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. Barriers Keep Many in California from SNAP/Food Stamps, School Breakfast
(Los Angeles Times, December 13, 2009)

According to recently-released figures from USDA, in 2007 only 48 percent of eligible Californians received SNAP/Food Stamps, making the state one of only two that failed to enroll at least half of eligible residents in the program. The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) recently reported that California only serves free or reduced-price school breakfast to 42 percent of low-income children who receive school lunch. "Even if the financially crippled state had to pay for food stamps," notes this editorial, "its failure to feed the poor would be source of shame." Because the state is only responsible for part of the SNAP/Food Stamp Program's administrative costs, "the state and many of its school districts are turning away money to alleviate hunger, money that would boost the spending power of impoverished households, improve the health of residents and help children achieve more in school - all of which would improve the state's economy too." But the state has barriers to SNAP/Food Stamp participation. California requires SNAP/Food Stamp participants to recertify their eligibility every three months - the only state to require this, which causes many to "fall through the cracks" by "forgetting a deadline or get the paperwork in late." And quarterly recertification causes twice the administrative and paperwork. Although USDA ordered California to start six-month recertification, the state requested a four-year extension, and was denied; the state has until September 2011 to comply. "It should move faster than that," notes the editorial. California also requires fingerprinting, which for some - "the infirm, the working poor - simply getting to the local welfare office" is tough and keeps them from enrolling. In-person interviews are another barrier, although in October the state gave counties the option of conducting phone interviews. Low participation in the School Breakfast Program means that California is losing out on $97 million in federal reimbursements each year when eligible children don't participate in the program. The state ranks 33rd in providing breakfast to children, according to FRAC. Nearly 20 percent of schools in the state don't offer breakfast. Los Angeles, though, started a "second-chance" breakfast which lets children receive the meal during a morning break. Since instituting this program, 55 percent of the district's eligible school children receive breakfast at school, and the board is looking at ways to increase participation even further. "L.A. Unified has wisely realized that feeding the hungry is not just a humane act," concludes the editorial. "It's sound policy that feeds the physical, educational and financial health of the state."

2. Researchers Document Hunger's Effect on Children
(The Washington Post, December 12, 2009)

Hunger is a tough problem to solve, complicated by the fact that "[m]ost people who are hungry are not clinically manifesting what we consider hunger," said Mariana Chilton, a Drexel University medical anthropologist and part of Children's HealthWatch. Hunger is associated with other problems that trap families, including housing costs and other financial struggles. At St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Chilton and her colleagues use a questionnaire to measure food insecurity. In the first six months of 2009, researchers in Philadelphia found that one in five homes with a baby or toddler lacked sufficient food, and one in twelve young children was hungry, twice the number of the previous year. Chilton's "Witnesses to Hunger" project provides Philadelphia women with cameras to document their lives living with hunger; they've appeared in front of Congress to lobby for increased funds to battle the problem. Congress boosted SNAP/Food Stamp payments earlier this year and provided money for children's summer food programs, and the Obama administration has pledged to end childhood hunger by 2015, an "audacious" goal that the White House and USDA say is "something that seems manageable."

3. In Affluent Kansas City County, SNAP/Food Stamp Use Up Nearly 50 Percent
(Kansas City Star, December 3, 2009)

Johnson County, which houses Kansas City's "richest enclave," has seen a 46 percent increase in SNAP/Food Stamp use since 2007. Other counties with Kansas City suburbs have seen large increases: Platte County - 36 percent; Ray County - 39 percent; Clay County - 42 percent. Another county with a large increase: Cass County - 50 percent. "When I started working here in the summer of 1984, we had just 84 people come seeking assistance one month," said Shirley Kelso of Catholic Charities in Olathe. Only 57 percent of eligible Kansas residents receive SNAP/Food Stamps, reported USDA in November. Kelso blames the cumbersome application process that Kansas residents must contend with in order to get the benefit.

4. Assistance Programs Straining State Computer Systems
(CivSource.com, December 4, 2009)

Antiquated software, along with confusing federal legislation on benefit extensions and skyrocketing increases in claims, are causing problems for already-strained state computer systems. With 20,000 new SNAP/Food Stamp applications filed daily (according to The New York Times), and backlogs already in place in other programs, states are reporting computer glitches in their decades-old computer systems. Pennsylvania's system went down recently, causing problems for unemployed residents who were filing their claims online. South Carolina has experienced technical and administrative trouble with their unemployment system. And in Kentucky, 10,000 unemployed residents had to wait for the state to reprogram its computers before they got their checks.

