During Republican Gov. Tate Reeves’ time in the Governor’s Mansion,
Mississippi has raised the economic development curtain on over $32
billion in new private sector investment. Much of that growth is in
modern, high-tech fields that promise more
and better jobs in the future.
But there are parts of Mississippi that have not yet reaped the benefits
of those developments. Mississippi is still the poorest state in the
union, with nearly one in five citizens living in poverty including
children and under-18 teens.
No small part of that narrative is tied to hunger and food insecurity.
Hunger, food insecurity and the very real scourge of “food deserts” are
all verses to the same sad song. “Food deserts” are locations in which
there is limited to no access to fresh foods,
i.e., local grocery stores selling nutritious fresh fruits, vegetables
and meats.
Nowhere are food deserts more real and visible than in rural
Mississippi, and in those rural areas, none are bleaker than in the
Mississippi Delta. Food deserts are defined as areas where rural
residents live more than 10 miles from a grocery store.
The University of Mississippi Medical Center shared data that showed
that statewide, over 70 percent of food stamp-eligible households travel
more than 30 miles to reach a supermarket. Mississippi State University
produced a film series on hunger in Mississippi
that captured the real drama in Clarksdale when the last grocery store
in that storied town closed its doors.
In food deserts, a lack of local access to fresh food does several
things. It drives residents to convenience stores and fast-food
restaurants, which are expensive on a per-meal basis and not as
beneficial from a nutritional standpoint, especially for children.
Mississippi has little public transportation, so personal travel to
supermarkets in distant communities reduces available funds for food -
and many elderly citizens don’t have access to vehicles.
Into that set of problems comes the U.S. House-passed “One Big Beautiful
Bill” taxing and spending package that seeks to extend Trump’s
first-term tax cuts by reductions in domestic spending – including
significant cuts to food stamps, formally called the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
In Mississippi in 2024, the State Department of Human Services reported
that 390,761 individuals received $857.8 million in SNAP benefits. The
GOP bill seeks to apply work requirements to the program, which most
Mississippians favor. But in total, advocates
say the House bill would cut total food assistance by $300 billion.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would remove
three million Americans from the program and reduce government spending
by over $92 billion over 10 years.
One group aggressively opposing the SNAP cuts is the National Grocers
Association, which said in May in a statement: “SNAP provides access to
fresh and nutritious food for over 41 million Americans, including over
14 million children, 1.2 million veterans,
and 6.5 million seniors. SNAP funding also supports over 300,000
American jobs throughout the food supply chain and across the United
States. From farmers and truckers to local grocers, for every $1
invested in SNAP, $1.79 of economic activity is generated
in communities nationwide, making it a highly effective and incredibly
efficient government program.”
As in other portions of the House bill, the legislation would push costs
for SNAP and Medicaid from federal funding to state funding. That
reality concerns several Mississippi GOP legislators, but few will speak
publicly about that for fear of political reprisal.
At this point, SNAP and Medicaid – both of which impact Mississippi
disproportionately due to the state’s poverty – are likely to see
changes as the bill moves through the Senate. All of Mississippi’s three
Republican House members voted for the bill, while
lone Democrat U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson opposed it.
Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.
37 comments:
Commenters here generally don’t care.
Get a job, get paid, buy food, cook food, eat food. This isn't rocket surgery, but it is multi-generational entitlement.
The proposed reforms to Medicaid/SNAP would eliminate coverage for illegal aliens, and impose work requirements for able bodied recipients (they must make legitimate efforts to find and maintain employment if able). Sid bought the “poor people and kids will starve” narrative being pushed by the Democrat party, and apparently believes illegal aliens should receive govt. assistance.
Bennie has been in office many years. What has he done to address the food deserts issue? He has done nothing on this issue or any other issue. He’s useless. Maybe Dollar General and Dollar Tree can fill some of the void. It would also help if the customers did not steal so much.
Perhaps fresh foods would be available everywhere if SNAP benefits could not be used to purchase pre-prepared foods. Not only are we forced to buy food for people who could buy their own food in large measure. We also pay to prepare it for them.
I understand the people that actually need this could suffer. But, last week at grocery store lady in front of me with incredibly looking nails and a new iPhone along with nice clothes pulled out this payment for her purchase then used a wad of cash to pay for cigarettes. Major abuse is happening
I do care about making sure people have enough healthy food to eat. But I wonder why the poor people in the delta, a virtual agricultural paradise, do not grow some of their own food. My husband and I are in our early 70s. We grow a lot of vegetables and fruit on our land. Our small vegetable garden is producing lots of squash and pole beans right now, the okra, tomatoes and bush beans are growing well, and we're picking and freezing gallons of blueberries and blackberries to make jam and jelly later on. We grow greens and lettuce throughout winter. If we can do it, so can everyone else with a small plot of land and/or containers to grow food.
