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 24, June 18, 2004
- Immigrants Gain New Jobs but Wages Falling in Recovery
- Administration Declares Medicare Benefit Will not Affect Food Stamp Benefits
- "Burger King Mom" Vote Often Overlooked
- Nearby Retail Means Less Obesity
- As State Budgets Improve, Services Are Left Behind
- Radio Station Should Address Politics of Hunger
- Hunger Rates Increase in Summer
- WIC Celebrates 30 Years of Helping Kids
- 82 Million Americans Uninsured, Including More than 1 in 3 Children
- Poor Skip Meals, Medicine to Pay Heating Bill
- Florida: Welfare Poised to Go Private
- Ohio: Hunger, Working Poor Focus of Week-long Newspaper Series
- Connecticut: School Breakfast Positively Affects Student Behavior
- Louisiana: Food Stamps Aids Economy, Says Social Services Director
- Nebraska: Food Stamp Use Continues Rising
- Kansas: Revised Food Stamp Rules Breaking Stigma
- California: Poor Encouraged to Take Food Aid
- Pennsylvania: Agencies Rally Against Hunger
- North Carolina: Summer Offers No Break for Hungry Kids
- Milwaukee: Summer Meal Program Doubling Efforts
- Michigan: Hunger Aid Shrinks As Need Grows
- Missouri: 2,045 State Workers on Welfare
- Food Stamps Helping Military Families Cope
1. Immigrants Gain New Jobs but Wages Falling in Recovery
("Many New Jobs Going to Noncitizens," Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2004)
Three out of every ten new jobs in the recovering economy are being filled by immigrants, finds the Pew Hispanic Center. The figure suggests that the growth in new jobs, unlike previous recoveries, is mainly in low-skilled, low-paying jobs for which immigrants are competitive. In another sign that wages are not rising in the economy, Latino immigrants are gaining jobs, but weekly earnings for Latinos as a group, including U.S.-born and long-term U.S. residents, have declined in comparison to those of Whites and African-Americans. Jared Bernstein, of the Economic Policy Institute, said of the recovery, ”We see wage growth far less than you would expect at this stage" of a normal recovery.
2. Administration Declares Medicare Benefit Will not Affect Food Stamp Benefits
("U.S. to Drop Benefit Cuts Linked to Drug Discounts," New York Times, June 13, 2004)
The administration reversed its position by declaring that a Medicare discount drug card for low-income seniors will not affect their food stamp benefits. Initially, the administration had said a senior's need for food stamps would decrease when the $600 Medicare credit reduced drug costs and freed up a senior's income to buy food, among other needs. USDA announced plans to immediately clarify policy guidance to ensure that food stamp applicants or recipients who use the new Medicare discount card will experience no impact on their eligibility or benefits. To avert cuts, Medicare beneficiaries may be allowed to take a deduction for medical expenses they do not actually incur.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/13/national/13drug.html?pagewanted=print&position=
3. "Burger King Mom" Vote Often Overlooked
("Giving 'Burger King Moms' a Voice," Washington Post, June 4, 2004)
She works at Burger King while her children sit at one of the tables doing homework. NASCAR dads and soccer moms are courted in elections, but the "Burger King Moms" are largely neglected, writes Jim Wallis, head of Call to Renewal. They are the working poor, have the lowest voter registration and turnout, and have a high number of immigrants who can't vote. Many low-income heads of households must work multiple jobs to just barely make it. Increasingly, people and their children are falling through the cracks. "What is at risk is the reality of a genuine opportunity society and the ethic of work when work no longer is enough to support a family." Politicians have not made poverty a campaign issue, even though income inequality is at its greatest since the 1920s, affordable housing is unavailable, the number of uninsured is at an all-time high, and the minimum wage has not increased in seven years. For many in the faith community, including Catholics, evangelicals, mainstream Protestants, and black churches, poverty is becoming the defining moral issue.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14272-2004Jun3.html
4. Nearby Retail Means Less Obesity
("Urban sprawl, middle-age spread," The Globe and Mail, June 4, 2004)