5. Fingerprinting for SNAP/Food Stamp Applicants Under Scrutiny
(NPR, December 18, 2009)

New York City, unlike the rest of the state, requires fingerprinting for all SNAP/Food Stamp applicants, a practice designed to combat fraud and also required by three other states - Texas, California and Arizona. "It's as if the mayor is saying his own constituents are more criminal," said Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger. "There's only one kind of fraud potentially captured by finger imaging," said Berg. "That's when a person actually creates a duplicate identity, like they're in James Bond. It's preposterous." Berg said that finger imaging discriminates against people who are unable to come to a SNAP/Food Stamp office because of work or disabilities, and an Urban Institute study found that the requirement deters four percent from completing the SNAP/Food Stamp application - that's tens of thousands of people in New York City, critics say. Berg said that fingerprinting makes people feel they're being tracked or they've done something wrong, and that fraud is caught more effectively through computer matching with Social Security numbers. However, Robert Doar, commissioner of the city's Human Resources Administration, notes that nearly 300,000 New Yorkers received SNAP/Food Stamps in the past year, and questions how many were deterred. "It's not an ink process, like what would take place in some criminal justice situation," he said of fingerprinting. "It's easy, it's simple and fast, and the numbers prove our point." Just a few weeks ago, USDA undersecretary Kevin Concannon said the agency is examining fingerprinting's effectiveness. "My biggest concern: Does it have an unintended consequence of dissuading people from coming forward who need the benefits," said Concannon. He added "if a state wanted to start the finger-imaging today, the Obama Administration wouldn't approve it." Advocates are hopeful that the practice will be done away with across the country, saying that President Obama is the first president to have grown up in a household that benefitted from SNAP/Food Stamps.

6. Poll Outlines Financial and Emotional Challenges Facing Unemployed
(The New York Times, December 15, 2009)

A New York Times poll of 708 unemployed adults (conducted from December 5 to December 10), outlines the psychological problems and financial struggles faced by many during this time of 10 percent unemployment, and points to the safety net programs and other assistance strategies some are utilizing to stay afloat. About a quarter of those surveyed said they have received SNAP/Food Stamps, and a fifth said they received food from a nonprofit organization or religious institution. "After struggling and struggling and not being able to pay my house payments and other bills,…I got food stamps just to help feed my daughter," said Vicky Newton, 38, a single mother in Mount Pleasant, Mich., who had lost her job with an insurance agency. Unemployment benefits are used by more than half of respondents, although 61 percent of them said the funds aren't enough to cover necessities. More than half are cutting back on necessities and medical visits to get by, with nearly half reporting they did not have health insurance, and considered basic health care costs as a hardship. Family financial situations were rated as "fairly bad" or "very bad" by seven out of 10 surveyed, causing almost half to report suffering from anxiety or depression, experiencing more conflicts and arguments with family and friends (more than half reported borrowing money from family and friends), feeling embarrassed or ashamed most of the time, and noticing behavioral changes in their children related to the family's job struggles. More than half said they've been troubled by insomnia. "[Y]our self-esteem goes," said Colleen Lemm, 51, of North Lake, Wisc., out of work since last November. "You think, 'I'm not employable.'" One-quarter of those polled had either lost their home or were facing foreclosure. According to the New York Times, the findings point to an attitude among many that the American dream has failed for them, as nearly half said they were afraid they were falling out of their social class.

7. Connecticut Listening Session Outlines Ways to Improve Child Nutrition Bill
(ReminderNews.com, December 15, 2009)

A listening session in Connecticut with U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) involved food bank representatives, school lunch administrators, and other municipal and school officials and also served as a rally to boost the upcoming Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization. The reauthorization includes school lunch programs, summer food programs for children, WIC, and day care and afterschool meals for children. "These [programs] are really needed now more than ever," said Lucy Nolan, executive director of End Hunger Connecticut! (EHC). Currently, 11 percent of the state's residents are "food insecure," and the state ranks last in the nation for the number of schools serving breakfast. "However," noted Nolan, "we've moved from 47th to 40th for the number of kids getting a school breakfast." The reauthorization is crucial, and driven by three major principles, said Ellen Teller of the Food Research and Action Center: expansion of access to and participation in the programs (especially for low-income students), meal quality improvement, and modernization of program administration. Participation would be increased if the area eligibility test - the number of children in a given area who must meet an income threshold - were expanded from the current 50 percent, which is "too high," said Dawn Crayco, EHC's child nutrition policy director. The programs are related to health promotion and disease prevention, hallmarks of the current healthcare reform debate. "In my opinion, by looking around this administration…there are people who are passionate that we've got to switch our priorities, domestically, towards young Americans," said Rep. Courtney. "A big part of it is this plan. The forces are aligned in a good place right now to get this done. Groups…need to keep pounding away at the obvious need that exists out there." Courtney also noted the economic value of these kinds of programs, as evidenced by the economic stimulus provided by the SNAP/Food Stamp program. "For every dollar spent on food stamps," he said, "the multiplier effect of the boost it gives to economic activities is $1.84. That's actually a higher multiplier than unemployment benefits, infrastructure spending, technology, and other programs." The current recession is expected to move an additional 35,000 of the state's children into poverty.

