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. Research says American lifestyle impacts nation's weight and height
(The New York Times, June 15, 2007 — subscription required)
Americans, once the tallest people in the world between colonial times and the mid-20th century, are now heavier than Western and Northern Europeans, according to a recent Social Science Quarterly paper by economic historians John Komlos and Benjamin Lauderdale. Their study notes that this holds true across all income levels. Other research shows a strong relationship between per capita income and a country’s average height, yet the gross domestic product in the U.S. is higher than the economy of any other major country. Komlos and Lauderdale believe this might be explained by the fact that children in the U.S. eat more meals that are "prepared outside the home," which tend to be high in fat and low in nutrients. A recent UNICEF on child well-being ranked the U.S. 20th out of 21 rich countries. The report includes factors like health, safety, diet and family relationships.
2. Report: More than 2.5 million Californians can't afford to feed their families
(The Merced Sun-Star, June 14, 2007)
More than 2.5 million California residents can’t afford to adequately feed their families, according to a new report by the Center for Health Policy Research at UCLA. The study found that only 46 percent of eligible people in the state utilize the Food Stamp Program. Merced County, one of three California counties experiencing the highest rates of food insecurity, has many families struggling to put food on the table, said George Manalo-LeClair, director of legislation for the California Food Policy Advocates. He attributes this to the county’s high housing costs and high percentage of low-wage workers. Manalo-Leclair said the lack of food leads to illnesses and attendance problems in school for children.
View the report.
3. Pennsylvania editorial says hunger is a moral and economic issue
(The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 15, 2007)
A recent study found that it costs the U.S. $90 billion each year to let 35 million people live in households that cannot afford enough to eat. J. Larry Brown, who led the study, said that the nation’s annual cost for additional health care due to food insecurity was nearly $67 billion, and an additional $9 billion was lost because of hunger’s impact on education achievement and worker productivity. In Philadelphia, hunger costs each resident $258 a year. The editorial urges the next city mayor to address hunger within the Philadelphia community by improving access to healthy foods in low-income communities, connecting more families with the Food Stamp Program, and utilizing federal child nutrition programs.
4. More Michigan farmers' markets may implement Electronic Benefits Transfer
(The State News, June 14, 2007)
Representatives from nearly 30 Michigan farmers' markets recently discussed making Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) available for use at their businesses. With EBT, individuals could use their food stamps at farmers' markets. EBT is only available at less than 10 of the approximately 150 farmers' markets across the state, said Dru Monti, project manager for the Michigan Farmers' Market Association. Montri said that EBT is quite simple to implement and expects the program to grow. Judith Bridger, food team leader for a neighborhood center, said the biggest barrier to implementing EBT is how little people know about it.
5. New York leaders set school nutrition rules
(The Queens Gazette, June 13, 2007)
New York state Sen. Frank Padavan and Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan sponsored bills to establish stronger guidelines for nutritious and healthy food choices for public school children in the state. Nolan said her bill would eliminate the cost to students receiving reduced-price school meals, increase the rate of reimbursement for free- and reduced-price meals, and establish an electronic payment system so students do not feel self-conscious about assistance. About $9 million in funding would be provided for 254,000 students who receive reduced-price meals, and the legislation would increase the reimbursement to schools by 15 cents per free- and reduced-price meal served, Nolan said. Nolan’s bill would also require all school districts enrolled in the federal school lunch program to establish a school breakfast program in middle and high schools.
6. Massachusetts school district surveys children and parents about meals programs
(Marshfield Mariner, June 12, 2007)
The Marshfield, Mass. School District is deciding whether to implement a middle school snack program or provide a school breakfast program for its students. A survey found that 745 middle school students thought they would benefit from a snack program while 174 preferred a breakfast program. Another survey, conducted by Food Service Director Irene Ekstrom, found that the food service department needed to better communicate lunch offerings to parents. Ekstrom said that many parents were surprised to learn that the school served salads for lunch. Middleton McGoodwin, Marshfield’s superintendent, stressed the importance of providing healthy food choices to students.
7. Officials say many Florida parents don't know about free summer meals programs
(St. Petersburg Times, June 16, 2007)
Many students eat lunch through school meals programs during the school year, but many Florida parents don’t know about the free summer meals program. Of the 900,000 Florida children who eat free- or reduced-price meals during the school-year, fewer than 160,000 students take advantage of the summer program, according to FRAC. “The lack of participation is especially troubling given the extreme need of some families,” said Mike Fisher, director of a YMCA summer program.
8. Free summer meals program could feed 30,000 District of Columbia children
(The Washington Post, June 19, 2007)
Washington, D.C. officials plan to provide more than 30,000 children with free summer meals through the Come to the Table Program run by the District’s State Superintendent of Education Office in cooperation with USDA, D.C. Hunger Solutions and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) said that it’s important for the government to ensure that children have access to nutritious food. This year, the city budgeted $3.8 million for the summer food program. They aim to increase participation by 10 percent this summer.
9. New Jersey: Leavenhouse meals program ends after 26 years
(Courier Post, June 1, 2007)
Leavenhouse, a Camden, N.J. shelter that had fed the city’s low-income residents, recently shut down its free meals program. Bruce Crawford, one of many who ate meals at Leavenhouse in the past 26 years, said he was a teacher until he was assaulted in 1998. Crawford, now permanently disabled because of the assault, enjoyed the last meal at Leavenhouse which consisted of pancakes, sausages, eggs, cereal and grits. Leavenhouse had been run by four principal caregivers who decided to leave the shelter to the Volunteers of America organization. The organization will continue to provide residencies, but there is concern that area soup kitchens may be unable to fill the void left by the meals program ending.
10. Digital WIC program is expanding in Michigan
(Jackson Citizen Patriot, June 16, 2007)
The Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) is going digital in four Michigan counties due to the success of the Electronic Benefits Transfer program implemented in Jackson County, according to the state’s Department of Community Health. Across the nation, WIC clinics in nine states now use some form of the EBT system, which puts benefits on a magnetic card strip and links to an online database.
11. Job outlook for teens is bleak
(The New York Times, June 16, 2007 — subscription required)
The national teen employment rate is tying for the lowest rate it has been in the past 60 years, according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. Only 33.1 percent of the nation’s teens have jobs, and the number of teens employed has decreased for five consecutive months. This trend is expected to continue through the summer as millions of teens try to secure a job. Andrew Sum, director of the center, said that teens who work while in school have an easier transition to the labor market after graduation, but if no improvements are made many teens will miss this valuable opportunity. Bob Herbert, author of this editorial, believes the government should do more to bolster job opportunities for teens and says the current situation is "all but guaranteed to spawn bad choices."
12. Economic reality lurks for college graduates
(The New York Times, June 11, 2007 — registration required)
A college degree does not guarantee a bigger share in the global economy for many graduates, according to research from MIT economists Frank Levy and Peter Temin. The economists found that men with undergraduate degrees have increasingly failed to keep pace with productivity gains in recent decades, but women’s salaries have increased with the economy during this timeframe. Productivity growth is increasingly going to Americans with the highest incomes. In 2005, the top 1 percent of Americans received 21.8 percent of the nation’s overall income. Levin and Temin recommend a reorientation of government policy to help restore general prosperity to help the nation and its graduates.
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