Multimedia Reporting (Bradford-Utsler)

Seventy-six year old Pearl Harman just had a cancer operation to remove a lung, and she is supposed to have a knee operation that she will have to forego she said. She is also diabetic, which makes buying food costly. Harman is one of hundreds of senior citizens who must decide how to distribute their limited income to cover medical expenses, utility bills and food.

There are 254 Lawrence seniors enrolled in the Commodity Supplemental Food Program to alleviate their financial burden. The CSFP, sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, provides nutritional sustenance to low-income senior citizens at least 60 years of age, postpartum mothers, infants and children under six years of age. The program functions as a transition from WIC, Woman, Infants and Children, all of whom receive priority before the elderly.

Ballard Community Center human services director Paul Hunt and volunteer Anita O'Keefe prepare to distribute food commodities to 35 senior citizens as part of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program. The program may be eliminated next fiscal year.

As October, the start of the next fiscal year, looms closer, so does the threat to eliminate the program. President Bush’s 2007 budget proposal poses cutting $15 billion from 141 programs including the CSFP. The Agricultural Department is taking steps to eliminate the CSFP and enroll senior citizens in food stamp programs. But as Harman and other elderly already know, a food box can stretch over a month unlike the $10 or $12 they receive in food stamps.

Kansas is already feeling the reigns tighten. The federal government reduced 59,039 across the nation and Kansas’ caseload was reduced by 566. Lawrence receives approximately 245 caseloads and they will see a reduction of about 13.

According to David Thomason, director of Nutrition and WIC Services for the Kansas Department of Health and Nutrition, food pantries had to instigate waiting lists to make sure they did not go over their allotted caseloads.

Download fileUSDA foods available for 2006

Rose Bays, director of the commodity food program at Let’s Help, a non-profit organization in Topeka, said this is the first time she has seen this in the 15 years she has worked there. Let’s Help administers two federally funded food commodity programs, CSFP and TEFAP, Temporary Emergency Food Assistance, to the six food pantries in Douglas County.

She fears the program will be eliminated in the coming fiscal year and knows there is an obvious need.

“The program initially started to help people transit from WIC. Twelve to 13 years ago when I was volunteering, there were 400 kids and 80 elderly. Now, there are 1,500 elderly and 80 kids.”

Most of the seniors at her center are already receiving food stamps from the Social Rehabilitation Services in addition to the food commodities. But she said a lot of them don’t even bother filling out the long form for the meager amount.

Linda Lassen, director of human resources at the Penn House, agrees. The Penn House provide 15 senior citizens with commodities.

“I think a lot of them think it’s a waste of time to fill out paperwork for food stamps, and people don’t like people to know their business either,” she said.

Alberta Shepherd has been visiting The Ballard Community Center once a month to receive a food box since the program started. She said she just doesn’t know if it’s worth it to fill out all the paperwork necessary for only $10 a month.

Richard Meinis said the food stamps only buy him a couple gallons of milk.

The food box, which contains cans of meat, cans of vegetables, cans of fruit, dry milk, a two-pound block of cheese, cereal, peanut butter and a carbohydrate lasts most individuals one month. The USDA purchases the food. According to Thomason, the government mostly purchases surplus commodities and contract to buy food from different companies.

The CSFP is meant to function as a nutritional supplement, but for many seniors it is all they use. Some may not qualify for food stamps, or choose not to apply for them.

Thomason, who has not heard whether food stamp prices will increase, said that switching to a food stamp program is just shifting another entity, but it is the nutritional assistance that makes CSFP unique. He said if Let’s Help is able, they provide education in the form of classes or a book. Recipes are often available in the boxes too.

One senior who came to visit Ballard Community Center wishes to remain anonymous and will be used by the name Bob. Bob says that he is not surprised by talk of the budget cut.

“The president is balancing his budget on the backs of the poor, people who don’t have a voice. It’s the same old, same old,” he said. “I will just do without probably. If you don’t get it, you don’t have it and you do without.”

Paul Hunt, director of Ballard Community Center said these feelings of resentment are no surprise.

“This is the generation that really felt like it had a partnership with the government and trusted the government to take care of them. They are finding out that that either wasn’t possible from its inception or that we just haven’t maintained it,” he said.

Jeanette Collier, who runs the East Central Kansas Economic Opportunity Corp. office at the United Way Building, makes home deliveries on distribution day. She said she also feels the president’s fiscal priorities are askew.

“We can get searched at an airport but we can’t feed our old people,” she said. “It’s hard when you go to their home and see they really don’t have anything.”

Members of The National CSFP Association are calling on people to send letters to their senator.

Nila Lisher, who has only been receiving commodities for two months, said she would petition and knows she would not be alone.

There are a few alternative programs, but none that provide substantial nutrients for a month like the commodities do. The surplus from USDA food goes to Emergency food assistance program that is only given to each county five times a year. Bays said it is not a set box like the CSFP case loads and it may not even have meat.

Local agencies work with farmers to enhance supplements. Gail Sigurdson with Babcock, a home for seniors, said they had a grant last year just for the farmer's market. People received a voucher that went to the farmers and purchased what they wanted at the market.

Saunny Scott is a fan of the vouchers because she likes to have the option of what she eats.

"Sometimes you never know what you will get and I have to put off shopping at the store until I get my box," Scott said.

Kansas Food For Life provides an approximately $60 menu of assorted items for $25 for anyone wanting to save money at the grocery store.

Thomason said, “As budgeting gets tighter, you don’t know what any of the programs will look like in the future. If they keep cutting it will be more difficult to make ends meet and put food on table.”

Hunt said he has seen these types of threats before, but is hopeful the program will not end.

"It just seems to me that there's always big news about a program being cut, but it survives, it just changes."

He said he will keep going until it stops because he knows people will keep coming while food is available.

For more information please visit:
USDA FNS CSFP Home Page
CSFP State Contacts
The National CSFP Association
Kansas Department on Aging