FRAC News Digest - September 17, 2004

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 34, September 17, 2004

USDA Grants $1 Million to Reach More Eligible Persons
Health Premiums Devouring Paychecks
No Peace in War on Poverty
Economy Causing Drastic Increase in U.S. Homelessness
50 States Cut Child Care As Poverty Rates Rise
New York: Majority of City Residents Finding It Harder to Feed Families
Florida: Food Stamp Recipients to Get Extra Benefit
New Jersey: Bill Bars Junk Food Sales During School Day
Massachusetts: Fresh Produce on Way to School
Kentucky: Healthy Changes in School Led by Parent
Pennsylvania: Price Hike on Junk Food at High School
Washington: Some School Lunches Go Organic

1. USDA Grants $1 Million to Reach More Eligible Persons

(U.S. Department of Agriculture, September 13, 2004)

Approximately $1 million was awarded to eight faith and community-based organizations by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman to improve access to and awareness of the Food Stamp Program among eligible low-income households. The purpose of the grants is to test innovative food stamp outreach strategies to underserved eligible low-income individuals and families. The new grantees will use community events and education; establish partnerships with employers, food retailers and other Food and Nutrition Service programs; and test provision of services at alternate work or community sites. USDA plans to study the effectiveness of the outreach strategies. The eight grantees are the Alamo Area Development Corporation in San Antonio, Texas; Community Food Resource Center in New York, New York; Hispanic Health Council in Hartford, Connecticut; Jewish Vocational Services in Boston, Massachusetts; Lone Star Legal Aid in Houston, Texas; Nebraska Legal Services in Omaha, Nebraska; Shared Harvest Foodbank in Fairfield, Ohio; and The Outreach Center in Morganton, North Carolina.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/PressReleases/2004/PR-0383.htm

2. Health Premiums Devouring Paychecks

("Health Premiums Devouring Paychecks," Arizona Republic, September 10, 2004)

Job-based health insurance premiums rose an average of 11.2 percent this year, according to a new survey sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust. That rate is 2.2 times the rate of growth in worker salaries. Premiums are up 59 percent compared to 2000. Higher health premiums mean employers are likely to be slower to hire, pay their workers less, hire more part-time workers who do not qualify for benefits, require waiting periods before covering new employees, and make workers bear more of the costs. Health care costs are rising so quickly that many families, particularly the working poor, cannot afford coverage. "I don't see any scenario in the future that does not have health care costs continuing to outpace the increase in wages and the increases in inflation...by a very wide margin," said Drew Altman, chief executive of Kaiser Family Foundation.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0910healthcare10.html

3. No Peace in War on Poverty

("The War We Haven't Won," Newsweek, September 11, 2004)

"This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America," Lyndon B. Johnson said in 1964 in his first State of the Union speech. Newsweek columnist Anna Quindlen says the speech launched a number of government programs, including an expanded food-stamp program, Head Start, and reforms for health care for the needy. "It worked." The measures brought down poverty rates and increased living standards in many poor communities. Forty years later, the war goes on, Quindlen writes, but "the biggest difference today is that there is no call to arms by those in power." According to recently released Census Bureau figures, the number of Americans below the poverty line rose in 2003 for the third consecutive year. On the war on poverty, President Johnson also said,"The richest nation on earth can afford to win it." Quindlen says that is still time, and it requires raising the minimum wage, expanding unemployment insurance and other steps.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5972917/site/newsweek/

4. Economy Causing Drastic Increase in U.S. Homelessness

("Economic Hardship Causing Drastic Increase in US Homelessness," The News Standard, September 15, 2004)

The lack of affordable housing, a sluggish economy, low wages, unemployment, and skyrocketing medical expenses have contributed to an almost unprecedented increase in the number of homeless individuals and families in the past two to three years, say advocates and recent national surveys. Families and children increasingly make up the homeless population. Donald Whitehead of the National Coalition for the Homeless, estimates that 30 percent of the increase in homeless families is a direct result of the recession and welfare reform. "Many of the people who were able to access jobs through welfare reform were not able to maintain those jobs once we entered into the recession," he said.

http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=978

5. 50 States Cut Child Care As Poverty Rates Rise

("Child Care Assistance Policies 2001-2004: Families Struggling to Move Forward, States Going Backward," National Women's Law Center, September 2004)

States are cutting back on child care assistance programs for low-income working families even though recent Census figures show that the poverty rate of women and children has increased for the third straight year. Without child care assistance, many low-income parents struggle to be able to work, stay off welfare, and care for their children, according to a new issue brief from the National Women's Law Center. "Child Care Assistance Policies 2001-2004: Families Struggling to Move Forward, States Going Backward," compares state child care assistance policies for all 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2001 and 2004. The brief concludes that stagnant federal child care funding combined with state budget crises have resulted in steps backward on child care assistance, putting even more pressure on already strapped families.

