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. Congress Planning Second Economic Stimulus Package
(Congressional Quarterly, September 8, 2008)

Democratic Party leaders, as well as many Republicans, returning to Capitol Hill are considering another round of measures to stimulate the economy. Proposals up for consideration include more money for food stamps, a further extension of jobless benefits for high unemployment states, natural disaster relief and home energy assistance, as well as another round of rebates. Recent economic figures have shown some growth, partly a result of the tax rebate checks sent out earlier this year, which has prompted many in Congress to support continuation of this stimulus measure. Still, unemployment figures continue to rise, to a five-year high in August of 6.1 percent, and retail sales, construction and manufacturing slowed in July. The upcoming election could put a second stimulus package on the back burner, as congressional representatives may adopt a wait-and-see mindset over how the economy will continue to behave. And while many want another stimulus package, there’s been no finalizing of exactly what benefits it will encompass.
Article available through subscription to Congressional Quarterly.

2. Disaster Food Stamp Program (DFSP) Approved for 31 Louisiana Parishes
(WAFB, September 6, 2008)

In the wake of recent tropical storms and hurricanes, 31 Louisiana parishes are now distributing disaster food stamps to storm victims. It’s estimated that 380,000 households in these parishes will be eligible for disaster food benefits; full information on who is eligible is included in the DFSP guidelines. The more than 150,000 households in these parishes that already receive food stamps will not need to apply for replacement food stamps or the additional benefits being offered and will receive these increased benefits automatically.

3. Overweight and Sick People Finding It Difficult to Afford Healthy Foods
(The Wall Street Journal, September 2, 2008)

The price of healthy foods, like whole wheat bread and fresh fruits and vegetables, has been particularly affected by the soaring inflation rates, a fact that makes it difficult for people who are dealing with disease or reduce their weight to keep their diets healthy. Some healthy foods increasing in price by 16 percent between 2004 and 2006, according to a study by the University of Washington Center for Obesity Research. Adam Drewnowski, the center’s director, has termed these items “luxury goods.” He fears that the “nutrition gap” in public health will continue to grow. Organizations battling AIDS, which have grown to encompass the nutritional needs of cancer and heart disease patients, are finding they have to scale down their “ambitions” and reorganize in the face of high food inflation. Denver’s Project Angel Heart has averaged a 26 percent new client rate over the past three years, but now must scale back to adding only 5 percent in the face of lowered donations and increased costs. The project has cut fresh fruit to clients, and are delivering only ten meals each week instead of the usual 12. Inflation has hit individuals like Sharon Spain as well. Spain, an overweight 47-year-old HIV patient also suffering from asthma and other health problems, has been able to lose a significant amount of weight through her diet, but her healthier diet is now threatened by the higher food costs.

4. Stressed Moms and Comfort Food Means Overweight Kids
(Reuters, September 2, 2008)

According to research conducted by the University of Illinois, in conjunction with Iowa and Michigan State Universities, overweight kids in low-income Chicago families may escape into comfort foods in order to cope with their poverty-stressed moms. The findings suggest that safety-net programs need to encompass food stamps, “better financial education” to help families cope with inflation, and “adequate health insurance coverage.” The study, published in the September issue of Pediatrics, analyzed data on 841 children from families below the poverty line; the data came from a 1992-2002 government nutrition survey. Children between the ages of three and 10 were found to be particularly vulnerable, since they lack the ability to find “release” outside the home through “friends or work.”

5. Need and Outreach Raise Food Stamp Participation in New Mexico
(tmcnet.com, August 30, 2008)

While New Mexico’s Human Services Department sees increased food stamp enrollment across the state as proof their outreach through multi-lingual television and radio ads is a success, others like University of New Mexico sociology professor Richard Coughlin believe that rising need is contributing to the increase. “I think more and more households at the lower end of the socioeconomic distribution are simply being squeezed,” said Coughlin, referring to the constantly increasing prices of food and fuel as well as other economic factors driving people to seek help through food stamps. From April 1 to June 30 of this year, the state signed up nearly 3,400 new food stamp families and now serves a total of 97,989 households, with figures forecast to reach 100,000 by the end of this year. “We don’t look at that as a negative,” said Department spokeswoman Betina Gonzales McCracken. “There are thousands of families who qualify and don’t participate.” The state has lower median income levels than the rest of the country, with recent Census Bureau numbers showing one in four N.M. children living in poverty in 2007. Two of the state’s counties – McKinley and Torrance – have more than 20 percent of their residents currently on food stamps.

