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. On Thanksgiving Edition of PBS’s News Hour, FRAC President Notes More People Struggling in 2008
(NewsHour, November 27, 2008)
Appearing as part of the NewsHour story “Food Banks Face Shortages in Economic Downturn,” FRAC President Jim Weill said that while Census Bureau and USDA data recently released for 2007 showed 36 million people struggled with hunger in 2007, that number has most likely risen dramatically in 2008. “We know there are three million more people on food stamps as of August…than there were 15 months ago,” he said. The current economy, in which inflation, food prices, and unemployment are all up, affects food security in families. When they lose their jobs and income, “they show up at food stamp offices and also at food banks,” he noted, and added that families seek out help when wages are down too. Food banks, currently strained beyond their resources, have a limit to how many people they can serve. “The good news,” said Weill, “is that the food stamp and the federal nutrition programs don’t have caps on how many people can participate, so as more people become eligible, more people can be served, and we see that in the rising numbers.” There’s bad news, though, in that food stamps are only meant as a supplement, and when a household’s food stamps run out near the end of the month, that’s what causes the great demand at food pantries. “Congress needs to increase benefits for food stamp beneficiaries,” said Weill. Current food stamp benefits amount to less than $4 per person per day for food, or a little over $1 per meal, “and it’s not really enough to provide a healthy diet. A lot of parents feed the kids first and skip meals themselves.” The Food Stamp Program, “which is a great program and incredibly important to now roughly 30 million people,” said Weill, does not provide enough to get households through the end of the month. The solution, said Weill, is for the private sector to provide wages that are sufficient for families and individuals to live on and for the public sector to fill in with these nutrition programs.
2. Food Stamp Participation Highest in History
(The Washington Post, November 26, 2008)
FRAC President Jim Weill was interviewed for this article covering the release of USDA numbers showing that the number of Americans signed up for food stamps is at an all-time high. “We soon will have the most food stamp recipients in the history of our country,” said Weill. “If the economic forecasts come true, we’re likely to see the most hunger that we’ve seen since the 1981 recession and maybe since the 1960s, when these programs were established.” The release of the food stamp recipient numbers comes immediately after the release of government data indicating 11.9 million people had very low food security and went hungry at some point in 2007; the number includes 700,000 children, an increase from 2006. D.C.’s food pantries and other emergency food outlets report higher demand, with visits to food pantries up 20 to 100 percent, and calls to the Capital Area Food Bank hunger hotline have jumped 248 percent, mostly from people who have not used food stamps or food pantries before. Rising unemployment is the cause of the jump according to analysts; the jobless rate was 6.5 percent in October and is predicted to jump to 8 percent by the end of 2009. Food costs are also a factor, and they remain high after a slight fall from spring 2008 levels, and the consumer price index for food and beverages rose 6.1 percent over the past year. Food stamps only help to a certain level, and in September the maximum benefit was $64 short of the cost of the USDA-set Thrifty Food Plan, the established minimum diet for a family of four. Food stamp applications are up 7.5 percent from October 2007 to October 2008 in D.C., as well as in nearby Arlington, Virginia, where applications rose 17 percent in the past six months as compared to the same time last year.
3. Fighting Childhood Hunger Must Be Priority in Obama’s Plans
(Buffalo News, November 28, 2008)
Recent USDA numbers indicating nearly one in eight Americans struggling with food insecurity – before the economic crisis of 2008 – require President-elect Obama to focus on hunger issues in addition to economic and international policy concerns, notes this editorial. Last year, 36.2 million adults and children were hungry at some point, up from the 2006 figure of 35.5 million. Hungry adults aren’t able to function adequately, and hungry children can’t learn. Obama pledged to end childhood hunger by 2015. FRAC suggests that efforts must begin immediately and called for an increase in food stamp benefits. Although food stamps are effective, the average recipient only receives $3 to $4 per day for food. Meanwhile, food prices, particularly in urban areas, have increased 25 to 30 percent just to purchase a “minimally adequate diet.” Journalists and members of Congress have charted their “difficulties in planning, mood swings, and general fatigue” while attempting, through the Food Stamp Challenge, to live for one week on the average food stamp allotment. The editorial notes, “[i] imagine a child going through the same thing, except it’s not a “challenge.” It’s a way of life.” A broad range of economists have said that providing a boost to food stamp benefits would return the highest percentage in economic stimulus, as recipients would immediately spend that money on groceries. FRAC advocates, notes the editorial, for a temporary boost in food stamp benefits in the next economic stimulus plan. In addition, the editorial notes that next year Congress will work toward reauthorization of federal nutrition programs aimed at children – breakfast, lunch, afterschool, summer, and WIC – which are important in alleviating hunger and for healthy child development. Increased funding for these programs should provide outreach to deliver the benefits to more children and make the meals and snacks healthier. Only by starting now can USDA, the Obama transition team and the White House succeed in meeting the goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015 through nutrition program improvements, food stamp boosts and “job and income supports.”
