The weekly Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) 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.

Issue 20, June 11, 2007     

FRAC News Digest

1. Few Texas students utilize summer lunch program
2. District of Columbia officials participate in Food Stamp Challenge
3. Price of dairy products increasing
4. Report: Farmers' markets gaining popularity
5. Report: Economic impact of hunger affects all Americans
6. Food Stamp Challenge sweeping the nation
7. New York City’s growing hunger problem
8. Hunger growing in Rhode Island
9. Congressional Progressive Caucus raises support for Food Stamp Program
10. Kansas Congressman to study hunger issues
11. New Mexico: Congress must continue the fight against hunger, improve application process
12. Columnist helped by food stamps urges strengthening of Food Stamp Program

1. Few Texas students utilize summer lunch program

(The Waco Tribune-Herald, June 9, 2007 *registration required)

Fewer than one in 10 students who receive free school lunches in Texas are participating in the Summer Nutrition Program, according to the Food Research and Action Center's 2007 State of the States report. Lynn Parker, FRAC’s Director of Child Nutrition Programs and Nutrition Policy, said that only 8.1 percent of eligible Texas students utilize the Summer Nutrition Program. Parker said that students who do not participate in the nutrition program may also be missing summer recreation and educational programs that many schools offer.

2. District of Columbia officials participate in Food Stamp Challenge

(The Washington Post, June 8, 2007)

For seven days, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray are spending $21 for the week in food, which is the amount an average food stamp recipient receives per week. The officials have learned that food stamps recipients often cannot afford meat, fresh fruits and vegetables. Norton, who has co-sponsored a House bill to increase food stamp benefits, said the diet has made her feel more tired than usual. Alex Ashbrook, Executive director of D.C. Hunger Solutions, said that many food stamp recipients are forced to make a decision of paying the electric bill or putting food on the table.

3. Price of dairy products increasing

(MSNBC, May 31, 2007)

The retail price of milk has increased 3 percent, or a dime per gallon, in 2007 according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Michael Hutjens, a University of Illinois dairy specialist, expects this trend to continue. He predicts increases of up to 40 cents a gallon for milk in the next few months. A pound of cheese could also cost up to 60 cents more than today’s price. Analysts say that the soaring prices are a result of higher gasoline prices, which increases the cost of transporting milk from the farm to market.

4. Report: Farmers' markets gaining popularity

(Farmnews, May 31, 2007)

More consumers are buying fresh fruit and vegetables directly from farms or farmers' markets, according to a study by Colorado State University. Nearly 30 percent of consumers prefer to buy fresh produce from farmers' markets. This counters a long nationwide trend of increasing consumer purchases at supermarkets and supercenters. U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows more than 3,700 farmers' markets in the country, which is more than double the number of U.S. farmers' markets in 1994.

5. Report: Economic impact of hunger affects all Americans

(Sodexho, June 5, 2007)

Every household and individual in the U.S. feels the economic effects of hunger, according to a recent report released by the Sodexho Foundation and researchers affiliated with Harvard University School of Public Health, Brandeis University and Loyola University. The study found that the nation contributes more than $90 billion annually for the direct and indirect costs of hunger-related charities, illness, psychosocial dysfunction and the impact of lower productivity due to hunger. This means, on average, that each American pays $300 each year. The study urges legislators, communities and individuals to look at hunger as an economic issue in addition to a social issue.

6. Food Stamp Challenge sweeping the nation

(The San Francisco Chronicle, June 8, 2007)

The San Francisco Chronicle calls the Food Stamp Challenge the nation’s hottest diet as politicians across the country have tried to eat on $3 each day, or the average daily food stamp allocation for the 26 million Americans in the Food Stamp Program. As the editorial points out, the challenge shows the current benefit is too low to purchase enough food, and one mistake – like breaking a single jar at home – can lead to hunger for days. The editorial concludes that “increasing benefits for the food stamp program is a vital use of our resources.”

7. New York City’s growing hunger problem

(New York Daily News, June 7, 2007)

A recent study by the Food Bank For New York revealed that nearly three million New York City residents experienced difficulty affording needed food in the past year. According to the report, the cost of food, housing and fuel increased dramatically over the past few years while real wages, or what can actually be bought with money earned, decreased more than 10 percent since 2003. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer also announced an overhaul to the state’s Food Stamp Program, which will remove the fingerprint registration requirement for families and allow individuals with more than $2,000 in savings to register in the program.

8. Hunger growing in Rhode Island

(Kent County Daily Times, June 5, 2007)

Rhode Island food banks are seeing a steady increase in the number of people requesting food. Michael Cerio, a Rhode Island Community Food Bank representative, said that hunger is now affects one out of every eight households and cites stagnant wages as a major problem. Food bank officials said that they expect a high number of food requests in the coming months as many children, who are out of school in summer, will not have access to the free- or reduced-price school breakfast and lunch program.

9. Congressional Progressive Caucus raises support for Food Stamp Program

(CommonDreams.org, May 31, 2007)

The Congressional Progressive Caucus called upon the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to strengthen the Food Stamp Program. A letter initiated by three U.S. Representatives and members of the Congressional Public Caucus (Barbara Lee, James McGovern and Lynn Woolsey) was co-signed by 94 House colleagues to support and fund a strong nutrition title in the 2007 Farm Bill.

10. Kansas Congressman to study hunger issues

(The Topeka Capital-Journal, May 31, 2007 *registration required)

Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a member of the House Agriculture Committee and co-chairman of the House Hunger Caucus, plans to focus on food and nutrition issues as the House Agriculture Committee begins to write the 2007 Farm Bill. He toured his state last week to discuss ways to improve the Food Stamp Program with residents of Kansas. Moran says he wants to take this opportunity to learn about how Kansans are addressing the needs of those who are hunger.

11. New Mexico: Congress must continue the fight against hunger, improve application process

(The Albuquerque Tribune, May 30, 2007)

Laurel Wyckoft, executive director of the N.M. Assn. of Food Banks, urges Congress to remember the importance of nutrition programs in this year’s Farm Bill. Food Stamps benefit 26 million Americans each month, and nearly a quarter of a million New Mexico residents use food stamps. Wyckoft also points out that the Food Stamp Program has also brought $250 million into New Mexico’s economy in 2006, and this figure is expected to increase $30 million in 2007. However, food stamps remain underutilized due to intimidation of the application process, questions about qualifications and lack of transportation to an application site. Wyckoft says Congress must increase beneftis, relax the income limit for eligibility, simplify the application and raise awareness of the program through outreach.

(Also see Dianne Holcomb’s commentary in the Bangor Daily News.)

12. Columnist helped by food stamps urges strengthening of Food Stamp Program

(The Kansas City Star, May 30, 2007)

Columnist N. Oglesby of the Kansas City, Mo.-area says the Food Stamp Program helped her when she was 20-year-old single mother raising a daughter with special needs. Without the program, Oglesby said she would not have been able to provide healthy meals for her child. She stresses the importance of improving the Food Stamp Program to help more Americans live healthy lives. She urges legislators, who are working on reauthorizing the Farm Bill, to support expanding the program’s eligibility, removing benefit restrictions and promoting healthy food choices.

Help end childhood hunger: http://www.frac.org