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. Number of Americans Living in Poverty Increased in 2007, Federal Poverty Numbers Show
(U.S. Census Bureau, August 26, 2008)
12.5 percent of Americans – 37.3 million people – lived in poverty in 2007, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released today. This is an increase in the number of poor people from 2006, when 36.5 million Americans lived in poverty. FRAC's President Jim Weill commented on the Census Bureau's numbers released today by calling for a food stamp boost in the second stimulus package to ease struggle of families living in poverty. "Low-income families facing skyrocketing food prices need a boost in food stamps," said Weill. "Economists across the political spectrum agree that a boost in food stamp benefits is the most effective way to stimulate the economy, as well as a huge help for families confronting the worst struggles."
FRAC Hunger and Poverty page - http://frac.org/html/hunger_in_the_us/poverty.html
FRAC Statement - http://frac.org/pdf/poverty08_weillstatement.pdf
2. FRAC Report Charts Summer Food Decline
(The Washington Post, August 19, 2008)
Summer nutrition programs are falling far short of the need, reported The Washington Post in this article covering FRAC’s recent release of “Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2008.” In July 2007, 2.85 million children, or 17.5 percent of those eligible, received summer meals. One reason for the drop, cited by Crystal FitzSimons, FRAC’s director of school and out-of-school-time programs, is that “[a] lot of sponsors dropped out of the program because they had a hard time operating without losing money,” due to high food and fuel prices. However, potential sponsors don’t know about the program, and aggressive outreach is needed. The District of Columbia’s outreach resulted in a 2007 summer meal participation rate of 95.9 percent among eligible children, making it number one in the country. Simplified accounting and reporting requirements for sponsors, mandated by legislation passed by Congress in December 2007 should help numbers improve across the country. Anecdotally, FRAC reports that more sites are interested in serving summer meals, in part because families are having a hard time financially due to high food and fuel costs this summer.
3. USDA Forecasts More Food Price Increases in 2009
(Reuters, August 21, 2008)
USDA revised their earlier food price increase forecast for 2008, now stating that food prices will rise 5 to 6 percent this year instead of 4.5 to 5.5 percent, and said consumers should brace themselves for rising meat and produce prices in 2009. Fruit and vegetable prices are expected to increase 5.5 percent rather than 5 percent. The 2008 increase is the largest in 20 years, prompting USDA economist Ephraim Leibtag to state “It’s a little bit of a surprise how strong some of the numbers were in July. We’ve been waiting for some moderation,” but the timing of volatile energy and food ingredient costs will have an impact on prices. Prices are expected to rise by 4 to 5 percent in 2009; if that happens, it will be the third year in a row with increases of at least 4 percent.
4. Economic Stimulus Checks Dwarfed by Consumer Prices
(Supermarket News, August 19, 2008)
The $92 billion in economic stimulus checks sent out by the federal government was no match for the inflation rate, according to research conducted by the IHL Group. For the twelve-month period ending August 1, 2008, consumer food and fuel prices increased $132.4 billion. The government meant the checks for “discretionary spending.” Instead, the money has been used for debt reduction, reports IHL.
5. Finances Force Charity Hospitals to Focus on Insured Patients
(Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 13, 2008)
The Center for Studying Health System Change has found that safety-net hospitals, in order to avoid running at a deficit, are are cutting charity-care costs and focusing more on insured patients by offering specialty services as well as upgrading and expanding facilities to attract more paying patients. The Center’s report, a survey of twelve areas across the country, found a ten percent drop over the last ten years in the percentage of physicians providing any charity care. Safety-net hospitals seem to have no choice but to attract more paying patients, states the report, as the poor are less and less likely to find services in the current health-care system.
6. Free Breakfast Expands to More Vermont Students This Fall
(Bennington Banner, August 16, 2008)
About 7,500 students will be able to eat breakfast for free during the upcoming school year as an appropriation expanding school breakfast eligibility passed in the Vermont legislature earlier this year takes effect. Previously, students from families earning between 130 and 185 percent of the federal poverty rate ($27,000 - $38,000) were eligible for a reduced-price breakfast. Participation in breakfast among these students was low, as they skipped breakfast so they could save money to purchase lunch. The legislation makes Vermont the fourth state in the nation to provide for free breakfast to all low-income students in schools participating in the federal breakfast program. "Making breakfast free for low income students will remove one of the significant barriers to accessing breakfast and will help feed children this winter when household budgets are especially tight," said Dorigen Keeney, director of public policy and research for Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger. VCTECH has been instrumental in working across the state to promote and expand the school breakfast program, helping Vermont rank 7th in the nation among schools serving breakfast to low-income children; its work since 1990 has increased the number of schools serving breakfast from 19 percent to 92 percent of schools.
