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.

1. Retailers Can Help Customers By Highlighting SNAP/Food Stamp Program
(Supermarket News, January 4, 2010)

“Retailers that help customers through this difficult time by highlighting [SNAP/Food Stamp] eligibility or even helping them apply for benefits could earn loyalty for life,” writes Fresh Market Editor Matthew Enis in this editorial. Unemployment is at 10 percent. The number of food insecure Americans increased in 2008, according to USDA – with 21 percent of U.S. families with children classified by USDA as food insecure in 2008. While food prices went down last year, the recession still forced the poor and middle class into a financial struggle. Each day, 20,000 new applicants sign up for SNAP/Food Stamps, reports The New York Times; participation increased by two-thirds or more in 270 counties. “Meanwhile, retailers serving areas that were hit hardest by the downturn should look at SNAP as an ongoing opportunity.” Many eligible people still have not applied for the benefit – 50 percent of eligible households in California, and 54 percent in Nevada, take advantage of the program. And the stigma attached to it in the past has been “eroded by need.”

2. Leading Anti-Hunger Crusader Passes Away
(Minneapolis Star-Tribune, December 22, 2009)

The Rev. Richard Goebel, founder of the Greater St. Paul Second Harvest Food Bank in 1982 and its executive director until his retirement in 2001, died in December; he was 73. He was instrumental in creating the Minneapolis Second Harvest Food Bank, which later merged with the Greater St. Paul Second Harvest Food Bank to become Second Harvest Heartland, Minnesota’s largest food bank. A master at building relationships and recruiting others into the anti-hunger fight, Rev. Goebel created the Taste of the NFL fundraiser, helped create Feeding America, the national network of 200 food banks across the country, and served on the boards of the St. Paul Area Council of Churches, Minnesota Food Share, Hunger Solutions Minnesota, and Habitat for Humanity, in addition to other advocacy organizations for the poor and hungry. Feeding America recognized Rev. Goebel with the inaugural Dick Goebel Award in 2001.

“Dick Goebel was a wonderful friend and partner to the Food Research and Action Center, to anti-hunger advocates across the country, and to poor and hungry people everywhere,” noted FRAC President Jim Weill in a separate statement. “We will miss him.”

3. Alexander County, Ill. Ranks 14th in Nation for Number of Children on SNAP/Food Stamps
(Poverty to Opportunity blog, January 4, 2010)

Three out of five children – 62 percent – in Illinois’ Alexander County are being fed through SNAP/Food Stamps, tying the county for 14th place among all 3,136 counties in the U.S. when ranked for children’s’ SNAP/Food Stamp participation. Located in the far southwest corner of the state, the county has an overall SNAP/Food Stamp participation rate of 34 percent, with 57 percent of blacks and 22 percent of whites enrolled in the program. Yet between 2007 and when the recession began in 2009, participation increased only 2 percent. There was a problem in the county before the recession began, notes this blog posting. Poverty is not just an urban issue, it occurs throughout the state. “The thought that our economic downturn is the major cause of the current hardship and, with a growing economy, all boats will be lifted is a myth. We need to do more than hope the economy turns around.”

4. Texas Works to Reduce SNAP/Food Stamp Backlog While Advocates Continue to Apply Pressure
(The Texas Tribune, January 5, 2010)

According to Stephanie Goodman, spokeswoman for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), the agency hired 674 new SNAP/Food Stamp eligibility staff over the past four months, and pulled more than 100 staff from other areas in the agency to help decrease the backlog of SNAP/Food Stamp applications. As demand has soared over the last year, two-thirds of applicants in the state have had to wait longer than the federally-mandated 30 days to find out if they are eligible for the benefit. “We understand that the wait for food benefits is still too long in most areas of the state, and we’re working as fast as we can to provide benefits more quickly,” said Goodman. On behalf of 19 families that have been waiting, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid sent a fourth letter to the HHSC, demanding the agency take emergency action to help the families feed their children. The legal aid group noted that too many children are getting their meals at school; the families sued the state last month to force action on their SNAP/Food Stamp applications, and sent three previous letters seeking a response to their applications.

