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. Businesses See Improvement from SNAP/Food Stamp Boost
(Vos Iz Neias?, August 2, 2009)

“Food stamps have the biggest bang for the buck of any kind of stimulus,” noted economist Mark Zandi of Moodys.com. Since the SNAP/Food Stamp economic stimulus boost began, Jose Almonte, manager of an Associated Supermarket in New York City, has seen his sales increase by 10 percent. “We’re actually thinking of hiring more people,” said Almonte. In California, John Sweredoski said “I’m hiring people. I’ve never sold so many vegetables in my life.” The co-owner of Takahashi-Sweredoski farms owes some of the increased business to the SNAP/Food Stamp increase, which provided benefit recipients with more money each month to purchase food. Sweredoski spoke of one Los Angeles market which had a SNAP/Food Stamp purchase increase of 88 percent, giving Sweredoski more money to start expanding.

2. New York City’s “SNAP Gap” on the Rise
(City Limits Weekly, August 3, 2009)

Unemployment in New York City rose 30 percent since January, with 376,000 unemployed in June. Consequently, more people are becoming eligible for SNAP/Food Stamps. The state has instituted a new Web site and less burdensome interviews and claims an 88 percent increase in participation since 2002. According to the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH), the number of households in the city that are eligible for but not receiving SNAP/Food Stamps is rising. In March of 1995, the peak of participation, there were 70,000 more people receiving SNAP/Food Stamps in the city than in May 2009. “It is deceptive to cite data from only when Bloomberg became mayor,” said NYCCAH Executive Director Joel Berg, as the number had been low before 2001. The city’s participation suffers because many are deterred by the fingerprinting requirement; NYCCAH estimates 21,500 possible recipients don’t apply because of the fingerprinting requirement. In place to prevent fraud, the requirement has only found 31 cases, noted Joel Berg. “The city is spending $800,000 of non-federal dollars to stop the potential waste of [about] $46,000 in federal dollars,” he said. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said the requirement is “a waste of money,” and added she’s “mystified” why the policy continues. A recent “marriage purge” cancelled the benefit for many who made an error identifying their marital status. “They’re going after people for a misstatement even if it has nothing to do with eligibility,” said Tara Crean, an Urban Justice Center attorney. Crean filed a class action lawsuit, on behalf of people who lost benefits because of the purge, against the Office of Temporary Disability Assistance and the Human Resources Administration. People who lost their benefits, or were denied SNAP/Food Stamps, indicated they were single on the form but were married at the time, although marital status does not affect benefit amounts. Some have been married but are too poor to afford divorce, so they consider themselves single.

3. Florida SNAP/Food Stamp Grant will Target Outreach to Seniors
(News Sun, August 13, 2009)

Educating potentially eligible rural Florida seniors about the nutritional benefits of SNAP/Food Stamps and providing them with application assistance is the focus of a project funded by a grant from USDA. The Heartland Rural Health Network, Inc. received the $74,000 grant which is aimed at raising the percentage of eligible seniors participating in the SNAP/Food Stamp program. Currently only 34 percent of residents 60 and older across the state who are eligible for the benefit apply. In Highlands, Hardee and DeSoto counties, 7,000 seniors 60 and older live at or below the 130 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines – and 77 percent of these seniors don’t receive SNAP/Food Stamps. The grant will help dispel the myths surrounding the program. “I am here to give…the facts and encourage enrollment in [SNAP/Food Stamps],” said Jean Mullins, outreach and eligibility specialist at Heartland. “By participating in this program, [seniors] are able to not only improve their health status by eating nutritious meals, but also have some additional financial resources to help cover other household expenses.” The organization is reaching out to seniors through local senior meal programs, churches, and health and social service organizations in the three counties.