http://capwiz.com/nwlc/utr/1/APUHDUUTJZ/KGSADUVRME/

6. New York: Majority of City Residents Finding It Harder to Feed Families

("Lots of circus, but little bread," New York Daily News, September 12, 2004)

In 2003, 60 percent of New York City residents found it increasingly difficult to feed their families. At least 2 million New Yorkers across the five boroughs are either hungry or at great risk of becoming hungry, according to a report released September 7 by the Food Bank of New York. The majority are working, according to the study, but 98 percent live below the poverty level, with 85 percent struggling to survive on an annual income of less than $15,000. Those who seek help are mostly older adults, disabled persons, women and children, and the working poor in impoverished minority communities. The city's food pantries and soup kitchens can only provide food to half of those in need, and nearly one-third receive no assistance at all.

http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/231157p-198522c.html

7. Florida: Food Stamp Recipients to Get Extra Benefit

("Food stamp recipients to get extra benefit," Daytona Beach News Journal, September 11, 2004)

Food stamp recipients were eligible to receive 60 percent of their monthly food benefit starting early September to make up for food lost in warm refrigerators due to widespread power outages across Volusia and Flagler counties. The benefit -- part of Hurricane Frances' storm relief -- means an extra $1.1 million will be distributed to an estimated 27,000 food stamp recipients. During Hurricane Charley, food stamp recipients received 100 percent of their monthly August benefit to make up for lost food.

http://tinyurl.com/6zyo3

8. New Jersey: Bill Bars Junk Food Sales During School Day

("Empty calories ban gets boost," Trenton Times, September 14, 2004)

A bill barring the sale of snacks with high sugar or fat content until 30 minutes after the end of the school day was approved by the Assembly Education Committee recently. In their place, schools would be allowed to sell healthier products, such as nut and fruit mixes, enriched grain snacks, dairy products and 100 percent juice. The bill's sponsors acknowledged that too little exercise and poor food choices also contribute to the spiraling obesity problem, but the lawmakers targeted vending machines to remove temptation from children during school hours, even if it might bite into a revenue source for schools. "Are we sacrificing our children's health for dollars?" said Anthony Chiappone, D-Bayonne, one of the bill's sponsors.

http://www.nj.com/news/times/index.ssf?/base/news-2/109514912243300.xml

9. Massachusetts: Fresh Produce on Way to School

("Fresh Produce on Way to School," The Republican, September 12, 2004)

Schoolchildren in Chicopee will see fresh fruits and vegetables in school meals, thanks to a grant of more than $15,000 from Project Bread to provide fresh produce throughout city schools to encourage healthy eating habits. The $15,255 Summer Food Service Program Incentive Grant was used in the city's parks this summer, and will now continue to be used to purchase a variety of food directly from a farm.

http://www.masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-7/109490502295480.xml?nnch

10. Kentucky: Healthy Changes in School Led by Parent

("A candy-free zone," Lexington Herald-Leader, September 14, 2004)

Concerned about the amount of candy her son Max, 8, was receiving in his classroom and worried about the overall increase in obesity among Kentucky's children, Becky Crabtree, a nurse, decided to make some changes at her son's elementary school in Anderson County. She created a steering committee of school community members, chose specific goals such as encouraging healthful snacks, and trained teachers and staff how to put the plan into action. Crabtree acknowledged the changes are "a cultural behavioral change, and it's painful." Crabtree began her project after attending a Prichard Committee's Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership, which teaches parents how schools work and how to get involved. Each participant is required to implement a program at his or her school.

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/living/health/9636189.htm

11. Pennsylvania: Price Hike on Junk Food at High School

("Norwin hikes prices on junk food," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 14, 2004)

School districts in Pennsylvania must begin offering menus that derive no more than 30 percent of calories from fat and no more than 10 percent from saturated fat, as directed by the State Department of Education. Districts failing to do so face a fine. The healthier menu was introduced to the younger grades in Norwin last year and was well-received, said Patricia DeGore, Norwin food service director. The high school students, however, continued buying their high-fat favorites, which forced the district to charge students 25 cents more for a la carte items to encourage them towards better nutrition choices.

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/westmoreland/ s_250982.html

12. Washington: Some School Lunches Go Organic

("Some Schools Go Organic for Lunch," Natural Resources Defense Council, September 13, 2004)

The Seattle school district recently adopted a new policy banning junk food and encouraging organic food in school cafeterias. Seattle joins other school districts in California, Rhode Island, California, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire and Connecticut with organic food programs, vending machines with all-organic snacks, or moves to install the vending machines. School districts have turned to organic food as a way to improve children's health and fight obesity. The organic salad bar at Lincoln Elementary in Olympia, Washington has proven so popular and economical that all Olympia grade schools now have one.

http://www.nrdc.org/news/newsDetails.asp?nID=1501