1  . Editorial: Time for more aggressive food stamp outreach

(New York Times, September 13, 2007)

Bureaucracy may be one of the obstacles keeping eligible New Yorkers from applying for food stamps, according to this editorial. It is estimated that 1.3 million people in New York – one-quarter of them children – are struggling against hunger. A recent study conducted by the Urban Justice Center found that of 9,500 food stamp recipients, more than 5,800 lost their benefits within 20 months of enrolling in the program. Most of those that were cut off still remain eligible for food stamps. While food stamp enrollment has been on the rise under New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the editorial states that it is time for a more aggressive approach to further boost participation by allowing reapplication by phone or requiring recipients to reapply every 12 months rather than every six.

  2. Letter to the Editor: New York State is committed to Food Stamp Program

(New York Times, September 13, 2007)

“New York State is fully committed to increasing participation in the Food Stamp Program, particularly by working families,” wrote David A. Hansell, commissioner for the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, in this letter to the editor. Hansell pointed out that over the next year, it will be the statewide standard for recipients to renew their food stamp eligibility over the phone rather than in-person interviews. Currently, the state has a pilot program in some areas to allow recipients to renew their benefits over the phone. There are plans to implement this option in two more locations in New York City in November. “As a result, families seeking food stamps will not be forced to take time off from work to receive this vital support,” Hansell concluded.

  3. Food Stamp Challenge taken by two more Representatives, JCPA director

(The Baltimore Sun, September 18, 2007)

Representatives Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Rabbi Steve Gutow, executive director of the Jewish Council of Public Affairs, in taking the Food Stamp Challenge. In the challenge, participants use the average weekly food stamp benefit of $1 per person per meal for their total food costs for a week. “I don’t care which faith tradition you come from,” said Ellison, who is the only Muslim in Congress. “You cannot justify living in a country with 36 million poor people.”

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

  4. Op-ed: Investment in food stamps vital to hungry families
(The Grand Rapids Press, September 8, 2007)

Marsha Dehollander, program director at All County Churches Emergency Support Network (ACCESS), wrote in this op-ed about the need for improvements to the Food Stamp Program, including stronger benefits and more help for the elderly and disabled by increasing the minimum benefit. She pointed out that the Food Stamp Program is an important support for households, with almost half of the benefits going to families with children. Dehollander works with area seniors to make sure they are aware of available programs. She related the story of one woman who enrolled in food stamps: the woman called the benefit “a wonderful gift… now I can use that $80 to pay for my utility bill this winter.” Dehollander pointed out that “[n]o one should ever have to choose between heat and food.”

  5. Two Vermont women relate their experiences with Food Stamp Program

(Barre Montpelier Times Argus, September 17, 2007)

Rose Wheeler Stillson and Anne Perrault both receive food stamps, and find that the program helps them keep hunger at bay for their 8-year-old daughters. Stillson, who also receives disability payments, has a monthly food stamp benefit of $64. “I try to make (my daughter’s) life normal, so a lot of the Food Stamps are spent on healthy snacks for her for school,” she said. Perrault receives a monthly benefit of $284, but finds that the benefit hardly ever lasts her to the end of the month. She tries to budget $50 a week for grocery shopping which “doesn’t always happen.” Usually at the end of the month, Perrault says that she lives “on Ramen noodles… [i]f I have something in the freezer, I just whip something together.

  6. Op-ed: Classroom breakfast is proven method that works

(New York Daily News, September 18, 2007)

“New York City must realize that offering a free breakfast is not enough. There have to be additional steps to make sure every child in the city has access to breakfast,” wrote City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera in this op-ed. Rivera is chair of the City Council’s Health Committee. New York City’s low participation rate in the school breakfast program – which reaches only 29 percent of eligible children, according to a report by the Food Research and Action Center – has alarming health, education and fiscal implications. Offering breakfast in the classroom is “a proven method that works and needs to be explored,” according to Rivera. He cites one study by the Nutrition Consortium of New York State that found breakfast in the classroom had a positive impact on students’ health, behavior, and educational performance.

Read more:           Op-ed: “Food for Thought: Making Schools Better is Easy as 1-2-3,”
                            New York Daily News, September 13, 2007

  7. Fewer soft drinks available at schools

(Associated Press, September 17, 2007)

Vending machines at schools now carry fewer soft drinks, according to an industry report. In 2006-07, nondiet soft drinks accounted for 32 percent of drinks for sale, a drop from 2004 where soft drinks accounted for nearly half of drinks for sale at schools. “It looks like the country has taken a good step forward in addressing soft drinks at schools, but we still have a lot of work to do,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

  8. Urban garden school prepares for harvest

(Idaho Statesman, September 18, 2007)

For the past four summers, the Boise Urban Garden School (BUGS) has helped local teens understand the basics of ecology, nutrition, and the garden life cycle. “It's a summer program for teenagers designed to connect them to the ground — literally ground them,” said Susan Medlin, culinary director for BUGS. “We help them understand where their food comes from, what their bodies need and how this all comes together, with a heavy dose of critical thinking.” This year was the first that participating children had access to a “full culinary program… and more than 500 fresh, local, organic lunches were prepared in the BUGS kitchen,” according to Medlin.

  9. Indiana residents talk about poverty’s impact

(Indianapolis Star, September 9, 2007)

Reporters and editors from Y-Press, the children’s news network, visited three locations in Indiana to talk with individuals about poverty, how to end it, and its impact on their lives. In Indiana, one out of every five children lives in poverty. Kristin Norris, one of the seven people interviewed for the story, is a freshman at Indiana State University and volunteers at the Dayspring Center, a local shelter. According to Norris, the way to end poverty is through “a combination of political activism and monetary donations…. Poverty is the infection, and Band-Aids are the monetary donations. Political activism would be the antibiotics.”

  10. Affordable housing crunch affects renters

(Associated Press, September 19, 2007)

While the crisis in home mortgages has attracted more attention, experts say that renters also are facing dire housing problems. According to the Center for Housing Policy, the number of working family renters paying more than half their income in rent has more than doubled since 1997. Nationally, there are 9 million low-income renter households and only 6.2 million affordable units. Trying to heed the standard budget and not spend more than a third of her income on housing, schoolteacher Meagan Devine lives with her sister in San Francisco. Experts point out that nearly a quarter of San Francisco renters spend more than 50 percent of their annual income on rent alone. “You have to make big sacrifices – not just whether to buy a house or not,” said Devine. “I want to have kids – but what would I do with them? I can’t even afford my own place.”

  11. Enrollments in Texas CHIP slowly reversing downward trend

(Houston Chronicle, September 10, 2007)

A budget shortfall in 2003 prompted Texas state legislators to make changes in the state Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that caused more than 200,000 to lose their coverage. But, a recent bill passed by the state legislature increased funding for the program, eliminated the 90-day waiting period, and brought back the yearly – rather than every six months – eligibility cycle. As a result, the number of children receiving Texas CHIP has been on the rise, with an increase of more than 27,000 over the previous month.