Residents of urban communities with nearby shops and businesses are an average 10 pounds lighter than people in residential-only suburban subdivisions. Urban residents are also 35 percent less likely to be obese than those in suburban areas, according to a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. When stores are within a kilometer of home, a person is much more likely to walk. Professor Frank of the University of British Columbia calculates that placing stores near homes to promote walking is the equivalent of making a person five years younger. According to Frank's calculation, time spent driving has a stronger impact on weight than income, education, gender, or ethnicity.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040604/HSUBURBS04/TPHealth/
5. As State Budgets Improve, Services Are Left Behind
("States Mend Budgets Warily," Los Angeles Times, June 14, 2004)
The economy is recovering, as evidenced by predicted surpluses in 32 states. However, parents, immigrants, senior citizens, and others in need are not feeling the effects. States from Mississippi to Florida, Massachusetts to California have cut or not reinstated some programs for 2004-05. Affected programs include education, health assistance, parks, and benefits for the poor and elderly. Some states wish to keep government small, even as the economy recovers. In other parts of the country, balance sheets look better compared to last year, but are still tenuous. "Better is relative," said Iris Lav, of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "Revenues are exceeding expectations in part due to how low the expectations were." Compounding the situation, corporate tax breaks have permantely limited some states' income.
http://www.latimes.com/la-na-states14jun14,1,7955963.story
6. Radio Station Should Address Politics of Hunger
("America's hidden issue of poverty," Op-ed, Boston Globe, June 16, 2004)
Boston public radio's recent fundraising effort saying that children go hungry in the summer so $25 of every $100 the station received would go to a local food bank, gave pause to Robert Kuttner, co-editor of the American Prospect, even while he urges readers to send the station a check. "Shouldn't the news staff, as opposed to the development staff, be running this story?" writes Kuttner. "Why are there so many hungry children anyway?" Hunger and poverty are absent from the public discussion, but should not be. Needy children require "decent public policy." But in this election year, "once again," says Kuttner, "issues of social class are pretty much off the table," keeping the extent of poverty and shrinking middle class hidden from the public. The American system depends on social mobility, but currently tens of millions of Americans work full-time, or more. They subsist, but cannot manage to advance.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0616-01.htm
7. Hunger Rates Increase in Summer
("More kids go hungry during summer," Detroit News, June 13, 2004)
More children go hungry in summer when the school meal programs they rely on in the academic year end. One working family adapts by rotating which of their 3 children can come to the dinner table each evening. In New Orleans, two small children broke into a housing project's office because, said one,"My brother was hungry." Skipping meals affects children's behavior and weakens their concentration, say nutrition experts. The results are disturbances in school and, sometimes, failing grades. Children are most vulnerable in summertime when the federal school meal program is unavailable. Congress will vote this summer on the Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill.
http://www.detnews.com/2004/specialreport/0406/13/a10-181863.htm
8. WIC Celebrates 30 Years of Helping Kids
("WIC celebrates 30 years of helping kids," Lancaster Online.com, June 15, 2004)
Pennsylvania's first Women, Infants and Children clinic opened in Pittsburgh in 1974. Today, the program serves 237,000 women, infants, and children statewide. "It's the greatest way for kids to get a good start in life," said a local administrator of the nutrition program. The number served is growing, said Sharon Wasneuski, director of the WIC Program of Lancaster County. WIC began as a project of the U.S. Department of Agriculture after a national survey found a prevalence of anemia and stunted growth in children from low-income families.