4. Obama Stimulus Plan Could Include Food Stamp Boost
(AP, November 24, 2008)
More money for food stamps is one of the items Democratic officials say could be part of President-elect Obama’s economic stimulus plan. The President-elect said urgent action is necessary if the economy is to recover, and that action must be powerful enough to “jolt” the economy from its “crisis of historic proportions.” At a recent press conference, Obama set a goal of creating 2.5 million jobs, rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and modernizing schools. Other features of an economic stimulus plan could include, according to Democratic officials, state aid for Medicaid, and road and bridge funding.
5. FRAC Analysis Shows One in Ten Residents on SNAP/Food Stamps in Half the Country
(FRAC, November 25, 2008)
Analysis of Census Bureau and USDA data shows that in 22 states and D.C., at least one in ten residents are on food stamps, and in 14 of those states, one in eight is receiving the benefit (as of August 2008). In approximately a year and a half (April 2007 – August 2008) the number of food stamp recipients has grown from 26.3 million to 29.5 million, and experts forecast the number to grow even higher in the months ahead. In these troubled economic times, some states need to do a better job of enrolling eligible residents in the program; USDA 2005 participation rates show six of the ten states with the lowest ratios of participants in August 2008 (Wyoming, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Colorado, California, and Maryland) rank among 2005’s 13 worst states in the nation in reaching eligible people (2005 being the most recent data available for that number). Such high participation across the country, though, means it is imperative for states to receive increased food stamp funding to cover rising administrative costs.
6. FRAC Report Prompts Look at Indiana Hunger
(Star Press, November 30, 2008)
FRAC’s State of the States report released this November, a snapshot of how states are doing in using federal nutrition programs to combat hunger, showed Indiana ranked 24th in poverty rate and 22nd in child poverty in 2007. This editorial by Lois Rockhill, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana, Inc., cautions “we should not rest on any laurels here,” as the numbers meant 757,813 residents lived in poverty, 267,610 of which are children. These poverty numbers have real-world echoes, as food pantries across the state are reporting greatly increased need; some are limiting the number of people they can serve each day or the amount of food they’re giving out. Food banks cannot provide the full nutrition people need daily, and the current demands on providers “would be catastrophic if federal programs were unavailable.” Rockhill notes that the food bank urges the government to increase funding for federal food programs and encourages pantries to promote food programs to their clients, as food stamps alone brought nearly $1.6 million to participants in Delaware County to spend on food in October, which also stimulates the local economy. School breakfast and lunch programs, WIC, the Summer Food Service Program, and Child and Adult Food Care Program are additional federal nutrition assistance programs that Second Harvest also supports. The organization joined 130 other sponsors last year in sponsoring 16 summer food sites for children in the region, and participates in the The Emergency Food Assistance Program. While the programs are important, there’s a role to play by food banks – helping those who applied but are ineligible for federal assistance, or providing food when monthly benefits have run out. Rockhill points out that most households getting food stamps in the month prior to the survey had not obtained food from a food pantry during that year, showing that food stamps gave those households the boost they needed. “Just over one in four food stamp households needed the extra help,” said Rockhill. She concludes by passing along an “ominous prophecy” carried in the FRAC report. Every report from “food stamp offices, WIC programs, school meals programs, social service agencies, religious congregations and emergency food providers portrays a rising tide of increasingly desperate need,” cautioning that “if the recession is as long and as deep as many experts predict, we are likely to see an epidemic of hunger, among children and adults alike, unlike any we have seen for decades.”
