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. Workers’ Wages Decline While Economy Continues Sustained Growth
2. Study Finds Government Job Survey Underestimates Poor and Uninsured
3. National Governors Association Issues Brief on Improving Access to Food Stamps, Welfare and Other Programs
4. National Council on Aging to Launch New Online Feature to Apply for Low-Income Subsidy, Food Stamps and Other Benefits
5. Preschool Children With Low Dairy Intake Gain More Weight Throughout Childhood
6. Grocery Chain Draws Criticism for Its New Charge Card with Excessive Fees
7. Letter to the Editor: In Post-Welfare Reform World, Low-Income Americans Need Higher Wages, Job Training and Stronger Safety Net
8. Share Our Strength’s National Dine-Out to Help Families Affected by Hurricane Katrina
9. Column: Connecticut Families Let Down by Welfare Reform Need More Support Programs
10. California: Ventura County Boosts Food Stamp Participation Through Easier Access to Benefits and Aggressive Outreach
11. Massachusetts Blocks Partnership With Nonprofit Enrolling Eligible Residents in State Benefit Programs
12. Texas Officials Sponsor Public Help Sessions to Catch Up With Problems Created by Private Benefit Enrollment System
13. Pennsylvania COMPASS Points to Easy and Confidential Way to Sign Up for Subsidized School Lunches Online
14. Maryland Meals for Achievement Breakfast Program Expands to More Schools
15. California: More Needy Students Sign Up for School Meals After Automatic Enrollment Became Available
16. Florida: Kissimmee Schools Set to Prove That Healthy School Lunch Leads to Healthier Students
17. Meals Matter Website Project Provides Resources for Making Breakfast Healthy and Fun
18. Connecticut Government Encourages Schools to Ban Bake Sales
19. Utah Representative Initiates State Audit of Vending Machine Sales in Schools
20. Filling Bellies or Providing Balanced Diet: California Food Banks Debate Their Role

1. Workers’ Wages Decline While Economy Continues Sustained Growth

(“Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity,” August 28, 2006)

The current economic expansion has shown signs of becoming the first period of economic growth since World War II lacking a prolonged increase in real wages for most workers. While productivity has risen steadily since 2003, workers’ median hourly wages have declined 2 percent, after adjusting for inflation, over the same period of time. Wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of the nation’s gross domestic product since 1947, but corporate profits have risen to their highest share since the 1960s. UBS, the investment bank, recently referred to the current period as “the golden era of profitability.” In the first quarter of 2006, wages and salaries represented 45 percent of gross domestic product, down from almost 50 percent in the first quarter of 2001 and a record 53.6 percent in the first quarter of 1970, according to the Commerce Department. “If I had to sum it up,” said Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute, “it comes down to bargaining power and the lack of ability of many in the work force to claim their fair share of growth.” Since last summer, the value of workers’ benefits has failed to keep pace with inflation, the government reports. Public polls show a growing anxiety about the future. Because recent economic changes “threaten the livelihoods of some workers and the profits of some firms,” said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, policy makers must try “to ensure that the benefits of global economic integration are sufficiently widely shared.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/business/28wages.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

2. Study Finds Government Job Survey Underestimates Poor and Uninsured

(“U.S. Poverty Undercounted in Job Surveys, Study Finds,” today.reuters.com, August 24, 2006)

The number of poor and uninsured Americans reported in the government’s Current Population Survey (CPS) may be considerably underestimated, according to a new study by the Center for Economic Policy Research. The survey is so severely miscalibrated that it could exclude as many as 2.5 million unemployed adults, the center found. “The group that is falling out of the survey is economically marginalized, less likely to have a job, less likely to have health-insurance, and more likely to be poor,” said co-author of the report John Schmitt. The yearly national survey on U.S. poverty, soon due to the public, relies on the same data, Schmitt pointed out. The CPS failure to capture a large group of non-working adults that are likely to be poor consequently leads to undercounting the poor and those without health insurance, the study said. It also estimates that 600,000 people living in poverty and 350,000 people without health insurance are absent from the government statistics.

