1. Congress and Advocates Continue Fight for Farm Bill Nutrition Title
(CongressDailyPM, May 12, 2008)

As the House and Senate prepare for this week’s votes on the Farm Bill, the White House issued a list of objections to the bill. Many of the objections match comments made last week by Agriculture Secretary Schafer and Deputy Secretary Conner. House Agriculture ranking member Bob Goodlatte’s office commented on this new development, saying “[w]ithout being able to read the text of the bill, it’s difficult to know exactly what’s in the bill and be able to discern what you may or may not like.” Among his comments, Schafer also stated that the Administration opposed easing eligibility rules for food stamp recipients. FRAC President Jim Weill pointed out that the Administration proposed the same plan to ease food stamp eligibility rules. He further clarified that the Food Stamp Program needs a full indexing for inflation, and that the October 2008 cost of living increase would fall far short of that. FRAC is urging lawmakers to vote for the bill, as it provides a $10 billion increase in nutrition funding.

2. Obesity and High Food Prices May Go Hand-In-Hand
(Philadelphia Inquirer, May 6, 2008)

Some experts are predicting that higher food prices will lead to higher obesity rates, especially among low-income communities. With the economy failing, “The food crisis will make obesity and attendant diabetes even more rampant,” said University of Washington epidemiologist Adam Drewnowski. “Fruits, vegetables and fish are becoming luxury goods completely out of reach of many people,” he continued, and added “Consumption of cheap food will only grow.” Drexel University School of Public Health hunger expert Mariana Chilton noted that low-income residents are not “thinking about health – just getting through the day.” Food stamp allotments, in place to help low-income families, have not kept up with rising food prices, and many families are running out of food stamps by the second or third week of each month. The hunger can be excruciating after the food stamps run out, said Tianna Gaines, impoverished mother of three. “You go without eating, then gorge. That’s how the weight picks up.” Access to healthy food is another challenge for parts of the city. Many low-income neighborhoods are “food deserts” that have few supermarkets, said Carey Morgan, director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger. Residents rely on corner stores and convenience marts for food, which sell more processed items than fresh fruits and vegetables.

3. Government Pricing Statistics Aren’t Matching Consumer Perceptions
(The New York Times, May 7, 2008)

Consumers are reeling from record high prices for food and gas, but the overall inflation rate is anticipated to rise just three-tenths of a percentage point in April. While the inflation rate has risen, wrote columnist David Leonhardt, it feels worse to Americans because they’re dealing with it everyday, in the form of gas and food prices, and not in conjunction with goods they buy infrequently, like appliances. Some prices haven’t risen much at all* – particularly appliances and furniture. “Price increases are simply more noticeable…than price decreases,” Leonhardt wrote. “Part of this comes from the notion of loss aversion: human beings dislike a loss more than they like a gain of equivalent size.” He also stated “…price declines are often hidden. The cost of an item stays about the same for years, while everything else gets more expensive and nominal incomes rise.” However, as indicated on the chart accompanying the commentary, overall inflation and food/fuel inflation are currently the same. *See article for accompanying inflation chart.

4. Too Many New York City Neighborhoods Lack Grocery Stores
(The New York Times, May 5, 2008)

Millions of New Yorkers are unable to find “fresh and affordable” food within walking distance of their homes as more and more neighborhood grocery stores fall victim to high rents and smaller profit margins. Low-income and minority neighborhoods are hit particularly by the loss. Many residents are forced to travel by public transportation to buy food, and even New York City residents with cars are finding they have to choose between filling the tank with expensive gas to shop at better-stocked stores or make do with what they can pick up in their neighborhoods. Neighborhoods lacking grocery stores also have high incidences of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. The city and state have begun to tackle the problem from a public health perspective. City planning director Amanda Burden commented on a recent study which showed an estimated three million New Yorkers living in “high-need” areas that have "not enough supermarkets and too many health problems." “In our study,” she said, “a significant percentage of [residents] reported that in the day before our survey, they had not eaten fresh fruit or vegetables. Not one. That really is a health crisis in the city.” Many of the same people surveyed reported they buy food at discount stores and pharmacies, which lack fresh produce, she added.

5. Students Try Eating on $3 a Day
(Daily Stanford, May 8, 2008)

Stanford Students Taking On Poverty (STOP) took the Food Stamp Challenge last week to raise hunger awareness. Student Stacie Chan contributed her feelings and commentary in this editorial, describing how she used a special card to purchase from a limited selection of food items offered through STOP. “For lunch,” she wrote, “I had two pieces of white bread and a quarter can of tuna, and I splurged on one piece of sushi, for a total of $1.42.” Dealing with a hunger she described as “ravenous,” Chan noted she was getting off easy as compared to what many Americans go through daily. “Food is not neatly laid out for them at a convenient location,” she wrote. “With astronomical gas prices, transportation costs can detract from Americans’ food budgets.” She was also made aware of the high financial cost in eating healthy, and was disturbed by the lack of nutrition she experienced. “I got a little protein from the tuna, and some Vitamin C from the carrots and banana, but that was it,” she said. Missing her healthy snacks which she would not be able to afford, Chan concluded “I had to do this for 24 hours, while there are 28 million people who survive on $3 a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks out of the year. Something must be done to make the food stamps (sic) program more realistic.” Overall, 200 Stanford students participated in this challenge.

