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.
Issue #26, September 10, 2010
FRAC News Digest
- Top Chefs Call for Increased CNR Funding Without Cutting SNAP/Food Stamps
- Op-Ed Urges Congress to Support Nutrition Programs
- Gulf Spill Helps Drive Up Number of SNAP/Food Stamp Applications in Alabama
- Pilot Program Aims to Increase SNAP/Food Stamp Participation Among Florida's Seniors
- More Seniors Expected to Apply for SNAP/Food Stamps in Minnesota
- Furloughed State Workers in Arizona Work Overtime to Process SNAP/Food Stamp Applications
- Streamlined Application Helps San Diego Boost SNAP/Food Stamp Participation
- Overwhelming Numbers of Illinois Residents Apply for Disaster SNAP/Food Stamps in Wake of Storms and Floods
- Los Angeles Food Pantries Struggle with Increased Demand
- New Mexico Schools Lose State Funds for Free Breakfast Programs
- Wisconsin to Receive Federal School Breakfast Program Grants
- Minnesota School District Launches Classroom Breakfast
- Florida School District Starts Universal Breakfast
- More Oakland, Calif. Schools Now Offering Free Breakfast
- Median Wage Stagnant in America for Decades
- Wage Gap Grows in NYC
1. Top Chefs Call for Increased CNR Funding Without Cutting SNAP/Food Stamps
(NewsBusters/MSNBC, September 8, 2010; The Atlantic, September 9, 2010)
Tom Colicchio and Washington, D.C. chef Jose Andres have called for Congress to support the upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization without cutting SNAP/Food Stamp benefits. Colicchio noted on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," that the Senate bill is "taking 2 billion dollars from SNAP program. So essentially, they're stealing from dinner to pay for lunch. And, you know, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense." Colicchio pointed out that the bill should increase access for kids, and he noted that the House bill for child nutrition does include more improvements. In an op-ed that ran in The Atlantic, Jose Andres noted that, in the Senate bill, "almost half of [the CNR] money comes from cuts to SNAP…That is not the answer. We can't take food from already struggling families to fund school lunch programs." Andres wants Congress, when they come back from their recess, "to find the money quickly and pass their bill so we can begin the new school year with a new promise to our kids, based on a REAL investment."
2. Op-Ed Urges Congress to Support Nutrition Programs
(Washington Informer, September 2, 2010)
"As Congress returns from its August recess, we should urge members to focus on the needs of hungry and poor people - and not balance the budget on their backs," writes Bishop Don Dixon Williams of Bread for the World in this op-ed. Bishop Williams refers to the recent bill passed by Congress that reduces SNAP/Food Stamp benefits. "In the coming months, we must urge Congress to act responsibly with regard to national nutrition programs and other policies that help people in the throes of the recession get back on their feet," he writes. The U.S. is the world's wealthiest nation, yet "nearly 15 percent of households can't afford to feed themselves." The number is higher for African-Americans, with one in four struggling to provide food for their households. African-American children are particularly hard hit by the recession, with 34 percent living in households without enough to eat. Recent data show that 90 percent of the nation's African-American children will receive SNAP/Food Stamp benefits before they turn 20. The percentage for all American children is lower, at 49 percent. "[F]ood is often the most flexible expense" for low-income families struggling to pay rent, transportation, utilities and child care bills. "The fastest, most direct way to reduce hunger is through national nutrition programs," notes Bishop Williams.
3. Gulf Spill Helps Drive Up Number of SNAP/Food Stamp Applications in Alabama
(Al.com, September 1, 2010)
Alabama's Mobile County saw a record 90,753 SNAP/Food Stamp benefits claims in July 2010, up from the July 2009 figure of 80,677 claims. Officials from the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) said the agency distributed $11,972,419 in benefits in July 2010. Rose M. Johnson, director of Mobile County DHR believes that the Gulf oil spill has played a part in the increase. The county also provided outreach, partnering with Boat People SOS, a nonprofit assisting the local Southeast Asian communities. "We hired two Vietnamese translators and tasked them with taking food stamp applications to help local citizens make their applications," said Johnson. "It's made a huge difference for non-English-speaking people," said Grace M. Scire, Gulf Coast regional manager for Boat People SOS, "particularly since it's difficult for some people to drive to Mobile to file for benefits." The Boat People SOS office at 13835 S. Wintzell Avenue in Bayou La Batre can help Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian-speaking citizens apply for SNAP/Food Stamps and provides translators to ease the process.
4. Pilot Program Aims to Increase SNAP/Food Stamp Participation Among Florida's Seniors
(WCTV, September 2, 2010)
A three-year USDA grant of nearly half a million dollars will help more than 10,000 senior Floridians navigate the state's SNAP/Food Stamp enrollment system. Through the grant, seniors in 35 of the state's 67 counties will be able to call the state's Elder Helpline for assistance in applying online for SNAP/Food Stamps. Many of Florida's 4.45 million seniors are not "regular computer users," and 58 percent of eligible senior residents don't receive SNAP/Food Stamps. The counties selected for the pilot program have the highest number of low-income elderly as well as the lowest senior SNAP/Food Stamp use, with 72 percent of those eligible for the benefit not participating. "As Florida government moves further into the electronic age, we must be careful to make sure our older residents don't get left behind," said Department of Elder Affairs Interim Secretary Charles T. Corley. The Department has a goal of enrolling five percent - 10,180 - of those seniors who have not applied for, but are eligible to receive, SNAP/Food Stamps.
5. More Seniors Expected to Apply for SNAP/Food Stamps in Minnesota
(Post-Bulletin, September 1, 2010)
Minnesota will increase the state's SNAP/Food Stamp income limit, and possibly exclude assets in determining eligibility, which could bring many more senior residents to the program. To qualify currently, a household's gross monthly income can't exceed 130 percent of the federal poverty level. The change will increase the limit to 165 percent of the poverty level. "We've heard they're going to exclude assets" from the qualification process said Ruth Schmidt, income maintenance supervisor for Mower County Human Services. "[W]e're expecting this will affect the elderly more than normal. Elderly people oftentimes have assets that exceed that limit." It's estimated that 178,000 eligible Minnesotans aren't receiving SNAP/Food Stamps, which includes 77 percent of eligible seniors and 30 percent of the working poor. These residents are missing out on $172 million in benefits they're entitled to. Only seven states had fewer eligible people enrolled in the program.
6. Furloughed State Workers in Arizona Work Overtime to Process SNAP/Food Stamp Applications
(AZcentral.com, September 2, 2010)
Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) workers - the staff that processes SNAP/Food Stamp and other aid applications - worked at overtime rates after a mandatory day off without pay to keep up with the increasing number of applications. "We're caught between the proverbial rock and the proverbial hard place," said agency spokesman Steve Meissner. The agency risks federal fines if their applications are not processed in a timely manner. Although SNAP/Food Stamp applications have doubled in number in the past three years, staff hours have dropped 13 percent. In the state budget, the Arizona Legislature requires six worker furlough days this year and next year.
7. Streamlined Application Helps San Diego Boost SNAP/Food Stamp Participation
(North County Times, August 17, 2010)
A recent report found that San Diego, California more than doubled the number of residents receiving SNAP/Food Stamps in the past four years. "That appears to be significant progress for which the supervisors and county administrators deserve credit," notes this editorial. San Diego County, known as the urban area with the nation's lowest SNAP/Food Stamp participation, has "taken a well-deserved beating from critics in recent years for a miserly attitude toward getting food stamps in the hands of hungry people." In 2009, the county began an aggressive campaign promoting the benefit, working toward a goal of adding 50,000 children and seniors to the program by 2012. The county also began streamlining the application process through online, phone and mail-in applications. This streamlining process is working, said program administrator Dale Fleming, who said that participation increased 75 percent between July 2008 and July 2010.
8. Overwhelming Numbers of Illinois Residents Apply for Disaster SNAP/Food Stamps in Wake of Storms and Floods
(Chicago Tribune, September 1, 2010)
Thousands of recent heavy storm and flooding victims seeking disaster SNAP/Food Stamps formed a line, stretching several blocks, starting at the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) Melrose Park office. Many were given a ticket and told to come back the next day since the office was overwhelmed with applicants. The scene was similar at other offices, with people beginning to form lines at 5 a.m. DHS officials said the agency approved $2.4 million in disaster SNAP/Food Stamp aid for more than 5,690 households. President Obama declared Cook, DuPage and five other Illinois counties as federal disaster areas on August 19. Jackie Wilson, a 55-year-old mother of five teens spent hours in line at the Melrose office, but was told to come back the next day. "I was upset because I'd been there since 7 a.m.," said Wilson, who had gone grocery shopping immediately before the storms and floods. Much of the food the bought ended up spoiled when power to her refrigerator and home went out, and she has to "budget shuffle" to fund cleanup and repairs to her flooded basement, while continuing to pay her regular bills.
9. Los Angeles Food Pantries Struggle with Increased Demand
(Los Angeles Times, September 2, 2010)
Demand for food has been so great at Lutheran Social Services Community Care Center that recently the center posted a sign stating "We're sorry but we ran out of food." It closed until more supplies were delivered the next afternoon. Other area food pantries are feeling similar strains, and have had to reduce the size of food packages or turn people away. Jan Maseda, director of the Lutheran Center, said that signing up more people for SNAP/Food Stamps would ease some of the pressure on food pantries. California has lagged behind the rest of the nation in participation, with fewer than half of its eligible residents receiving the benefit. However, participation has steadily grown in the state since the recession began.
10. New Mexico Schools Lose State Funds for Free Breakfast Programs
(Albuquerque Journal, August 28, 2010)
Selected New Mexico schools which began receiving state funding in 2005 to offer free breakfast are now having those funds cut. The program targeted high-poverty elementary schools that were low performers in Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind law. Additional schools received state funding each year, with 223 schools statewide receiving funding at the program's peak. Since the recession began, funding from the state has been cut off or reduced, and this year the state program was cut from $3.2 million to $2 million. Funding has been pulled from 22 districts, many of which are small and rural. All of the schools (except one) had made AYP improvements. "We looked at the schools that were making AYP and those were the schools, for the most part, that got cut," said Kris Meurer, an acting assistant secretary at the Public Education Department (PED). Kris Meurer, PED's acting assistant secretary, noted that pulling the funding may lead to AYP backsliding in some schools, but said that PED needed some criteria to make the funding cuts. "My feeling is maybe our kids are performing well because they do have this meal they can have in the morning," said Valerie Brea, principal at Quemado Schools. "It just does not make sense really to punish the schools that are performing by taking away things like nutritional meals." Quemado will continue to serve breakfast (using funds from the school district's strained budget) to its students, who come from a 300-mile radius and face bus rides of up to 90 minutes to get to school. The long day, notes Brea, makes it even more necessary that the students get a good meal. Other schools have had to cut the free breakfast program altogether, meaning that only qualified students will receive free or reduced-price breakfast.
11. Wisconsin to Receive Federal School Breakfast Program Grants
(Wisconsin Radio Network, August 19, 2010)
Over the next two years, 48 public and private schools in Wisconsin will receive more than $750,000 in federal grants for school breakfast programs. Schools or districts will receive between $1,400 and $41,000, money that is "sorely needed" since the recession has qualified more children for subsidized school meals, noted Jon Janowksi, Director of Advocacy for the Hunger Task Force. Wisconsin's Senator Herb Kohl championed the grants in Congress. The state ranks near the bottom in the number of qualified children receiving school breakfast, and the number of schools serving both breakfast and lunch. Janowski said the state has made gains, however, in the past ten years.
12. Minnesota School District Launches Classroom Breakfast
(WKBT, August 29, 2010)
Another 12 St. Paul School District schools in Minnesota began offering classroom breakfast when school began on September 7. Through the "Breakfast 2 Go" (B2G) program, students pick up "takeout" breakfasts which they're then able to eat in their classrooms. St. Paul School District Superintendent Valeria S. Silva noted that breakfast is one of the top investments schools can make in their students. Many studies, including one by Minnesota's Department of Education, have found links between students eating breakfast in school and increased math and reading scores, as well as better behavior.