7. More Students Will Eat For Free in Pittsburgh Schools this Fall
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 18, 2008)
Starting this fall, all Pittsburgh Public School district students will be offered free breakfast, with free lunches available for all students at 41 schools and early-childhood centers where the student poverty rate is at least 80 percent. Pittsburgh Public Schools food service director Michael R. Peck proposed expanding free meals to students after noticing a rise in the poverty rate: from the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year to the end, the number of children qualified for free and reduced-price lunches rose from 66 to 68 percent. The school district expects to pay for the meals through additional federal and state subsidies. During the previous school year, the district had approximately 28,265 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
8. Free School Breakfast Will Speed Up Cafeteria Lines
(Journal Gazette, August 13, 2008)
All of Meadowbrook Elementary School students (in New Haven, Indiana) will be able to eat breakfast for free starting this fall. School officials, including Carol Smith, East Allen County Schools food service manager, noticed that the school was feeding so many students breakfast that long cafeteria lines and wait time resulted. Previously, only children from families meeting federal income guidelines could receive free breakfast; the school hopes to reduce the long wait for breakfast by making it free for all. Students will still have to apply for free or reduced-price lunch, and Smith estimates 78 percent of students to qualify.
9. Skipping Breakfast Affects Genders Differently
(Reuters, August 4, 2008)
Researchers reporting in the journal Pediatrics that male adolescents who skip breakfast report being in a worse mood than if they had eaten the meal, and showed negative affects to their visuospatial memory, while female adolescents did not experience the same effects. The study, by doctors at Ulm University, did find that adolescents and young adults who skip breakfast tend to be less attentive in class. The researchers say the study suggests that eating breakfast could provide people with the energy and nutrients for neurotransmitters – brain signaling chemicals – to be produced, and the protein, carbohydrates and fat could also affect mood. They also call for more research on the genetic differences they found.
10. Iowa Floods Hit Low-Income Population Hardest, State Waives Benefit Reviews
(Cedar Rapids Gazette, August 13, 2008; Des Moines Register, August 16, 2006)
A study by the Iowa Fiscal Partnership found that the June 2008 floods in Cedar Rapids hit low-income people, minorities and home renters significantly harder than the rest of the city. Poverty rates in the flooded areas doubled those in the entire county, and the report called on officials and legislators to include the needy in recovery plans. The Partnership’s executive director, David Osterberg, is concerned that current policy discussions do not include the low-income population. Low-income residents had problems in previous recovery efforts, specifically the 1997 fires and floods in Grand Forks, N.D., according to a 2006 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. One aspect that could hamper delivery of services to flooded residents: aid organizations are unsure where many of the low-income residents displaced by the Cedar Rapids floods have relocated.
The floods have prompted the state to waive benefit reviews for approximately 60,000 food stamp and Medicaid recipients, in a move to prevent flood victims from losing benefits because paperwork was destroyed or misplaced or due to mail not reaching victims of the natural disaster.
11. Increase in Food Stamp Recipients Won’t Spur Increase in State Staff
(The Olympian, August 13, 2008)
Washington State’s Food Stamp Program plans on adding 23,000 additional households this year, but won’t be able to add 28 new staff members to assist with the increased workload. Food stamps currently benefit about 570,000 in the state each month, and current state staff are committed to the increase in numbers. “We may not be able to hire the 28 staff,” said Leo Ribas, director of Division Community Services for the Department of Social and Health Services, “but still it’s an important thing to do.” The state increased food stamp eligibility to families earning up to twice the federal poverty level; ironically, the hiring freeze was prompted by the same tough economic times that is causing more families to struggle with hunger.
12. High Food Prices Send Hawaii Families to Government for Help
(KHON-2, August 14, 2008)
Hawaii households are turning to food stamps, school lunch assistance, and WIC for help in dealing with ever-increasing food prices (5 percent in the past year). Agencies handling these food programs have seen record numbers of people applying, and food stamps are now going to 100,000 people. Half of Hawaii families enrolled at public schools are applying for free and reduced-price lunch. WIC added 1,000 new participants in July, bringing participation numbers to “an all-time high…of over 35,000.” With continued job layoffs, the numbers are expected to continue rising. The program is starting to show a financial strain, and is beginning to cut back on the type of food being covered, with bottled juice out in favor of frozen concentrate.
13. Indiana Proposes Change to Food Stamp Application Rule
(Pal-Item, August 20, 2008)
Food stamp applicants in Indiana will be required to submit required documents within 30 days, and not the usual 60 days, or will have to begin the application process all over again if the state’s Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) succeeds in moving its new rule across “several hurdles.” Lawmakers questioned FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob about the change, and Roob took the opportunity to distribute a letter from a federal food stamp administrator noting improvements in the state’s food stamp application process timeliness. The federal agency stated that the letter does not change its advice to FSSA to improve the timeliness before it expands its welfare system changes across the state.
