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.

To make a tax-deductible contribution to FRAC’s 2006 Year-End Appeal, please go to www.frac.kintera.org/2006donation and give generously.

1. FRAC’s School Breakfast Scorecard 2006 Shows Record Participation by Low-Income Children in School Breakfast Program
2. FRAC Releases Updated Guide to the Food Stamp Program
3. School Breakfast Is the Fastest, Easiest and Cheapest Way to Boost Student Performance, Group Says
4. Op-Ed: Tackling Hunger Epidemic Requires More Effort from Schools, Government and Lawmakers
5. States Reach Uneven Success Beating Hunger with Food Stamps
6. Op-Ed: Seniors Deserve More Help from Government
7. Nutrition Education Can Help Young Adults Improve Their Diets
8. School Beverage Contracts Raise Less Money Than Commonly Believed
9. Connecticut Ranks Last in Schools Offering Breakfast
10. Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center Urges Governor to Include School Breakfast Initiative in State Budget
11. Pennsylvania: School’s New Breakfast Program Exceeds Everyone’s Expectations, Says Principal
12. Op-Ed – Maryland: USDA Should Reinstate Terms That Describe Existence of Hunger
13. Minnesota Summit on Hunger Urges to Recognize and Address Hunger Issues
14. Kentucky Reverses Decision to Centralize and Automate Child Care Assistance Because of Delays in Payments
15. California: Farmworkers Cannot Afford the Fruits and Vegetables They Pick, Study Finds
16. Connecticut: New Haven Creates Food Policy Council to Address Issues of Poor Nutrition
17. Indiana Advocates Fear More Difficult Application Process for People Seeking Benefits Under New Welfare Privatization Plan
18. Texas: Group’s Report Shares State’s Experience with Outsourcing Social Services
19. New Hampshire’s Wages Lag Behind Increasing Costs of Living

1. FRAC’s School Breakfast Scorecard 2006 Shows Record Participation by Low-Income Children in School Breakfast Program

(“National School Breakfast Program Served Record 7.7 Million Low-Income Children in 2005-2006,” frac.org. December 7, 2006)

Participation in the School Breakfast Program continued its steady increase, with a record 7.7 million low-income children receiving free and reduced-price breakfasts on an average day during the 2005-2006 school year, according to the School Breakfast Scorecard 2006, an annual report by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). The report found accelerating growth in school breakfast participation by low-income children – up by 622,000 children (8.7 percent) over the past two school years. There are now 44.6 low-income children receiving breakfast for every 100 eating lunch, compared to 31.5 for every 100 when FRAC first began the scorecard in 1991. State participation rates range from a high of 58.5 in West Virginia to a low of 29.3 in Wisconsin. Forty states improved their rates. “Reaching a lot more children with breakfast in schools is probably the most cost-effective and fastest way to improve children’s learning and health, improve attendance and, of course, reduce hunger,” said Jim Weill, FRAC president. If states were able to increase participation in the program so that there were 60 children eating breakfast for every 100 eating lunch, 2.7 million more low-income children would be eating school breakfast nationwide. “We’d like to see more schools move to universal breakfast, which provides school breakfast at no charge to all children,” said Lynn Parker, FRAC’s director of child nutrition.

http://www.frac.org/Press_Release/12.07.06.html

2. FRAC Releases Updated Guide to the Food Stamp Program

FRAC’s newly updated Guide to the Food Stamp Program is now available to order. The guide, in its 11th edition, walks through the many complex changes and rules to the Food Stamp Program. In addition to handy references to the CFR for every Food Stamp rule you’ll ever need, it gives citations to relevant legal challenges from all over the country. The guide is designed to be stored in a three-ring binder, allowing for easy page updates as the Food Stamp program rules and regulations change.

http://www.frac.org/pdf/flyerfsp.pdf

3. School Breakfast Is the Fastest, Easiest and Cheapest Way to Boost Student Performance, Group Says

(“More Students Getting Free Breakfast,” seattlepi.nwsource.com, December 7, 2006)