http://tinyurl.com/o4lh9

Also see http://www.cepr.net/publications/cps_declining_coverage_2006_08.pdf (“The Impact of Undercounting in the Current Population Survey,” the Center for Economic Policy Research)

3. National Governors Association Issues Brief on Improving Access to Food Stamps, Welfare and Other Programs

(“NGA Center Examines Access to Benefits for Low-Income Families,” nga.org, August 17, 2006)

Despite assistance provided by state-administered programs such as TANF, food stamps, child care and Medicaid, many families experience difficulties obtaining and retaining benefits because of time-consuming and burdensome application process, fragmented service delivery and the lack of outreach, according to a new issue brief from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. The NGA Center’s strategies to reduce barriers to program participation and improve access to benefits include: using online tools to determine eligibility and submit applications; offering a single application for multiple programs; establishing call centers and providing services through local organizations with strong connections to working families; and coordinating benefit requirements by aligning program policies regarding eligibility, verification, and renewal. “States have an opportunity to help low-income families benefit from resources that are already available,” said John Thomasian, director of the NGA Center. “By integrating and streamlining access to services, state leaders can increase the efficiency of benefit programs and ensure low-income families receive the assistance they need.”

http://tinyurl.com/s2qsn

Also see http://www.nga.org/FIles/pdf/06LOWFAM.pdf (“Improving Access to Benefits for Low-Income Families,” NGA Center brief)

4. National Council on Aging to Launch New Online Feature to Apply for Low-Income Subsidy, Food Stamps and Other Benefits

(“New BenefitsCheckUp.org Feature Helps Organizations Enroll People in Medicare Extra Help,” prweb.com, August 23, 2006)

The online BenefitsCheckUp service of the National Council on Aging will launch a new feature that enables community organizations and state agencies to help low-income people apply for the Extra Help available through Medicare’s Prescription Drug Coverage. If eligible, the Extra Help coverage is valued on average at $3,700 a year. The feature will forward electronic applications for the Extra Help to the Social Security Administration. It also will automatically screen applicants to see if they qualify for other social programs, including Medicare savings programs, Medicaid and food stamps. According to the council, since 2001, 1.7 million people have used BenefitsCheckUp and 400,000 signed up for prescription drugs benefits and assistance with health care, rent, utilities and other needs.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/8/prweb427880.htm

Also see www.BenefitsCheckUp.org/demo (Medicare Rx Extra Help Online Application demo)

5. Preschool Children With Low Dairy Intake Gain More Weight Throughout Childhood

(“Low Dairy Intake in Early Childhood Predicts Excess Body Fat Gain,” obesityresearch.org, July 2006)

A longitudinal study, supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Dairy Council, found that preschool girls and boys with the lowest dairy intake – less than 1.25 servings per day for girls and less than 1.7 servings per day for boys – gained significantly more weight throughout childhood and by early adolescence. Children who consumed the lowest amount of dairy products had the highest amount of body fat by the time they became adolescents (10 to 13 years old). “These results suggest that low levels of dairy intake should be avoided and that higher intake levels may be more beneficial when they are not accompanied by excessively high intakes of calories and fat,” the authors wrote. The study, which appeared in the July issue of Obesity, a medical journal, used the data of the Framingham Children’s Study, a longitudinal study of factors related to the development of dietary habits and physical activity patterns during childhood.

http://tinyurl.com/pdjlt

6. Grocery Chain Draws Criticism for Its New Charge Card with Excessive Fees

(Bi-Lo’s New Charge Card Draws Fire,” beaufortgazette.com, August 20, 2006)

