You have to read today’s WashPo story on food stamps in RI
March 17th, 2013 at 10:44 am by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site
Food stamps – or “SNAP,” the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, as it’s been renamed – has been getting a lot of attention in Rhode Island lately. That isn’t too surprising when you consider 17% of the state’s entire population – 179,127 Rhode Islanders – were enrolled in the program as of December, receiving a combined $25.1 million in benefits that month.
There are names, faces and stories behind those numbers, The Washington Post’s Eli Saslow vividly shows in a must-read story this morning that discusses how food stamps provide a vital economic lifeline for “the broke residents of a nearly bankrupt town” – Woonsocket:
The economy of Woonsocket was about to stir to life. Delivery trucks were moving down river roads, and stores were extending their hours. The bus company was warning riders to anticipate “heavy traffic.” A community bank, soon to experience a surge in deposits, was rolling a message across its electronic marquee on the night of Feb. 28: “Happy shopping! Enjoy the 1st.”
In the heart of downtown, Miguel Pichardo, 53, watched three trucks jockey for position at the loading dock of his family-run International Meat Market. For most of the month, his business operated as a humble milk-and-eggs corner store, but now 3,000 pounds of product were scheduled for delivery in the next few hours. He wiped the front counter and smoothed the edges of a sign posted near his register. “Yes! We take Food Stamps, SNAP, EBT!”
“Today, we fill the store up with everything,” he said. “Tomorrow, we sell it all.”
At precisely one second after midnight, on March 1, Woonsocket would experience its monthly financial windfall — nearly $2 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.
It’s a gripping piece. Read the whole article here.
Rhode Island used to lag other states in getting eligible residents to actually sign up for the food stamp program, but a push by the Bush and Carcieri administrations in the mid-2000s changed that significantly, as I reported in this 2010 WPRI.com story (when less than 14% of residents were enrolled).
In Rhode Island, SNAP is run by the Department of Human Services, which came under fire last week for its payment-error rate of 7.56%, more than double its target of 3%. The benefits themselves are federally funded – and thus they’re effectively a cross-border subsidy from more prosperous states to struggling Rhode Island.
Tags: food stamps, woonsocket
Nesi's Notes covers politics and the economy in and around Rhode Island for WPRI.com. (Twitter: 
RI appears to be slowly turning into Detroit. At least we don’t have their crime rate?
Bob, The crime is here just the numbers are not realeased or the details. Another problem the people of Rhode Island condone and enable criminals. They don’t want Nanna to know little Joey is in the ACI. When little Joey gets out of jail his record is expunged.
is anyone supposed to be surprised by this?? interesting story .. but gripping????
this is normal everyday life in ri.Ted, you need to get out more in the real RI.
This is why I call Rhode Island the third world of the United States. The coruption is rampant and condoned by too many people who are either public sector employees, including public school teachers, gettin some type of social service or are giving kickbacks from government to provide services to local government. Until you people start looking to elminate the antibusiness laws and attitude, not redcue social services but elminate the entire budget, this is what Rhode Island will be known for.
This story really go to the point these people have poor judgement and cannot plan. I read about the one family of 4 getting over $500 a month in food stamps. My family of four does not spend that much on groceries in a month. The reason we buy fresh food not all the process garbage these people are buying. I wonder when they buy that much meat gets thrown out in a week unless they have a deep freezer? I buy pork loins from BJ’s I used to buy them from Price Rite until Price Rite started selling meat injected with 12% brine. $1.99 a pound I cut my own pork chops. We will six or seven meals out of that 9lb piece of meat. I buy potatos at Save a Lot when they are $.20 a pound for them. We shop the loss leaders each week. All the supermarkets are within 2 miles of where we live. I will not go to Burger King in Rhode Island because they are run by JanCo and their restaurants are not kept up to standards of corperate run Burger Kings. Many of the restaurant operators and franchisees in Rhode Island don’t know how to maintain a clean commerical kitchen. What is most disturbing is Johnson and Wales culinary school is right in Rhode Island.