Although a record 7.7 million low-income children participated in the School Breakfast Program in the 2005-2006 school year, the program feeds only two in five who need it, according to a report by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). New Mexico posted the biggest increase in participation. State officials spent nearly half a million dollars to boost breakfast participation in schools struggling to meet standards under President Bush’s No Child Left Behind program, said James Weill, FRAC president. School breakfast is “the fastest, easiest, cheapest way of boosting school performance,” he explained. New Mexico ranks second in the rate of participation, behind West Virginia and ahead of South Carolina, Kentucky, Oregon, Vermont, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia and Mississippi. The lowest participation rates were in Pennsylvania, Nebraska, New Jersey, Colorado, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Alaska, Utah, Illinois and Wisconsin.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_School_Breakfast.html

4. Op-Ed: Tackling Hunger Epidemic Requires More Effort from Schools, Government and Lawmakers

(“Real Food For Thought,” msnbc.msn.com, December 2, 2006)

“Between the perfect cookie recipe and the surefire post-holiday diet, it’s worth noting that America is still in the grip of a hunger epidemic,” writes Anna Quindlen in Newsweek, pointing to the 35 million people who don’t have enough to eat. The resources for eliminating hunger exist, and Americans know that “real need exists, too.” Although businesses, food banks and the government have made efforts to fight hunger, more needs to be done. Only “a fraction of the students who eat subsidized school lunches also take part in breakfast programs, in part because schools have struggled with the logistics. … And food banks report that only about a third of their patrons receive food stamps, although many more are eligible,” observes Quindlen. Applying for food stamps is still an “arduous process.” “It should be possible to apply for food stamps online and at off-hours,” Quindlen contends. “More schools should offer breakfast. And working people, who account for about a third of those who use emergency food programs, should be paid a living wage. The current minimum wage is a joke,” she writes.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16008889/site/newsweek/

5. States Reach Uneven Success Beating Hunger with Food Stamps

(“States Expand Food Stamp Programs,” stateline.org, December 6, 2006)

According to a new study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, only 60 percent of eligible Americans received food stamps nationwide in 2004. A handful of states made significant progress in connecting families to food stamps. Missouri, Tennessee and Oregon are reaching 80 percent of eligible individuals. California, Wyoming and Massachusetts are lagging behind, providing food stamps to fewer than 50 percent of eligible residents. Tennessee simplified its application process, expanded hours of operation at its welfare offices and improved its outreach. These changes boosted food stamp participation by more than 20 percent in the last three years. USDA acknowledged the state’s efforts by awarding it a $1 million bonus for exceptional program improvements. Some states make it more difficult than others for people to apply for food stamps. California, New York, Texas and Arizona still require applicants to be fingerprinted, which is a big barrier to participation, particularly among immigrants. Nebraska’s food stamp application runs 26 pages, and many other states require extensive paperwork to verify incomes. In most states, applicants must visit a welfare office twice a year during regular business hours, which deters many working poor from applying because they can lose pay or risk their jobs. Advocates urge state leaders to cut red tape and provide easier access to food assistance for eligible people, crucial in the war on hunger.

http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=162244

6. Op-Ed: Seniors Deserve More Help from Government

(“Government Should Provide more for Senior Citizens’ Care,” statesmanjournal.com, November 30, 2006)

Ruth Gable of Claremore, Okla., writes in the Statesman Journal, Salem, Ore., about her 86-year old sister who is still independent and lives alone in Salem on $880 per month. The sister applied for food stamps, but was eligible for only $17 per month in benefits. “Why such a small amount?” asks Gable, noting that if her sister went to a nursing home the government would have to spend much more on her care. “Why would the government want to spend more on a nursing home payment?” It is time for a change in the hearts of our government officials regarding the seniors!” Gable writes.

http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061130/OPINION/61127010/1050

