1. Congressman McGovern Calls for Expanded Nutrition Title in Farm Bill
(The Congressional Record, April 3, 2008)

“The Farm Bill Conferees should do the right thing and properly fund the nutrition title,” said Congressman McGovern recently on the House floor. Responding to comments made by the Secretary of Agriculture, who “publicly stated he’s not enthusiastic about increasing spending for nutrition programs above the $9.5 billion currently being discussed,” McGovern’s one-minute speech delivered the following news to the Secretary:

“Families going to food banks aren’t enthusiastic about their struggles. People applying for food stamps aren’t enthusiastic about the tough choices they’re forced to make because their food stamp benefit isn’t keeping up with the price of milk. Seniors aren’t enthusiastic about having to take their medicines on an empty stomach.”

McGovern said that with families choosing between food and heat and milk prices taking up more food stamp dollars, the nutrition title should be increased. “Anything less is shameful,” he concluded.

2. Pediatricians Warn of Damage to Infant Health Caused by Hunger
(Philadelphia Inquirer, April 1, 2008)

Doctors at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia are seeing firsthand the result of the nation’s worsening economy and high food and fuel prices, as more and more underweight infants are suffering with anemia and worse affects caused by “inadequate nutrition.” In this commentary, pediatric researchers Mariana Chilton and John Cook point to the “particularly grave” implications for hunger when experienced by children under three. With 15 percent of families they interview reporting food insecurity - a figure higher than the nation’s average of 11 percent – more children are in danger of nutrition-related health and learning setbacks. Food stamps, which should help these families, are “inadequate to purchase a healthy diet,” according to research they cite by the Real Cost of a Healthy Diet Project. Chilton and Cook call for Congress to include sufficient food stamp program funding in the Farm Bill, and for all political candidates to address hunger, especially as experienced by low-income children, in this election year.

3. State Budget Cuts Hit Needy the Hardest
(The Washington Post, March 31, 2008)

Close to 25 states are experiencing dismal budget news but won’t raise taxes to balance budget shortfalls. Instead, most are opting to cut back on programs for the needy. “It’s disappointing,” said the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities’ deputy director Iris J. Lav. “[T]hey tend to focus their cuts on the most vulnerable.” States making the highest public program cuts are California, Maine, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. The New York legislature tried to pass a bill calling for a new income tax for residents earning more than $1 million, but the Republican-controlled senate and state governor opposed it. Attempts to raise taxes in other states face opposition from residents struggling with the foundering housing market and sluggish economy. Snapshots of cuts to programs include:

- Illinois, where Cook County’s two mobile vans - testing women in poor neighborhoods for breast cancer - have stopped running;
- New Jersey, where state workers are facing layoffs;
- California, where Everardo Orozco can no longer afford his AIDS drugs. His medical benefits have run out, and he is now down to half his daily regimen of medications since his co-pay has risen from $400 to $3,200 each month.

Hammering state budgets are the declining U.S. economy, the mortgage crisis (decline in home sales, increased foreclosures), and rising costs for fuel and health care. The subprime mortgage crisis has led to lower than expected tax receipts for states because of the decline in property tax, sales tax, and real estate transfer tax revenues.

4. Hunger Reported Among Working Class Across the U.S.
(In These Times, March 26, 2008)

Even while working multiple jobs, many U.S. workers are experiencing food insecurity, which means they fall short of actual hunger but are worried about providing the next meal for their families. In Oregon, many schools are reporting that many students come to school hungry on Mondays, and miss out on lunch during the summer months. Families profiled in this article often have to choose which bills to pay, and often go without food to pay them. On a “slow day,” the Catholic Communities Services center in Springfield sees 80-100 individuals lining up for a chance to enter the charity’s the food pantry. Blamed for the current state of many states: low wages not meeting the needs of the working poor; globalization; high energy costs, food costs, health care costs; and farmers growing biofuel crops instead of food. In addition, supermarkets are calculating their needs better, which means they have less surplus food to donate to food banks. Food banks are also suffering as federal government has cut their support – they’re receiving $100 million less today ($140 million) than in 2000 ($250 million).

5. State Struggles with Food Stamp Application Backlog
(KTAR, April 1, 2008)

Food stamp applications are backed up at Arizona’s Department of Economic Security as the worsening economy forces more and more residents to apply for the benefit. The past year saw a 10 percent rise in the state’s food stamp applications, and legal services advocates have taken the state to court over extended processing time. According to federal law and standards, states must make an eligibility determination for an applicant within 30 day of the application being filed. Marco Liu, speaking for the Department of Economic Security, said “it’s tough keeping up with the workload,” and observed that many of the state’s food stamp recipients have full-time jobs. "When you calculate for a family of two, three, four, earning minimum wage full-time, it's still marginal income with regard to being able to pay for basic living expenses: shelter, food, medicine and those kinds of things," said Liu.

6. Affluent California County Sees Sharp Rise in Food Stamp Applications
(The Union of Grass Valley, March 25, 2008)

While better outreach and a change in the application process have increased Nevada County’s (Calif.) food stamp recipient numbers, more residents in this affluent county are struggling with the depressed economy. Annual caseloads rose from 8,295 in 2002-03 to 14,673 in 2006-07 – an increase of 77 percent over four years. Only 7.5 percent of county residents are below the poverty line, ranking it the sixth most affluent county in the state. But, more workers report they are struggling to make ends meet while being paid low hourly wages.

