WASHINGTON – One in three Hispanic households with children is never sure if it will have enough food for all members of the family, according to a recent report.
The problem is being driven by a relatively high unemployment rate in the Hispanic community, said a group of panelists who met Friday to talk about the report, Food Insecurity in the Latino Community. The 11 percent unemployment rate among Hispanics has forced those families to cut back on food in general, they said.
Feeding America, a nationwide hunger-relief charity that prepared the report, and the National Council of La Raza said that while there are federal programs that can help, some needy families will not seek that help because of a lack of information, or because of misinformation.
“A mother was speaking to me, who said, ‘I’m afraid to sign up for food stamps, because if I sign up for food stamps my kid will be enlisted in the Army,’” said Dario Muralles, an outreach coordinator for Capital Area Food Bank. The Washington-based food bank was also part of the panel.
These types of rumors are commonly spread in the Hispanic community, Muralles said.
Even non-profit groups such as Feeding America may be avoided by Hispanic families because they think they organizations are part of a federal government agency, said Elaine Waxman, vice president of research and partnerships for Feeding America.
Muralles agreed that cultural and language barriers can create an obstacle for Hispanics to reach out for non-profit food-assistance charities. A lot of the volunteers at those organizations do not speak Spanish, he said, which may inhibit participation.
Even if a person seeking assistance is bilingual, he or she might feel more comfortable knowing that volunteers at a charity speak Spanish, Waxman said.
“You yourself might speak English, but feel more comfortable if you know that there are people there who speak Spanish,” Waxman said. “Because that is a signal to you that they have some awareness and are involved with your community.”
Jennifer Ng’andu, an associate director for the health policy project at La Raza, said that federal food-assistance programs might be at risk as Congress looks for ways to reduce the deficit. The Hispanic civil rights organization and others on the panel Friday said they hoped lawmakers could spare food-assistance programs.
“We know that certain programs are under the gun,” Ng’andu said.
Uriel J. Garcia is a reporter for Cronkite News Service.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 1:27 pm on Sun, Oct 23, 2011.
Let me get this straight.
The Citizens of Arizona should hire Spanish-speaking Public Sector workers to make Spanish-only speaking Hispanics feel more comfortable in requesting "Welfare Monies and Food Stamps". That these Spanish-only speaking Hispanics would rather see their children go hungry, their children not receive health services or a place to live.....than...feel "uncomfortable" ???
I am Hispanic, I have never seen or heard of a Hispanic mother or father or guardian that would not walk on "hot coals" to help their children in ..."any" way.
Nor would I expect a Somali-only speaking parent, or an Ethiopian-only speaking parent, or an Arabic-only speaking parent, or a Russian-only speaking parent.......not to do everything under the Sun...no matter how "embarrassed or uncomfortable" they felt asking for assistance.
The whole premise to this article is ridiculous. No parent in the world that loves their children would let any obstacle and especially something as silly as language, get in the way.
Carolyn posted at 1:42 pm on Sun, Oct 23, 2011.
Mr. Cisneros, I agree with you - mostly. I have grown up with and lived among Hispanics - and think that Hispanics are good parents and concerned about their children, whether or not they speak English well. HOWEVER, I have one suggestion - one way to make sure there's enough food in the household for everyone (INCLUDING hispanics) is to quit thinking that big families of children are acceptable in this day and age - and start practicing strict birth control and limiting family size. It would make things easier for themselves and for the children...and they just might need LESS "assistance."
samkat posted at 7:00 pm on Sun, Oct 23, 2011.
I suspect that the 1/3 of Hispanics who go hungry are actually here illegally. I think both of you are on target with your remarks.
whonew posted at 9:46 pm on Sun, Jan 15, 2012.
I think this is just more propaganda B.S.! Have you seen how obese the hispanic population is ? Its ridiculous. They eat better than the working legal class of citizens and are just looking for more "woe is me, feed me,clothe me, house me, and let me s#*t on your laws and people so we can help make this another third world country like the one we just came from" s#*t !