7. Nutrition Education Can Help Young Adults Improve Their Diets

(“Young Adults’ Diets Lacking, Finds Study,” foodnavigator-usa.com, December 4, 2006)

The majority of university students or high school graduates, aged 18 to 23, have diets lacking in key nutrients, primarily because they are too dependent on fast food and convenience food, revealed a study by the University of Minnesota. The quality of young adults’ diets is related to the fact that they rarely eat meals prepared at home. The study participants who reported purchasing their own foods and preparing meals at home were found to eat less fast food, more fruits and vegetables and have a better overall diet than those who do not cook their own meals. Main reasons for poor nutrition of people in this age group include lack of cooking skills, money to buy food and the lack of time for food preparation. To help young adults eat better, nutrition education needs to extend beyond the current focus on school children, researchers suggest. The study appeared in the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

8. School Beverage Contracts Raise Less Money Than Commonly Believed

(“Beverage Firms Accused of Unfair Profits from School Vending,” foodnavigator-usa.com, December 7, 2006)

A new study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) found that the majority of the revenue from U.S. school beverage contracts goes to beverage firms and not schools. The study, which analyzed 120 contracts in 16 states, revealed that deals with beverage companies are not as lucrative as it is believed to be and were raising an average of only $18 per student per year. “Selling sugary drinks in vending machines and elsewhere in schools doesn’t pump money into the community, it drains it,” said Margo Wootan of CSPI. “It’s not philanthropic behavior on the part of soft drink companies, it’s predatory. When a kid puts a dollar in a soft drink vending machine, the school is lucky to keep 33 cents,” Wootan said. Out of the contracts analyzed, 64 were with PepsiCo, 53 with Coca-Cola and 3 with smaller regional manufacturers. The study, which has already produced a negative feedback from the beverage industry, suggests that its findings should encourage schools to replace sodas in vending machines with healthier drinks that don’t undermine children’s diets and health.

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=72619&m=1FNUD07&c=xqdjukrrlerzutg

Also see http://cspinet.org/beveragecontracts.pdf (report, “Raw Deal: School Beverage Contracts Less Lucrative Than They Seem”)

9. Connecticut Ranks Last in Schools Offering Breakfast

(“State Last Again in Schools Offering Breakfast,” theday.com, December 8, 2006)

The advocacy group End Hunger Connecticut! visited Teachers’ Memorial Middle School in Norwich, Conn., to praise the school’s breakfast program that has one of the highest participation rates in the federal School Breakfast Program in the state. According to the group, in Norwich schools, 62 percent of students who eat free or reduced-price lunches also eat a free or reduced-price school breakfast. Sally Mancini, the group’s assistant director, believes that Connecticut has not looked seriously enough at the breakfast program. Statewide, only 55.5 percent of schools that offer school lunch also offered school breakfast in the 2005-06 school year, according to a new report by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). For the second year in a row, FRAC ranked Connecticut last in the nation in the number of schools offering breakfast. Many schools offer breakfast programs based on need. “In a lot of communities, there’s need, and they don’t see the need, or they don’t want to see the need,” Mancini said. End Hunger Connecticut! advocates that breakfast be offered to all students, which will provide better nutrition to all school children and remove the stigma from those eligible for free or reduced-price breakfasts.

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=c2b8f782-2f26-4e3e-b7a8-c65e7c35ae3c

Also see http://www.wfsb.com/education/10484567/detail.html?taf=hart (“Conn. Ranks Last in School-Breakfast Study,” wfsb.com, December 7, 2006)

10. Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center Urges Governor to Include School Breakfast Initiative in State Budget

(“Report: Pa. Gets Low Marks on School-Breakfast Participation,” centredaily.com, December 7, 2006)

Pennsylvania lags far behind other states providing school breakfasts only to 37 percent of needy children, according to the School Breakfast Scorecard 2006 by the Food Research and Action Center. The state ranks 42 nd in the percentage of low-income children participating in the national School Breakfast Program. By contrast, West Virginia ranks first at 59 percent. Although Pennsylvania has increased school breakfast participation by 4.7 percent from the previous school year, “progress has been painstakingly slow, and the reason is that it’s a school-by-school initiative,” said Sue Mitchem of the Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center. The state does not require all school districts to serve breakfast, although it offers districts financial incentives to do so, explained Mitchem. The center is urging Gov. Ed Rendell to include a school breakfast initiative in the state budget next year. The governor “wants to improve the (schools’) academic results, and he’s also paying a lot of attention to children's health,” said Berry Friesen, the center’s executive director. “With school breakfast, those two things intersect.”