7. “Sobering” Data Released by FRAC
(Columbus Dispatch, November 25, 2008)
Columbus, Ohio picked up FRAC’s analysis of food stamp participation which showed that, during this time of high unemployment, falling wages and food price increases, millions of Americans are applying for and receiving food stamps. The numbers show that Ohio joins nearly half the states and D.C. with at least one in ten residents on food stamps. Ohio’s participation is “at an all-time high.”
8. New York Governor Addresses Hunger and Heating in Thanksgiving Message
(WIVB, November 27, 2008)
In wishing the state’s residents a happy Thanksgiving, New York’s Governor Paterson notes that through the state’s Working Families Food Stamp Initiative, 100,000 additional households now receive the benefit. Due to changes in eligibility in the Home Energy Assistance Program, Paterson notes that“$150 million in new federal food stamp funding is available to working families and other low-income New Yorkers. As a result, we project that over 114,000 current food stamp households will see their food stamp benefits increase.” In addition, a “comprehensive package of state initiatives” put in place earlier in the year are now helping low-income New Yorkers heat their homes.
9. Oregon Senator and Other Democrats Wanted Food Stamps in Recently-Passed Economic Stimulus Bill
(OregonLive.com, November 22, 2008)
While the federal government recently extended unemployment benefits, providing additional help to Oregon’s 134,096 unemployed. Sen. Ron Wyden and others were disappointed at the lack of additional supports. During the most recent lame-duck congressional session, Democrats pushed for expanded food stamp benefits, as well as aid for states and infrastructure spending. As the economy is in “free-fall,” lawmakers are stuck in gridlock over how to respond. The public is frustrated too. “My constituents are angry that Congress passed, and the president signed, a $700 billion bailout for banks and Wall Street, but when you’re talking about basic help…for food stamps, they can’t get a helping hand,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.). Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) echoed his colleague’s statement, saying “I’m extremely frustrated. I can’t explain why, a week before Thanksgiving, we can’t pass adjustments that would help people and the economy.”
10. Array of Federal Programs Can Provide Solutions to Childhood Hunger
(News & Observer, November 27, 2008)
One in seven North Carolina children are food insecure – their families must reduce the amount of food they eat, disrupt eating patterns, or just go hungry because they lack money and resources to buy sufficient food. The problem is broad, but so is the public will to address it, states this editorial, citing a poll in which close to two-thirds of Americans said it is government’s responsibility to end hunger. The poll also found that nearly all those surveyed believe it is important for the government to fund anti-hunger programs and increase food stamp benefits. The editorial outlines several federal programs that provide resources to end hunger in North Carolina, including:
Food stamps – increasing North Carolina’s participation in the program and boosting benefits would not only reduce hunger in the state but also bring in needed economic stimulus, as the program creates $1.73 in economic activity for every dollar spent.
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – pulls low-income families up from poverty by providing them with a tax credit; in North Carolina, the state EITC was increased to five percent of the federal credit.
Health Insurance – making sure every child is covered keeps families from having to choose between medical bills and preventive doctor visits or groceries.
Another problem facing low-income families is access to nutritious foods. Poor neighborhoods that are also “food deserts” – communities lacking access to grocery stores selling healthy foods – make it almost impossible for low-income families to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
11. World Leaders Meet on Global Financial Crisis, Drink Expensive Wine at White House
(CNN Politics, November 14, 2008)
The recent G-20 summit, which brought world leaders to Washington, D.C. to discuss the current global economic crisis, saw those leaders drinking wine at $500 a bottle at a White House dinner. Sally McDonough, spokeswoman for Laura Bush, said the wine “was the most appropriate wine that we had in the White House wine cellar for such a gathering.”
