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.

1. Cities Addressing Lack of Grocery Stores in Low-Income Neighborhoods
(USA Today, January 25, 2008)

Cities across the country are studying food availability in low-income neighborhoods as they try to improve the overall health of poor residents. Lacking easy access to well-stocked grocery stores, residents find it tough to maintain healthy eating habits. Many are without adequate transportation to suburban grocery stores, yet they are quite close to fast-food outlets and convenience stores selling calorie-dense foods. Residents end up choosing convenient foods over healthy ones. Louisville, KY retiree Jessie Caldwell attempts to add healthier foods to her diet, yet faces an hour-long bus ride to a decent store and must limit her purchases to what she can comfortably carry back. Louisville has worked to bring stores to low-income neighborhoods, but has had a tough time attracting grocers. Still, some cities are finding ways of getting fresh fruits and vegetables to low-income neighborhoods:

• Philadelphia Pennsylvania's statewide Fresh Food Financing Initiative spent close to $22 million on various projects in the past four years, including helping corner stores purchase refrigerators to stock more fresh choices.
• New Orleans is increasing the number of markets in poor sections of town devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
• And Troy, New York has a "mobile market" program which brings fruits and vegetables to neighborhoods lacking grocery stores

2. Church Congregations Responding to Social Problems with Active Solutions Along with Prayer
(Abilene Reporter News, January 26, 2008)

A Pew Research Center report shows that 92 percent of Christians hear about America's social problems - including hunger - from the pulpits of their churches. Now religious experts are seeing those congregations take action to help the nation's needy instead of traditionally focus on a couple of "hot topic" political issues. Some say this response is partly due to the perceived irrelevance of religion in many people's lives. In addition, it's become evident to them that many who are helping in the community don't attend church, while those that do attend are more concerned with the politics of poverty and believe that prayer is sufficient to solve problems. The national advocacy group Sojourners/Call to Renewal is helping guide these churches to become "agents for social change." Aaron Graham, a field organizer at Sojourners, counsel church leaders across the country, helping them see that many social issues are non-political and nonpartisan, and that helping the unfortunate is work Christians should be doing.

3. Texas Looks to Continue Improving its High Breakfast Participation Numbers
(Jacksonville Daily Progress, January 12, 2008)

FRAC's 2007 School Breakfast Scorecard found 99 percent of Texas schools are involved in the School Breakfast Program, and this article highlights the state's desire to improve its numbers even more. For every 100 low-income children in the School Lunch Program, only 53 are eating breakfast; some school districts are below that mark. Celia Haggart, of the Texas Center for Public Policy Priorities, notes that their participation numbers can rise if they make breakfast part of the school day. Some districts are having more success than others:

• All students are offered free breakfast during first period in the Houston school district;
• Carter and Jacksonville districts are "making breakfast fun," concentrating on removing what doesn't work on the cafeteria line and trying new offerings;
• Rusk district started a "grab 'n go" breakfast program three years ago, making it available to every student.

The focus on school breakfast isn't just at the district level. A bill passed last year requires that the Texas Department of Agriculture investigate ways of increasing school breakfast program participation. A report and recommendations will be issued to the governor and other officials by the end of October 2008.

4. WIC Changes Will Happen in Texas, But Slowly
(El Paso Times, January 18, 2008)

Texas's Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program is implementing the federally-mandated changes to the food packages offered to participating women and children, although officials in the state say it will be a year before changes take effect. The changes, which include adding more whole grains and low-fat dairy products to the program's menus, are intend to bring the WIC food package in line with the U.S. Health and Human Services 2005 Dietary Guidelines as well as the infant feeding guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Close to 18,000 children between the ages of 2 and 5 years are eligible to receive WIC benefits in El Paso are not part of the program, while 48,000 El Pasoans participated in WIC over the past year out of 66,000 eligible. (Article available at newspaper's Web site archives.)

5. D.C. Hunger Solutions Corner Store Initiative Profiled
(Washington Business Journal, February 1, 2008)

This article in the Washington Business Journal features D.C. Hunger Solutions, highlighting the organization's corner store project. The term food desert describes many low-income neighborhoods that lack access to grocery stores; paradoxically, hunger, obesity and malnutrition are linked in these areas. The corner store project works with store owners to help them offer healthier foods in neighborhoods. Often, corner and convenience stores in low-income neighborhoods are the only accessible groceries for residents. The stores find it difficult to stock fresh items due to their short shelf lives and require special refrigeration which many stores lack. According to Gary Cha, president of KAGRO (Korean-American Grocers Association) and owner of Yes! Organic Market, many store owners "are interested, but they don't know how."

6. Food Stamp Recipients Can Take Advantage of EITC
(WILX Michigan, January 23, 2008)

Lansing, Michigan residents who receive food stamps or other forms of assistance also may be eligible to receive the tax break known as Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) according to this news report. "Even those who pay little or no income tax could be eligible for this credit," notes State Budget Director Bob Emerson. (Article available from WILX.)

7. More Rhode Islanders Should Be Receiving Food Stamps
(Providence Journal Blog, January 30, 2008)

Many working families and senior citizens may be eligible for food stamps but are not enrolled in the program according to a study by the University of Rhode Island. Advocates met recently with the state's Department of Human Services to discuss the findings and investigate methods of getting food stamps to the 30 percent of people who qualify but haven't applied. Also, the George Wiley Center and the RI Campaign to End Childhood Poverty submitted ideas for raising the number of recipients, which included extending food stamp office hours, adding more staff to process applications, and moving recertification to once each year instead of every six months.

