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. Nearly 20 Percent of Families Report Food Hardship
(The New York Times, January 26, 2010; Reuters, January 26, 2010)

In a report released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), nearly one in five Americans responded “yes” to the question: “Have there been times in the last month when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?” These data come from a survey conducted by Gallup, which has interviewed 1,000 people nearly every day over the past two years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture releases an annual survey of “food insecurity,” asking 18 “nuanced questions” about the number of times people skipped meals, cut portions, or worried about running out of food. With more than 500,000 respondents, the Gallup survey provides a sample size large enough to provide data on the nation’s 435 Congressional districts and Washington, D.C. The recent report found that 15 percent or more of those surveyed in 45 states and in 311 Congressional districts said they lacked money within the past twelve months to buy sufficient food. Eighty-two of the 100 largest metropolitan areas had food hardships rates of 15 percent or higher; rates of less than 10 percent occurred in only 23 Congressional districts, with rates of more than 20 percent in 139 districts. The South Bronx has the highest, with nearly 37 percent of residents answering they lacked money to buy sufficient food. Mississippi had the highest rate for states – 26.2 percent. “While there is certainly more hardship in some areas than in others, the data also show that this is a nearly universal problem,” said Jim Weill, president of FRAC. “There are no hunger-free areas of America.” A year ago, the President backed a $1 billion a year increase in child nutrition programs (school lunch, etc.); the administration has a goal of eliminating childhood hunger by 2015. The hardship data is part of Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index, which asks questions about physical and mental health.

2. Philadelphia Area Among Top Hungriest in Nation
(Philadelphia Inquirer, January 26, 2010)

Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District – including South Philadelphia and parts of North Philadelphia – ranked 2nd in the nation for food hardship, with more than 36 percent of the district answering “yes” to the Gallup question on food hardship, according to a report from the Food Research and Action Center. Only the 16th District in the Bronx, NY ranked lower. “This report is deeply troubling,” said Rep. Bob Brady (D-PA). “But there is a direct correlation between food hardship, the economy, and the loss of jobs. [F]or people who are living on the economic edge in the First Congressional District, this period of economic crisis is devastating.” In North Philadelphia, Tianna Gaines, a 30-year-old single mother of three children under six, feels food hardship firsthand. “Things get tight at the end of the month, and sometimes I don’t eat so my kids can,” said Gaines, who lives on public assistance. “The hardship of living without food is figuring out where it’s going to come from.” Nationally, the fourth quarter of 2008 saw the rate at 19.5 percent, which then dropped to 18.5 percent in 2009. Jim Weill, president of FRAC, said the number spiked when the economic crisis was worsening, unemployment was rising, and food prices were increasing. Weill said that between November 2008 and November 2009, food prices fell 2.9 percent and SNAP/Food Stamp benefits increased in October 2008. In addition, SNAP/Food Stamp rules were changed in Pennsylvania and in other states, making more people eligible for the benefit. The slight decrease in hardship numbers, however, is not the light at the end of the tunnel. “There are still far, far too many families living in food-hardship households,” said Weill. “We ought to be appalled.” Mariana Chilton, a Drexel University public health professor and Philadelphia hunger expert, agrees. “This is absolutely awful,” she said. “Millions of children are still experiencing food insecurity.” But the FRAC study of the Gallup poll will help, she noted. “I can speak directly with [Rep.] Brady and the others and say, ‘Look at this rate. How are you going to handle this?’” The report did not surprise Carey Morgan, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger. Morgan said the children’s numbers are particularly troubling. “The impacts of poverty on kids won’t be felt until 20 years from now, when these kids are grown, and we won’t have a viable workforce,” she said. SNAP/Food Stamps provide some help, but in Pennsylvania, the rules and limitations make it tough for some to navigate. “Officials need to make rules that make sense, and to increase funding,” said Barbie Izquierdo, a North Philadelphia single mother of two who was laid off from her job in furniture sales.

3. South Bronx, New York, Termed “Hungriest” Place in America
(El Diario, January 27, 2010)

A new report from FRAC found one in three people in the South Bronx, New York, are hungry. The news “is an indication that we have been hardest hit by the economic downturn than other places,” said the district’s Congressman Jose E. Serrano. In response to the report, Serrano sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg asking for assistance to address this problem. Congressman Edolphus Towns’ district in Brooklyn came in 6th place in the report, and more than half of New York City’s districts show high levels of hunger. Mark Dunlea, director of Hunger Action Network, said that the 50 percent increase in demand for emergency food over the past two years is the result of unemployment and the housing crisis. He warned that proposed budget cuts by New York Governor David Paterson could make the problem even worse. (Original article in Spanish.)

4. Minnesota’s Food Hardship Rate More than 10 Percent
(Minnesota Post, January 26, 2010)

The study by FRAC shows that Minnesota had a food hardship rate of 13.8 percent. Food hardship in the Minneapolis/St. Paul/Bloomington metropolitan area was 13.9 percent. Numbers for households with children are higher: 18.6 percent of households with children in the area reported food hardship. “These new data reaffirm what we’re seeing in our local communities and provides a current, on-the-ground look at how pervasive households’ struggle with hunger have become in today’s economy,” said Colleen Moriarty, executive director of Hunger Solutions Minnesota. The organization helped launch the Minnesota Food Helpline last June. Since June, more than 1,550 Minnesota residents have called the number (1-888-711-1151) for help.