6. Government Nutrition Programs Do Much for Children’s Nutrition Needs
(Santa Rosa Press Gazette, August 15, 2008)

Government nutrition programs “with long track records of success” (like WIC, food stamps, and school meals) are vital to keeping millions of children healthy and giving them access to good nutrition, but are not meeting many families’ “nutritional needs” according to this commentary by Marian Wright Edelman. Even with the federal nutrition programs, most families come up short at the end of each month. Edelman cites growing numbers of families dealing with hunger – 12.6 million children and 22.9 million adults in 2006 – and is outraged “that hunger would plague so many in one of the world’s biggest food exporters, where more than enough food is produced to feed every American.” Hungry children suffer from mild malnutrition which can have devastating effects on their development and learning. Food security – access to enough food, all the time, without skipping meals and cutting back on food quality and quality – is vital to a healthy life, explains Edelman. America’s bounty and its hungry population is a “cruel paradox,” she states, and notes that “We have both the economic means and the governmental resources to ensure everybody an adequate diet.” We are “past time” to correct this problem, Edelman writes, and calls on Congress and the President to “increase funding for nutrition programs, simplify the application process, and ease eligibility guidelines.”

7. Ohio Eases Subsidized School Meal Application Process
(Toledo Blade, September 2, 2008)

Children from families receiving food stamps or cash assistance, identified through Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services database, are now automatically enrolled for free- and reduced-price school lunch. Regarding the use of the established database, Scott Blake of Ohio’s Department of Education commented “We know that these kids would qualify; why not use the information we’ve already got.” In past school years, parents of eligible children had to fill out a form and show proof of income to qualify. The new system ensures that all qualified children are able to get subsidized lunches. Some districts have already been using this method of enrollment, and USDA “is requiring all schools to use direct enrollment by this year,” according to agency spokesperson Kathleen FioRito. Children who do not receive public assistance but qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch will have to fill out a paper form, said Blake.

8. Head Start Includes Meals in Programs
(Hanford Sentinel, September 4, 2008)

Family style breakfasts and lunches served to children participating in California’s Kings County Action Organization Head Start program improves their nutrition as well as encourages them to share. Thirteen sites across the Kings County offer the federally-funded preschool program, and it’s estimated that 499 children between the ages of two and five will take advantage of Head Start this year. For a group of three and four year olds at the Rosa Parks Learning Center, sitting at “…tables especially made for people their size…” lunch was hamburgers and “fixings,” and they were “subtly encouraged to share, practice manners and take advantage of the nutrition available to them.” A typical day for children in the program, which boosts their kindergarten readiness, involves washing their hands before the meal, and brushing their teeth afterwards, followed by sitting in a circle for a “health check” intended to identify if any of the children are sick or hurting.

9. WIC Program Changes Make Appointments More Client-Friendly
(The Warren Record, September 4, 2008)

WIC clients in North Carolina’s Warren County used to have to wait three months for an appointment; now the 800 clients can call the WIC office on one of five days in which they have arranged for transportation and can have their appointment scheduled for that day. This new “open access” scheduling solves the biggest problem created by the old scheduling system. According to WIC director Susan Gray, “No one knows what they will do in three months.” More and more agencies are using “open access” scheduling, although appointments for clients who need translation services still need to be scheduled three months in advance. The local WIC program has also started using “motivational interviewing,” federally mandated as part of the Value Enhanced Nutritional Assessment. Instead of telling clients what they need to do, WIC nutritionists now ask questions of the clients, engaging them in a conversation over the issues they may be experiencing.

10. Hispanic Students Avoiding Obesity at One Austin School
(Austin American-Statesman, August 31, 2008)

Hispanic Students, as well as children from low-income families, are “less likely to be fit” according to state data in Texas. Sanchez Elementary is bucking the trend, with 72 percent of children at healthy weight for their age compared with the 70 percent average among children in all of Austin’s elementary schools. Sanchez Elementary’s student body is 90 percent Hispanic, and more than 90 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Principal Azucena Garcia focuses the school on health and fitness through weekly assemblies, and credits parents, like the group of mothers who started a power-walking group and switched from tamales and breakfast tacos to yogurt and fruit, as a positive influence on student health.

11. Seniors Tell of Struggles During Rough Economic Times
(Newday, August 30, 2008)

In response to newspaper columnist Saul Friedman’s request for readers to fill him in on how they’re coping with today’s cost of living, senior citizens wrote about their struggles to “make ends meet” and disappointment with where the country is heading. Herbert Ris of Farmingdale, New York, wrote “I tell my kids I’m glad I’m old … I feel I lived in the best times this country has seen.” John T., of Hauppauge, wonders why the government is giving so little help through food stamps or with heating bills. Most of the responders said they were “doing with less to survive hard times” even though they’re “helping their kids.” And letter writers’ opinions were mirrored by a recent Time Magazine/Rockefeller Foundation poll which found, among the 2,000 people over age 18 surveyed, “the social contract of the 20th century, an agreement between government, employers and society that affords Americans with the basic necessities of the American dream appears to be unraveling.”

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