CHARITIES STRAINED BY FOOD STAMP CUTS.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Daily News Staff Writer Area food banks, once boasting plenty for the needy, have rows of near-empty shelves as legal immigrants who lost food stamps under the federal Welfare Reform Act look elsewhere for their basket of nutrition. A total of 425 legal immigrants living in Ventura County have been stripped of food stamps since the federal law went into effect Aug. 31, county records show. ``Welfare reform and the food stamp cuts are now a reality,'' said Jim Mangis, executive director of FOOD Share, the county's primary food bank. ``The federal government has shifted the burden to the local communities.'' FOOD Share, which serves 200 pantries, agencies and meal sites across the county, has seen a 5 percent increase in demand since last summer, Mangis said. Even without the food stamp cuts, the Ventura-based agency generally has a food shortage in January because of its emergency food basket  This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers.Please [improve the article] or discuss this issue on the talk page. program for the holidays. This past season, the facility distributed 60,000 pounds of food. ``This is one of the low points of the year for us,'' Mangis said. ``Although we've been able to meet the requests so far, we've been very low on high-protein foods such as meats, canned and nonperishable foods.'' The county Public Social Services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales Agency was forced originally to cut food stamps to 788 legal immigrants who qualify for the assistance. But the food stamps later were restored to 363 by the state of California, which administers the food stamp program The US Food Stamp Program is a federal assistance program that provides food to low income people living in the United States. Benefits are distributed by the individual states, but the program is administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. , according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Suzanne Ramirez, the county's food stamp specialist. Legal immigrants ages 18 to 65 must have 10 years of work in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. to qualify for food stamps, Ramirez said. A total of 3,872 people countywide continue to receive food stamps, including 2,062 on welfare, she said. |
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