It’s raining today. We usually get rain in the spring and fall, and around Halloween, we often see a light skiff of snow here in the valley. Many of the trees have already lost over 75% of their leaves.
My granddaughters didn’t make it up on Sunday. Maud woke up with an earache, and her sister Bree was too scared to travel. With little sleep, Sawyer decided not to drive up. His flight back to Medford, Oregon, left around 7 that evening.
I might as well mention the upcoming SNAP cutoff in November. I’ve been watching some YouTube videos on the topic — you can easily search for “SNAP benefits” yourself. I’m not sure how the algorithm works, but I’ve noticed that most of the videos show Black people losing their EBT benefits (the card where SNAP funds are placed).
Here’s what I found about SNAP usage by race and ethnicity:
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White (Non-Hispanic): 35.4%
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Black/African American (Non-Hispanic): 25.7%
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Hispanic: 15.6%
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Asian (Non-Hispanic): 3.9%
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Native American/Alaska Native (Non-Hispanic): 1.3%
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Multi-race reported: 1.0%
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Race unknown: 17.0%
As you can see, white people also make significant use of the SNAP program.
Now, by age group:
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Under 5 years: 39%
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Ages 5 to 17: 28%
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Adults 18 to 59: 42%
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Older adults 60+: 19%
One last note about SNAP — among the “working poor” who were eligible in 2017, about 73% participated in the program.
What really strikes me is that most of the YouTube videos I’ve seen show Black people supposedly stealing food from Walmart. Hopefully, things don’t get that bad. If someone is truly hungry, anyone — regardless of race — might steal to survive. It does seem like YouTube’s coverage may be a bit biased in how it shows these incidents.
As for my own day, things went fairly smoothly. I vacuumed my car — it cost me a dollar in quarters, but I ended up finding 75¢ worth of change, so it really only cost me a quarter. I also got my laptop issues sorted out — I’m very thankful for the library and their tech help. I copied something from my thumb drive to use in my art journal.
I stopped at the dollar store and spent under $2.00 on a powder puff for a journal page and a piece of tag board. Now, of course, I can’t find the tower I made for my art!
I assume the loss of SNAP benefits will hit poorer states hard -- most of which are Red States.
ReplyDeleteGood health care should be a human right.
ReplyDeleteNot familiar with SNAP...sorry that your granddaughters couldn't make it up on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you got your laptop sorted. Trump stopping SNAP is a criminal act in my opinion, he cares NOTHING for the people of America and it's time his supporters woke up and changed their minds. Vote him OUT!
ReplyDelete...food insecurity is a sin!
ReplyDeleteChildren will suffer from the loss of SNAP obviously. Whatever they feel about adults, how can they do it to children? Cruel!
ReplyDeleteFederal workers who are being forced to work without being paid, and critical human supports shutting down, it is well past time for compromise and getting back to work.
ReplyDeleteHorrible
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a productive day. We had a drought for almost three months in Central Europe, and now it has been constant rain for a week almost, now that everything is dead and no longer green and blooming LOL
ReplyDeleteOh, but the billionaires need more money. Disgusting.
ReplyDelete