12. California’s Monterey County Program is a 2008 Hunger Champion
(Monterey Herald, November 15, 2008)
The food stamp outreach program run by the Monterey County Department of Social and Employment Services, MC-CHOICE, is a recipient of a 2008 Hunger Champion award. The program was “commended for implementing innovative strategies and creating partnerships to increase participation in this critical nutrition assistance program.” The Hunger Award, announced by Nancy Montanez Johner, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services at USDA, “recognizes exemplary service conducting outreach activities and assisting eligible residents to obtain nutrition benefits in the Food Stamp Program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
(article available only through archive)
13. Vermont Outreach Aims to Deliver Food Stamps to More Eligible Residents
(Burlington Free Press, November 9, 2008)
An education campaign started recently by the state aims to raise Vermont’s participation rate in food stamps even higher; currently, about 80 percent of eligible residents, or 68,000 people, receive the benefit. The campaign is working and caseloads are growing, according to Renee Richardson, Vermont’s Food and Nutrition Program coordinator. While fewer Vermonters are facing foreclosures, as many resisted taking out subprime home loans, and the state’s unemployment figures are among the lowest in the country, the current economic crisis has still affected residents. Not only do struggling families benefit from food stamps, but the state economy, local farmers and grocers benefit from the economic stimulus provided by the program. Vermont estimates that $2.6 million a month could come to the state if those eligible for food stamps, but not receiving them, apply. “That’s federal money that the state is entitled to,” said Angela Smith-Dieng, food-stamp-program outreach and policy specialist for the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger. “It’s lost money – lost potential for Vermont” Many - especially seniors, of which only 32 percent participate in the program – haven’t applied because the application process is overwhelming, and working families “might be too busy to apply.” However, more people will be eligible after changes go into effect this January. The 2008 Farm Bill raised the gross income limit from 130 percent of the poverty limit to 185 percent. “That could open the door to a lot more people,” said Smith-Dieng.
14. Data Match Outreach Ups Food Stamp Numbers in New York Borough
(New York Post, November 28, 2008)
According to City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn (D-Manhattan), Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda Gibbs, and Human Resources Administration Commissioner Robert Doar, since July, nearly 9,000 individuals are now receiving food stamps in Queens, New York, after an outreach letter was sent to 14,000 possibly eligible residents of the borough who were already enrolled in Medicaid or the Family Health Plus program. The effort was the first part of a campaign to increase the city’s food stamp numbers by focusing on residents who don’t realize they’re eligible. Letters in English but also translated into nine languages went to Bronx and Manhattan residents in October and will be sent to Brooklyn and Staten Island early next year. Speaker Quinn, in a prepared statement, said “I am thrilled that the data match outreach has already proved successful in just a few months in the first borough targeted,” and noted the importance of food stamps in helping New Yorkers who are struggling with feeding themselves and their families in these tough economic times. U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D) said that an additional 500,000 low-income city residents still don’t know they’re eligible, and called for the elimination of the fingerprinting requirement which could be blocking many from enrolling. Pat Purcell, director of special projects for the local union chapter representing supermarket employees (UFCW Local 1500), also hopes the city continues increasing the number of residents receiving food stamps.
15. North Carolina County Sees Spike in Food Stamp Applications
(Cherokee Scout, November 25, 2008)
According to Cherokee County, N.C.’s Department of Social Services’ Director Lisa Davis, there is a 45 percent increase in people applying for food stamps as compared to the same time last year. In 2007, 952 households applied, and this year, more than 1,300 households sought the assistance. To handle the increased applications, the County created a new position which is funded 50 percent by the federal government. The new “income maintenance caseworker” will “help maintain the federal and state accuracy rates and processing times” for food stamps.
16. Economy, New Rules Increase Washington State’s Food Stamp Numbers
(Tri-City Herald, November 23, 2008)
Washington State’s Department of Social and Human Services has seen food stamp (or Basic Food, as the program is called in the state) application numbers rising steadily over the past few months (32,807 in August, 36,302 in September, 48,114 in October), due to a combination of factors. Eligibility rules were changed in October; previously, the upper limit for families was 130 percent of federal poverty level. That limit was raised to 200 percent. At the previous level, a family of four had to have an income level of $26,900 or less; now, that same family can make up to $42,400. But applications were rising even before the new rules were instituted because of the “economic crunch” resulting from high heating and food prices. Although the state is facing a $5.1 billion budget deficit, the Basic Food program shouldn’t be affected, since much of the funding comes directly from the federal government. The state is looking to sign up even more families in order to both help them with their economic struggles and bring in federal money to the state.
