FRAC News Digest - November 19, 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 43, November 19, 2004

36.6 Million Americans Live in Households Unable to Purchase Adequate Food
School Breakfast Shows Jump in Participation
3 out of 5 U.S. Cities Faced Tougher Financial Times, Survey Finds
Suburbs Home to Poor as Well as Rich
Florida: Almost Half of Florida's Children Rely on Free or Reduced-Priced Lunch
Oregon: Ending Children's Hunger Within Reach
Iowa: 47th in U.S. for Feeding Children in Summer
Iowa: Surge of Iowans Seeking Food, Housing, and Utility Assistance
Idaho: Recovery Leaving Idaho Families Behind
Maine: Demand Up, Food Pantries Report
Tennessee: WIC Nutrition Program Helping New Moms and Children for 30 Years
California: Governor's Afterschool Program for Healthy Eating and Lifestyle
Wisconsin: Maternity Leave, Jobs Program Proposed for Welfare-to-Work

1. 36.6 Million Americans Live in Households Unable to Purchase Adequate Food

("Number of Hungry and Food Insecure Americans Rises for Fourth Straight Year, 36.3 Million Americans Live in Households Unable to Purchase Adequate Food," Food Research and Action Center, November 19, 2004)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its annual report, based on Census Bureau surveys, on hunger and food insecurity. The report showed a fourth consecutive year of increase in the number of hungry and food insecure, defined as the limited or uncertain access to nutritionally adequate and safe food. The total number of people living in food insecure households – with or without hunger – went up to 36.3 million in 2003. This number included 23 million adults (10.8 percent of all adults) and 13.3 million children (18.2 percent of all children). The number in 2002 was 34.9 million, and in 1999 it was 31 million. “Such extensive and growing suffering threatens children’s development and education, families’ stability, children’s and adults’ health, and our wealthy society’s commitment to fundamental values,” said Jim Weill, President of FRAC. “Of equal concern are reports that some in the White House and Congress are discussing cuts in the years ahead in the nation’s basic human needs programs, which would add millions more people to the already appalling national breadline.”

http://www.frac.org/Press_Release/11.19.04.html

2. School Breakfast Shows Jump in Participation

("Participation by Low-Income Children in School Breakfast Jumps, Biggest Gain in Nine Years Helps Push Participation to a Record, FRAC Estimates, However, Lagging States Should Serve Nearly 2 Million More Low-Income Children and Leverage $391 Million in Federal Funds," Food Research and Action Center, November 18, 2004)

Participation by low-income children in the nation's School Breakfast Program rose by more than 353,000 to 7.1 million children in the 2003-2004 school year. The jump is the largest in nine years, according to the annual School Breakfast Scorecard released by FRAC. Since 1990, the number of low-income students receiving free or reduced price breakfasts has more than doubled. The total number of children participating, including more affluent children who paid for their own breakfasts, was also a record number -- 8.7 million. Despite these gains, the program still reaches barely 2 in 5 eligible children. Almost 9.4 million low-income students who participate in school lunch go without school breakfast. If the other states and the District of Columbia performed at the level achieved by these top states (55 children in free breakfast for every 100 enrolled in school lunch), the breakfast program would feed nearly two million additional low-income children and provide a total of $391 million each year in additional federal funds to schools across the nation.

http://www.frac.org/Press_Release/11.18.04.html

Download FRAC's report "School Breakfast Scorecard: 2004":
http://www.frac.org/School_Breakfast_Scorecard_2004.pdf

3. 3 out of 5 U.S. Cities Faced Tougher Financial Times, Survey Finds

("Three out of Five Cities Are Less Able to Meet Fiscal Obligations," National League of Cities, 2004)

More than three in five cities were less able to meet their financial needs in 2004 than a year earlier, and expectations for 2005 are equally grim, according to a new report released by the National League of Cities (NLC). Revenues are not keeping pace with increases in spending for public safety and infrastructure, and growing costs of employee health benefits, pensions and wages, according to "City Fiscal Conditions in 2004." Adjusting for inflation, 2004 marks an unprecedented third straight year when revenues declined. “In the past, we were able to look to the State and Federal governments for help. But these sources are drying up, particularly in the past two years. This one-two punch has really caused us problems," said James Hunt, vice president of the National League of Cities. The increased pessimism of the cities' finance officers was most pronounced in the West and Midwest.