8. Heavier Use of Hunger Services and Agencies Indicate More People Struggling with Poverty
(The Westerly Sun, February 3, 2008)

"The quality of life is diminishing" for more middle-class residents and those on fixed incomes according to Joseph DeSantis, CEO of the South County Community Action Agency in Rhode Island, as more people are seeking assistance from food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and heating assistance offices than in the past. The need is particularly felt by the elderly and working poor, who are struggling because their income pays for less this year than the year before. "Some people who we're providing fuel assistance to may not be out of fuel but they're suffering," noted DeSantis. "They're probably not getting proper nourishment or forsaking medications." Skyrocketing food and fuel prices are being blamed for the struggles, and Rhode Island's Department of Human Services has seen the demand for food stamps go up as the working poor and those laid off from their jobs are having a tough time making ends meet.

9. Food Stamps Praised by Food Bank CEO
(Hartford Courant, February 3, 2008)

Individuals play an important part in helping the needy of their communities, but CEO Gloria McAdam, CEO of the Hartford, Connecticut area food bank Foodshare, sees the Food Stamp Program, the nation's largest distributor of food to low-income people, as the foundation for solving the nation's hunger problem. Food banks, such as Foodshare, only fulfill one-third of the overall need according to McAdam, who was profiled in this editorial. Also featured in the editorial is Katie Martin, who studied how low-income families acquire food for her doctorate at the University of Connecticut's Center for Public Health and Health Policy. While a few families may be able to borrowing a car to go shopping, others rely on neighbors to feed their children. Martin found that the more a family is connected to its neighborhood, the more likely it was that the family would not go hungry. Finally, the editorial focuses on End Hunger CT, which has a three year plan to eradicate hunger. Serving breakfast and lunch in all schools, and helping the needy become more economically stable by signing up more eligible people for food stamps, are key tactics in their plan.

10. Anemia Possible Among Children Who Don't Eat Breakfast
(Green Bay Press Gazette, February 4, 2008)

A Baylor College of Medicine study found that children who skip breakfast lack enough iron in their diet. The research, which focused on 700 Louisiana ninth-graders, found a significant iron deficiency in one-third of the students who don't eat breakfast. Researchers have found that behavior and learning can be negatively affected by iron-deficiency anemia. Green Bay, Wisconsin is making sure more children don't go hungry in the morning by focusing greater energy and funding on school breakfast programs. Three of the city's elementary schools offer free breakfast to all students, a move that has more than doubled (to 3,000) the number of meals served. Half of Green Bay's children received subsidized lunches, and many of those children also get breakfast at reduced or no-cost. Afterschool programs, such as free lunches in the summer, attempt to fill in the gap when children are out of school. The summer meals, served in parks, schools, libraries and Boys and Girls Clubs, provided 64,000 lunches to children in the summer of 2007.

11. Web Site Helps Match People to Benefits
(WHIZ, February 3, 2008)

Online technology now helps Ohio residents find out if they're eligible for food stamps and other government programs. In less than two years of operation, the Ohio Benefit Bank computer program has facilitated delivery of more than $9 million in food stamps, WIC benefits, and tax credits. While this online assistance cannot file applications or approve individuals, trained counselors are on hand to help potential recipients check their eligibility.

12. Increase in Federal Funding Helps WIC Recipients In Utah
(The Salt Lake Tribune, January 18, 2008)

The Congress-approved $633 million in additional WIC support will help Utah's program avert a $4 million deficit and continue to provide nutritional support to the state's low-income children and pregnant women. WIC programs across the country have been struggling with rising milk and dairy costs, and were facing flat federal funding before Congress passed the boost. Utah has approximately 65,000 WIC clients and received $40 million, which will keep the program from "going into caseload management," according to WIC program manager Chris Furner, and cutting off eligible women and children.

13. Senator Outlines Plan to Help Michigan Residents Through Tough Economy
(Milford Times, February 7, 2008)

Michigan Senior Senator Carl Levin calls on Washington to strengthen the safety net by increasing food stamp benefits and home energy assistance for the state's residents currently battling rising food and fuel costs, unemployment and home foreclosures. 145,000 of the state's job-seekers have come to the end of the unemployment benefits yet are still unable to find a job, giving Michigan the highest unemployment rate in the nation. Levin agrees that the economic stimulus plan will help the state, but only in the short term. "[Our] state needs more than just this kind of short-term infusion," writes Levin. Increasing food stamp benefits will not only work to keep families from choosing food or fuel, says Levin, it will strengthen consumer spending. He notes that he food stamp benefit has not kept up with inflation, and concludes "[no] state is struggling more than Michigan in this tough economy." (Click here for remarks by Senator McGovern on Food Stamps and the federal budget.)

14. Food Stamp Challenge Inspires Community Fundraising Project
(Great Falls Tribune, February 5, 2008)

A local YWCA's "Empty Bowls" fundraiser, which serves soup from artist-designed bowls that participants can keep, was developed by potter Judy Ericksen after she took part in the Food Stamp Challenge. The challenge impressed on her the fact that it was tough to find inexpensive food that still provided daily nutritional requirements. "I was eating lots of carbohydrates because that was affordable. And forget about (affording) fresh fruit." The event, which now features close to a dozen artisans providing bowls, benefits Mercy Home, YWCA's safe house for women and children.