{"id":10069,"date":"2023-09-12T12:46:20","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T17:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowermissouri.org\/?page_id=10069"},"modified":"2025-11-04T11:01:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T17:01:08","slug":"food-security-and-safety-net-101","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/empowermissouri.org\/es\/policy-priorities\/food-security\/advocacy-resources\/food-security-and-safety-net-101\/","title":{"rendered":"Food Security and Safety Net 101"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"10069\" class=\"elementor elementor-10069\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f8c8b47 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2f8c8b47\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7c7e67d3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7c7e67d3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Advocacy:<\/strong>\u00a0The act or process of supporting a cause or proposal.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Benefits Cliff:<\/strong> This phenomenon refers to what happens when families who struggle begin to earn slightly above the income limit for certain programs and lose eligibility entirely. A raise totalling just $20 per week could cause a household to lose $100 worth of weekly child care benefits- tossing them over a proverbial cliff preventing financial security.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Child Care Assistance: <\/strong>Childcare is often the most expensive necessity a family with young children face, and childcare assistance is there to cover daycare or preschool for kids in low income families so the parents can work or attend school. This assistance is only available for families earning up to 138% of the FPL.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Federal Poverty Level (FPL): <\/strong>The agreed upon income that most assistance programs use to determine eligibility. The Census Bureau sets the FPL by comparing pre-tax cash income against the cost of a meager food diet in 1963 and adjusted for family size. While the FPL is adjusted annually, the calculation metric has not changed and does not include some costs like housing, transportation, or childcare.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Food Apartheid<\/strong>: The systemic inequalities of food access that arise from historical and ongoing discriminatory practices and policies. It highlights how racism and political power shape food systems, particularly affecting low-income communities of color, leading to limited access to affordable, nutrient-dense foods.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Food Bank<\/strong>: An organization that purchases, collects, and stores food items. These are often member organizations and partner with food pantries across the country to distribute their resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Food Desert: <\/strong>This refers to an area (small towns, urban neighborhoods, and more) that do not have adequate access to nutritious and affordable food, especially fresh meats and produce. Some advocates prefer to use the term<strong> Food Apartheid<\/strong> to acknowledge that food deserts are the naturally expected result of systemic oppression and segregation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Inseguridad alimentaria<\/strong>: A household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Food Pantry<\/strong>: An organization that distributes food directly to individuals and families in need of nutrition.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Seguridad alimentaria<\/strong>: When all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Food Swamp<\/strong>: Areas with a high density of establishments selling high-calorie fast food and junk food relative to healthier food options.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Hambre<\/strong>: An individual-level physiological condition that may result from food insecurity.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Income Limits:<\/strong> Income limits set a dollar amount on income that participants can earn to qualify for a safety net program. Because Missouri sets income <a href=\"https:\/\/mydss.mo.gov\/media\/pdf\/benefit-program-limit-chart\">limits for each individual program<\/a>, it is possible for households that struggle to not be eligible for some assistance programs while they qualify for other programs.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Seguro de enfermedad<\/strong>: Healthcare insurance provided by the state for adults under 138% FPL and kids at a higher rate. These plans are managed and executed with health insurance contractors across Missouri.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Medicare: <\/strong>Healthcare insurance provided by the state for elderly (over 65) and people with some disabilities. These plans are managed and executed with health insurance contractors across Missouri.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pobreza<\/strong>: A state or condition in which a person lacks the financial resources and other essentials for a minimum standard of living. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Federal Poverty Level ( FPL) is a measure of income used every year by the federal Department of Health and Human Services. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FPLs are used to determine eligibility for certain programs and benefits.\u00a0 FPLs are determined by how many people live in your household and your monthly or annual income.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Nutrition Security<\/strong>: Consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable foods that promote optimal health and well-being.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP):<\/strong> Formerly called food stamps, SNAP provides nutrition assistance on a debit card that households can use to purchase a wide variety of food choices. This assistance is only available to families earning under 130% of the FPL and is graduated based on income.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF):<\/strong> Cash assistance provided by the federal government for the neediest families. States have a lot of control over delivering the dollars and in Missouri recipients must earn under the income limit, have children, have no assets worth more than $1,000, and be drug free. TANF has the lowest income limit of any other program in the state, by a wide margin.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Women, Infants, and Children (WIC):<\/strong> Supplemental nutrition vouchers for mothers and young children slightly above the SNAP income limit who are still struggling to put food on the table. WIC allows little flexibility with what participants can purchase and requires participation in nutritional counseling and breastfeeding education.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:buttons {\"layout\":{\"type\":\"flex\",\"justifyContent\":\"center\"}} --><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons\">\n<p><!-- wp:button {\"textColor\":\"black\",\"style\":{\"color\":{\"background\":\"#fcd116\"},\"typography\":{\"fontSize\":\"20px\",\"fontStyle\":\"normal\",\"fontWeight\":\"500\"}}} --><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-black-color has-text-color has-background has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" style=\"background-color: #fcd116; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 500;\" href=\"http:\/\/empowermissouri.org\/es\/app\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Food-Security-and-Safety-Net-101-1.pdf\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Download a Printable PDF<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/wp:button --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \/wp:buttons --><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advocacy:\u00a0The act or process of supporting a cause or proposal. Benefits Cliff: This phenomenon refers to what happens when families who struggle begin to earn slightly above the income limit for certain programs and lose eligibility entirely. A raise totalling just $20 per week could cause a household to lose $100 worth of weekly child [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"parent":7062,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"coauthors":[447],"class_list":["post-10069","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Food Security and Safety Net 101 - Empower Missouri<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/empowermissouri.org\/es\/policy-priorities\/food-security\/advocacy-resources\/food-security-and-safety-net-101\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Food Security and Safety Net 101 - Empower Missouri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Advocacy:\u00a0The act or process of supporting a cause or proposal. 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