http://tinyurl.com/5d7rz

Download National League of Cities' report "City Fiscal Conditions in 2004":
http://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/files/pdf/fiscal_conditions_04.pdf

4. Suburbs Home to Poor as Well as Rich

("Suburbs' grass isn't always greener," USA Today, October 18, 2004)

Suburbs, home to middle-class America for more than 50 years, are now seeing an increasing number of the very poor and the very rich, according to a report by the Brookings Institution. For the first time, the number of poor people in the suburbs almost equals the number in cities at the center of metropolitan areas. Suburbs have more jobs than central cities, but rising housing and gasoline costs, and public resistance to mass transit and housing for low-wage employees are pushing many working people to the brink of poverty.

http://tinyurl.com/6j553

View the Brookings Institution report "Pulling Apart: Economic Segregation among Suburbs and Central Cities in Major Metropolitan Areas":
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20041018_econsegregation.htm

5. Florida: Almost Half of Florida's Children Rely on Free or Reduced-Priced Lunch

("Hungry for help," Orlando Sentinel, November 15, 2004)

Statewide, 45 percent of public-school children -- about 1.2 million -- qualify for free or reduced-priced lunches, a state study has found. The number has risen by 261,500 children during the past decade, according to the report. The participation rate, a widely accepted measurement of poverty, has grown because of a struggling state economy that has kept wages stagnant and forces some families to take lower-paying jobs, said economist Mark Soskin. Many new immigrants to the area are poorer than residents already there. Elsa Menendez's children ate free breakfast and lunch at Boggy Creek Elementary School when she first moved to the area and was looking for work. If she had had to pay for the meals, "That would be $3 a day," she said. "Over a week, imagine."

http://tinyurl.com/3u6dz

6. Oregon: Ending Children's Hunger Within Reach

("Feeding our kids can feed the kitty," OregonLive.com, November 14, 2004)

Letting children go hungry impacts school and health care costs. Children who are hungry or do not know the source of their next meal, termed "food insecure," have higher rates of school absence, tardiness, repeating a grade, and emergency room visits. They also have lower standardized test scores. Oregon's hunger and food insecurity rates both exceed the national average. States should also ensure they are maximizing their participation in federal programs such as summer food programs, federal school programs, and food stamps, said Larry Brown of the Center on Hunger and Poverty at Brandeis University. Continues Brown, "When you are sending kids into the classroom with one arm tied behind their backs, you're having a significant impact in the money you're spending on public education." "There are a lot of dumb ways to save money," Jean Mayer, former Tufts University president and nutrition expert, once said, "but not feeding children is about the dumbest."

http://tinyurl.com/4x2yv

7. Iowa: 47th in U.S. for Feeding Children in Summer

("Next summer, feed the children," Des Moines Register, November 14, 2004)

Last summer, low-income children in the Hamburg school district got free, nutritious meals at school cafeterias through the federal Summer Food Service Program, this editorial reports. But across Iowa, only a third of the 57 school districts eligible to take part in the program did so. Just 8 percent of Iowa children who get federal meals during the school year get them in the summer, according to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). The statistic puts Iowa 47th in the nation, compared to a state like New Mexico, ranked 3rd, where 36 percent of eligible children receive summer meals. "We always say bring the meals to the children, don't expect the children to come to you," and "If there's a tree, there's a site," said Elizabeth Castillo of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department. Each summer Iowa leaves $6 million unspent that the federal government would provide for meals for children, according to FRAC. "If Hamburg can do it, so can other Iowa school districts...every community with a school that qualifies should look at whether it is doing all it can to feed hungry children," writes the editorial.

http://tinyurl.com/5sz8b

8. Iowa: Surge of Iowans Seeking Food, Housing, and Utility Assistance

("Food pantries see rush of Iowans seeking aid," DesMoinesRegister.com, November 10, 2004)

