The Weekly Food Research and Action Center News Digest highlights what's new on hunger, nutrition and poverty issues at FRAC, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, around the network of national, state and local anti-poverty and anti-hunger organizations, and in the media. The Digest will alert you to trends, reports, news items and resources and, when available, link you directly to them.

1. SNAP/Food Stamps Provide Instant Economic Benefit
(Columbus Dispatch, May 23, 2009)

Economist Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have championed SNAP/Food Stamps as a better and faster economic stimulus than other programs, and Tom Jackson, president of the Ohio Grocers Association agrees. “We’ll see impact, and it’s almost instantaneous,” said Jackson. “If someone comes in and spends $100 today with food stamps, we’re going to re-spend that within a week.” Matt Habash, president of the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, noted “Nobody holds onto food stamps. They spend it right away.” Hadash recently hired four SNAP/Food Stamp outreach workers, since the program has enormous benefits for recipients and can provide relief to overwhelmed emergency food providers and businesses. Yet there are still tens of thousands who are eligible but not receiving the benefit in Ohio; the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks estimates that 440,000 across the state are missing out on benefits. The group noted that, because there are so many eligible non-recipients, the state is missing out on $1.2 billion, and 10,800 new jobs. “This program is unlike any others,” said Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, the food bank's executive director. “It's 100 percent federally funded.”

2. Recession Forces More Seniors to Seek Emergency Food Services
(OregonLive.com, May 24, 2009)

As the economy shrinks their savings and pensions, more Oregon senior citizens are showing up at the Loaves & Fishes lunchroom and other emergency food providers,. The food programs are trying to expand to accommodate the increasing numbers. Loaves & Fishes served 32.1 percent more meals in April 2009 than in April 2008, and the number of meals served at other facilities in the area is up 7.8 percent. Currently, Portland area organizations serve 5,000 meals a day to hungry seniors; across the state, meals delivered under the Older Americans Act increased 37 percent from 2007 to 2008. “We’ve been hearing that a lot, from different cities and different states,” said James Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center. “More seniors seem to be showing up a food banks.” While there isn’t a waiting list for elderly meal delivery in Oregon (the only state without a waiting list), other senior nutrition programs are swamped. The commodity food program, Access Food Shares, in Medford is authorized to serve 320 clients, and has a waiting list more than 2 pages long; CAPECO in Pendleton – at 176 clients - stopped taking applications after their waiting list grew too long. One senior citizen stopped a Meals on Wheels worker recently and asked for food and information on how to apply for the program.

3. Poor Economy Means More Searching for Grocery Bargains
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 24, 2009)

Although SNAP/Food Stamp recipients receive money on a monthly EBT card, they must shop frugally to make their dollars count. “It takes a lot of planning; it takes time, it’s not easy,” said Damaris Karanja, a nutritionist with the University of Missouri Extension who also teaches classes on low-cost eating. In poor areas, like North St. Louis, large grocery stores are scarce; now local residents are dealing with public transportation cuts, making shopping even more difficult. Meagan Waters, a St. Louis mother of three on SNAP/Food Stamps, shops every two weeks, visiting three grocers and a farmers’ market to find bargains. “You can’t buy the things that you want a lot. I rarely splurge,” she said. “I have to get what will keep us healthy.” More than one million (1 in 6) Missouri residents received SNAP/Food Stamps in April 2009, when the state disbursed nearly $102 million to EBT cards. In April 2006, $61 million went to SNAP/Food Stamp recipients.

4. New State Law Won’t Count Assets Against California SNAP/Food Stamp Applicants
(LA Daily News, May 19, 2009)

A state law going into effect July 1, 2009 will make it possible for 32,000 more households across California, and 10,000 additional in Los Angeles County, to receive SNAP/Food Stamps. The legislation removes asset limits which formerly would have counted against families qualifying for the benefit. The move comes at a time when more and more residents are having trouble accessing food; rallies on May 15 brought elected officials, low-income residents and anti-hunger advocates to Los Angeles and Sacramento with the message that more of the county’s children and families are facing hunger. “One of the things we’ve started noticing when our nurses and social workers do home visits is the lack of food for seniors, especially toward the end of the month when their money runs out,” said Cynthia Toliver, a social worker and volunteer at Antelope Valley Partners for Health. She said that disabled people, along with seniors, are skipping meals and even going through dumpsters looking for food, especially in the rural portions of Antelope Valley. [Article "More middle-class families qualifying for food stamps" available through LA Daily News archive.]