14. More Marylanders Turn To Food Stamps for Help
(abc2news.com, August 20, 2008)
Maryland’s Department of Social Services is seeing families “coming in record numbers…to apply for food stamps” said Rosemary Malone of the Department of Human Resources (DHR). High food and fuel prices have forced requests for food stamps to rise 15 percent over the past year – in July 2007, 325,000 Maryland residents received food stamps. That number grew in July 2008 to nearly 373,000 – an increase of 50,000 people. According to DHR, with those rising numbers came more than $400 million in additional revenue to the state’s economy, and the dollar amount is expected to continue rising.
15. Community Response to Rising Prices Will Include Food Stamp Outreach
(Metro Boston News, August 20, 2008)
Boston plans to increase food stamp enrollment over the next months, part of an overall plan to help communities and residents deal with increasing food and fuel costs. The outreach efforts will be joined by a food and fuel summit on September 27, and National Grid will, through its Heatworks program, increase the number of families eligible for fuel assistance by including those with children six and younger. Community pot luck dinners will also be held. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino noted in a statement “The rising costs of energy and fuel are hitting the wallet of every Bostonian, and this winter will be a particular challenge for many of us. No one wants to be hungry or left out in the cold.”
16. Study Finds Food and Other Issues Prominent in Families Raising Disabled Children
(Eurekalert, August 18, 2008; Science Daily, August 20, 2008)
According to new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, families at all income levels raising disabled children are struggling with food, housing and health issues, with middle-income families now reporting “severe” hardships that previous research found in lower-income families. Specifically, the study found that 40 percent of surveyed middle-income families (earning between two and three times the federal poverty level – between $36,200 to $54,300 for a family of four) experienced at least one “food hardship,” including skipping meals due to lack of money or worrying that food would run out. Lead investigator of the study, Susan L. Parish, Ph.D., said these findings call for a re-evaluation of federal standards used to identify the nation’s poor, and said they “suggest that state and federal policies that are in place to help families with disabled children are not going nearly far enough.” The researchers involved in the study suggest the federal government can begin helping these families by increasing income limits for food stamps, housing assistance, and Supplemental Security Income.
17. Indiana Welfare System Hampers Benefits for Burmese Refugees
(Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, August 18, 2008)
Food stamps, cash assistance, and Medicaid benefits that previously arrived in two weeks have not arrived in months for Burmese refugees settled in Indiana, who are experiencing the same payment problems as state residents have experienced under Indiana’s modernized welfare management system. The refugees – approximately 800 arriving in Fort Wayne this year – often have little in their possession and are given up to eight months of food, cash, and health assistance through the state. Refugees report getting appointments “three weeks in the future” just to discuss getting a benefit card, which Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Deborah McMahan calls “not acceptable.” Money refugees have received - $60 per person – was meant to get them to the point when their welfare benefits were approved, but that gap in time is widening. Su Hlaing, a 31 year-old mother of five children, reported having “No milk…only water” in her refrigerator and needs food and clothing for her children; her husband died in a Thailand refugee camp waiting to come to the U.S. Mitch Roob, secretary of Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA), said the new privatized system was not the cause of the delays, stating “The people at Catholic Charities didn’t alert me to the fact there (were) going to be this many (refugees)…we used to get a couple of dozen…but now there are hundreds.” However, in February a staffer informed local board of health members that FSSA was gathering information on how many refugees were on the way to Indiana.
18. New York’s Food Safety Net Sustains Second Budget Cut in Five Months
(New York City Coalition Against Hunger, August 20, 2008)
On the heels of an April budget cut of 16 percent, New York’s Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) has sustained another budget cut of 6 percent, or $1.2 million. Governor David Paterson and the State Legislature made the cuts to the program, which is the main source of funding for food pantries, soup kitchens and food banks across the state, at a time when demand for their services has been the highest, according to the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH). According to the New York City Human Resources Administration, 1.946 million meals were served by the city’s feeding agencies in March and April of 2008, which is 167,611 more meals than was served during the same time period in 2007 and represents a 9 percent increase. Agencies across the state also report similar increases. NYCCAH suggests that these budget cuts could be avoided if the state raised by one percent the tax rate on wage earners making one million dollars or more in a year.
19. Warehouse Stores Edge Out Grocers
(New York Daily News, August 13, 2008)
In this opinion piece by Albor Ruiz, New York City supermarkets are in danger of extinction at the hands of warehouse stores like BJ’s Warehouse Club. While these “big box” stores have a positive impact on the city, they don’t accept food stamps or WIC, they charge annual membership fees ($45 for BJ’s), which “makes it all but impossible for the community to benefit from their discount prices.” The city has seen one-third of its supermarkets – about 500 – go under in the past 10 years, victims of high rents and taxes. Pat Purcell with the Grocery Workers Union sees the big box store issue as an issue with the mayor as well as the stores themselves. “The city did a study and determined that we need at least 100 supermarkets in the city,” Purcell said. Two BJ’s stores are planned for Brooklyn, which could force nearby smaller stores out of business.
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