We just don't have enough food for everyone

Next month food stamp benefits will automatically shrink for all 47 million Americans enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Pamela Gwynn of Crawfordsville, Ind., heard about the cut in a letter from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. The letter explained that a federal law called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the 'stimulus package,' had given food stamp recipients a temporary boost in 2009. 'The increased benefits provided by this law are expected to expire on November 1, 2013,' the letter said. 'Most families will see their benefits decrease in November due to the end of the extra benefits provided by the 2009 law.'

Gwynn, 63, said a series of brain surgeries in the late 1990s left her partially deaf and reliant on $731 per month in disability benefits from the Social Security Administration. Her monthly food stamp benefit will go down from $91 to $80. Gwynn did some arithmetic and figured that would leave her 88 cents per meal. 'Eighty-eight cents won't buy anything except a cup of ramen noodles,' she said. 'They just keep cutting and cutting. Eighty-eight cents -- you cannot even buy a can of tuna for 88 cents.'