My name is Marcellus Wiley. In a single lifetime I've answered to ivy league graduate, professional athlete, sports commentator, friend and father. When you're in the public eye there's an assumption that the real you is known by all based on various television and radio interviews. When I saw Mario Batali in the news recently, it brought me back to the first title I ever had and that is "SON."

As a teenager I was often sent to the store by my mom to shop for the family. Whether it was for an extra ingredient needed for a certain dish, a gallon of milk...you name it and I was probably the one sent to get it. The journey I took to the store was not unlike that of countless kids all over the country. My team jersey was the same as most. My Chuck Taylors weren't too different from anyone else's and I gave the same "pound" to friends I saw along the way. The only thing that I was pretty certain set me apart from others was the currency burning a hole in my pocket. I knew that at the end of my shopping trip I would be paying the cashier with what I called "funny money", properly known as food stamps.

As a kid, I hated it. It's not like I was walking around like I thought I was better than others or some kind of Richie Rich but that didn't mean I wanted everybody to know THAT MUCH of our situation. In fact, sometimes I was so embarrassed that I would walk around the store in circles, up to 45 minutes in hopes to significantly delay the checkout process just so NO ONE would see me paying with those food stamps. 

When I heard that the Food Bank For New York City was doing a Food Stamp Challenge where people were actually CHOOSING to live on $31 for the week, I was intrigued. In all of the rhetoric today it's great to see people walking a mile in another's shoes in order to better understand their situation. When you're on any form of public assistance like food stamps, you're never thinking about the fact that you are one of almost 50 million Americans who are ALSO requiring assistance.

In my conversations with the Food Bank's president I learned that almost 80 percent of people on food stamps are mothers and their children. That's not different from my story. I also learned that many times teens would rather avoid using programs like free and reduced lunch assistance to keep from being embarrassed in front of their peers. That too is not different from my story. What's different for me now is that as an adult I better understand the necessity of a safety net for any family in need. Being needy doesn't mean anything about your character and certainly it doesn't say anything about your potential.

My mother firmly placed me on a path of success. The fact that part of that journey included walks to the store carrying food stamps makes me admire her even more. My sincere hope is that each person who has taken the Food Stamp Challenge will walk away understanding that what was an experiment for them is just called life for so many others. We live in a world where it's better to be called anything but poor. The Food Stamp Challenge reminds us that it's important that we use our voice and circle of influence on behalf of those who could truly use it. Food Bank For New York City is using this challenge to increase awareness and encourage all of us to act by letting our elected officials know that we care about those in need and expect them to do the same. If you'd like to join us in this effort just click here and let your voice be heard too.

Marcellus Wiley is a former All-Pro defensive end NFL analyst for ESPN, and co-host of "Max & Marcellus" on 710AM ESPN Radio Los Angeles. Wiley regularly appears on NFL Live, SportsCenter, First Take, and ESPNEWS, while also contributing to ESPN’s Super Bowl coverage.

By Chef Karl Wilder, 

What began for me as a month long project to live as a diabetic in support of the Harlem Hospital’s Stirring the Pot diabetes program also became a commitment to the Food Bank For New York City when I realized just how common diabetes and other diet-related diseases are in low-income communities — communities that also rely heavily on food stamps to get by.

To truly understand what low-income diabetics go through, I joined the Food Bank’s Food Stamp Challenge last week — an experience that for me will culminate in a twelve-hour Chef Challenge Marathon on May 19 in support of Stirring the Pot and the Food Bank.

Last summer I lived on a food stamp budget for two months in preparation for a benefit for the San Francisco Food Bank. I did okay then because I relied on high calorie foods that are filling and provide sustenance. But with the added challenge of a diet restricted by a very serious health condition, this time I sought to create an eating plan that had about 45 grams of carbohydrate per meal and never exceed $4.42 per day.

My morning cup of coffee with a splash of milk cost me forty-three cents, just 6 strawberries sixty cents, two slices of bacon forty two cents. In no time my budget has been consumed.

Now I am just hungry. Every day I am hungry. Thus far I have not been able to get my calories above 1,500 a day, though my goal is 2,200. I just can’t afford that many calories while eating the ”right” foods. I have managed to stay within budget but I feel weak and have less energy. My sleep patterns have been interrupted because I wake up feeling hunger.