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/politics/16187565.htm

11. Pennsylvania: School’s New Breakfast Program Exceeds Everyone’s Expectations, Says Principal

(“Breakfast Key for Eisenhower Students,” eveningsun.com, November 29, 2006)

The new breakfast program at the Eisenhower Elementary School is exceeding everyone’s expectations, said Principal Joan Peck. “The biggest change is before we had students who were hungry when they came in,” she said. Some children are just not hungry when they get up in the morning, but some come from families that simply can’t afford a nutritious breakfast. The Eisenhower program is a pilot for all the schools in the Gettysburg ( Pa.) Area School District. “The timing (for breakfast) is crucial,” Peck pointed out. The school rearranged bus schedules to allow students time to eat breakfast. Peck also hopes the program will result in an improvement in grades and behavior. “If they come to school on empty stomachs, they’re not learning,” said Sandra Weikert, food services director. Appropriate nutrition is “just one more brick in the wall in helping kids to be successful,” Peck said.

http://www.eveningsun.com/adamsweekly/ci_4739200

12. Op-Ed – Maryland: USDA Should Reinstate Terms That Describe Existence of Hunger

(“A Hunger for Solutions,” baltimoresun.com, November 29, 2006)

This year, an annual USDA report on food access in America substituted terms “low food security” and “very low food security” for the two categories describing people who are suffering from inadequate access to food and previously were characterized as “food insecure without hunger” and “food insecure with hunger,” write Dr. Stephen A. Haering of the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for a Livable Future with his research partners Dr. Peter Troell and Dr. Shams Syed in The Baltimore Sun. “We agree that the survey used by the USDA focuses on the ability of households to secure food, not the actual existence of hunger,” but “the potential impact of this new terminology on public perceptions, attitudes and understanding, and on government policies, is profound,” they argue. “If our choice of language allows us to avoid seeing hunger for what it is, society will have less understanding, less motivation and less political will to undertake and tackle the complex problems at stake.” The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future focuses on issues of diet, health, food production and food systems. “Our work at the center … has led us to appreciate the difficulties involved in measuring complex human experiences such as food security and hunger,” the doctors write. “Until more accurate survey instruments are developed, the USDA should reinstate the phrases “food insecure without hunger” and “food insecure with hunger” to describe the state of household affairs with regard to food,” they insist and suggest that “every person who is hungry be counted in a way that everyone can understand.”

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.hunger29nov29,1,338339.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Also see http://www.frac.org/Press_Release/11.15.06.html ( “More than 35 Million of Americans Lived i n Food Insecure Households in 2005,” FRAC press release and media summary)

13. Minnesota Summit on Hunger Urges to Recognize and Address Hunger Issues

(“Wiping Out Hunger Is ‘Moral Mandate,’” startribune.com, December 4, 2006)

Speaker after speaker at a summit on hunger in Minnesota described the situation with hunger in the state as “intolerable.” The Rev. Peter Rogness, bishop of the St. Paul synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said eliminating hunger is a “moral mandate.” Second Harvest Heartland, Minnesota’s largest food bank network, reported that between 2001 and last year, the number of people served by the agency has risen 45 percent, to 169,600 a month. “The increase has been overwhelming,” said R. Jane Brown, the network’s executive director. “The profile [of people using food shelves] is not radically different from our neighbors, so hunger remains largely invisible,” she added. “Hunger is a reality for way too many people in Minnesota. ... We can give people a leg up so they can better provide for themselves and their families. Continued hunger in this land of plenty is intolerable,” said Jeff Ettinger, chairman, CEO and president of Hormel Foods. With reauthorization of the Farm Bill coming next year, “I’ll do all in my power to strengthen these [food stamp and other nutrition assistance] programs,” said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., a member of the agriculture committee.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/854179.html

