March 23, 1995
When House Republicans decided last month to preserve the federal food stamps program amid a series of welfare cuts, it was a significant victory for welfare rights supporters. But the celebrated decision makes no difference for students at a campus where food stamps are useless anyway.
Stephen Anthony, 38, who began going to SF State five semesters ago, found that neither convenience store in the Cesar Chavez Student Center redeemed food stamps.
"If the school was in the real world, it would accept food stamps from the federal government like everybody else," Anthony said. "All the food places are always packed with students. But none of that whole world is open to me, I have to think about the walk to Petrini's to get a snack."
Ronaldo Reyes, manager of the student center's two convenience stores, The Lobby Shop and Snackademic, said that he has made an effort to address the issue even though only Anthony has approached him about the matter.
"I don't need an avalanche of requests to do something. It only took one person for me to look into the matter," Reyes said. He said he requested an information packet from the Department of Food and Agriculture last semester, but has not received it. It's not that I don't want to accept food stamps," Reyes said. "But until I get the information and go over it, I can't make a decision."
Anthony, who receives $111 worth of food stamps each month, said that redeeming food stamps is not a bigger issue on campus because most students are embarrassed to come forward and request the service.
"I'm not proud of the fact that I have a very low income and a lot of people I know feel the same way," Anthony said. "They don't want others to know that their main source of nutritional support comes from food stamps, which is so small as it is."
Peter Bauer, who is a former food stamps specialist for the Department of Food and Agriculture, used to be on food stamps when he was a 22-year-old college student in Hayward.
"There is a stigma attached with food stamps. People seem to have an attitude, always watching and judging what you buy," Bauer said. Unlike Anthony, he said when he was at college it wasn't a problem that the campus convenience stores didn't redeem food stamps because he usually packed his lunches.
Bauer, now a public affairs specialist for the Department of Food and Agriculture, said one reason vendors don't like redeeming food stamps is because they are required to meet certain nutritional guidelines to participate in the program.
To meet this requirement, vendors may have to bring in certain food products that are not already in their regular stock. For example, a convenience store that sells primarily candy and sodas may have to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables to be eligible, Bauer said.
However, the advantage for vendors would be the "food stamp business" they receive from the government.
Food stamps, which are now distributed to one in 10 Americans, are considered the final safety net for low-income earners affected by other parts of the GOP welfare reform plan. Latest statistics show that 32.7 percent of food stamp recipients in California are aged 20-29, according to Kevin Aslanian, executive director of Coalition of California Welfare Rights.
To qualify for the food stamp program, single persons and those living in households must have less than $2,000 in disposable assets, gross income below 130 percent of the official poverty guidelines and net income below 100 percent of the poverty guidelines.
Note:
Student Financial Services offers free emergency food vouchers to hungry students that can be redeemed at campus food vendors.
To obtain a $10 voucher, students must go to Administration 351 and fill out an application stating the reason for the voucher. Students are allowed only one food voucher per semester and must redeem it the same day they receive it.
Student Financial Services have issued only 146 vouchers so far this semester.