As the country moves deeper into the worst economic crisis
in decades, many middle class Americans are developing new anxieties about job
security, retirement, and sending their kids to college. But for Americans struggling to survive – low-income
Americans – these grim times are not new.
As food prices and heating costs continue to skyrocket, low-income
families across the country face a tragic choice this winter between heating
their homes and putting enough food on the table. If we do not take strong action now to
address this impending crisis, we risk leaving millions of Americans out in the
cold.
As Mayor of Boston, I have already seen the rising cost of
food and gas tighten the vise on our city’s low-income residents. The United States Department of Agriculture
estimates that food prices will rise five
to six percent this year.
That may not seem like much, but it would be the highest single year increase
since 1990. Luxury or novelty foods are
not driving this trend, either—it’s basic items like dairy, eggs and poultry
that have been pushing prices higher.
Higher oil and gas costs have already taken a toll on
low-income Americans. A recent study by
the Urban Institute estimates that in the New England
alone, those in poverty spend a full 10 percent of their incomes on gas when
the price exceeds four dollars per gallon, as it did for much of the summer.
This pain at the pump will soon be felt in heating
bills. In its October 7 forecast, the
Energy Information Administration predicted that the cost of heating homes from
October to March (peak season) will increase across the board: 10 percent for
electricity, 11 percent for propane, 18 percent for natural gas, and a
staggering 23 percent for heating oil. Everyone
will feel these increases, but for those struggling to make it, the cost may
simply be too high.
The good news is that Congress voted to double heating
assistance for the coming winter. The
bad news is that this may not be enough.
City leaders around the country must fill in the gaps by providing
low-income residents with the tools and information to cope with cripplingly
high food and heating prices.
In August, I announced the Food and Fuel Campaign, a
preemptive measure to stem this crisis. The
campaign aims to raise awareness about ways to stay warm and well fed this
winter and to mobilize previously untapped resources to do something about the
problem. Our efforts have focused on
forging public and private partnerships in order to broaden the campaign’s
reach by recruiting willing allies from around the community.
We kicked off the campaign in late September by hosting a
Food and Fuel Summit with our partners which helped residents get the
information they need to make it through the winter. Partners presented practical advice on a wide
range of topics: supermarkets offered tips on planning a smart grocery budget,
utility companies provided instruction on how to claim heating assistance, and an
antipoverty nonprofit provided financial literacy workshops.
Following the summit, I have continued the campaign by
initiating a series of community dinners in specific neighborhoods. These communal meals promote healthy and affordable
food options, build relationships between community members through activities
and games, and connect residents to resources in their neighborhood. That, and participants leave with a free bag
of healthy groceries and a recipe for the meal they just ate.
The Food and Fuel Campaign addresses the food and heating
problem at all levels. For low-income
residents, this means raising money for those organizations that already
provide heating assistance and working with private partners and the public to
expand food stamp enrollment. We are
also targeting neighborhoods through energy efficiency programs, such as the
HeatWorks program that prevents heating system emergencies. Finally, we will partner with small
businesses that may have trouble covering energy bills and help them to buy
energy at lower costs.
I hope that the Food and Fuel Campaign is an example of how
complex problems require complex solutions and many partners. It also shows that, in responding to an emergency, we can
still make time to develop lasting solutions. While direct funds for heating
assistance are important, the key for local leaders is to invest in communities
so that they have capacity to provide adequate living conditions for
residents. This means that governments,
corporations, and other private enterprises must work together. We have the resources to do something about
this problem, now and next winter. The
question is how to turn potential solutions into sustainable action.
We can’t allow the current emergency to preclude systemic
change. We must change the system that
keeps too many people one paycheck from disaster. We have to feed people and develop sustainable agriculture. We have to heat homes and develop alternative energy.
The choice between whether to stay warm or eat dinner is not one any
American should have to make.
Viewpoints in this section solely represent the authors’ opinions and not the opinions of "Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity."