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 #33, November 16, 2010
- Number of Hungry Households Hit All Time High
- U.S. Food Hardship Rate is “Staggering,” but Increased SNAP/Food Stamp Benefits Keeping Rate Down
- Poverty Plus Corner Store Foods Equal Obesity and Overweight in Philadelphia; SNAP/Food Stamps Provide Some Hunger Relief
- Letter to Editor: Don’t Cut SNAP/Food Stamps to Pay for Child Nutrition
- Poverty Increases in Colorado, Yet Many Don’t Use SNAP/Food Stamps Although They’re Eligible
- California Losing Billions in Unused SNAP/Food Stamp Benefits
- SNAP/Food Stamp Participation Soaring Across Country (MN, OK, WV)
- Michigan to Start Disseminating SNAP/Food Stamps Throughout the Month
- WIC EBT Cards Come to Chickasaw Nation
- World Food Prize Winner Supports Strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization Without SNAP Cuts
1. Number of Hungry Households Hit All Time High
(NPR, November 15, 2010; FRAC, November 15, 2010)
According to a report released by USDA, a record high of 50 million Americans (one in seven) experienced food insecurity in 2009; the number includes 17 million children. "It is a considerable reflection of what is going on in the economy," said Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon. "So, jobs, employment, the overall economic health of the the country are a major portion of it." The SNAP/Food Stamp program and other federal nutrition programs are credited for keeping the numbers from climbing even higher during the recession, and "dramatically demonstrates just how important the federal nutrition programs were to millions of America," said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center. "Participation in those programs, especially SNAP, has grown to meet the rising need. “Equally important, the increase in SNAP benefits that was included in the economic recovery act and took effect in April 2009 had a particularly powerful effect in keeping hunger from getting worse,” Weill added. “Quite simply, the increase in SNAP benefits worked." Weill hopes that these findings will help Congress avoid impending SNAP/Food Stamp cuts. "It's our hope and expectation that in the lame-duck [session], Congress will pass the child nutrition bill and do the SNAP restoration - and we think there's going to be an opportunity to do both."
2. U.S. Food Hardship Rate is “Staggering,” but Increased SNAP/Food Stamp Benefits Keeping Rate Down
(Huffington Post, November 9, 2010; FRAC, November 9, 2010)
According to Gallup data analyzed by the Food Research and Action Center, 18 percent of Americans reported in September 2010 they did not have enough money to purchase sufficient food (termed “food hardship”). Although the food hardship rate in early 2009 was 19 to 20 percent, the current percentage is still “staggering.” “[E]ven as unemployment [increased], there was a decline in yes answers to this question beginning in the spring of 2009, and it was pretty obvious that one key cause of this was the increase in SNAP or food stamp benefits that Congress passed as part of the Economic Recovery Act,” said Jim Weill, president of FRAC. With SNAP/Food Stamp participation at a record high of one in eight Americans, Congress is considering cutting the benefit in order to fund increases in school meal and other child nutrition programs. The cuts could reduce a low-income family’s SNAP/Food Stamp benefit by $59 a month. Mariana Chilton, director of Witnesses to Hunger, said this cut would be “devastating” to the millions who rely on these benefits. Food insecurity is not limited to poor districts or inner-city districts, Weill said. "Well over 300 Congressional districts had ten percent or more households answering yes to this question about struggling with food hardship, so as unemployment lingers, we're hopeful that Congress will be responsive to the need to maintain and strengthen the nutrition programs."
3. Poverty Plus Corner Store Foods Equal Obesity and Overweight in Philadelphia; SNAP/Food Stamps Provide Some Hunger Relief
(Philadelphia Inquirer, October 31, 2010; Philadelphia Inquirer, November 5, 2010)
Low-income people are blamed for their high rates of overweight and obesity, notes Adam Drewnowski, a University of Washington epidemiologist and obesity expert. “The poor, without access to healthy foods, are making the best possible choices under difficult circumstances,” said Drewnowski. Celeata Bailey, a 21-year-old resident of Philadelphia’s First Congressional District – the second hungriest in America, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index – knows this first hand. “You can’t find fresh fruits and vegetables in this neighborhood,” said Bailey, who has had diabetes since age 13. Doctors say many hungry, low-income people have no other choices than the diet of cheap, processed foods in neighborhood corner stores. Bailey sometimes takes four buses – a daunting journey - to West Philadelphia, which has a supermarket. The link to unhealthy foods begins early for many of the city’s low-income people, according to Renee Turchi, a pediatrician at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Turchi sees many mothers feeding their infants from bottles containing juice or other high-sugar beverages. “If we see a mom with a colorful bottle, we need to work quickly with that family…to forestall developmental delay,” said Turchi. “People face many problems – it’s like Hurricane Katrina every day in the First Congressional District,” said Carey Morgan, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger. In December 2007, 329,903 Philadelphians received SNAP/Food Stamps; in June 2010, 416,587 received the benefit. The average benefit of $258 per household often runs out 21 days into the month. A family would need an additional $3,165 a year in order to purchase enough food to maintain the federal government’s definition of “adequate,” according to a 2008 study by the Boston Medical Center and Drexel University School of Public Health. State budget cuts have reduced the number of SNAP/Food Stamp workers, making the benefit tougher to apply for as well as keep. A North Philadelphia service center left unanswered 62 percent of phone calls last year because of a lack of caseworkers, according to an investigation by the Coalition.
4. Letter to Editor: Don’t Cut SNAP/Food Stamps to Pay for Child Nutrition
(Argus Leader, November 5, 2010)
Erin Rath supports improvements to federal programs aimed at ending childhood hunger in America, but not at the expense of other nutrition programs. The Senate’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, she notes in her letter to the editor of the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, Iowa, takes the necessary steps, but “proposes that needed improvements to the federal school-lunch and related child-nutrition programs be paid for with more than $2 billion in cuts to [SNAP/Food Stamps].” This would be “incredibly detrimental to low-income children,” writes Rath. “While improving children’s nutrition is the right thing to do, reducing [SNAP/Food Stamp] benefits to pay for such improvements makes no sense.”
5. Poverty Increases in Colorado, Yet Many Don’t Use SNAP/Food Stamps Although They’re Eligible
(Denver Post, November 12, 2010)
Census data for 2009 show that Colorado’s poverty rate grew 15 percent, and the state’s child poverty rate jumped from 13 percent in 2007-2008 to 16.3 percent in 2009, notes Kathy Underhill, executive director of Hunger Free Colorado in this op-ed. But many in the state are not taking advantage of federal nutrition programs. Families who could make ends meet previously are struggling with unemployment and other recession-related financial problems. “We must help ensure Colorado kids and families get the nutrition they need,” writes Underhill. The state ranks last in SNAP/Food Stamp participation, and “nearly three-quarters of households living below the poverty line went without any help from SNAP even though they qualify.” In 2009 Colorado missed out on $750 million in SNAP/Food Stamp benefits – enough to feed 480,000 in the state for a year. Outreach – making sure people know the program exists – can help. In 2009, the Summer Food Service Program only reached 6.9 percent of eligible kids, serving 767,800 meals; in 2010, after the state and partners expanded outreach, the number of meals served increased to more than 960,000 at 300 community sites across the state. Colorado’s 26-page SNAP/Food Stamp application needs to be shortened – the state’s permit application to carry a concealed firearm is only two pages. Hunger has costs in human terms, notes Underhill, but also costs the state. “Hungry adults can’t work as hard or earn as much, and children who go to school hungry can’t learn.” She concludes that the “solution is simple: Let’s make sure Coloradoans know about and can easily access the programs that are available to help them weather this economic storm.”
6. California Losing Billions in Unused SNAP/Food Stamp Benefits
(LA Biz Observed, November 4, 2010)
Low SNAP/Food Stamp participation in California means the state is losing nearly $3.7 billion in federal dollars – which translate to nearly $7 billion in economic activity. In spite of a recession-related increase in program participation, there remains three million eligible Californians who have not signed up, and SNAP/Food Stamps went to only 9.3 percent of the state’s population in August 2010. The national average is 14.3 percent; only five states have lower participation than California. The LA Times reported that demand has increased, but welfare offices are unable to cope with the long lines, and applicants face long wait times for benefits, once they navigate the complex application process and provide the many documents needed. Many of the state’s immigrants are wary of applying, thinking there may be negative repercussions in doing so, although they are eligible if they have lived in the U.S. for five years. Others don’t know about the program, or are stymied by the application process.
7. SNAP/Food Stamp Participation Soaring Across Country
Minnesota
(Minneapolis Star Tribune, November 6, 2010; Minneapolis Star Tribune, November 7, 2010)
In September 2009, 381,000 Minnesotans received SNAP/Food Stamps; the number jumped to a record high of 444,000 in October 2010 – a figure representing more than the population of Minneapolis. The state estimated that participation would increase by 39,000 people in 2009, after the federal government removed the SNAP/Food Stamp time limit for healthy adults without children. However, more than 145,000 people signed up since 2009, and advocates are surprised the increase isn’t higher, since half of those eligible don’t apply for the benefit. They don’t think they’re eligible, or they believe the application process is too complicated, noted a report from Hunger-Free Minnesota. Even more in the state can receive the benefit now that the state removed the asset test and raised the income limit for eligibility. The state’s soaring numbers prompted Kevin Winge, in an editorial, to reflect on his purchasing power and habits, and compare his life to that of a SNAP/Food Stamp recipient’s. He notes that the average SNAP/Food Stamp recipient receives $121 a month or $3.29 a day. At a recent trip to the store, Winge spent $22.68 on a box of cereal, some organic bananas, organic milk, a yogurt and loaf of bread. “By clipping coupons, switching brands and going to three different stores, I could reduce the cost of my previous night’s purchases from $22.68 to $9.94,” writes Winge. “That would mean foregoing all organic foods, replacing a pound of bananas with a pound of apples and going with significantly less healthy choices on cereal and yogurt. Of course, that also means that I have access to the coupons, which come with my paid subscription to the newspaper, and that I have transportation to take me to three different stores. Oh, and it also means that I have the time to research bargains and to shop at three different locations which, in my neighborhood, are approximately three miles away from each other.” Winge plans on taking the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge between November 18 and Thanksgiving, and invites readers and elected officials to join him.
Oklahoma
(KRMG, October 7, 2010)
Oklahoma’s SNAP/Food Stamp participation rose 30 months in a row, notes David Blatt, president of the Oklahoma Policy Institute. About one out of every six of the state’s residents receive the benefit – 600,000 people. Many of these recipients have never imagined they would need this kind of help, said Blatt.
West Virginia
(Charleston Daily Mail, November 8, 2010; WV Headline News and Talk Radio, November 4, 2010)
SNAP/Food Stamp enrollment increased to 305,960 West Virginians in 2010, after a steady rise from 262,442 in 2005 to 276,800 in 2008. Increased unemployment and the recession are largely responsible for the 2010 increase rather than changes in the state making more people eligible for the program noted Don Purdue, chairman of the House of Delegates’ Health and Human Resources Committee. In 2007, 4.2 percent of residents were unemployed; in 2008, 4.3 percent were without jobs. In 2009, 7.9 percent in the state were unemployed. USDA figures show that SNAP/Food Stamps helped nearly one in five West Virginians in August 2010. “Food Hardship in West Virginia is higher than the national average,” said Ellen Vollinger of the Food Research and Action Center at a recent meeting in Charleston among state leaders, AARP, social workers, charities and food banks. “People here are facing even starker struggles than they do elsewhere in America. It’s choices between food and medicine, food and utilities, choices people should not be forced to make.” Hard hit are senior citizens, a little-known fact, noted Vollinger. AARP, charities and the state can get information to seniors and other low-income people about the program. “More and more people qualify for [SNAP] and ought to get the benefits,” said Vollinger. The state ranks seventh in SNAP/Food Stamp per capita enrollment. Washington, D.C. leads the nation, with about 21.1 percent of its population enrolled, followed by Mississippi, Tennessee, New Mexico, Oregon and Louisiana.
8. Michigan to Start Disseminating SNAP/Food Stamps Throughout the Month
(ABC News, November 4, 2010)
Some of Michigan’s 1.9 million SNAP/Food Stamp recipients won’t receive their benefit early in the month starting in January, but will begin seeing their assistance on their EBT cards later in the month. “The gradual change will improve access to fresh foods,” said Barbara Anders, deputy director of financial and quality services for the state Department of Human Services. Most SNAP/Food Stamp recipients in the state have been spending their benefits immediately, putting a strain on grocery stores, especially those in the inner cities. Merchants say the staggered dissemination will help them keep the stores better staffed and stocked and allow them to provide a better selection of fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the month. However, some recipients will be forced to spread their assistance out an extra day each month to December 2011 as the change takes effect. Instead of getting their benefits on a day between the 3rd and the 10th, people will be getting their benefits on a day between the 3rd and the 21st of each month. Michigan is not allowed to give these recipients more money on their EBT cards while the change in benefit dispersal is taking place.
9. WIC EBT Cards Come to Chickasaw Nation
(GTR News, November 1, 2010)
A cooperative effort between the Chickasaw National Women Infants and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program (WIC) and J.P. Morgan has made EBT cards available to Chickasaw Nation WIC participants. The WIC agency serving the Nation is the first in Oklahoma to use the plastic cards with a magnetic strip. At checkout, WIC participants receive a receipt showing the amount remaining on the card.
10. World Food Prize Winner Supports Strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization Without SNAP Cuts
(Huffington Post, November 2, 2010)
2010 World Food Prize winner David Beckmann, an anti-hunger activist, Lutheran minister and economist formerly with the World Bank, is deeply concerned with the high rates of hunger in the U.S., particularly the fact that one-quarter of African Americans in the country live in poverty. He notes that Brazil and Bangladesh have reduced poverty, and the U.S. has done so in the past and can in the future. “In the ‘60s and early ‘70s, we had economic growth and we had a concerted effort under both Johnson and Nixon to reduce hunger and poverty, and we cut poverty in half.” That’s why the upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization is so important, said Beckmann. “[W]e should pass a strong [Child Nutrition Act]. It would improve school lunches and strengthen the programs that reach low income kids with food…Seventy percent of the households that get Food Stamps have kids. So we ought to have a strong Child Nutrition Act that does not cut Food Stamps. It’s the right thing; it’s the economic thing.” One in three African American children lives in a household without sufficient food, as do one in four American children. “If we’re trying to manage this economic crisis, we want to manage it in a way that doesn’t allow two year olds to go without adequate nutrition because if [they] don’t eat properly, that does permanent damage to those kids,” said Beckmann. Giving handouts of food won’t solve the poverty program, he notes. “All of the food that we provide through food charities amounts to about 6 percent of the food that poor people get from the federal food programs: food stamps and school lunches and so forth. What we do through charity is really important, but the churches and charities cannot fix this problem. We’ve got to get the government to provide leadership and we have clear opportunities right now.”
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