Columbus' need for food aid outpaces other Ohio cities'

from the Columbus Dispatch

By Catherine Candisky

Demand for help putting food on the table has grown faster in the Columbus area during the past year than any other metropolitan region of the state.

The number of people receiving food stamps and public assistance is up 9.4 percent in the central Ohio area from a year ago.

Statewide, enrollment in the two tax-funded programs increased 7.3 percent between May 2007 and May 2008, according to state statistics compiled by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

“Ohio families are struggling to pay their housing costs, fill their gas tanks and put food on their tables," Brown said. “It's alarming that the number of Ohio families in need of food assistance has risen so rapidly in the past year.”

Brown, who has been visiting food pantries across the state, said many of the families seeking help work full time or hold two or more part-time jobs but still struggle to feed their children.

“All the trends are going the wrong way — more unemployment, more stagnant wages, higher costs of fuel, higher costs of food.”

Those who not too long ago were donating, or even volunteering, at food pantries now are in need themselves, Brown added.

The increased demand in the Columbus area — which included Franklin County and 18 surrounding counties — outpaced metropolitan areas of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo.

The Dayton area had the second-highest increase over the past year with a 9.2 percent jump, while demand was up 6 percent in the Cleveland area, the lowest in the state, according to statistics provided by Brown.

While the statistics are alarming, they are not surprising considering the increase in the number of Ohioans living below the federal poverty level, currently set at $21,200 a year for a family of four.

Between 1970 and 2004, Ohio's population increased 8 percent while the percentage of Ohioans living in poverty jumped 43 percent. About 14 percent of Ohioans have incomes at or below the poverty level and about a third earn less than 200 percent of the poverty level, an amount many economists view as necessary for a family to be self-sufficient.

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