5. More Nevadans Count SNAP/Food Stamps as Their Only Income
(Reno Gazette-Journal, January 6, 2010)

The number of Nevadans reporting SNAP/Food Stamps as their only income rose 173 percent from June 2007 to June 2009, ranking the state number one among 30 states according to a New York Times analysis of recent welfare data. Florida came in second with an increase of 113 percent. According to Romaine Gilliland, administrator of the Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services, the number represents the most desperate applicants. In Nevada, 151,000 residents received SNAP/Food Stamps in June 2008, and the number rose to 219,000 in June 2009. Gilliland expects participation to climb to 313,000 by June 2010. People can apply now through the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, which can interview prospective recipients and take applications on behalf of the agency. The Times reported that nationally, 10 million additional SNAP/Food Stamp recipients were added to the program over the past two years. The program now feeds one in eight Americans, nearly one in four children, and is expected to spend more than $60 billion in 2010.

6. Legislation Would Help New Jersey’s Ex-Felons Access SNAP/Food Stamps, Other Assistance
(NJ.com, January 3, 2010)

New Jersey’s prisoners find their punishment extends after they’re released from jail, as they’re barred from receiving SNAP/Food Stamps, public housing, many jobs, drug treatment, and job training programs. Those struggling now face even tougher challenges during the recession. “The result is predictable,” notes this editorial. “Roughly two-thirds of released inmates land back in prison within three years. And the cycle begins anew.” Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman (D-Mercer) recently introduced legislation, which has received bi-partisan support, that would allow ex-prisoners to receive SNAP/Food Stamps and join job training programs. The legislation would also provide education and job training within prisons, and establish a commission to study promising re-entry programs.

7. Kentucky Governor Puts High Priority on Safety Net, SNAP/Food Stamps
(governor.ky.gov, January 6, 2010)

In his state of the union 2010 speech, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear said he places a high priority in helping “beleaguered Kentucky families survive this economic upheaval with immediate, safety-net help.” He noted that the state has started a $2.9 million SNAP/Food Stamp system overhaul in order to get these benefits to families quicker. He’s supported repeated unemployment compensation extensions, and Kentucky created a Web site - http://www.assistance.ky.gov/ - that helps guide families to the assistance they need during the recession.

8. Needy in Wisconsin Need Access to All Forms of Assistance
(Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, January 5, 2010)

In Wisconsin, 14,114 families with dependent children currently receiving SNAP/Food Stamps do not receive cash payments through the state’s W-2 program even though they would most likely qualify. “It is simply unacceptable that agencies that provide one benefit for low-income people would not also ensure they get all the help they need and for which they are eligible,” notes this editorial. A new state report claims it is because the poor don’t know about the program, but “the nagging question is whether this ignorance is something the state abets, purposely or not.” Advocates for the poor say the state encourages this ignorance. State legislators say there are more people eligible for the W-2 program than receive it, indicating “a huge problem in outreach.” Hurdles do exist: low-income communities can be hard to reach, and the W-2 requires that recipients be enrolled in up to 40 hours a week of job training or classes. “But it’s difficult to reconcile two claims here: People are receiving one benefit for the poor [SNAP/Food Stamps] and they say they don’t know of the existence of another that should logically be employed in tandem to tackle poverty.” In a study by the Department of Children and Families, two-thirds of people surveyed who received SNAP/Food Stamps, but not the cash payment program, said they didn’t know about W-2. Some said they were told they were ineligible, although ”this couldn’t be known unless they applied.” Still others said they were told the program wasn’t available in their area (although it is statewide). The report that came from this investigation, done by the agency responsible for W-2, “included genuine concern about whether the program is being properly administered.” New training was prompted by the report, even before it was finished. “Still, the report is disturbing,” concludes the editorial. “The goal here should be creating a culture of helpfulness that permeates the agencies – and their contractors.”

9. Supermarkets Needed in Brooklyn
(Caribbean Life News, January 2, 2010)

A report by Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE) and the Urban Justice Center’s Community Development Project found that Brooklyn, NY residents need better access to affordable supermarkets. “We talked to people and they said they wanted to be able to secure fresh produce in their community,” said Wanda Imasuen, FUREE’s lead organizer. “They don’t want to have to travel so far for food. We have a real supermarket problem in Downtown Brooklyn. There are older women here who have no access to fresh, affordable food.” The group surveyed 150 residents. Brooklyn’s Downtown and Fort Greene have gentrified rapidly, leaving long-term residents without easy access to supermarkets, notes FUREE. While the Gristedes supermarket chain has been developing retail locations in the area, the chain has not discussed community concerns with FUREE. Plus, FUREE has heard that the upscale markets planned will not accept WIC or SNAP/Food Stamps.

10. Study Finds Fresh, Healthy Food Hard to Access in Savannah
(Savannah Now, January 6, 2010)

A draft report by Healthy Savannah 2012, a volunteer effort to improve the health of the city’s residents, found it’s easier to find French fries and soda for sale than fresh fruit and milk. The report analyzed the area block-by-block and came up with how convenient it is to find healthy food vs. fast food, calculating a “food balance” score for each city block. The score was found by dividing the distance from the block to any mainstream food provider by the distance to a “fringe food venue.” The report, titled “A New Day in the Garden, A Food Desert and Food Balance Analysis in Savannah, Georgia,” found that the worst food imbalances weren’t confined to low-income neighborhoods, and offers a list of 17 suggestions for making access to healthy food easier. Earlier this year, the city changed its public parks vending policy and now allows farmers’ markets to operate in Forsyth Park. Advocates are considering lobbying for a state grant program which would help cities create incentives for grocery stores to locate in food imbalance areas.

11. Atlanta Public Schools Expands In-Classroom Breakfast
(DiversityInc.com, January 8, 2010)

Last March, Sodexo Jackmont introduced the in-classroom breakfast program at Atlanta’s Slater elementary school. The success of the initiative has led to the program’s expansion to five elementary, two middle and two high schools, enabling more than 5,000 students to get their breakfasts from carts wheeled into classes and eat the meal in their classrooms. All of the district’s students are eligible for free school breakfast, regardless of income, although most weren’t participating because they had to arrive early in order to eat breakfast in the cafeteria. “[W]e’ve had more than a 200 percent increase in participation” since introducing the program, said Dr. Marilyn Hughes, director of nutrition administration for Atlanta Public Schools. In-classroom breakfast removes the stigma associating school breakfast with poverty. This stigma may be a reason many students avoid school breakfast programs, noted USDA in its study Evaluation of the School Breakfast Program Pilot Project. Because of time constraints and stigma, “too many children are heading off to school without eating breakfast,” said Roxanne Moore, Sodexo’s national director of wellness for the educational market. “And missing breakfast is putting children’s health and academic performance at risk.” The Atlanta breakfast program has not been in effect long enough to measure its impact on student learning, but several studies link child nutrition to academic performance. “What we find particularly exciting is that [school breakfast] is a relatively simple intervention that can significantly improve children’s academic performance and psychological well-being,” said Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School’s School Breakfast Program Researcher J. Michael Murphy. Sodexo has managed school nutrition programs since 1986 and collaborates with more than 470 school districts.

12. San Diego Sees Large Increase in School Breakfast Program Participation
(KPBS, January 4, 2010)

FRAC’s school breakfast report tracking program participation in 25 large urban school districts found that the number of San Diego students eating free school breakfast increased 40 percent last year. Almost 29,000 students in the city eat breakfast at school, and the majority are low-income children. Researchers credited the recession for part of the increase; San Diego Unified School District’s in-classroom breakfast program also boosted the numbers.

13. More Kansas Children Qualify for Free and Reduced Price School Lunch
(KSAL, January 4, 2010)

The number of Kansas school children qualified to receive free and reduced-price lunch increased six percent since the 2003-2004 school year, reports the Topeka Capital-Journal. Now, 44 percent of children in the state qualify for the meal subsidy. In the Topeka Unified School District 501, 72 percent of students receive free and reduced-price lunch, an increase of 14 percent.

