{"id":5573,"date":"2012-09-07T13:07:54","date_gmt":"2012-09-07T20:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.speakcityheights.org\/?p=5573"},"modified":"2012-10-09T13:28:20","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T20:28:20","slug":"tweet-city-heights-nearly-1-in-6-families-had-trouble-getting-food-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/speakcityheights.org\/tweet-city-heights-nearly-1-in-6-families-had-trouble-getting-food-last-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Tweet City Heights: Nearly 1 in 6 Families Had Trouble Getting Food Last Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Megan Burks<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly 1 in 6 U.S. Households Had Trouble Getting Food Last Year
\n<\/strong>A report<\/a> out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found 14.9 percent, or 17.9 million, households had difficulty putting food on the table at least once last year because of limited resources. The figure is a slight increase over 2010, when 14.5 percent reported being food insecure, according to National Public Radio<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NPR also reported<\/a> the number of people using food stamps, now called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, hit an all time high in June with 46.7 million recipients.<\/p>\n

San Diego County echoes the national trend, with its food stamp participation rate growing from 40 percent of those eligible in 2008 to 79 percent now, according to the county<\/a>.<\/p>\n

San Diego CityBeat spoke with local hunger advocates<\/a> to get their take on the surprising increase; San Diego has long ranked low in food stamp enrollment. It found the county still has a high rate of denying and dropping benefits in error.<\/p>\n

Advocate Bill Oswald told CityBeat the participation rate is likely closer to 70 percent with those errors taken into account. Even that sounds too good to be true for some, according to CityBeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is, it takes an advocate to get food stamps,\u201d Oswald told reporter Kelly Davis. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody who believes it\u2019s easy to get food stamps in San Diego County. And if you can, it\u2019s very difficult to keep them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow CityBeat\u2019s Kelly Davis @citybeatkelly<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Cyclists to Get Racks, Discounts Under New Bike Plan
\n<\/strong>Councilman Todd Gloria and the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition unveiled a bike plan<\/a> for San Diego\u2019s business improvement districts this week. Under the plan, business corridors will encourage residents to bike by installing bike racks and offering special discounts for customers who arrive on two wheels. City News Service reported the plan also calls for \u201cBike Local, Shop Local\u201d events, community rides and information on riding safely.<\/p>\n

Some expressed disappointment on Twitter that the plan doesn\u2019t include infrastructure upgrades and maintenance to benefit cyclists.<\/p>\n