17. Food Assistance Programs Help Struggling Families in Utah
(Deseret News, November 18, 2008)
More Utah residents are receiving food stamps these days – six percent more statewide between July and October, according to Department of Workforce Services numbers. Summit County saw a 15 percent increase in food stamp recipients, and Salt Lake County numbers rose by 7.8 percent. Free and reduced-price school lunch recipients are increasing too, with Granite School District reporting a 12 percent rise in recipients, schools in the Park City District serving free and reduced-price lunch to 17 percent more students, and a 64 percent rise in students receiving the meal in South Summit School District. “I don’t know an educator who hasn’t helped a hungry child,” said Rob Averett, director of elementary school services in Granite District, who fears some kids are eligible but not receiving the benefit. Schools aren’t mandated to participate in the National School Lunch Program, but do so by choice. Some public charter schools and a few public schools have opted out, like Snow Canyon High School, which brought in fast-food vendors as means of cutting costs. Consequently, one of Donald Cleveland’s eight children is not able to receive subsidized lunch, as the government program doesn’t apply to fast food. One of his daughters has been “going hungry a lot.” Cleveland is a plumber and victim of the construction recession in the area; he’s been out of work for 11 months.
18. Food Stamp Challenges Showed Difficulty in Living on $21 in Groceries for One Week
(Lexington Minuteman, November 26, 2008)
A Lexington, Ky. chef who took the Food Stamp Challenge in 2007 – and had the “added advantage, skill and training to look at food and see all its wondrous possibilities” - concluded that “it’s not possible” to live on $21 a week in groceries per person, and said “The people on food stamps need a few more dollars a week to make it work.” The chef ran out of milk for his family on day five, and vegetables by day six; by the end of the Challenge, it was impossible for him to include all the major food groups in a meal. While it forced him to avoid more expensive processed foods, the types of foods he did buy, although in some cases healthier, required more preparation time, which low-income people who often work a number of jobs lack the time to do. Consequently, they rely more on “processed, pre-packaged, not-as-healthy meals that also cost more.” U.S. Congress Members also took the Challenge in 2007, covered by the Washington Post; the story featured a Congressman “at the grocery store looking longingly at a $1.29 package of six eggs.”
19. Federal Food Programs Key to Solving Hunger Crisis, Says Food Bank
(Billings Gazette, November 27, 2008)
Minkie Medora, chair of the Food Security Council of the Montana Food Bank Network, feels many people believe hunger can be alleviated through emergency food programs, like food banks and pantries; however, she said, they can’t solve the state’s hunger problem alone. Federal food programs like SNAP/Food Stamps, school meal programs, WIC and the Child and Adult Care Food Program are key to ending hunger in the state. “There’s a lot that can be done if these programs are available to more people,” she said, “if some of the energy that exists in donating food could be channeled into promoting these programs and getting (people) enrolled or getting them started in their programs.” Things are bad now, she noted, but added “that’s when changes occur.” “The status quo is not working in solving the problem of hunger,” she said, and outlined a number of recommendations to fight hunger in the state and across the country to strengthen and support the “national nutrition safety net”:
A temporary increase in food stamp benefits must be part of an economic stimulus plan passed by Congress in early in 2009;
The state must focus on SNAP program outreach and education to increase participation;
To help the working poor, the state must have an earned-income tax credit, which will be introduced in the state legislature in 2009;
School breakfast programs should be in all schools, and support must go to starting new breakfast programs as well as summer food programs for children, and transportation must be provided;
The workforce must be strengthened by improving the wages of the working poor.
She concluded that individuals can help by urging policymakers at all levels to strengthen federal nutrition programs, and raise awareness of poverty and hunger in the community through community groups, schools and churches.
20. Some New York State Food Banks Running Out of Food; Food Stamps Can Help
(Troy Messenger, November 16, 2008; Watertown Daily Times, November 26, 2008)
Some food banks in the Troy, New York area are struggling to meet the increased demands from people having trouble affording basic necessities. “We don’t have anything we can give them but green beans, said Florence Mitchell, director of the Pike County Department of Human Resources food bank, “and we still give the green beans to people who want them, but it’s just kind of sad.” Donations to the food bank are down due to the slow economy. The Salvation Army’s food bank, although stocked, is also short on food, and has been serving ten people on some days, instead of the usual two or three. Food stamps help an average of 2,526 families in the County each month, which has a total population of 30,000.