http://www.lancasteronline.com/pages/news/local/7068
9. 82 Million Americans Uninsured, Including More than 1 in 3 Children
("Report: 82M went uninsured," USA Today, June 15, 2004)
Eighty-two million Americans under the age of 65 were uninsured at some point during 2002 and 2003, according to a new Families USA report. Twenty-seven million were children under age 18, representing more than one in three of America's children. The number without insurance increased from 74.7 million in 2001-02 to 81.8 million in 2002-03. Half were uninsured for at least nine months. Health experts cite newer, low-paying jobs with no benefits as one key reason for the increase. Three out of four uninsured Americans belong to a family where at least one person works. The article includes a breakdown of the numbers by state.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-06-15-uninsured-report_x.htm
Report: http://www.familiesusa.org/site/DocServer/82million_uninsured_report.pdf?docID=3641
10. Poor Skip Meals, Medicine to Pay Heating Bill
("Poor often skip medicine, meals to pay heating bills, " St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 8, 2004)
Forty-six percent of low-income households often or sometimes skip meals to pay their heating bills, found a survey by the National Low Income Energy Consortium. The survey also found 60 percent skip medical appointments, and 75 percent of the poorest families do not buy school supplies in order to pay energy bills. Nearly one in three leave their home at least part of the day because they cannot pay for heat. The situation is worsening nationwide because federal energy assistance has not kept pace with soaring gas prices.
11. Florida: Welfare Poised to Go Private
("Welfare poised to go private," Florida Today, June 2, 2004)
Florida's food stamp, Medicaid, and emergency cash assistance programs for three million people are slated to be handled by private contractors. Waiver applications to exempt the state from federal law are pending before federal agencies. Florida is the first state in the nation to privatize all of its welfare assistance. The controversial measure would let contractors determine many of the policies for the system, and pay contractors up to $385 million a year, regardless of their caseload. Bonuses would be given to companies based on the number of people moved off welfare to work. Both of Florida's U.S. Senators oppose the plan because profit could drive companies to limit the services they provide, particularly to people who are difficult to serve, such as people with disabilities, limited English proficiency, and the elderly.
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/localstoryN0603WELFARE.htm
12. Ohio: Hunger, Working Poor Focus of Week-long Newspaper Series
("Lines of Despair," Columbus Dispatch, June 6-12, 2004)
With many thousands of Ohioans in line at food pantries, the Columbus Dispatch devoted a series to their stories. The article "Getting off welfare no guarantee of success" profiles families moving off welfare, but who still need food pantries and charities to pay rent and medical bills. "Hunger gets a toehold in the burbs" reports that "even affluent suburbanites are just an illness, an accident, a fire or a divorce away from poverty." The series includes charts on poverty rates, income inequality, and unemployment over time.
Table of Contents:
http://www.dispatch.com/reports-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/06/07/linesofd
espair.html
"Caring couple keep giving despite their troubles," June
12, 2004
http://www.dispatch.com/reports-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/06/12/20040612-A1-03.html
"Food pantry volunteers 'called to serve'," June
12, 2004
http://www.dispatch.com/reports-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/06/12/20040612-A7-01.html
"Getting off welfare no guarantee of success," June
11, 2004
http://www.dispatch.com/reports-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/06/11/20040611-A1-01.html
"When jobs vanish, fear consumes one's days," June
10, 2004
http://www.dispatch.com/reports-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/06/10/20040610-A1-01.html
"Extended family strains budget," June 9, 2004
http://www.dispatch.com/reports-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/06/09/20040609-A1-01.html
"A life of scraping by --- the plight of the
working poor," June 8, 2004
http://www.dispatch.com/reports-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/06/08/20040608-A1-01.html
"Hunger gets a toehold in the burbs," June
7, 2004
http://www.dispatch.com/reports-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/06/07/20040607-A1-01.html
"Over the brink and into poverty," June 6,
2004
http://www.dispatch.com/reports-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/06/06/20040606-A1-01.html
"Bush administration dubious about claims," June
6, 2004
http://www.dispatch.com/reports-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/06/06/20040606-A3-02.html
13. Connecticut: School Breakfast Positively Affects Student Behavior
("Teachers' Perceptions of the School Breakfast Program," End Hunger Connecticut!, 2004)
The School Breakfast Program (SBP) improves student motivation and behavior, responded 79 percent of teachers in a survey by End Hunger Connecticut!. Of these teachers, 58 percent believed SBP has a "significant" to "most significant" effect on students' motivation. Of the teachers who said SBP improves students' concentration, 82 percent rated the impact as "significant" to "most significantly enhanced." Positive effects were also found on discipline, student curiosity, student energy levels and student responsibility. The program needs to be expanded, say teachers. Eighty-four percent believe there are hungry students who are not served. The survey involved 720 teachers in 20 schools across Connecticut.