14. Only One Oakland, Calif. School Offers In-Classroom Breakfast
(New Media America, January 7, 2010)

Melrose Leadership Academy is the only school in the Oakland Unified School District that offers free, in-classroom breakfast. Before the program started, only five or six of the nearly 200 students, the majority of whom are Latino and low-income, took advantage of the morning meal, and 90 percent weren’t eating breakfast at all, according to Melrose principal Myra Contreras. Offering in-classroom breakfast has boosted the participation to 85 to 90 percent of students. FRAC’s recent School Breakfast Scorecard found that California’s low-income school children underutilize the School Breakfast Program, ranking the state 33rd in the nation compared to low-income participation in other states, and Oakland’s school district is particularly problematic. In a companion report which examined twenty-five urban school districts, including San Diego, Los Angeles and Oakland, Oakland had the fewest breakfast participants of the three urban areas and was the only district which experienced a decline in numbers. Most public schools in Oakland, many say, don’t offer alternatives for early morning breakfast, like in-classroom or second-chance breakfast. “In California, where they’ve started to offer breakfast in the classroom or second-chance breakfast, you do see a dramatic increase in participation,” said Tia Shimada, nutrition policy advocate with California Food Policy Advocates. “This happens for a number of reasons. The main thing is, you are not asking kids to get to school early. If the family has a tight schedule or the child has to ride the bus, they don’t necessarily have 10 minutes to spare.”

15. Texas Improves School Nutrition and Meal Access for Low-Income Students
(Herald-Zeitung, January 7, 2010)

Over time, changes in Texas schools have “drastically improved the nutritional value – and flavor – of school lunches,” said Beth Wallace, director of child nutrition for Comal Independent School District. Middle school students these days don’t have access to vending machines during school hours. By August 2009, every school in the state was mandated to remove all deep-fat fryers. Some districts are purchasing locally-grown Texas produce for school meals. Whole wheat dough and low-fat cheese are now the components of school pizza. And low-income families can quickly access free and reduced-price meals for their children. “Free and reduced price programs from the state used to take six weeks for approval, once mailed,” said Wallace. “Now they are electronically filed and take days.”

16. Letter to the Editor Calls on Congress to Expand TANF
(Cleveland.com, January 6, 2010)

“Congress must reauthorize TANF this year and amend it to fit reality,” notes this letter to the editor. Improving access to the program is an opportunity to “mend our shredded safety net.” The 1996 law requires that Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients participate in work-placements and limits their program participation to five years (three years in Ohio’s Cuyahoga County). However, that law “was premised on the belief that mothers could find jobs and be self-sufficient. With few jobs available, time limits put parents and children in chaotic situations unbearable to most of us.” People are left without the ability to pay rent and utilities, leading to hunger, family distress, school dropouts and homelessness. These problems have spread from the inner city to Cuyahoga County’s suburbs. A recent article on the millions of unemployed Americans who have SNAP/Food Stamps as their only income – half of which are families with children – shows the extent of the need to improve TANF during the recession.

17. Budget Cut Forces Senior Meal Site to Cut Back
(Watertown Daily Times, January 5, 2010)

A senior meal site in Copenhagen, New York won’t close down, even though county officials had announced that financial difficulties would force the site at the United Church of Copenhagen to stop its operations. However, the site will be open two days a week instead of three. Last fall, county budget deliberations cut the Office for the Aging’s budget from $1,181,567 last year to $1,175,355 in 2010. Since then, church leaders agreed to reduce the rent charged to the program, which serves about eight to ten people each day it is open. The senior nutrition program relies on federal reimbursements and state and county subsidies to operate, and receives some donations from participants. Officials said that if the county were to choose, home-delivered meals would be given budget priority over congregate meals because many seniors find it hard to leave their homes. Seniors are also being encouraged to sign up for SNAP/Food Stamps to supplement their Social Security and other income. Seniors can also use their benefit to pay their portion of meals at the senior meal program.

18. Washington State County’s Obesity Rates and Food Insecurity Numbers Mirror National Paradox
(Kitsap Sun, December 27, 2009)

One in ten Kitsap County, Wash. residents is food insecure, according to the report “Hungry in Washington” published last month by the Children’s Alliance. But there’s a paradox at work – as one in three in Kitsap are overweight by BMI standards, and one in four are obese. Across the country, one in six Americans are food insecure, as reported by a recent USDA study, and two out of three are overweight. The Food Research and Action Center provides several observations that may explain the paradox. Low-income families -- lacking money, SNAP/Food Stamps and other resources -- may consume high calorie, low-cost foods in order to stave off hunger. Their diets may curb hunger, but don’t contribute to their health, and can cause obesity. Poor people may overeat when food is available, an adaptive response to those times when they have less food. In addition, the body may efficiently store calories as fat in order to compensate for times when food is scarce. The recession has only made things worse. “The nation’s economic crisis has catapulted the number of Americans who lack enough food to the highest level since the government has been keeping track,” noted a recent Washington Post story.