UK's Ziliak Working to Improve Food Security
University of Kentucky Gatton Endowed Chair in Microeconomics James Ziliak, who also is director of UK's Center for Poverty Research, released research results last week on senior hunger in America. He is making research-based policy recommendations to improve SNAP for seniors and children across the country.
Results released from a national study on food insecurity and senior citizens that Ziliak and a colleague conducted based on 2013 statistics show that nationwide "seniors in 2013 continued to face increasing challenges meeting food need." The study showed the greatest threat of senior hunger is in Arkansas at 26.1 percent of the over-60 population and the lowest in Minnesota at 8.3 percent. Kentucky ranked 16th at 15.82 percent.
Ziliak and co-author Craig Gundersen of the University of Illinois were quoted in a Washington Post article about the study ranking the District of Columbia, fourth highest for a threat.
"The State of Senior Hunger in America 2013: An Annual Report," conducted for the National Foundation to End Senior Hunger, says that since the onset of the recession in 2007 until 2013, the number of seniors experiencing the threat of hunger in the U.S. has increased by 56 percent.
This study is one example of Ziliak's vast research that focuses on poverty, economic growth, taxes, health, education, and food security, but centers on translating those research results into recommendations that impact policy decisions.
"For me, it's a real passion," said Ziliak. "Poverty in America is a significant problem and one that requires a lot of attention by scholars to provide rigorous analysis of what we're doing and what we're not doing, what works and what doesn't work."
As a nationally recognized expert on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, Ziliak has testified before Congressional committees in Washington, D.C. on several occasions.
Ziliak recently utilized that expertise on SNAP to assist the state on a pro-bono basis to successfully win two multi-million dollar grants from the USDA for research in Eastern Kentucky. One pilot project, which was designed with the assistance of UK faculty Nancy Schoenberg, Mark Swanson and Alison Gustafson, will test whether allowing families to deduct a portion of excessive transportation costs in determining SNAP benefits improves the food security of children.
Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) Secretary Audrey Tayse Haynes said this is the first project of its kind to address transportation challenges to food access.
“For a typical family, transportation is the second largest portion of the budget,” she said. “This innovative project addresses the challenges faced by low-income families where geography also plays a part in making ends meet.”
In the second pilot project, selected SNAP recipients will be offered employment and training services in order to improve their employment skills and ultimately improve their path to self-sufficiency.
This effort by Ziliak and others at UK has been recently recognized by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear.
"Dr. Ziliak provided countless hours of work and research to help our state make a successful application for a $19.9 million federal grant to fund a pilot project in southeastern Kentucky aimed at helping SNAP participants find jobs and ultimately work toward self-sufficiency," said Beshear. "Kentucky is one of 10 states chosen to share in the competitive awards from the USDA to support this broad initiative."