When we think about people on food assistance we don’t often realize that many also have serious health issues like diabetes, celiac, heart disease.

We are not powerless. The Food Bank’s Food Stamp Challenge doesn’t just ask you to try experiencing life as a food stamp recipient for one week — it also asks you to take action by telling Congress to protect this essential program.

You can also host a Virtual Food Drive, where you can shop from aisles of healthy food options to support the Food Bank. Or, you can donate food to your local food assistance program — the Food Bank serves close to 1,000 of them throughout the five boroughs. But instead of pulling that extra pound of pasta or that can of beans from your pantry, head to the store. Pick up some high quality protein; sardines, anchovies, tuna, canned salmon, foods with omega 3 that are appropriate for those with health problems…and while you are at it…get some peanut butter for the kids.

By Margarette Purvis, 

Seven months ago I returned to the Food Bank ready to put forth my best effort in helping as many New Yorkers as possible connect to the plight of our poorest neighbors. Within the first month I met with our Director for all things policy related to discuss this Food Stamp Challenge I saw on CNN. We had a robust conversation where she gave me examples of how it could work and the many avenues we could take. As I walked out of her office, I said over my shoulder, “I definitely want us to do that.”

So here’s my Friday morning confession: when I said I wanted to do it…I had no idea that she was going to make it a reality six months later and that I would have to figure out how I would eat for one WEEK on $31! I remember the day that they raced in my office to say that Susi Cahn and Mario Batali had agreed to lead the campaign. I was just as thrilled as they were. I remember when Mario stood before the crowd at our recent Can-Do gala and spoke passionately about why people should join his family in the challenge to relate to almost 50 million Americans and 1.8 million New Yorkers. I’ve smiled every time a tweeter joins the campaign. I experienced all of that and still on the first day of the challenge…I FEEL INCREDIBLY ANXIOUS.

I’m no different than any other working professional. I love a great coffee and probably lean on it a little more than I should. When I actually get a chance to go out for lunch…I expect it to be pretty yummy. My days are long and I typically have no desire to spend those final hours over a stove. GrubHub.com and Peapod.com feel like personal gifts from the universe TO ME. They make this working girl…WORK. So now I stare at 7 days on a food budget that I usually have spent in a single day. The overachiever in me wants to do everything really well. But the negotiator in me immediately started figuring out how/where I could adjust the challenge to fit my lifestyle. Hey, don’t judge me. I warned you that this was a confession.

Eighty percent of the Americans who rely on food stamps are women and children

Yesterday morning as I stared in my fridge berating myself for not shopping BEFORE the challenge and still having nothing FOR the challenge, I had a bit of an epiphany. I think the first lesson for me was to remember that what’s causing me anxiety equals RELIEF for people who actually NEED these resources. Imagine if my anxiety was based in having NO FOOD. I’m blessed that this is not my daily reality so I’ve decided to be grateful to have the opportunity to highlight the daily struggle of others. This doesn’t mean that I won’t complain a lil bit on one of these days…it just means that the disposition of my inner foodie has been adjusted.

The Food Stamp Challenge is about people living on the BUDGET and not the actual benefit. My plan is to crack open my handy crock pot and make meals that will stretch. Thankfully the Food Bank has a great team of nutritionists who put together a $31 grocery list. (That’s not cheating because this resource is provided via monthly trainings to our member network and clients at our Harlem site.) While perusing my list, the first thing I noticed was that the array of fruit that I typically eat is MIA. I can get a couple of apples though. Not the kind I like but at least an apple. Also, according to the list I would have to eat ground meat rather than ground turkey…because it’s too expensive. So, I decided to go online to find coupons so that I could hopefully trade up. You can follow my journey on Twitter OR you can join me by participating in the challenge, sharing your experiences on Facebook and Twitter and CONTACTING YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS to encourage them to PROTECT this most valuable resource in our safety net….FOOD FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT.

By Triada Stampas,

Last week saw major developments in the Farm Bill, the federal legislation that sets funding and policy for safety net nutrition programs as well as agriculture and conservation programs for a five-year period. The Senate Agriculture Committee voted to approve a draft Farm Bill that would cut $4.5 billion from food stamp (SNAP) benefits.

