Project:
Assessing Food Security and Dietary Intake in the Post Welfare Reform Era in Two Southern States
Year: 2001
Research Center: Southern Rural Development Center, Mississippi State University
Investigator: Monroe, Pamela A., Carol O’Neil, Vicky R. Tiller, Jennifer Smith, Janet G.H. Marsh, and Stacey Willocks
Institution: Louisiana State University
Project Contact:
Pamela A. Monroe, Professor
Louisiana State University
School of Human Ecology
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Phone: 225-578-1731
pmonroe@lsu.edu
Summary:
The authors examined the consequences of welfare
reform legislation in two Southern States, Louisiana
and South Carolina, by observing food security
outcomes for families receiving Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families (TANF), former TANF families,
low-income non-TANF families, and local communities.
The authors conducted interviews with approximately
130 former welfare recipients and working
poor women in Louisiana and South Carolina from
late fall 2000 through late summer 2001.
Most women (72 percent) in the Louisiana sample
received food stamps; none received TANF benefits.
Monthly food stamp benefits averaged $299.43, with a
range from $16 to $594. More than half (56 percent)
of the women in the study reported that their actual
food costs exceeded their monthly food stamp benefits;
the monthly shortfall averaged $112.50. In South
Carolina, the average monthly food stamp benefit
reported by the 34 women participating in the program
was $280, and the monthly benefit ranged from $10 to
$455. Fifteen of the 34 women using food stamps
reported that they spent no money for food beyond
their food stamp benefits. Among those spending
money for food beyond their food stamp allotment, the
average amount spent was $52 each month.
In Louisiana, almost one-third of the women in the
survey lived in households classified as food insecure
and a fifth lived in households classified as food insecure
with hunger. In South Carolina, 58 percent of
participants lived in food-insecure households and 25
percent lived in households classified as food insecure
with hunger.
Twenty-four-hour diet recalls were collected from 74
of the women in the original sample. Dietary recall
data were collected at the start of a household’s
resource cycle, when the respondent received her food
stamps or other source of income, and at the end of the
resource cycle. The analysis shows a positive correlation
between overweight and food insecurity in
women, possibly as a result of monthly resource
cycling. Women on food stamps often skipped meals
at the end of the resource cycle. Diet quality, measured
relative to the Federal Food Guide Pyramid recommendations,
was similar for both groups: low in nutritional
quality, high in fats, and generally deteriorated
over the resource cycle. The diets lacked fruits and
vegetables, variety, and key nutrients, minerals, and
vitamins. When asked to give an example of a
“balanced meal,” neither group could adequately
define a balanced diet. Both groups were overweight,
with poor diet quality a likely contributor to overweight
status.