Report at: http://www.endhungerct.org/Survey%20Report.pdf
14. Louisiana: Food Stamps Aids Economy, Says Social Services Director
("Official: Food stamps help economy," The Advocate, June 7, 2004)
Sixty-three million federal dollars flowed into Louisiana last month in the form of food stamp aid, said Anne Williamson, state Secretary of Social Services --- more than $700 million annually. The value to the state economy is doubled after factoring in the new jobs created due to people spending their food stamps. The program generates business for local stores and farmers from people who could not otherwise afford to buy their products. One store owner says people raising children with no options to feed them might do anything to get food; the food stamp program "is what keeps it civilized."
http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/060504/new_stamps001.shtml
15. Nebraska: Food Stamp Use Continues Rising
("Food stamp use continues to rise," Lincoln Journal Star, June 9, 2004)
Food stamp participation reached a record high of nearly 50,000 Nebraska households in May, beating the previous record set in 1993 of 46,240 families. The high demand for food stamps reflects the reduced stigma because of Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards but also signals that the recovering economy is not reaching low-income households, say Nebraska advocates. Families taking food stamps "are working. They have jobs. But they still meet the eligibility requirements," said Sharon Cronin, a veteran worker at Nebraska Health and Human Services. "The healthy economy is growing, but the unhealthy economy isn't," said Scott Young, director of the Lincoln Food Bank.
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/06/09/top_story/10050845.txt
16. Kansas: Revised Food Stamp Rules Breaking Stigma
("Changing rules of food stamps helps break welfare stigma," Kansas City Star, June 13, 2004)
Hungry Kansas residents may now apply for food stamps at Dillons Food Stores. The internet and fax give applicants even more options. Janet Schalansky, secretary of the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, hopes these changes will reduce the stigma of applying directly at the SRS office and keep poor and elderly Kansans from having to choose between rent, medicine, or eating. Kansas has also moved from a paper coupon to a debit-like card for benefits. The goal is to help people who are eligible for food stamps receive them. If everyone who qualified for food stamps enrolled, Kansans would receive an additional $102 million in federal aid. According to the Kansas Health Institute, 1 in 10 households did not have enough to eat at some point in 2000. Among households that lacked food, 63 percent borrowed or received food from others, 30 percent sent their children to eat at other people's homes, and 23 percent went to a food pantry or church for help.
17. California: Poor Encouraged to Take Food Aid
("More poor urged to ask for food aid," Los Angeles Daily News, June 14, 2004)
Greater food stamp participation is needed to help Antelope Valley residents without enough to eat. Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich hopes to create a task force to recommend how to increase participation, responding to a recent UCLA study which found more than 38 percent of the 60,000 low-income adults in Antelope Valley are food insecure. The problem is greatest among adults who are African-American, Latino and Asian, unemployed and looking for work, with children, or not speaking English. The study recommended strengthening outreach efforts to people who are eligible, but not enrolled in the food stamp program.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20943~2212771,00.html
18. Pennsylvania: Agencies Rally Against Hunger
("Agencies rally to raise awareness of hunger," Pittsburgh Catholic, June 11, 2004)
Reverend Jesse Jackson addressed a crowd of more than 300 in Downtown Pittsburgh on National Hunger Awareness Day on June 3. "Most poor people are working," said the reverend, but "need help." Sister Liguori Rossner, executive director of Jubilee Association, said greater food stamp enrollment is needed to provide a "first line of defense" against hunger. "We have to streamline the enrollment process [and] have officials say 'We encourage you to sign up.'" Also on National Hunger Day, the National Anti-Hunger Organizations released a "Blueprint to End Hunger." It calls for strengthening the federal food programs and cutting hunger and food insecurity in half by 2010.