5. SNAP/Food Stamp Numbers Continue to Rise

Colorado
(Grand Junction Sentinel, May 20, 2009)
In Mesa County, SNAP/Food Stamp application numbers increased 97 percent from March 2008 to March 2009, as recent energy sector layoffs forced more people to seek assistance from the county’s Department of Social Services. The number of households receiving the benefit, however, increased only 21 percent since many of those applicants had assets which kept them from qualifying for the program. Application processing has backed up; lines of people at Human Services are long, and SNAP/Food Stamp processors have started to watch the news for layoff reports. “[A]nd then we would…brace ourselves for another rush,” said worker Amy VanNoy. Others have noticed many new faces applying for the benefit, and many of the newly-unemployed have waited until they were nearly broke to apply, not realizing it could take weeks to receive their first benefits.

Connecticut
(Courant Confidential, May 18, 2009)
The United Way 2-1-1 line experienced a large jump in calls regarding SNAP/Food Stamps. The state’s 2-1-1 operators received 40 percent more calls requesting SNAP/Food Stamps in the first quarter of 2009 than the previous quarter. During the same period, 2-1-1 also received 41.8 percent more utility assistance calls.

North Carolina
(Fayetteville Online, May 21, 2009)
More than 1.2 million people in North Carolina received SNAP/Food Stamps in April 2009, according to the N.C. Justice Center. This 21 percent increase in participation since December 2007 (the start of the recession) brings 13 percent of the state’s population to the program. All N.C. counties have experienced participation increases. In Robeson County, nearly one in four residents now receives SNAP/Food Stamps, and 15 percent of Cumberland County residents are on the benefit. This SNAP/Food Stamp surge spotlights the recession’s severity, with more and more people losing their jobs and state budget cuts forcing more people to seek assistance.

Rhode Island
(Providence Business News, May 19, 2009)
Since 2006, the number of Rhode Islanders on SNAP/Food Stamps has increased more than 40 percent (30,000 people), a “phenomenal increase” according to Kathleen Gorman, director of the Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America at the University of Rhode Island. Gorman was reacting to a recent New York Times report that ranked the state fifth from the bottom of all states in the percentage of eligible residents on SNAP/Food Stamps in 2006. The “negative and outdated numbers” published in the Times don’t reflect the outreach, much of which was done by the Feinstein Center, to get needy people into the program. The Center runs the Food Stamp Outreach Project, which is funded by the federal government and the state; now more than 100,000 residents – 1 in 10 – are on SNAP/Food Stamps and receive an average monthly benefit of $105; each month the program returns approximately $10.5 million to the state’s economy. “As you might guess, we spend a lot of time trying to bust the myths that surround this program, and news about how the state is doing poorly really reinforces for people the negative stigma around the program and the fact that it is hard and difficult to get assistance,” said Gorman.

6. Initiative Works to Bring Grocery Stores to Chicago’s Low-Income Neighborhoods
(Chicago Tribune, May 22, 2009)

In a city where many pay $7.99 a pound at the Whole Foods salad bar, “[i]t’s time to help the other multitudes find a decent apple,” notes columnist Mary Schmich To address the lack of grocery stores in poor neighborhoods, a diverse task force is working to make sure the state legislature approves the Illinois Fresh Food Fund .If this plan passes, it would provide $10 million to help put grocery stores in neighborhoods lacking them; the money will also help raise $20 million from private donations. Similar ideas have worked or are being planned in Philadelphia and New York City. Introducing grocery stores into “neglected” Chicago neighborhoods would be a big step toward reducing the number of infant deaths in the city, according to Robyn Gabel of the Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition, a member of the task force. A black infant born in Chicago is 2½ times more likely to die in the first year of life than the national average, as their mothers are more likely to be sick. One reason they’re sick – they don’t have access to fresh food. In Chicago’s South and West Sides, people have to buy food in fast food outlets and small convenience stores with limited supplies of fresh food. David Vite, president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, supports the Fresh Food Fund and believes that financial incentives to grocery stores will interest them in needy neighborhoods, as has happened in Philadelphia.

7. Officials Hope to Extend Philadelphia School Meal Program
(Philadelphia Inquirer, May 24, 2009)

While USDA, in a letter to Congress, indicated that the Philadelphia free school meal program would end with the current school year, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) said he understands USDA “plans on terminating the program at the end of 2010.” Sestak said that is why he is drafting legislation to extend the program in Philadelphia and expand the program into other cities. Advocates warn that ending the program in June 2009 would cause chaos in September, with more children missing out on meals and costs of approximately $800,000 annually to the school district. The Bush Administration had decided to end the program, which eliminates applications and provides free school meals to 120,000 students in poor Philadelphia schools. USDA wants paperwork to be used, although advocates say that this will result in fewer children receiving meals since many families don’t always fill out and return applications. This pilot program lasted two decades; participation rates for schools in the program have been almost twice the rates – 80 percent vs. 45 percent – of non-participant schools. Before the decision to end the program was made, Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, remarked that the program worked and should be expanded to other cities. “It’s an absolute shame that the USDA appears to be forcing Philadelphia backwards rather than moving other cities forward to a more efficient system in which more kids are fed,” said Kathy Fisher of the Philadelphia Public Citizens for Children and Youth.