In New York City, this cut would reduce the monthly SNAP allotments of 190,000 low-income households living in public housing or receiving federal Section 8 housing vouchers. (The average income of a household living in public housing in New York City is less than $23,000.) 

New York’s only member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Kirsten Gillibrand, voted against this bill on the grounds that it would harm some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers, and will be bringing an amendment to the Senate floor to protect children in SNAP households from cuts that may remain in the final bill.

The Senate Agriculture Committee’s Farm Bill draft does make improvements to the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides the main source of food to our city’s soup kitchens and food pantries. The improvements appear significant on first glance — adding $150 million in mandatory funding and giving the federal government explicit authority to purchase additional TEFAP food in response to increases in need. However, TEFAP has already lost $175 million this year. It is clear that, on balance, emergency food providers will be coping with even fewer resources to confront the increased need created by cuts to SNAP.

What happens next? The bill will be brought to the floor of the Senate, where our legislators will have the opportunity to offer additional amendments before they vote on it. The House of Representatives must also develop and approve its version of the Farm Bill; the difference between each chamber’s version must then be reconciled and a consensus proposal adopted.

What can you do?

1. Call your Senators and Representatives and let them know cuts to SNAP are not acceptable
2. Join Mario Batali and take the Food Stamp Challenge to raise awareness about this critical lifeline.
3. Spread the word to your family, friends and coworkers using the Share button below.

By Triada Stampas,

The House of Representatives is giving us new cause for alarm about the future of the safety net against hunger. Not only would the House Budget Resolution — commonly referred to as the “Ryan Budget” — that was passed earlier this month slash and restructure the food stamp program (SNAP), it would make billions of dollars in additional cuts to agriculture and nutrition programs. And just this week, the House Agriculture Committee adopted a plan to take these additional cuts from just one program: SNAP.

At a time when local unemployment and poverty remain persistently high, these cuts would reduce the food resources of more than 46 million individuals across the country — including more than 1.8 million New York City residents. In addition, these cuts would force some SNAP recipients off the program entirely.

SNAP is our nation’s first line of defense against hunger. Our nation’s emergency food programs — which provide the majority of the food served by our network of soup kitchens and food pantries — are supposed to be the last line. However, our network has already lost nearly seven million meals this year as a result of cuts in the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Cuts to SNAP will place added strain on a network whose defenses are already significantly weakened — if our first line of defense is weakened, our last line of defense won’t hold.

Further, Congress’s production of the federal budget coincides this year with the reauthorization of the Farm Bill — which will set policy and legislation for agriculture and nutrition programs, including SNAP and TEFAP, for the next five years. However, spending levels set in the Ryan Budget would not allow for funding of improvements the Farm Bill may seek to make for TEFAP or SNAP.

At a time when our country is still struggling rise out of a deep recession, drastic cuts to our hunger safety net should not be an option.

Act now: email your representatives in Washington today!
 

By Triada Stampas,

Three weeks ago, the Food Bank reached out to supporters like you to help save a critical source of support provided by the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to our most vulnerable working families.

In a cynical move to offset the cost of the payroll tax and unemployment insurance extension, the House proposed cutting CTC refunds that benefit low-income, working families who file their taxes with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) rather than Social Security numbers.

Cash refunds received by tax-paying immigrants through the Child Tax Credit help some of our most vulnerable families keep food no the table.

Thanks to the actions of advocates like you, Congress protected this critical benefit which, simply put, helps keep food on the table for working families.

Though, in the end, Congress agreed not to require spending cuts to offset the extensions, Congress responded to the need for funding by initiating the auction of public airwaves for wireless Internet systems.

By removing a proposed cut that would have hurt our country’s most vulnerable, working families and identifying a revenue generating initiative that will speed digital communications, Congress has provided a perfect example of a fact that often goes unstated in Washington — we can reduce spending without hurting low-income Americans.

The Food Bank would like to thank our advocates for helping to save the Child Tax Credit! Please take a moment to visit our advocacy page for other actions you can take in support of New Yorkers in need.

 

By Triada Stampas, 

In order to pay for improvements to school meals programs in 2010, Congress and President Obama cut $2.2 billion from future food stamp (SNAP) benefits under the "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act."

Signing the bill into law, President Obama promised to restore the funds. Last week in his budget request, he did just that, aiming to ensure no family loses the resources they need to provide food for themselves and their children.

