1.  USDA Releases FY 2005 Food Stamp Participation Rates

(usda.gov, October 31, 2007)

The national average food stamp participation rate in FY 2005 improved to 65 percent, but still left one in three eligible people unserved, according to a new report issued by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. USDA reports that in FY 2005 food stamp participation rates for eligible persons ranged from just below 50 percent in several states to more than 85 percent in several others. Over the period FY 2003 to 2005, some states had consistently higher participation rates than other states, including Missouri, Tennessee, Oregon, Maine, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Kentucky. The Midwest region ranked at the top of participation among working poor households, increasing from 57 percent in FY 2003 to 65 percent in FY 2005.  

Read more:            USDA Summary and Full Report

2. Disaster Food Stamps Available for California Counties Affected by Wildfires

(Reuters, 10/26/07)

To help Californians affected by the wildfires, the Bush administration expanded the disaster food stamp program to San Bernardino County and said it was “prepared to approve Riverside County later in the day.” The emergency program would run until November 20 in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. USDA had approved San Diego County for the emergency aid a day earlier. According to USDA, people who are not ordinarily eligible for food stamps may qualify for disaster food stamps if they “spent money protecting, repairing or evacuating their homes or if they lost food or income because of the fire.” People affected by the fires and already receiving food stamps may be eligible for additional benefits.

Read more:                     FRAC’s Advocate’s Guide to the Disaster Food Stamp Program

                             CA Food Bank Association

 3. Boston Mayor Kicks Off City-Wide Food Drive with Food Stamp Challenge

(Boston Herald, October 23, 2007)

Boston Mayor, Thomas M. Menino, kicked off Can Share, the city’s annual food drive, with a trip at an area grocery to highlight the challenges of shopping on a typical food stamp budget. Menino used the average food stamp benefit of a $1 per person per day to set his $21 grocery budget for a week’s worth of food. “The levels of food stamps are far too low for people in today’s economy,” said Jim Greene, who runs the mayor’s advisory committee on hunger and is the director of the city’s emergency shelter commission.

Read more:           FRAC’s ongoing coverage of the Food Stamp Challenges

4. Stretching a Paycheck Gets Harder with Rising Food Costs

(Associated Press, October 20, 2007)

Living paycheck to paycheck is getting harder as food prices continue to rise. Sales data show a drop in spending before paydays, and many major retailers are trying to adjust. 7-Eleven said its grocery sales grew 12 to 13 percent over the past year as more shoppers stop in for the bare necessities, like eggs and milk, more often. Michelle Garissa, in Brooklyn, NY, has cut back on her grocery purchases and buys one gallon of milk per week instead of three. According to Garissa, her husband’s paycheck used to last them four days but now only lasts two. 

5.Editorial: Nation Can End Childhood Poverty

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 12, 2007)

One in every six children in America lives below the poverty line. While the “[t]he nation has within its grasp the power to end childhood poverty.... it lacks the will,” according to this editorial by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The paper pointed out several solutions to ending childhood poverty, which include expanding health insurance to cover low-wage families and their children, subsidizing more housing and child care, and raising the earned income tax credit.

6.Bringing Local Foods to New York Schools

(The New York Times, October 17, 2007)

Across the nation, farm-to-school programs are working to get local food served at schools. In New York, the SchoolFood Plus program has had some successes, including bringing individual bags of sliced New York apples to New York City schools. Since they were introduced, students have been eating four times as many apples. Bringing local carrots to the schools has been a longer process. Students are more likely to eat carrots if they are small and in fun shapes, but New York soil does not support the variety that is used for baby carrots. Through trial and error, they found that the solution was to slice the carrots into “chips.” The next steps were to work with the school districts to develop specifications, set the price so the local carrots would be comparable to current costs, and work with the distributors. Organizers hope that within the next few weeks, local carrots will be served in the schools. 

7. Lack of Staffing Hampers Services for Colorado’s Low-Income Families

(Colorado Springs Gazette, October 15, 2007)

Understaffing and lack of Web-based access continue to hamper services to low-income Coloradans, according to a study by Deloitte Development. Recommendations to improve the state’s public benefits system include increased Web access to the program so that participants can update their information and community groups can screen for and refer clients needing assistance. State and county officials also should draw up a plan to improve communication, training and the way that policy changes are handled, said the study.

 8.Oregon Governor Announces Hunger Initiative

(Salem-News, October 19, 2007)

Governor Ted Kulongoski has announced a new initiative to improve the health of Oregonians through improved nutrition. The Hunger, Health and Nutrition Initiative will use bonus funds from the federal Food and Nutrition Service to further improve Oregon’s Food Stamp Program. Highlights of the initiative include expanding outreach efforts to enroll more eligible seniors and rural Oregonians, enabling farmers’ markets to accept food stamps, and offering more nutrition education programs.

9.  Observing Hunger’s Reach in Schools

(Tennessean, October 23, 2007)

In this op-ed, the Rev. Sonnye Dixon related his experience as serving for “principal for a day” at an area school. “I was monitoring the lunchroom, watching the children file through the cafeteria line; and I wondered how many of them would have no food today except for what they received at school,” he wrote. His experience at the school led him to take the Food Stamp Challenge, which is being sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Nashville and The Second Harvest Food Bank of Nashville. “I invite anyone else who cares about the hunger in our community to contact our senators and ask for their support for the reauthorization of, and more importantly, an increase in the nutrition title of the Farm Bill, which appropriates funds for food stamps,” he concluded.

10.  Duckworth Shares Story of Growing up on Food Stamps

  (Honolulu Star Bulletin, October 19, 2007)

The McKinley High School Foundation (Honolulu) hosted a tribute dinner for Iraqi war veteran Maj. Ladda "Tammy" Duckworth. She grew up in Hawaii after moving there from Southeast Asia.    Duckworth, who ran for an Illinois seat in the House of Representatives, worked on the yearbook committee during her year at McKinley. The yearbook adviser bought dinner for the kids because he knew many of them did not have money. "I ran for Congress. How many countries in the world can you go from being on food stamps to running for Congress, in one lifetime, in just 20 years, to be able to do that?" said Duckworth.