8. State Budget Cuts Won’t Cancel Some Florida Summer Food Programs
(Gainesville Sun, May 25, 2009)

While summer school has been cut from the budgets of Florida’s Alachua and Marion counties, the school districts in those counties still will offer summer feeding programs, although with a few changes. Alachua County will see the number of school sites serving summer meals drop from 24 to 22. Most sites in both counties will only offer the programs Monday through Thursday, instead of five days a week. It will be a challenge to increase the number of children participating since summer school cuts will mean there will be fewer children at the school sites. “Unfortunately, families are not taking advantage of the program,” said Maria Eunice, Food and Nutrition director for the Alachua School District. “[W]e’re just trying to get more families to take advantage.” More than 47 percent of the 27,200 Alachua public school students qualify for free and reduced-price lunch; only 10 percent of these students participate in free summer food. The program will offer free breakfast and lunch to children through age 18, whether or not they are a public school student. A community hunger summit in September resulted in the creation of a committee on school meal programs; one of the committee’s goals is to promote and publicize the summer food program.

9. California School District Will Start Free Breakfast in 2009
(Stockton Record, May 25, 2009)

Starting in the 2009-10 school year, California’s Lodi Unified School District will offer free breakfast daily to every student in kindergarten through 12th grade. Warren Sun, food services director, estimates they will serve 10,000 free breakfasts a day, and 1.82 million over the course of the year. “We are reimbursed from the state and federal government based on participation,” said Sun. “Offering free breakfast should result in increased participation, which would increase our overall reimbursement.” Families will also benefit, and could save between $135 and $235 per child per school year. Students benefit too – studies show that children perform in school better when they eat breakfast. “I just have to commend food services for this idea,” said school district trustee Jeff Thompson.

10. Florida School Cafeterias Struggling During Recession
(Herald Tribune, May 20, 2009)

The number of children receiving free and reduced-price lunch in Florida’s Sarasota County schools increased from 34 to 42 percent since August 2008 as more families are living in poverty. In a typical year, there is no rise in the number of children receiving free and reduced-price lunch. “But this last year, obviously with all the layoffs, it’s been incredible,” said Beverly Girard, who oversees Sarasota’s school food service program. Even with this “unprecedented” rise in numbers, many children still charge their meals because they don’t have the money to pay for them. These children don’t qualify for free and reduced-price meals but still can’t afford to pay during this recession. “We call [parents] and they say they will pay up,” said Trudy McLendon, cafeteria manager at Brentwood Elementary. She said she calls parents every week, “But this one said they would send money last Monday, and I haven’t seen anything yet. People must really be struggling. I’ve become a bill collector. I just have to call and call and call. Sometimes I never get an answer.” If a few weeks go by and the school doesn’t hear from the family, they’ll send a social worker to the home. Early in 2009, so many children were charging meals that the school system did a push to sign students up for free and reduced-price lunch. “You can’t let children go hungry,” said Lori White, Sarasota schools superintendent. Even food service workers are feeling the pinch – six people on McLendon’s staff have spouses who lost their jobs. And the typical salary for a Florida cafeteria worker - $15,000 – may not keep that worker’s family from needing nutrition assistance.

11. Recession Could Set Back Gains in Family Economic Well-Being
(The New York Times, May 25, 2009)

In the next two years, all progress made in family economic well-being since 1975 could be wiped out, according to a new report from the Child and Youth Well-Being Index Project at Duke University. The report also projects that one in five American children will live in poverty by 2010. The Child Well-Being Index (CWI), published annually by the project, provides a measurement of family well-being by compiling poverty rate, annual median income, parental employment and children’s health insurance coverage. A change in one area of a child’s life – like parental job loss – cascades through other areas, can lead to residential instability and reduced “educational attainment.” Reduced family incomes can lead to reliance on fast food, which can lead to obesity and worsen child health. Previous experience suggest that when the CWI declines overall, it does so twice as fast for African American and Hispanic children than for white children.

12. Teen Math Challenge Winners Predict Stimulus Act Success on Employment
(New England Business Bulletin, May 22, 2009)

389 teams from across the county participated in the 2009 Moody’s Mega Math Challenge, which had students evaluating the stimulus packages. Five students from The Wheeler School in Providence, R.I, won third place for their papers predicting that unemployment would fall to 6.22 percent by 2012 because of the stimulus package. Given enough time, the teams overwhelmingly reported that the current stimulus plan will work. But, if the estimated unemployment rate ended up being higher, a second stimulus package would be needed. This package would need to focus on unemployment, SNAP/Food Stamps, and state government aid. The students presented their papers in the final round of competition to a panel of Ph.D.-level applied mathematicians at Moody’s headquarters in New York City.
Link to winning papers.

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