13. Florida School District Starts Universal Breakfast
(News-Press, August 24, 2010)
Florida's Lee County School District began the new school year by offering free breakfast to all students. A new Florida state law mandates that free breakfast be offered to all students of public schools in which 80 percent or more children are low-income. Lee County extended universal breakfast to all students, although 50 of its schools fall under the 80 percent guideline. The school district won't need to subsidize the cost of the extra free breakfasts from other funds. Wayne Nagy, director of food and nutrition services, said smarter staffing levels and the fact that the system makes its purchases through a statewide food-purchasing group keep costs contained. "We purchase in such large quantities that we're now able to buy food for below 2004 prices, which is phenomenal," said Nagy.
14. More Oakland, Calif. Schools Now Offering Free Breakfast
(Inside Bay Area, August 31, 2010)
Last school year, about 40 Oakland Unified School District schools offered free breakfast to all students; this year, 94 schools are offering the meal free of charge. More schools will offer "second-chance breakfast," served at 9:30 a.m. to students who did not arrive to school early enough before classes began, and a number of schools are offering breakfast in the classroom. The school district will recover the money ($10,000 last year in paid breakfast funds) for the free breakfasts through increased federal reimbursements. "We decided 'Let's do it because it's the right thing to do," said Jennifer Le-Barre, the district's nutrition services director.
15. Median Wage Stagnant in America for Decades
(Financial Times, July 30, 2010)
The annual incomes for the bottom 90 percent of Americans have been flat since 1973, only rising 10 percent over the past 37 years. Economists term this "median wage stagnation." During the same period, the top one percent of wage earners saw their salaries triple - chief executives in 1973 earned an average of 26 times the median income; now they earn over 300 times the income. Most economists see this stagnation as "immune to the business cycle." The expansion from January 2002 to December 2007 saw median U.S. household income drop $2,000. This was the first instance of Americans being worse off at the end of an expansion than at the start. America, previously thought of as the best country in which to be poor, can no longer claim that distinction. Americans have a lower chance of swapping a low-income bracket for a higher one than in other almost any other developed country. This is a "slow-burning crisis of American capitalism," as residents realize they have little chance of escaping from the grind of income stagnation. Harvard economist Larry Katz explains the current American situation through the metaphor of an apartment block. "The penthouses at the top keep getting larger and larger. The apartments in the middle are feeling more and more squeezed and the basement has flooded. To round it off, the elevator is no longer working. That broken elevator is what gets people down the most." While incomes stagnate, education costs have soared. The number of Americans paying off more than $20,000 in student loans a decade after graduation nearly doubled since 1990. For Americans currently struggling financially, the impact of wage stagnation followed by the recession has been acute. "It is like continually bailing water out from a sinking boat and then they take your bucket away," said Mark Freeman, who recently escaped home foreclosure through the help of a friendly lawyer. Nobel-Prize winning economist Michael Spence has a "gnawing feeling about the future of America. When people lose the sense of optimism, things tend to get more volatile. The future I fear most for America is Latin American: a grossly unequal society that is prone to wild swings from populism to orthodoxy, which makes sensible government increasingly hard to imagine." However, he is optimistic that America "still retains its most vibrant strength in its still world-beating capacity for technological innovation."
16. Wage Gap Grows in NYC
(The New York Times, August 30, 2010)
While New York City's recovery from the recession seems to be progressing in Manhattan, outside of that area the economy continues to ravage the city. Only one-fifth of low-income residents, in a July 2010 survey, thought the city's economy was improving. James A. Parrott, chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute, analyzed local wage data and found that the city's managerial workers showed a median wage of $990 a week in the first third of 2010, an 11 percent rise in three years. However, the median wage for non-managerial workers was $472, 10.4 percent less than in the first third of 2007. Parrott noted this shows "a worrisome weakening in the ability of less-skilled New York workers to maintain their wage-earning power."
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