4. Texas Not Meeting 30-Day SNAP/Food Stamp Application Deadline
(Houston Chronicle, August 10, 2009; McClatchy Washington Bureau, August 14, 2009)

Although the federal government mandates that 95 percent of a state’s SNAP/Food Stamp applications be processed in 30 days, Texas continues to have a tough time meeting that deadline, notes this op-ed. Noncompliance with the rule rose in the state from 19.2 percent in January to 37.2 percent in July, most likely because of increased demand for the assistance due to the recession. The troubles for Texas started when the state instituted “ill-considered privatization schemes that resulted in increased delays to processing applications.” Also, the Legislature approved hiring 656 positions to handle the increased application numbers, but the state’s Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) claims that state leaders have not cleared approval for the hires. An article that ran in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram noted that the backlog in applications has hit residents hard – Bob of Fort Worth (who didn’t want his last name used), has tried since May to get his SNAP/Food Stamps renewed. “We sent all our papers, and we kept calling, and they kept putting us off,” he said. “You couldn’t get anybody [at the HHSC Fort Worth office]. Nobody answers the telephone.” Now, a class action lawsuit brought by two advocacy groups against the Texas Health and Human Services Commission aims at forcing the state to comply with the regulation. And Houston state Rep. Garnet Coleman (Democrat) said the delay shows “a callous disregard for the needs of poor consituents.” The op-ed concludes “Texas must do better in processing food assistance to its neediest in a timely manner. It shouldn’t take a federal judge to remind state officials of their responsibilities.”

5. Nebraska SNAP/Food Stamp Participation Growth Outpaces Medicaid Increase
(Lincoln Journal Star, August 12, 2009)

While the state’s Medicaid participation hit a record high in July at 215,962 people, the growth in SNAP/Food Stamp participation is higher than the Medicaid growth. From July 2008 to July 2009, Medicaid applicants increased 6.5 percent (one of the nation’s lowest growth rates), while SNAP/Food Stamp participation increased 17 percent; in July, 142,651 residents received the benefit. Between April 2008 and 2009, all states reported SNAP/Food Stamp increases; 13 states reported increases of 25 percent and higher during that time period. Utah had the highest rate – 45.5 percent, according to FRAC – and Colorado had a 28.9 percent increase. SNAP/Food Stamp enrollment has, in the past, been used as an indicator of poverty and the effect of recessions, notes Becky Gould, executive director of the Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest.

6. California Struggles to Provide Food Assistance while Demand Soars
(Black Voice News, August 12, 2009)

The combined effects of California’s budget cuts to state services, overburdened emergency assistance network, and tough SNAP/Food Stamp eligibility requirements are creating high frustration levels and confusion among the needy of the state. “People are desperate,” said San Bernardino County 2-1-1 director Gary Madden, noting that they’ve received an unprecedented number of calls from people seeking information and referrals to emergency social and health services. “More men are calling,” said Madden. “Families are doubling up in homes. African-Americans are particularly vulnerable.” Riverside County Department of Public Social Services has been denying about half of the applications received for SNAP/Food Stamps and CalWorks. “People don’t realize the asset limitations,” said Terry Lynn Fisher of the Orange County Social Services Agency. Those who do receive SNAP/Food Stamps in California are benefitting from the 13.6 percent increase in payments from the economic stimulus package. Across the country, one in nine Americans – 34.4 million people – are receiving SNAP/Food Stamps, a record number.

7. SNAP/Food Stamps Highlighted During Ag Secretary’s Trip to Alaska
(USDA, August 12, 2009)

In a recent trip to Alaska, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack noted the economic recovery efforts underway in the state, focusing on SNAP/Food Stamps, the National School Lunch Program, and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). At the “Rural Tour” community forum, Vilsack highlighted the $7.66 million in SNAP/Food Stamp benefits going to Alaska through the recovery act. Most households of four are receiving a boost through the economic stimulus package of $80 each month in SNAP/Food Stamp benefits. Along with eligibility limits for jobless adults being suspended, Alaska received State Administrative, TEFAP and National School Lunch Program funds. Secretary Vilsack was joined at the forum by Energy Secretary Chu, Education Secretary Duncan, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Donovan. The forum was held to gain feedback from local residents, discuss the President’s efforts to revitalize rural America, and discuss solutions to community problems, and followed the launch of the Obama Administration’s “Rural Tour” in June.