14. Kentucky Reverses Decision to Centralize and Automate Child Care Assistance Because of Delays in Payments

(“Child-Care Payment Delays Fixed,” courier-journal.com, December 1, 2006)

Kentucky state officials have reversed a policy change that caused lengthy delays in child care payments for some low-income families. On July 1, the state shifted the handling of some applications for child care assistance from five regional nonprofits to its central office in Frankfort. This change affected about 11,000 parents, most of whom were trying to get off welfare. The office’s inability to provide timely payments for child care was forcing some low-income parents to quit jobs or drop out of job training. Day-care providers said they were waiting weeks or months for payment. Now the state is giving the payment task back to the organizations that used to do the work. “We possibly underestimated the volume and complexity of these [child care assistance] cases,” said Mark Birdwhistell, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. He acknowledged the state wasn’t ready for the child care work it took on. The switch was part of a plan to move all such services to an automated system in Frankfort to reduce delays and paperwork. Birdwhistel apologized to families and day-care providers suffered from the delays. State officials will work to eliminate a backlog of late payment cases by issuing checks daily instead of once a week.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612010362

Also see http://tinyurl.com/yyex26 (“Day-Care Payments Hung Up,” courier-journal.com, November 29, 2006)

15. California: Farmworkers Cannot Afford the Fruits and Vegetables They Pick, Study Finds

(“Perceived High Cost Deters Farmworkers from Eating Produce, University of California Study Finds,” newswire.ascribe.org, December 1, 2006)

More than 40 percent of the Fresno County, Calif., farmworkers eat fewer than three servings of fruit and vegetables per day, far below the USDA recommended amount of fruits and vegetables for good health, according to a UC Berkeley survey. “The price of fruits and vegetables, and whether they are perceived to be ‘too expensive,’ does seem to have a significant impact on fruit and vegetable consumption,” said Christy Getz, a participating researcher. “It is sad that laboring in the world’s most productive agricultural fields isn’t enough to ensure farmworkers and their families can eat a healthful and sufficient diet all year long,” Getz said. The survey confirmed that food insecurity is an issue in the farmworker population and that farmworkers underutilize food stamps. Just over half the respondents eligible for food stamps received them in the winter, and only 37 percent of those eligible received them in the summer. Getz said farmworkers feared compromising their immigration status while applying for benefits. “But even if they were accessing the benefits, our research found that the benefit works out to be very low,” Getz pointed out.

http://tinyurl.com/yy6nbe

16. Connecticut: New Haven Creates Food Policy Council to Address Issues of Poor Nutrition

(“New Council to Support Local Foods,” yaledailynews.com, December 6, 2006)

The newly formed New Haven ( Conn.) Food Policy Council will address concerns associated with poor nutrition and access to locally grown, nutritious food for all New Haven residents, including Yale students and low-income people. “The reason why you want to have a Food Policy Council is that food is a basic need,” said Jennifer McTiernan of CitySeed, a nonprofit that pioneered the council’s creation. “The idea of the council is to pull together people working in this [food access] area so they can collaborate on these issues to encourage long-term change,” she explained. The city ranked 163rd out of 169 cities in Connecticut for food security, according to a report by the Connecticut Food Policy Council last year. While New Haven excelled in the food assistance category and residents’ proximity to offices that distribute food stamps, it fell in the bottom 10 in the categories of wealth, access to transportation, severity of poverty and others. “The council could evaluate the bus routes in New Haven and try to make sure that no matter where you live in New Haven, you can get on a bus and go to a grocery store,” McTiernan said. Charles Alvarez, who previously worked with CitySeed as a Presidential Public Service Fellow, hopes that the council will target lower-income residents to provide them access to fresh food through local farmers’ markets.