In addition to the restoration of food stamp funding, the President's fiscal year budget protects the nutrition safety net at a time when millions of Americans still grapple with unemployment and wage stagnation. Some highlights of the budget request include:

• Increasing support for food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) by $9.25 million to keep up with rising food prices;
• Fully funding school meal programs;
• Designating funds to address food deserts, which means the lack of access to healthy, affordable food in low-income communities;
• Adequately funding the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to support the 9.1 million participants expected this year.

The President's budget request is a promising starting point for federal budget negotiations. Over the next several months, Congress will hold hearings, propose alternative funding plans and ultimately vote on a final budget that may look much different from the version President Obama presented.

While the past year has seen a number of threats to SNAP and TEFAP, we remain hopeful that Congress maintains the strong support for nutrition programs laid out in the President's budget. To make your voice heard, please consider contacting your senators and representatives and tell them to support these essential nutrition assistance programs.

By Triada Stampas,

Right now, Congress is considering legislation that would cut off a critical source of support provided by the Child Tax Credit to our most vulnerable working families.

At a time when one in five children relies on soup kitchens and food pantries in NYC, this legislation would deny cash refunds that the Child Tax Credit provides to working immigrants who file taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) instead of Social Security Numbers. Cutting the credit means increasing taxes on millions of struggling, working families across the country.

Cash refunds received by tax-paying immigrants through the Child Tax Credit help some of our most vulnerable families keep food no the table. Act now >

More than half of low-income households with children in New York City struggle to afford food. Last year, ITIN filers who accessed the Food Bank’s Free Income Tax Services had an average household income of $10,800 and received, on average, $1,160 in Child Tax Credits — a significant boost for low-income working people struggling to raise children in New York City.

Simply put, the Child Tax Credit helps keep food on the table for working families. The decision is now in the hands of a Congressional “conference committee” of House and Senate members — and their decision is expected soon! 

Tell Congress: Protect the Child Tax Credit. Protect our most vulnerable children.

By Triada Stampas,

In his State of the State address, Governor Andrew Cuomo called for New York City to end the practice of finger-imaging for food stamps — a practice that stigmatizes the program and acts as a barrier to participation.

Throughout the U.S., only New York City and the state of Arizona continue to require finger-imaging, as other cost-effective, reliable fraud detection and prevention methods are in use in New York State and across the country.

With such great need in New York — nearly three million people struggle to afford food in NYC alone — and with alternate measures readily available, our neighbors cannot wait any longer for this stigmatizing and burdensome requirement to end.

With the Governor's recent statements, an end to this practice is finally in sight. We hope you will join us in our call to Albany: Let's end finger-imaging for all food stamp applicants NOW! Please act today!
 

By Triada Stampas,

This past Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo delivered his second State of the State address. After a year when critical anti-hunger programs have been under threat at the national level, I was overjoyed to hear the governor highlight child hunger and speak out forcefully for expanding access to the food stamp program (SNAP) by removing barriers to participation and eliminating stigma — including ending the practice of finger-imaging.

In New York City, 76 percent of all households with children struggle to afford food.

Since I couldn’t say it better myself, here is what the governor said:

“For all of our progress, there are still basic wrongs to right. There is never an excuse for letting any child in New York go to bed hungry. Statewide, 1 in 6 children live in homes without enough food on the table. Yet 30 percent of New Yorkers eligible for food stamps — over 1.4 million people — do not receive them, leaving over $1 billion in federal funds unclaimed every year.

“We must increase participation in the food stamp program, remove barriers to participation and eliminate the stigma associated with this program. And we must stop fingerprinting for food. No child should go hungry in the great State of New York and we will do all that we can to prevent it.”

In addition, Governor Cuomo called for a number of other initiatives that will help those we serve, including:

• improving food access in food deserts;
• foreclosure relief and tenant protection;
• setting up a health insurance exchange to provide more New Yorkers with insurance and lessen healthcare costs; and
• reducing (or, for some, eliminating) the state income tax burden on low-income New Yorkers.

It will take a lot of work to make all of this happen. But the fact that these issues all made it into this year’s address means that these are the items Governor Cuomo has pledged to prioritize and devote resources to seeing done.

We don’t see this happen every day, and we will be doing everything we can in the coming months and year to help make sure that true progress is made.