7. Florida’s Middle Class Hit by Hunger
(Orlando Sentinel, March 29, 2008)

More middle class residents are showing up at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida according to the food bank’s director Dave Krepcho. This commentary by the Sentinel’s Darryl E. Owens quotes Krepcho on the new customers: “The folks needing food today are invisible.” Owens states Krepcho knows why these new faces are showing up – because of “rising gas and food prices, the subprime mess, and an idling economy.” Owens goes on to say that “many who never dreamed they’d need a couple of cans … to tide over the brood until payday are living the refrain of a popular country-western tune: There’s too much month at the end of the money.” The Food Bank is not the only service seeing the increase. The state’s WIC program enrolled 43,000 participants over the past year, as families struggle to make ends meet with milk prices at $4 a gallon.

8. Maine Lawmakers Expand School Breakfast Program
(Central Maine Morning Sentinel, April 3, 2008)

Responding to the highest hunger rate in the nation, Maine’s legislature passed an expansion to the School Breakfast Program, removing the 30-cent student co-pay for the meal for 3,400 schoolchildren at schools offering breakfast. The original bill called for universal breakfast for all Maine schoolchildren, but advocates are seeing this as a victory for the program as the state is facing its own budget crisis. Federal statistics showed Maine’s hunger rate rose 40 percent between 2001 and 2003; the bill’s sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Libby Mitchell, reported she was “shamed into taking [the bill] up again when the Kennebec Journal did a series on hunger in Maine.” Money for the expanded program will come from the state’s tobacco settlement money rather than the state budget.

9. Study Finds Public Schools Don’t See Much Savings by Privatizing Food Services
(Dowagiac News, March 24, 2008)

Although they provide students with a wider range of choices, school cafeterias contracting with private food service companies don’t save money in the long run. According to a University of Michigan study, schools that privatize their meal services may save 15 percent on labor and 4 percent on food saving, but those savings are consumed by 11 percent higher contractor fees and 4 percent more spent on supplies. In addition, researcher Roland Zullo found that schools with private food services have an average of 1.1 more children per teacher. “While I hesitate to conclude that privatization increases class sizes, the results do not indicate that privatizing food services liberates resources for the classroom,” said Zullo. The study also shows a link between a one to three percent reduction in Michigan Educational Assessment Program scores and schools that privatize their meal services. While the companies offer a wide variety of food choices, they also offer up more foods with high fat and sugar content.

10. School System’s Universal Breakfast Key to Battling Student Hunger
(Superior Telegram, April 1, 2008)

Every child in Minnesota’s Superior school district now eats breakfast for free. Food service director Jeanne Hopkins said “Once we make it universal, it seems like everyone feels like part of the group. Everyone starts eating – not just because it’s free.” At Cooper Elementary School, 230 students eat breakfast daily, 90 more than before universal breakfast was instituted. Students who lack the time to eat the hot breakfast can take advantage of breakfast in a bag, served during class time. At Superior High School, 550 students regularly eat breakfast now, up 250 students from before universal was implemented. The numbers are increasing every day according to one of the high school’s cook managers.

11. Working Class Nevadans Need Food Stamps To Get By
(Las Vegas Now/Channel 8 News, March 31, 2008)

Nevada’s working class families are turning to food stamps in order to cope with the economy’s effects on the cost of living. According to Catholic Charities workers, the majority of recipients are working class families “who can not make ends meet and need help when it comes to food.” Food stamp applications went up two percent in January 2008 as compared to December 2007.

12. Worker Layoffs Spur Resource Center
(Wichita Eagle, March 28, 2008)

In Kansas, 1,500 Tyson Foods employees recently laid off can get help at a newly-opened resource center in Emporia. Open Mondays and Wednesdays at the Mary Herbert Learning Center, this “layoff center” will help the former Tyson workers access food stamps. It will also contain a food pantry, and will assist the unemployed with their job searches.

13. Soaring Food Prices Not Confined to USA
(CNN, March 24, 2008)

Poor nations are facing even more poverty as food prices rise globally due to high petroleum prices, affecting not only transportation but fertilizer and processing costs, increased demand for meat and dairy in developing countries like China and India which drives the cost of grain up, and higher demand for biofuels. As the U.S. experienced a record rise in food costs over the last year, the U.N.’s World Food Program is facing “a disaster” this year due to a $500 million funding shortfall. To help cover the shortfall, the U.N. has asked donor countries to increase their support to the program which helps 89 million needy each year. The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) predicts another ten years of high food prices. “It’s not likely that prices will go back to as low as we’re used to,” said Abdolreza Abbassian, economist and secretary at the FAO’s Intergovernmental Group for Grains. Countries facing increased hunger include: Egypt, where recent clashes over bread killed two people; Burkina Faso and Cameroon, experiencing similar food riots; Italy, where food protests are being staged; and Haiti, where consumers are going hungry in the face of skyrocketing grain prices.

In Haiti, where the cost of spaghetti has doubled to $0.57 a bag, the increase means day laborer Eugene Thermilon cannot afford to feed his family of six. A recent day brought only two cans of corn grits. “Their stomachs were not even full,” said Thermilon about his family.

14. Philippines Subsidizes Needy as Rice Prices Soar
(ABS-CBN News Online, April 1, 2008)

The Philippines’ Department of Social Welfare and Development has begun distributing food stamps and rice coupons to the needy across the country as rice prices “skyrocket.” While there aren’t any rice shortages, increased fuel and fertilizer costs are responsible for the high prices, according to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap. Climate change is also blamed, and has “had a devastating effect on international production,” said the Secretary. The United Nations World Food Program warned that Filipinos could experience hunger, as the market price of rice has become unaffordable for most households.

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