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Andrew Barrett is the current Craig Murphey Fellow with the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, and supports administration of the Brooklyn Alliance of Community Services alongside the food pantry and soup kitchen coordinators and other community leaders.

*Myth: The Food Stamps Program costs American taxpayers too much. FALSE: The benefits of food stamps far outweighs their costs. Paying for the Food Stamps Program takes about 1 cent of every federal budget dollar. In addition to lifting people out of poverty, the USDA has concluded that every dollar of emergency money spent on food stamps during a recession sparks $1.82 in local economic activity, leading to more jobs and productivity.