8:22 AM is right
8:22 AM is correct except its most people everywhere that “generally don’t care.”
Most don’t care at all about Mississippi’s poor people, including the poor with mental health issues due to being born in small towns to siblings ending up with each other because said siblings do not know who their father is.
Would “Mississippi still (be) the poorest state” if not for Bennie Thompson’s Democrat district? Surely, we know the answer if the Democrat controlled City of Jackson was included in this question.
Bennie Thompson and his Democrat Party, including Yellow Dog Democrats like Sid, want the poor people to stay poor, they need poor people dependent on Democrat handouts. Because if the poor people rise up and aren’t poor and dependent anymore, they might stop voting Democrat.
Our economic policies are built on keeping some people unemployed. If the economy gets too hot and pay starts rising, policies are enacted to slow down the economy. So there will always be unemployed people. How do they survive? And yes, there are some people who abuse the system. But, Jackson has approximately 9,200 unemployed working age people. Where are the 9,200 jobs that they can have? Or do we expect people with no resources or training to move all around the country on their own? Where in the country are those "potential" jobs?
I don't believe it's an issue of not caring. I work 10 hour shifts this month, it is personal sacrifice in order to live good. I have no special skills and not special in any way. Just determined to live better. Anyone can do what I do to make thier lives better. Some do not want to work or progress. Those people need don't need government handouts, they need to work for what they have.
I guess the people on SNAP will have to get jobs to afford their groceries.
Sometimes, you have to learn new skills and look in other states to get to where you want to be.
Bennie is a politician who's only concern is for his benifit. But he did get a pre-emptive pardon from Biden for who knows what reason. So, there is that.
8:22 is seeing this issue through a victimhood lens. It takes a little effort and investing in your skills set and education to change your situation. Some people want government hangouts with zero effort on thier part.
Stop having kids you can't afford
Exactly
Pro tip: How to get out of poverty: Get a job.
food deserts used to just be caused by shoplifters. now they are caused by looters and “flash mobs”
Interesting (and ironic) to note that an awful lot of Mississippians could say their parents, and especially their grandparents, lived their lives in so-called "food deserts" and ate fresh vegetables every day. People had gardens. People knew how to garden. And they did it so well the city grocers were buying their fruits and vegetables from the folks in the food deserts.
It takes a lot of food to feed most of them super-sized heifers on food stamps.
Maybe cut back on the twinkies and sodas?
Oh Snap! Food deserts but it is food desserts for many.
I understand that we have many people in the state on SNAP and live in food deserts, but it seems that a significant number of SNAP customers doesn't mean grocery stores and food outlets are popping up in neighborhoods. The Delta has low population density yet the same issue food desert issue happens in urban areas as well.
There will never be a government program that doesn't have fraud and abuse, but I am tired of every time there are efforts to clean up potential fraud and abuse the pundits cry out how any changes at all will cause millions who aren't abusing the system to suffer. I don't think truly needy families should be kicked off but something has to give.
AR just received approval to prohibit sodas from being covered with
SNAP benefits in AR Wat say you MS ?
if there is so much hunger here why is this state the runaway leader in morbid obesity >?
USDA runs the SNAP/EBT programs. USDA subsidizes corn. Sodas are full of corn syrup.
I am one of those who doesn’t care. Rarely do I see these “poor” people with healthy and nutritious food at the checkout line. Food deserts happen because of crime, and those are facts. No one in Mississippi is starving, go look around at the gene pool at your local Walmart, You wanna see real poor people go to Central and South America or Southwest Asia, the U.S.’s version of poor is absolutely laughable.
@5:14 Pay attention….as Yogi Berra said, “You can see a lot when you look around”. Google is your friend. A mind stretched cannot return to its’ former self!
21 hours ago — Arkansas' waiver, set to go into effect July 1, 2026, removes soda, including low- and no-calorie soda; fruit and vegetable drinks with less .
In the days of the Scott County Times I used to look forward to the Editorials-Opinions of Sid Salters. Today (in my Opinion) he's nothing other than a Sold Out Democrat promoting more Government Intervention. Helping push for more Gov Assistance, more Gov $$. I'm done- I work, pay Taxes, provide for my Family- most others can also but choose the "poor ole me attitude". Let's assist the Elderly, the Handicapped, let's let bellies get close to back bones for those who could provide for themselves & their Families. Enough is enough-
Not much will change with SNAP… the driving force for it isn’t the recipients, it’s the retailers who they purchase from. These guys are the ones on the gravy train. They have clout. Without SNAP they can’t keep the doors open.
Name one bill originally sponsored by a republican congressman from Missippi
Someone actually understands the reason for Snap.
And stop having children that throw you into government dependency and poverty.
@9:40 PM - Bovine scatology - the freeloaders have to eat so they will pay in cash.
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