Topic: Poverty

Don’t go there: Block grants for Medicaid and SNAP could wreck America’s safety net

By: Carly Putnam
February 7, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
A fundamental part of the American social contract is that when times get tough, we help our friends and neighbors out. In Oklahoma, the biggest ways that we do this is through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food… Read more [More...]

Watch This: 9 myths about food insecurity in Oklahoma

By: Carly Putnam
November 22, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Feasts with family and friends are a key part of the holiday season. However, 1 in 6 Oklahomans, including 1 in 4 children, don’t always know if they’ll have enough food for their next meal. In this video, we bust… Read more [More...]

New factsheet shares the data on what poverty really looks like in Oklahoma

By: Gene Perry
November 16, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
You may not be surprised to learn that, despite some progress in lowering the poverty rate the past three years, more than 600,000 Oklahomans lived in poverty in 2015. But did you know that two in five Oklahomans in poverty had… Read more [More...]

Answering the Call: Food Security among Military Service Members and Veterans (Guest post: Effie Craven)

By: Guest
November 11, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Effie Craven serves as the State Advocacy and Public Policy Director for the Oklahoma Food Banks — the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma — where she advocates for programs and policies that promote… Read more [More...]

America’s racial wealth gap was 397 years in the making; we shouldn’t take that long to close it

By: DeVon Douglass
November 8, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Chattel slavery of African-Americans lasted for 246 years, from when the first slaves were brought to Virginia in 1619 to when it was finally abolished in 1865. Another 99 years passed until the 1964 Civil Rights Act ended Jim Crow… Read more [More...]

Claims that SQ 777 will boost food security are hard to swallow

By: David Blatt
October 25, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Note: This is an expanded and revised version of a column that appeared in the Journal Record. Vote Yes on State Question 777 or else more Oklahoma children and seniors will go hungry? That’s the highly misleading message that supporters… Read more [More...]

SNAP is working to feed Oklahoma’s Children

By: Gene Perry
October 11, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Hundreds of thousands of Oklahoma families are able to put enough food on the table because of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). But research increasingly shows that it accomplishes much more than that. Growing up in poverty is shown… Read more [More...]

New Census data shows Oklahoma improves on poverty and uninsured rates but still lags behind nation

By: Gene Perry
September 15, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
New Census data shows Oklahoma made some progress in reducing the percentage of families living in poverty in 2015. In 2014, nearly one out of six Oklahomans (16.6 percent) were making less than the poverty line ($24,000 a year for… Read more [More...]

At the intersection of hunger and health (Guest Post: Effie Craven)

By: Guest
September 6, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Effie Craven serves as the State Advocacy and Public Policy Director for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, where she advocates for programs and policies that promote access to nutritious foods and… Read more [More...]

New research finds Tulsa Head Start program produces lasting gains (Guest Blog: Deborah Phillips and William Gormley)

By: Guest
September 1, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Deborah Phillips is Professor of Psychology and William Gormley is Professor of Government and Public Policy at Georgetown University. Their Tulsa-based research on early childhood education has appeared in the top scientific journals in their fields, in national media outlets,… Read more [More...]