| FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, April 21, 2004 at 10:30 AM |
CONTACT:
Ellen Vollinger PHONE: 202-986-2200 x3016 |
STATE-BY-STATE
HUNGER FIGHTING TRENDS
DETAILED IN NEW FRAC PUBLICATION
WHILE FEDERAL NUTRITION PROGRAMS REACH MANY, STATES LEAVE MILLIONS MORE PEOPLE
AND FEDERAL DOLLARS BEHIND
FRAC CALLS FOR CONGRESS TO
COMPLETE CHILD NUTRITION BILL
(Washington, D.C.) April 21, 2004-The divide between affluent Americans and those low-income adults and children worrying about where their next meal will come from is serious and worsening. This trend should spur federal and state policymakers to take aggressive steps to assure greater use of key federal nutrition investments, according to the Food Research and Action Center's new report, State of the States: A Profile of Food and Nutrition Programs Across the Nation.
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Updated with the latest data derived from official government sources
for federal Fiscal Year 2003 and school year 2002-2003, State of the
States provides a comprehensive state-by-state snapshot of the extent
of hunger, and of states' use of federal nutrition resources to address
needs. The federal nutrition programs covered are: Food Stamps, School
Lunch, School Breakfast, Summer Food, the Child and Adult Care Food Program
(CACFP), WIC, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and the
Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
"Broader use of these programs has been shown to reduce hunger, reduce obesity,
reduce infant mortality, get children ready for school, and help children achieve
more and behave better in school," said FRAC President Jim Weill. "For
virtually every domestic challenge our country faces, expanding use of the programs
should be a linchpin in the response."
The federal investments described in the FRAC report are ideal for helping
states cope with their pressing challenge of meeting human needs in the context
of a weakened economy and tight budgets. In most of the programs, benefits
are 100 percent paid for by the federal government; and most are entitlement
programs, without federal spending caps.
Wise state choices and steps to replicate best practices from other states
can bring in substantial federal funds through these programs in order to help
more struggling families and stimulate the economy. For example, based on USDA
research, FRAC estimates that every $1 in 100 percent federally-funded food
stamps generates $2 of economic activity in a state.
"Economic trends and government actions increasingly are splitting our society
into two worlds: one comfortable and secure; the other, where low-wage working
families struggle with hunger and food insecurity, poverty, lack of health insurance,
and problems finding affordable housing," said FRAC president Jim Weill. "The
good news is that effective short-term responses to hunger are clear and the
tools are readily available. First, states can do more to get food stamps, school
lunches, school breakfasts, WIC, and afterschool snacks to more eligible children
and adults. Second, the Administration and Congress can act this year to pass
a first-rate child nutrition reauthorization bill that strengthens the programs
and makes access available to more low-income children. We urge them to act now."
Key findings and rankings from FRAC's "State of the States" include:
- Food insecurity is growing. In 2002, 34.9 million people lived in households experiencing hunger or on the edge of hunger due to insufficient resources for food. This was up from 31 million in 1999.
- One in nine households experienced hunger or food insecurity.
- Black and Hispanic households experienced food insecurity at double the national average.
- Click here for "Ratio of Students in Free and Reduced Price Breakfast for Every 100 Students in Free and Reduced Price School Lunch" (p.18 of PDF, p.16 of report)
- Click here for "Estimated Percentages of Eligible Persons Participating in Food Stamps, 2001" (p.14 of PDF, p.12 of report)
- Click here for "Percent Change in Number of Food Stamp Participants, January 2000 - January 2004" (p.13 of PDF, p.11 of report)
- Click here for "Ratio of Children in 2002 Summer Nutrition To Children in Free and Reduced Price School-Year School Lunch" (p.22 in PDF, p.20 of report)
School breakfast, afterschool food and WIC participation are growing, while the number of children in family child care homes being reached by the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the number of needy children receiving meals during the summer months, is flat or going down.
While the child nutrition programs make an enormous positive difference in the nutrition, education, health and well-being of children, there is still much unmet need in all the child nutrition programs. For example, the School Breakfast Program is only reaching 42 of every 100 children receiving school lunches, and the Summer Nutrition Program (the combination of the Summer Food Service Program and meals served under the National School Lunch Program during the summer months) is only reaching one in five of the low-income children receiving school lunches during the regular school year.
Outlook for Child Nutrition Reauthorization
The House of Representatives, by a large bipartisan majority, has already passed a child nutrition reauthorization bill (H.R. 3873), but the Senate, where the Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction, has not yet taken up a bill.
Key program improvements in the House-passed child nutrition bill include: expanding to additional states successful paperwork reduction pilots in the Summer Food Program that have already resulted in more low-income children receiving nutritious meals during the summer months in those states with the pilots; extending eligibility for snacks and meals to children up to the age of 18 in homeless and domestic violence shelters; making it possible for more low-income children from military families to receive free and reduced price school meals; allowing for-profit child care centers that serve significant numbers of low-income children to participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program; and providing migrant children with automatic eligibility for free school meals.
FRAC urges the Senate to take these important provisions, along with some substantial additional improvements, such as extending the Summer Food Program pilots to all states and program sponsors; piloting the expansion of Child and Adult Care Food Program family child care home eligibility in rural, low-income areas; and expanding the availability of suppers in afterschool programs.
| The Food Research and Action Center (www.frac.org) is the leading national organization working for more effective public and private policies to eradicate domestic hunger and undernutrition. |
National coverage of State of the States:
"Food
stamp use rising dramatically" - Poynter
Online
Arizona:
"State
leads in food-stamp growth" - Arizona Daily Star
Connecticut:
"Let's
take a walk and talk about hungry children" -
The Hartford Courant
"Childhood
hunger frequent in Connecticut" (PDF) -
Connecticut Food Bank
Indiana:
"Indiana
ranks
no. 3 in growth rate for food stamp use" -
The Indianapolis Star
"State ranks no. 3 in growth rate for use of food
stamps" - South
Bend Tribune
"Food
stamp growth a sign of the times" -
The News-Sentinel
Maine:
"Maine
records 30 percent increase in use of food
stamps" - Press Herald Online
Maryland:
"Report
says food stamp recipients rising in state, nation" -
Capital News Service
Michigan:
"Strapped food banks struggle to keep up with
demand" - Kalamazoo Gazette
"Not
all eligible for food aid get it"
- The Saginaw News
"Working
but hungry -- economy pushing more into food programs,
researchers say"- Lansing Bureau
"Michigan
improves and needs improvement in the Food
Research and Action Center (FRAC) annual “State
of the States” for 2003" (PDF) -
Center for Civil Justice
Missouri:
"Food
stamp usage on the rise" - KSPR-TV
Nevada:
"Number
of food stamp recipients rising" - KLASTV.com
Texas:
"Food
study shows only half of eligible Texans use
food stamps" - The Brownsville Herald Online
Edition
"Texas
reaching only half of those eligible for
food stamps, ranking close to bottom among
states in new national study" (PDF) -
The Center for Public Policy Priorities
Utah:
"Utahns
passing up food stamps" - Desert
Morning News
"Anti-poverty
advocates, many more need help" -
Daily Herald
"Food
programs
take a bite out of hunger" - The
Salt Lake Tribune
Wisconsin:
"More county residents enroll in food stamp
program" - The Monroe Times
more press coverage
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