps they rely on