6. High Food Bills Force Food Stamp Recipients to Sacrifice Meals
(Florida Times-Union, April 27, 2008)

Floridians on food stamps are missing meals and avoiding healthy foods in order to make the benefits last to the end of each month. Security guard Kennita Byrd gives up lunch during a 12-hour work shift and drinks only water to get by, putting her children first when the food gets scarce. Her $180 food stamp allotment pays for one trip to the grocery store each month, and although she works extra shifts, her paycheck doesn’t provide much help. Gene Hagins goes without more expensive whole wheat and sugar-free foods crucial to keeping his diabetes in check. “Everybody’s holding back,” said Patrick Hayle, City Rescue Mission’s executive director. More Northeast Florida residents are now on food stamps, a 15 percent jump from the same time last year. St. Johns County has seen an increase of 29 percent of residents on food stamps, as more and more people are seeking help to keep from “falling over the edge.”

7. High Prices Hitting Emergency Food Providers Hard
(Star-Ledger, April 28, 2008)

New Jersey food banks are described in this article as struggling with diminished donations and rising food prices, as more residents search out various forms of nutrition assistance to cope with the sluggish economy. “We’re all being affected by rising food prices. The difference is the person making $20,000 a year can’t afford more price increases,” said FRAC president Jim Weill. He also noted that “we’re in the middle of a recession…Incomes are going down at the same time that prices are going up. It’s a double whammy, and it’s very harsh.” Statewide Emergency Food and Anti-Hunger Network project director Adele LaTourette called the situation “that kind of perfect storm.” Kathleen DiChiara, executive director of the Community Foodbank of New Jersey, worries about schoolchildren going hungry this summer, as potential donors leave for vacation and schools aren’t providing breakfasts and lunches to students. “Spring is usually not where we see an increase,” she said. “Summer is the season of need…so much is dependent on our success.”

8. High Utility Bills Slam Nevada Residents
(Reno Gazette-Journal, May 5, 2008)

Nevada residents are falling behind on their utility bills as fuel prices join food prices in rising above affordability. The state has seen a record jump in the number of households receiving energy assistance – 79.8 percent more households this year compared to last year – and is experiencing a shortfall in energy assistance funds, forcing assistance funds to come out of a reserve account. Nevada does not get much federal assistance money for their fuel safety net, and state officials expect that all residents currently receiving food stamps will also need energy assistance funds. Some residents already have to make a choice between paying for food and paying utility bills, in spite of programs set in place by utility companies that allow for power bill payment plans. “With the way things are, I have to choose between paying my rent, which is the No. 1 choice, then food and then the power," said Nevada resident Lauren Williams. Nationwide, there is a record number of past due utility payments, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association.

9. Lawmakers Respond to Childhood Obesity Epidemic
(RedOrbit.com, May 3, 2008)

States enacted a total of 46 school nutrition bills between 2005 and 2007, evidence of the high priority lawmakers have given to battling childhood obesity. The bills raise school nutrition standards and cut foods high in sugar, fat, and empty calories. According to Vermont representative Robert Dostis, “[t]wo-thirds of a child’s nutrition intake for the day is eaten at school,” making a focus on healthy nutrition in schools imperative. He also notes that hunger affects at least one in seven children, and links the current obesity epidemic to food insecurity.

Some highlights of state school nutrition legislative action and successes include:

Vermont: Dostis is sponsoring legislation that would expand the number of children receiving free breakfast in schools by raising the eligibility level from 130 percent to 185 percent of the federal poverty level;
Washington: Similar legislation sponsored last year created a 40 percent increase in the state’s school breakfast program;
California: The state may require high-poverty area schools to serve breakfast;
Oregon: Last year the state enacted, with bipartisan support, nutrition standards for a la carte items offered during breakfasts and lunches;

School nutrition bills are pending in seven states (CT, FL, MA, ME, NY, PA and RI), and farm-to-school bills are moving through the legislatures in FL, IL, KY, MD, NJ, NM, OH, TN and WA.

10. Ohio’s Safety Net Stretched Thin
(Columbus Dispatch, May 5, 2008)

Thousands of “working poor” in Ohio have applied for fuel assistance funds to help get to work. Residents are increasingly unable to afford the high cost of food and have turned to food stamps for assistance – in one county (Licking), 13,015 are on food stamps, as compared to the 2003 total of 7,778 – further straining the safety net. While welfare reform has succeeded in getting many residents into jobs, “these are also the most vulnerable citizens in an economic downturn,” noted John Fisher of the Licking County Department of Job and Family Services. 56 of Ohio’s 88 counties are providing gas cards and vouchers, while thousands of working poor are also tightening belts by cutting utilities and looking to food pantries for help. These times are scary for Rojanne Woodward, Pickaway County Department of Job and Family Services director. She asked “How much longer can we expect low-income people to keep working with prices the way they are?”