http://www.yaledailynews.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=34604

17. Indiana Advocates Fear More Difficult Application Process for People Seeking Benefits Under New Welfare Privatization Plan

(“Advocates Say Welfare Requires Personal Touch,” indystar.com, December 3, 2006)

Indiana advocates for the poor are not convinced that the new $1.16 billion welfare privatization plan announced by Gov. Mitch Daniels will equally benefit all people receiving or applying for assistance. According to the plan, a private business consortium headed by IBM will manage the state’s social services system. The group pledged to provide electronic access terminals to community and faith-based groups to increase options for people applying for benefits. But advocates say some people might not be able to access or negotiate the new technology. Advocates also fear staff reductions at welfare offices could make the process more difficult for those who choose to apply in person. Michael Reinke of the Indiana Coalition on Housing and Homeless Issues said he and other advocates support anything that makes it easier to apply, but people “are still going to need people to talk to, to answer questions and to explain what is available.” Inadequate on-site staffing could result in long waits and added frustration, Reinke said. State officials refer to research showing that a large number of people are likely to use online or phone applications because this service does not require them to go to the welfare office during their working hours. “It is going to be better for clients,” said Family and Social Services Administration Secretary Mitchell Roob.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061203/LOCAL19/612030440/

18. Texas: Group’s Report Shares State’s Experience with Outsourcing Social Services

(“Updating and Outsourcing Enrollment in Public Benefits: The Texas Experience,” cppp.org, November 2006)

“States should not view outsourcing as a panacea to the problems facing the administration of their public benefits systems” as the risks to the state and the needy families could be greater than the benefits, according to a report released by the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) and authored by Celia Hagert. The report shares the Texas experience with the social services outsourcing plan. The new eligibility system, run by a private contractor, was supposed to save the state hundreds of millions of dollars and improve services to clients. Instead clients reported difficulty reaching the contractor’s call centers, lost applications, long backlogs, and often being wrongly denied benefits. In May 2006, Texas delayed the further rollout of the new eligibility system indefinitely and asked state staff to take over. “No other state has attempted modernization on such a large scale or turned over so much responsibility for eligibility determination to a private contractor,” reads the report. “As the Texas experience has shown, success requires adequate investment, careful planning, and proper oversight. … It is very difficult to design contracts that will give contractors incentives to improve service to low-income families while protecting program integrity. Hurried or indiscriminate outsourcing can lead to significant problems with program access, integrity, and cost,” concludes CPPP.

http://www.cppp.org/files/3/CPPP_PrivReport_%28FS%29.pdf

19. New Hampshire’s Wages Lag Behind Increasing Costs of Living

(“Report: Wages in County Lagging,” eagletimes.com, December 5, 2006)

A single parent with two children in Sullivan County, N.H., must bring home $36,296 a year and earn $17.45 an hour just to get by, according to a recent estimate by the New Hampshire Employment Security-Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau. The study examined how much residents in different parts of the state must earn to cover expenses on food, rent, utilities, child and health care, telephone, transportation and clothing and household expenses. New Hampshire families have been increasingly squeezed by rents and utilities that have jumped 35 percent over the last six years and by health care costs that have risen 103 percent over the last seven years. Many low-income families earn too little to make ends meet, but too much to qualify for child care assistance, food stamps and other benefits. “A family may not be categorized as poor but still be unable to meet basic needs,” said study author Daphne Kenyon. The study was commissioned by the University of New Hampshire’s Office of Economic Initiatives and the North Country Council who also are planning a 2007 study that will compare the wages of jobs available in the state to livable wage estimates.

http://www.eagletimes.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=1995

Also see http://www.nhsbdc.org/LW2006/NH%20Livable%20Wage%202006.pdf (report, “New Hampshire’s Basic Needs & Livable Wage”)