8. Food Takes Up Larger Share of Low-Income Household’s Budget
(Fresno Bee, July 25, 2009)

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the poorest 20 percent of households spent 20 percent of their income (average $2,005 annually) on food at home in 2007, while the wealthiest 20 percent spent 3.3 percent of their income (average $5,265) on food. Poor people “can only cut back so much” on food said Phil Kaufman, senior economist at the Economic Research Service, USDA. This paradox is a fact for low-income residents of California’s San Joaquin Valley, where a tomato costs $1, the same price as a roll of toilet paper. They pay more for food grown in the valley, too, because they lack access to grocery stores, with bulk pricing and weekly specials. The stores aren’t located in low-income neighborhoods, and residents without transportation end up relying on corner stores or gas stations. A 2006 study by a University of Buffalo marketing professor found that corner store prices are on average 15 percent higher than prices at supermarkets. And another study released the same year, by the University of Illinois, found that black neighborhoods have half as many supermarkets, and Hispanic neighborhoods a third as many, than predominantly white neighborhoods. In Fresno, which mirrors the findings, convenience stores make up 34 percent of the county’s retail-food outlet market, according to a 2008 California Center for Public Health Advocacy study. Supermarkets make up only 12 percent of the market, with produce and farmers markets only 3 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Supermarkets can offer lower prices because they’re larger than corner stores and buy in bulk.

9. Economy Spurs Expansion of School District's Summer Food Program
(The Times, August 13, 2009)

The number of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch in Oregon’s Tigard-Tualatin School Districts has increased due to the “troubled economy,” and director of food services Diane Wylie expects next year’s summer food program to expand even further than this year’s. During June and July, the program served 5,501 lunches; last summer, it served 1,147 lunches. Lunches last year were offered at two sites, and this year the program added breakfast at two sites and expanded lunches to three apartment complexes. “The point of the summer feeding program is to extend the national school lunch program into the summer,” said Wylie. “We know there are kids out there that are hungry and need to eat.”

10. Free Breakfast Reduces Stigma Among Students
(Gourmet, September 2009)

Gourmet magazine goes through the alphabet in their latest issue, and “U’ stands for universal school breakfast. Free breakfast in schools – or universal school breakfast – offers the meal at no cost to all students in a school, regardless of income, and makes breakfast as routine as attendance. It also reduces the “free meal” stigma children may feel, especially those getting free and reduced-price school meals, according to the Food Research and Action Center. Hungry children struggle with academic, emotional and behavioral issues. Offering free breakfast to all students “allows the kids who might otherwise go hungry to eat with their classmates without fear of ridicule.” (Article available by subscription only.)

11. Stimulus is Helping States, but 2010 Looks Bleak
(The Washington Post, August 11, 2009)

Although there is debate in Washington over whether or not the stimulus plan is working, states are finding the federal cash is keeping budgets from catastrophe. “It’s absolutely worked for the states,” said Elizabeth McNichol, senior fellow with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. According to Chris Whatley, deputy executive director of the Council of State Governments, state deficits would be 40 percent worse without the federal help, but “the stimulus cushioned the blow of the state fiscal crisis, but it didn’t blunt it.” There’s been slight improvement in the economy, with July jobless rates having the smallest monthly loss for a year. However, states will still struggle with lowered revenues from the depressed housing market, and high unemployment will lower income tax, create more unemployment insurance expenditures and keep safety-net demands high. States will have a combined budget shortfall of $350 billion in the next two fiscal years, notes the Council of State Governments and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

12. New York’s SNAP/Food Stamp Children Get Back-To-School Money
(The New York Times, August 12, 2009)

About 850,000 low-income children in New York State will each receive $200 in back-to-school grants, sending parents to check-cashing shops in droves. Parents thought there was a limited window of opportunity to take advantage of the one-time-only assistance, which is funded by a $35 million gift from George Soros. Matching funds of $140 million in federal stimulus money mean there’s $175 million to give out to children ages 3-17 in families that received SNAP/Food Stamps or welfare in July. Families have 90 days to collect the money. “I take it as a blessing,” said Ms. Omahira Arce, a 24-year-old disabled single mother, who added that her children “need sneakers, school shoes, school uniforms.” Anthony Farmer of the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, which is administering the grants, said “[w]e’ve timed the release of this to the back-to-school period. We’ve encouraged people to use it that way.”

13. Over 1,000 Get Help from Mobile Welfare Unit in Indiana
(Chicago Tribune, August 14, 2009)

Sent to communities by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, the Department of Family Services RV is a mobile office that has helped more than 1,000 state residents access SNAP/Food Stamps, welfare and other benefits. Staff on the RV process assistance applications, and help existing clients report changes and renew benefits. First used in the fall of 2008 for disaster relief, the RV was dispatched again and has been on the road since January 2009.