In this letter to the editor, Sharon Bouchard, program coordinator for the Jefferson County Nutrition Outreach and Education Program, points out that one way to reduce the strain on food pantries dealing with increased demands from hungry New Yorkers is to refer clients to the benefits of food stamps. Not only does this benefit keep many from converging on emergency food outlets (food banks and pantries), it also provides people with valuable nutrition assistance, and it brings in money to hard-hit areas, generating almost twice the economic activity for each dollar received in food stamp benefits. Bouchard encourages the word on food stamps to be spread in order that more families who are eligible but currently not receiving the benefit sign up. In Jefferson County, the Community Action Planning Council can provide support; contact information is (315) 782-4900.
21. Food Bank Rations Holiday Turkeys, Donor Doubles Contribution
(Hartford Courant, November 25, 2008)
Demand for food assistance reached a peak before Thanksgiving and forced Connecticut’s Foodshare Inc. to ration its holiday turkey distribution for the first time. According to a FRAC report, 122,000 Connecticut residents struggled with hunger during the 2005-2007 period, and the current economic crisis is driving more to emergency food outlets. However, the strain felt by the food banks could be alleviated if more people took advantage of federal food programs like food stamps and school breakfast programs – programs that many Connecticut residents are missing out on. Donors are coming through in the region, and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving gave Greater Hartford nonprofits $1 million to combat hunger and homelessness, twice the amount of money the foundation donated last year. “The 100 percent increase is recognition of the strain being placed on these agencies as they struggle to feed and shelter those in need during this difficult economic time,” said foundation president Linda J. Kelly.
22. Wisconsin Aims to Increase School Breakfast Participation
(WKOW/WI Dept. of Public Instruction, November 11, 2008)
Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction has launched the School Breakfast Challenge across the state with the goal of serving 50 percent more school breakfasts in the 2008-2009 school year. The state has seen three consecutive years of growth in school breakfast participation numbers; according to State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster, 1.8 million more breakfasts were served in the 2007-2008 school year than in 2006-2007. “A hungry child can’t learn. It is encouraging to see that our school breakfast programs are helping end hunger in the classroom, so students can concentrate on their classes,” said Burmaster. U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture Appropriations, started the focus on school breakfast when he introduced a bill supporting enhancing Wisconsin school breakfast participation. Kohl’s bill has authorized $4.7 million in funding to Wisconsin schools since 2001; in that first year, the state reimbursed school districts for school breakfast costs to the tune of $1.1 million. As the program grew over the years, the state pro-rated reimbursement to a lesser amount. Kohl’s interest also extended nationwide, and he introduced a school breakfast bill to provide grants that would enhance or establish school breakfast programs across the country.
23. Government Starts Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Program in Maryland
(abc2news.com, November 6, 2008)
In order to reduce childhood obesity and foster healthy eating patterns early in life, USDA awarded the Maryland Department of Education $917,830 to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to a number of schools across the state. The 2008 Farm Bill provided for $40 million to fund the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program in schools nationwide, with a per-child allocation of $50 in those schools running the program. In Maryland, a competitive process selected 25 schools to begin the program, with another 16 to be approved soon. The schools selected have high percentages of low-income students enrolled, as they most likely have less access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The program will provide healthy fruit and vegetable snacks during the school day, apart from the regular school breakfast and school lunch programs.
24. More San Diego Schools to Serve Breakfast in Classrooms
(San Diego Union Tribune, November 21, 2008)
Twelve San Diego elementary schools currently serve breakfast in the classroom to their approximately 8,500 students, all of whom are eligible for free- and reduced-price school meals, and another 40 schools are slated to start in the coming year. At the additional schools, no less than 70 percent of students are eligible for subsidized meals. The meals have been so successful –and so unobtrusive to teaching – that the San Diego school district is advising other school districts in the state, including Los Angeles, on how to start the program. Teachers lead students through math games and lessons, or show instructional videos, while the students eat at their desks. “It’s cozy and the food is good,” noted one six-year-old. According to John Aguilar, principal at Normal Heights Elementary, the kids “eat together like a family. A communal feeling has been created with this. But most importantly, we know they are getting breakfast.” National studies link increased student achievement and decreased behavior problems with breakfast consumption; at Normal Heights, there have been fewer late students and a decrease in disciplinary actions and nurse referrals since starting “desktop dining.” Enrollment and test scores are up also, with state test reading scores up 11.3 percent and math scores up 16.2 percent. San Diego district’s food services director, Gary Petill, wants to broaden in-classroom breakfast to middle schools. Across the country, schools in Portland, Ore., Houston and New York have instituted in-classroom breakfast.
