The federal government has cut a program that provides low-income seniors with food staples.
The Commodity Supplemental Food Program is run through the state Department of Health and Human Services.
And as New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein reports, HHS officials expect some 700 needy seniors to go without monthly allotments of beans, dehydrated milk and cans of meat this year.
T.16
1:44 they have a sale on coffee, Maxwell House, small can, $2.79? No. No way. At Heath's they had coffee for the equivalent of $1.49. I will get another 5% off if we buy it today. We will stop at Heath's on our way home.
Sandy and Ed Meskys spent a good four hours grocery shopping last week.
The elderly couple says they rely on the day-old racks, the bruised produce and any good deals they find.
2:24 we are in our second supermarket for the day. At our first stop we bought some boneless chicken thighs at 99 cents a pound, b/c it was reduced for quick sale. We got from the quick reduced sale shelves, bread for 99 cents, a luxury item, normally it's over 3 dollars. It's good, multi-grain loaf.
Ed Meskys, a retired Physics Professor, is 69 and blind.
His wife Sandy, a retired healthcare worker, is 59.
The couple lives off of social security, Sandy's part-time job at the Moultonborough Library and some savings.
The Meskys guess they spend about $200 a month on food.
The past few years, they padded that budget with two boxes of rice, pasta and canned fruit or whatever sundries were available from the federal government.
The way they shop, those shipments saved them about $25 dollars a month.
3:36 here we found three loaves on sale of regular whole wheat store brand bread.
4:01 the cheapest you can generally get the day old bread is like 39 cents a loaf. This is 33 cents a loaf. It will stay in the freezer and it will be used. (that six cents a difference matters) we can't afford to save dollars, so we save nickels.
But a few weeks ago, the Meskys were told due to cuts to the federal Commodity Supplemental Food Program, or CSFP, they wouldn't be getting any more boxes any time soon.
Ed and Sandy agree, they won't starve- but they will have to adjust.
T.1
15:03 ...We will survive without it. we are not going to be hurting. We just have to be even more careful. We are not going to be eating nothing but pasta or beans. We are going to eat reasonably. It's just we will have a little bit less for discretionary things.
Discretionary things, says Sandy, like heat.
The Commodity Supplemental Food Program is primarily for women and children and they get their assistance first.
But across the country and in New Hampshire, most who benefit are low income seniors.
Donna Sergeant, who runs CSFP in Carroll County, says every month she sees seniors lining up waiting for their delivery.
3:32 these are people who average income is probably 4-5 hundred dollars a month...they are seniors who really depend on this food...it's the difference between sometimes eating not eating, they get cereal, juice, cheese, vegetables, it's a pretty good package. It's not to be taken lightly.
Sergeant says seniors currently receiving shipments in her district will continue to get food.
But Carroll County may be the exception.
State officials, who administer the United States Department of Agriculture program, say federal cuts are forcing them to serve up to 700 fewer people than last year.
That does not include new people who want the assistance for the first time.
The Department of Health and Human Services says 84 seniors a month, or about one thousand people a year, sign up for CSFP.
As a result of the cuts, those people will have to be put on waiting lists.
For those who are getting food, when their account expires after six months, they will go to the back of the line.
But HHS's Alice Brunning doesn't know why the program was cut in the first place.
T.1
13:55 I don't believe we've been given any direct information about what led to these cuts. Although I think they are consistent with cuts we have seen in many of our federal programs.
President George Bush called to trim the Commodity Supplemental Food Program by three million dollars in his Fiscal Year 2006 budget.
Congress approved cuts that exceeded the president proposal.
No member of the state's Congressional Delegation agreed to an interview for this story.
Senator Judd Gregg, chair of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee referred NHPR to the United States Department of Agriculture press office.
The USDA also did not make anyone available for comment.
In a voice mail message, the USDA confirmed that across the country 59 thousand fewer people would be served compared to last year.
The USDA also estimated it cost the federal government $15 dollars per food box.
State lawmakers at the Legislative Fiscal Committee have encouraged HHS Commissioner John Stephen to seek state funds to replace the federal cuts.
Committee member Senator Lou D'Allesandro.
T.2
2:05 hopefully the Commissioner of Health and Human Services gets to the Finance Committees of the House and Senate, let's them know the ramifications of the cuts. Bang. Put something in place. Fast track through the legislature and you could have this through in a matter of 15-30 days at the most.
Up in Carroll County, Donna Sergeant, who has been serving needy seniors since the late 80's doesn't want to let the federal government off the hook.
9:06...I don't believe they have stopped subsidizing the big food companies to get this food. They just stockpile it somewhere, I don't know where it's going...I think the food is out there, in caves wherever it is they keep it. Do you think there is any shortage of food in this country? I don't.
Health and Human Services is expected to further investigate the impact on the state level.
In Washington, advocates of the elderly worry what CSFP funding the president's budget will call for more cuts later this winter.
For NHPR News, I'm DG.