5. Nearly One-Quarter of Texas Households Struggle with Food Hardship
(KBTX, January 26, 2010)

“Hunger is simply everywhere in Texas,” said Barbara Anderson, state director for the Texas Food Bank Network. “These data [based on a Gallup poll and released in a report from FRAC] underscore how pervasive the struggle with hunger has become in today’s economy.” The report showed that 21 percent of Texas households did not have enough money to buy the food they needed in 2009. It also breaks it down by major metro areas: In Houston, 19.8 percent could not afford food in 2009; Dallas had 18.6 percent, San Antonio had 17.6 percent, and in Austin, 16.3 percent could not afford food. Texas’ 17th Congressional District had a 21.5 percent food hardship rate. “I think it will surprise a lot of people that as many as 1 in 5 children and adults in our district struggle with not having enough food,” said Rep. Chet Edwards, who represents the district. “It is a devastating problem…churches, communities and government need to work together to give people a helping hand until they can get back on their feet.” Edwards supported the SNAP/Food Stamp boost of 13.6 percent, which raised [average] monthly benefits to $314 a month from $276 a month. “President Obama has set a goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015,” said JC Dwyer, state policy coordinator for the Texas Food Bank Network. “But as we can see with these new data, the struggle against hunger will take collaboration between all levels of government, private business and nonprofits statewide.”

6. Report Finds Arizona Food Hardship Problem Getting Worse
(AZ Family, January 27, 2010; East Valley Living, January 26, 2010)

One in five Arizona households had trouble in 2009 with getting enough food to feed their families, according to the FRAC/Gallup report. The numbers increased 2 percent from 2008, when Arizona ranked 22nd in the nation; the state now ranks 17th. Plus, food hardship numbers for 2009 were not down from 2008 for Arizona, as they were for the rest of the nation. “This data confirms what we’re seeing in communities throughout Arizona, and it provides a current look at how pervasive households’ struggle with hunbger have become that we didn’t previously have,” said Ginny Hildebrand, president and CEO of the Association of Arizona Food Banks (AAFB). “Certainly there’s still much work to be done to assist our struggling individuals and families in this economy.” Arizona’s food banks are feeling the pressure from increased demand as people who formerly would donate food are now asking emergency food programs for help. “They’re our neighbors and our friends that we work with,” said Sharon Pierson, director of the Desert Mission Food Bank in Phoenix. “These striking numbers show how badly Arizona’s economy struggled in 2009. Desert Mission has seen the impact of increased food hardship by serving more clients than ever before.” Although the numbers don’t seem, currently, to be getting worse, “obviously it’s not where we want to be,” said the AAFB’s Brian Simpson. Phoenix ranked 27th out of 100 metropolitan statistic areas (MSAs) in the report, with a food hardship rate of 19.8 percent for 2008-09; the city’s food hardship rate for households with children was higher, at 27.4 percent. In Tucson, 18.8 percent of households experienced food hardship, ranking the city 37th. As Congress looks at jobs legislation and prepares to reauthorize child nutrition programs, AAFB and its member food banks joined with FRAC in calling for improvements in SNAP/Food Stamps and the child nutrition programs, as well as more efforts to boost the economy and reduce unemployment.

7. Nebraska’s Food Hardship Rate Ranks the State 36th in the Nation
(Grand Island Independent, January 28, 2010; KTIV, January 29, 2010)

Nebraska’s food hardship rate in 2009 extended to 15.9 percent of the state’s households, according to the national food hardship report, with 21.7 percent of households with children reporting food hardship. The rate for the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area was 17.2 percent, and all three of the state’s Congressional districts had more than one in ten residents reporting food hardship. “This new data reaffirms what we’re seeing in our local communities and provides a current, on-the-ground look at how pervasive the struggle with hunger has become in our state,” said Rebecca Gould, executive director of the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest. “These findings emphasize that more must be done, and quickly, to help struggling families.” The statistics were generated from Gallup’s question on food hardship asked of 3,600 Nebraska households for the past two years.

8. Report Examines How Americans Struggle with Food Hardship during Recession
(Eating in Raleigh blog, January 27, 2010)

Data released by FRAC showing how Americans in every congressional district and 100 of the largest metropolitan areas are struggling with hunger. Some of the statistics, as covered by the Eating in Raleigh blog:

“In 2009, in 20 states, more than one in five respondents said that they experienced food hardship; in 45 states more than 15 percent reported food hardship. For households with children, in 22 states one quarter or more of respondents reported food hardship.

“Of the 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), 82 had 15 percent or more of respondents answering that they did not have enough money to buy needed food at times in the last 12 months. For the 50 largest MSAs, 15 had more than one in four households with children reporting hardship.”

9. Additional coverage:

Meaty Results From Hunger Survey (Slate/The Big Money, January 26, 2010)

More struggling to put food on table (Marketplace, January 26, 2010)

1 in 5 US Households Went Hungry in 2009 (Democracy Now!, January 27, 2010)

Bronx District Has Worst Hunger Problems in U.S., Says Report (The Epoch Times, January 27, 2010)

Study Names a Delaware Valley Area the “Hungriest” in the US (KYW Newsradio 1060, January 26, 2010)

Report: 1 in 5 area households faces ‘food hardship’ (Columbus Dispatch, January 26, 2010)

Americans Can’t Afford Food Anymore (Workplace Diva, January 26, 2010)