25. Millions of Eligible Children Missing Out on School Breakfast
(Yahoo! News/Sodexo Foundation, November 17, 2008)
According to research conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and sponsored by the Sodexo Foundation, while more than 85 percent of schools across the country serve students lunch, one out of every seven – approximately 15,000 – don’t provide breakfast to needy students. Dr. Larry J. Brown, senior author of the report, said “While the medical evidence indicates that children need breakfast in order to learn and grow, the nation still has a ways to go to ensure that at-risk children receive a daily school breakfast.” He also noted that “In some states, only 50 to 60 percent of the schools serving students lunch also provide children with a breakfast to enable them to learn.” Stephen J. Brady, president of the Sodexo Foundation, commented on the improved cognitive abilities and higher reading, math and other standardized test scores of students who eat a nutritious breakfast, and added that these students are sick less, and exhibit better cooperation, discipline and interpersonal behavior.
26. County Staff Straining With Increased Applications for Government Services
(Minneapolis Star-Tribune, November 25, 2008)
Officials fear another budget deficit when the Minnesota state budget forecast is due on December 4, especially since it would be on top of an already “difficult situation” and the 2003-2004 “harsh” cuts to cities and counties. “Not only would we lose the general aid [from the state],” noted one Dakota County administrator, “but we could also lose a significant amount of funding for human services.” One indicator of the troubled times: Dakota County’s WIC applications hit 7,700 in September, a record high. WIC numbers have climbed by 58 percent between 2002 and 2007, with full-time staffing to handle the claims increasing in number by only 39 percent. Even though the federal government provides 50 percent of the administrative costs for WIC and other public programs, county employees are struggling under the increased workload in spite of some automation. Staffing hasn’t increased for medical and income assistance programs either, but demand for the services has grown. “We are in a tough position because as we have more people arriving at our door who want to get qualified for public help through the county, we’ve got a real hard choice to make in terms of do we want to try to add staff at the county to deal with helping people get eligible for benefits,” said Matt Smith, county financial services director. County budget recommendations have included increased requests for financial workers who determine income eligibility for assistance.
27. WIC Program Offers Vital Service and Must Continue to Focus on Participant Needs
(Buffalo News, November 24, 2008)
In New York, Erie County’s budget is under review, prompting this editorial that advocates for special focus on continuing the WIC program – “one of the best government programs in existence” - as it is in order to continue helping all participants “receive services when there are relocations, consolidations and mergers of WIC sites.” WIC sites that are closed or relocated must be sure to follow up with participants to keep them from falling through the cracks. “It is unsafe merely to assume clients will all be reabsorbed,” states the op-ed, and notes that, for mothers with infants and toddlers and no car, a three-mile office relocation could be a disaster. Partnerships should be fostered with organizations, like Planned Parenthood, which could help provide mobile office services through its mobile unit. The program must also continue to guard against “Waiting for WIC” syndrome, in which young mothers, at the end of their vouchers, give their children whatever liquid is cheap and readily available – soda, juice drinks, and other sugary beverages – which could start a child on a poor pattern of nutrition early in life. Asked for her thoughts on the program, one mother noted WIC’s success, saying “I do not know how I would have been able to buy the formula my little girl need(ed) when she was an infant if I did not have WIC.”