Food pantries across Iowa report an unnerving jump in the number of people seeking assistance - with not only food but also rent, clothing and utility bills. The rush started in late summer and is worsening. Officials were most struck by the number of people seeking aid for the first time. Of the 3,000 families who sought food at eight Des Moines-area pantries last month, 556 were new families. The people seeking aid are working families or people whose companies laid them off, said Susan Paterson-Nielsen, director of West Des Moines Human Services. "Our data shows there's hungry kids out there. People think that doesn't occur in Iowa. Well, it does occur in Iowa. People just don't go around talking about it," said Des Moines nutrition expert Susan Roberts.

http://tinyurl.com/5jgf3

9. Idaho: Recovery Leaving Idaho Families Behind

("Idaho families struggle despite economic recovery," Idaho Statesman, November 13, 2004)

The economic recovery that some analysts see across Idaho is not creating jobs that families can live on. Food stamp participation has continued to rise. More than 89,500 residents collected food stamps this fall,16,000 more than two years ago. A recent analysis by the National Center for Children in Poverty showed that 60,000 of Idaho's 176,000 families with children were considered low-income last year. Only 4,100 of those families had parents without jobs. "The majority of folks that are getting food assistance are people who are playing by the rules," Food Bank Director Roger Simon said. "They're holding down one or two jobs, maybe more, but they can't make ends meet."

http://tinyurl.com/3ze5u

10. Maine: Demand Up, Food Pantries Report

("Demand up, food pantries reporting," Portland Press Herald, November 12, 2004)

The story is the same all across Maine -- lines for free food have been growing since September. Food pantry coordinators say soaring fuel costs and underemployment are behind the trend. An Associated Press analysis of Census data shows the percentage of people in Maine living in poverty climbed from 9.8 to 11.8 from 1998 to 2003. Based on a three-year average, almost one out of ten households (9 percent) in Maine do not know how they can afford food the next day, according to the Food Research and Action Center.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/041112foodpantries.shtml

11. Tennessee: WIC Nutrition Program Helping New Moms and Children for 30 Years

("New moms, children benefiting from WIC," Daily News Journal, November 16, 2004)

In the office of a Rutherford County Health Department Nutritionist, Sylvia Gonzolez and her children wait to meet about their Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) certification. Surrounding them are posters and brochures in English and Spanish about proper nutrition. For thirty years, the federally funded WIC program has been providing participants like Gonzalez with nutritious food and nutrition education. Children on WIC have lower instances of anemia and higher IQ scores than children from similar backgrounds who did not have the benefits of a WIC diet. In Tennessee, the program currently serves 160,000 participants in 95 counties. Without WIC, Gonzolez said, it would have been difficult for her to provide her children with the healthy, nutritious food they need to grow. The program also regularly measures her children's weight and height, so that she can know how they are progressing.

http://tinyurl.com/3rp5a

12. California: Governor's Afterschool Program for Healthy Eating and Lifestyle

("Arnold Schwarzenegger pumps up after-school programs," USA Today, November 15, 2004)

To battle rising childhood obesity rates, Governor Schwarzenegger is supporting afterschool programs for elementary and middle schools to help children develop healthy minds and bodies. Afterschool programs "provide an alternative, not only to the violence and gangs," said Schwarzenegger, but by giving children "education about healthy living and healthy eating habits." The governor also spoke out against selling junk foods in school to raise money. "We have to find other ways of raising money," said the governor. Without adequate afterschool programs or adult supervision at home, many of America's children face a myriad of daily dangers to their safety as well as to their health. One of the most damaging consequences is becoming a "couch potato," write the article.

http://tinyurl.com/6afrc

13. Wisconsin: Maternity Leave, Jobs Program Proposed for Welfare-to-Work

("W-2 officials offer alterations," Appleton Post-Crescent, November 13, 2004)

Extending maternity leave for welfare-to-work participants from 3 to 6 months, and offering state payments to companies that hire program participants were included in the Department of Workforce Development's budget request to Governor Doyle. The agency runs Wisconsin's welfare-to-work program, known as W-2. Doyle will consider the agency's request and submit his budget proposal to the state legislature in February. The agency says extending the time new mothers on W-2 may stay home and receive benefits would better prepare them to enter the work force and would save the state about $2.9 million in child care. Republicans said it would create dependency on the state that W-2 was designed to end.

http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_18609105.shtml