8. More California Children Should Benefit from School Breakfast
(Los Angeles Times, December 12, 2009)

FRAC's School Breakfast report found that, in the 2008-2009 school year, 2.4 million low-income California school children participated in the school lunch program, but only 1 million received school breakfast. The report ranked the state 33rd in school breakfast participation, and 40th in the number of schools serving breakfast (down from 35th the previous year). "The program is seriously underutilized," said Jim Weill, FRAC's president. Although there's been a consistent increase in participation nationally since the early 1990s, "it's not across the board, and it's not fast enough," said Weill. "We really think of the School Breakfast Program as a modest miracle of good public policy." In California, the number of schools serving lunch that also serve breakfast decreased from 8,922 in 2007-2008 to 8,756 in 2008-2009. Schools can increase participation by matching "the program to the actual lives of children in schools," Weill said. Serving breakfast in the classroom, or from carts offering "grab and go" meals can up breakfast numbers. "When you serve breakfast in the cafeteria, 30 to 40 to 50 minutes before school starts, too many kids don't get there on their school bus or public transportation, or they understandably 'want' to be with their friends rather than in the cafeteria." Los Angeles schools - where the number of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals jumped from 76 percent to 80-82 percent this year - offer a "second chance" breakfast, served during a morning break, in all but 250 of its 711 schools. A FRAC report on breakfast in 25 urban districts found that San Diego schools increased breakfast participation from 38.4 percent to 51.2 percent.

9. Wisconsin Ranks Low in School Breakfast Program, but Working to Increase Numbers
(Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, December 6, 2009)

According to a report released by the Food Research and Action Center, Wisconsin ranks second-to-last among states in the number of schools participating in the School Breakfast Program, ahead of only Connecticut. The state ranked 41st in the number of low-income students who receive free or reduced price lunch also receiving subsidized school breakfast (38.7 percent). Another FRAC report cited Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) as ninth among 25 urban school districts for the proportion of students participating in school breakfast. The district increased its participation from 52.4 percent of students who receive school lunch also receiving school breakfast in the 2007-2008 school year, to 53.6 percent in 2008-2009. Kymm Mutch, MPS's school nutrition services administrator, credits the school district's universal breakfast program for the expansion of student participation. Mutch said that after expansion of the breakfast program, fewer students visit the school nurse complaining of headaches and stomachaches, and fewer students are late to school or absent. "The thing that makes me know that this is worthwhile," said Mutch, "is I have parents and community members who work with our children and, when I mention what I do, the first thing they say is how great the breakfast program is for kids." The Mequoon-Thiensville School District this year won a statewide challenge to increase the number of students eating breakfast by 50 percent. "A good breakfast for a young person crosses socio-economic boundaries, it crosses racial lines," said the district's superintendent Demond Means. "It's a prerequisite for giving a student a good start to the day. And I think there's a myth out there that school breakfast is only for students in urban areas." Most of the several hundred students in the district's Homestead High School who eat breakfast at school pay full price for the meal. "We believe it's a good nutritious alternative to kids going to the corner store and buying junk food," said Means.

10. Many Eligible Children Missing Out on Breakfast in California Schools
(San Gabriel Valley Tribune, December 13, 2009)

Local school districts in California mirror FRAC's school breakfast report findings that more children could be taking advantage of the school breakfast program. All students in the Mountain View School District qualify for free and reduced-price lunch, with 91 percent of students participating in the lunch program, but only 36 percent of students receiving free or reduced-price breakfast. This lack of participation has consequences for both students and schools. "You're getting kids who aren't eating breakfast at all, so they come to school hungry and don't come to school prepared to learn," said Tia Shimada, nutrition policy advocate for California Food Policy Advocates. Schools also miss out on federal reimbursements, said Shimada. "Having breakfast is very important for our students," said Lillian Maldonado French, superintendent of Mountain View schools. "As an educator, I saw a difference in my students when they had a good meal."

11. New Mexico Leads Nation in School Breakfast Participation
(Silver City Sun-News, December 14, 2009)

With 62.8 percent of its eligible low-income children receiving their morning meal at school, New Mexico ranks first in the nation in school breakfast participation, according to FRAC's School Breakfast Scorecard released in December 2009. Nationally, the average was 46.7 percent. On an average day in the 2008-2009 school year, 103,463 of the state's children received free or reduced-price breakfast. "New Mexico's school breakfast program is a crucial investment to help boost student performance and close the achievement gap," said the state's Secretary of Education Veronica C. Garcia. "School leaders from around the state have done a good job enrolling eligible children in this valuable program. We must continue our efforts to maximize enrollment for eligible children." FRAC President Jim Weill noted the importance of school breakfast to the nation's children. "President Obama made it a goal to end childhood hunger by 2015, and expanding the reach of the School Breakfast Program is a critical part of achieving that goal," he said.

12. Missouri WIC Program Offers Online Tutorials
(KSMU, December 9, 2009)

The Springfield-Greene County WIC program in Missouri has begun offering clients online tutorials that focus on infant nutrition and other health-related lessons. The online offerings are in the early stages, with more to be added, and will be more accessible to clients at any time of the day. "WIC is a terrific program and it makes a big difference in a lot of people's lives, but it's a time consuming process," said Mary Ellison, WIC coordinator in Springfield. WIC offices in Springfield are closed on weekends and in the evenings, making it difficult for some parents to access live lessons in the offices. The online tutorials can substitute for classes that clients must take. Going online will also ease the workload of staff, especially now as the program has been seeing 7,000 new clients each month.