http://www.pittsburghcatholic.org/newsarticles_more.phtml?id=1175
Blueprint to End Hunger: http://www.frac.org/Blueprint%20to%20End%20Hunger.pdf
19. North Carolina: Summer Offers No Break for Hungry Kids
("Hunger doesn't take a summer break," Kinston Free Press, June 12, 2004)
This summer, 430,000 North Carolina schoolchildren who are fed through the school meal program in the academic year, will need food when school ends. Last summer, less than 15 percent of eligible North Carolina children received meals in the federal Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Ruth McDowell, Summer Food Service coordinator for the state health division, is calling for more agencies, schools, day care centers, and organizations to become sponsoring food sites. Hunger Free North Carolina, a coalition of public agencies, private non-profits, and faith-based organizations, has also called on community organizations to get involved.
20. Milwaukee: Summer Meal Program Doubling Efforts
("Summer meal program doubling efforts," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 7, 2004)
Milwaukee plans to feed more children this summer through its revamped Summer Food Service Program. More than one million meals are projected to be served, almost double the number of meals last summer. Also, the program will expand from 6 weeks, its typical length of operation last summer, to 11 weeks this summer, and focus more on the neediest neighborhoods. Leaders of the Hunger Task Force, Milwaukee Public School's food program, the Social Development Commission, and the Salvation Army organized the effort and have called the campaign "Fueling Young Minds." "We'll take any child who walks in, no forms to fill in, no questions asked," said Sherrie Tussler, executive director of the Hunger Task Force. The city's 211 phone service also will make information available to callers.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jun04/235100.asp
21. Michigan: Hunger Aid Shrinks As Need Grows
("Hunger aid shrinks as need grows," Detroit News, June 13, 2004)
The economic downturn has increased demand at food banks and cut the aid that foundations and individuals can give. "We ran out of food," said Rebecca Johnson, manager of the food pantry at Providence Missionary Baptist Church. The Food Bank Council of Michigan estimates 1 million people in Michigan, like 88-year old Jackie Overton who worked as a housekeeper, need emergency food, and "it's getting worse," said Johnson. For almost three decades, wages at the bottom have not risen as fast as at the top, widening the wage gap and concentrating wealth in the hands of a few. "We have to get our government to do their part," said Reverend David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. "We are trying to food bank our way to the end of hunger and that will not happen." Edward Cooney, executive director of the Congressional Hunger Center, praised the Child Nutrition bill before Congress, but regretted that it does not expand funding: "as a bill that will decrease hunger in America, it won't do it."
http://www.detnews.com/2004/specialreport/0406/13/a01-181926.htm
22. Missouri: 2,045 State Workers on Welfare
("2,045 state workers on welfare," Springfield News Leader, June 13, 2004)
State data show 2,045 state workers on some form of public assistance: 1,291 receive food stamp benefits and 1,276 are on Medicaid. Most of the employees receiving benefits are full-time but many earn less than the federal poverty line. Many work in the state mental health system.
http://www.news-leader.com/today/0613-2,045state-110539.html
23. Food Stamps Helping Military Families Cope
("Perpetual war hits military families hard," Boston Globe, June 13, 2004)
The administration recently extended the tour of duty for thousands of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. For their families back home, the extension can cause extreme financial strain. More than one in five military families last year relied on the food stamp or Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. Even 6 percent of officers' families receive WIC or food stamps. Authors Drew Altman, President of the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Robert Blendon of the Kennedy School of Government urge that, if a volunteer army is to be maintained, more needs to be done to address the problems caused by extended service for soldiers and their families, both financial and emotional.