28. In Tennessee, Demand for WIC Services Could Create Waiting List
(Metro Pulse, November 26, 2008)
In Knox County, Tenn. there are currently 8,125 WIC participants, 2,000 more than two years ago, a record for the county. However, there has been no increase in funding or staffing - Congress last appropriated funds two years ago - in spite of a 25 percent increased in caseload. Some fear that new applicants will have to go on a waiting list because there’s just not enough staff to process new recipients. More clients not only increase the amount of work, but the complexity level as well. According to Lori Emond, Knox County’s WIC director, “There are long lines. It takes much longer to go through the process. We have to determine income and residence eligibility. The children have to be weighed and measured. Sometimes we also measure hemoglobin, which is a good overall indicator of a child’s health. The children and the parent or caregiver then have a training session. They think it’s a drive through process and it’s not.” WIC families are staying unemployed longer these days, and staying on the WIC rolls longer, with more children reaching the upper limit of five years. Knox County Health Department director Mark Jones commented on juggling budgets and staffing for the program: “We’ve been trying to save money everywhere we can. The hiring freeze already in effect will be extended through the end of the year. As a way to fill certain positions without hiring, we’ve begun cutting back the hours at two clinics with low traffic.”
29. Unemployed Converge on One-Stop Career Centers
(New York Times, November 23, 2008)
Congress established close to 3,000 one-stop career centers across the country 10 years ago, centers which combine federal programs for the needy and unemployed, offering training, job listings, and access to food stamps and unemployment benefits. These days many of these “emergency rooms of today’s sick economy” are overwhelmed with jobless rates at a 16-year high and with 20 million out of work. At the same time Congress voted to extend unemployment benefits, the federal budget for workforce programs was cut 1.74 percent to $3.7 billion; the budget has shrunk 14 percent between 2000 and 2007. Still, the centers will only see a fraction of the unemployed, as many file online for unemployment benefits, and those in need of the most help (unskilled, less educated, disproportionately black or from immigrant communities) will remain invisible because they won’t be seeking out services. “It’s a mix of the most vulnerable and people who are in a state of shock,” said Lawrence F. Katz, former Labor Department chief economist and current Harvard professor. In Florida’s Broward County, the bust in real estate forced 36,000 people to visit the one-stop career system in the last three months, up 60 percent over last year. The number of jobs posted through the system in Florida has dropped by one-third.
30. Hard Hit Michigan Suffers Through More Job Losses
(The New York Times, November 22, 2008)
New data show Michigan’s unemployment rate climbed 9.3 percent, three times the rate in 2000, as tens of thousands are already out of work and layoffs threaten more communities. “You just sit and worry,” said Pat Weber, a construction administrator who lost his job more than a year ago. “In the last year, I’ve put in for more than 100 jobs. I stopped counting after 100. It’s just so defeating.” Now 1.82 million in the state – almost 20 percent, a state record – receive some public assistance in the form of food stamps, home heating credits, etc. Not all is well with those on assistance, as foreclosures continue to force families from their homes, unemployment is millions of dollars in debt, and food banks straining with the increased demand. Health agencies are reporting more anxiety and depression. Some 130,000 out-of-work residents ran out of unemployment benefits during the first nine months of 2007. By the middle of November, 63,000 people also ran out of the first Congress-authorized extension of unemployment benefits. The second extension, recently signed by the White House, will keep tens of thousands from running out in the coming months. For the state, all this news is more of the same: “There’s this feeling that we’ve been in a trough long before anyone got there,” said Jane Zehnder-Merrell of the Michigan League for Human Services. “It’s been a long spiral downward since 2000, really. We’ve never experienced any economic recovery.” “A year ago, I felt like I could help people,” said Rick McHugh, a lawyer for the National Employment Law Project who focuses on Michigan. “Now, I say, ‘I hope you have a relative with a house that’s paid off so you’ll have a place to live.” Steve Landaal, president of Landaal Packaging Systems, had to lay off nearly 70 from the company’s packing division, which used to number 250 employees packaging products for General Motors. “The hardest thing in my job I’ve ever had to do is lay people off,” he said. “At this point, around here, finding a job is like getting blood out of a stone.” Sandra Peavley is a Michigan resident who has been affected by layoffs and the economy. She ran out of unemployment benefits, can’t afford health insurance, and rations the anti-stress pills her doctor prescribed – pills that are supposed to help her through the mounting debts on her credit cards which she can’t pay. She’s being hounded by creditors calling her, her neighbors and distant relatives to track her down. “I don’t have the money,” she said. “I’m out of work. What am I supposed to do?” Even the state budget is suffering, after six years of budget cuts, with a $400 million shortfall this year.
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