If you’re short on cash, “Bi-Lo is here to help,” according to a pamphlet by the Bi-Lo supermarket chain about its new BonusPay charge cards. The cards can be used for grocery purchases of $10 or more at its South Carolina and Tennessee stores. Advocates say the cards will do more harm than good. BonusPay fees are excessive and the chain “will be making tons of money off people who are least able to pay for it,” according to Sue Berkowitz of S.C. Appleseed Legal Justice Center. Customers who sign up for BonusPay can use it like a credit or debit card, but have to pay a $4.99 maintenance fee each month they use the card and transaction fees – $3 for purchases of $10 to $25 and $5 for purchases of $25.01 to $200 – on each BonusPay purchase. The fees and grocery charges are withdrawn from the customer’s checking account on an agreed-upon date, usually the next time the customer gets paid. If the customer’s checking account does not have sufficient funds, additional fees will be applied by both Bi-Lo and the customer’s bank. “This is meant to be a last resort safety net for people with no other option (and an urgent need for groceries),” said Bi-Lo director of corporate communications Joyce Smart. Card fees calculate to an “extremely high” rate of approximately 20 percent and the card itself is more like a payday loan, according to Danny Collins of the S.C. Department of Consumer Affairs. The card is “setting up our most vulnerable citizens to pay more for services than people with means instead of trying to figure out how to help [them] … make ends meet,” Berkowitz said. “If Bi-Lo wants to help people who are in need, they should be setting up services to (educate people about) food stamps and to help them stretch their dollars instead of taking dollars out of their pocket – especially the working poor.” Bi-Lo plans to expand the BonusPay program to Alabama and Florida.

http://www.beaufortgazette.com/local_news/story/6040134p-5301499c.html

7. Letter to the Editor: In Post-Welfare Reform World, Low-Income Americans Need Higher Wages, Job Training and Stronger Safety Net

(“The Journey From Welfare to Work,” nytimes.com, August 20, 2006)

“Over the last five years, the number of Americans below the meager federal poverty line and the number suffering from food insecurity have both increased by millions,” writes Joel Berg of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger in his letter to the editor of The New York Times. Berg was responding to an op-ed by Douglas J. Besharov, titled “End Welfare Lite As We Know It.” According to Berg, while Besharov admits that many people leaving welfare rolls end up in low-wage jobs unable to support their families, he does not call for “increased wage supports, job training and other help for such workers” and “derides the very limited nutritional and other support that some who leave welfare continue to obtain from government as ‘welfare lite’.” Besharov thinks that welfare reform merely created “small pockets of additional hardship,” while “most of this increased misery is due to structural problems in the economy,” says Berg. “The suffering is exacerbated when people who fall through the cracks can no longer rely on a robust safety net that expands when hardship increases.”

http://tinyurl.com/pktcl (subscription or purchase required)

http://tinyurl.com/nt76a (Besharov’s op-ed; subscription or purchase required)

8. Share Our Strength’s National Dine-Out to Help Families Affected by Hurricane Katrina

(“One Night, One Meal Can Make a Difference,” strength.org, August 2006)

On August 29th, the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Share Our Strength invites everyone who wants to make a difference in the lives of those still affected by the Katrina disaster to participate in a dine-out, “Restaurants for Relief 2,” presented by American Express. This second annual event is part of Share Our Strength’s mission to end childhood hunger in America and organized in partnership with Food Network and the National Restaurant Association. The dine-out will help raise funds for rebuilding school cafeterias, opening summer meal programs, providing assistance for affected restaurant workers and for other hurricane recovery efforts. A list of participating restaurants is available at www.strength.org. Online reservations are accepted at www.opentable.com.

http://www.strength.org/restaurants/diners/

9. Column: Connecticut Families Let Down by Welfare Reform Need More Support Programs

(“Safety Net Full Of Holes,” courant.com, August 22, 2006)

“We shouldn’t be fooled by the declining welfare rolls in the nation’s richest state. We ‘celebrate’ 10 years of reform alongside another lost generation of the poor ,” writes Dan Haar in the Hartford ( Conn.) Courant. Connecticut “has done welfare with paltry job training, while cutting key child care programs, without a transportation plan to help people get to their jobs, without regular mental health assessments and without enough caseworkers to make intelligent decisions when families reached their time limits.” Things got worse with the recession of 2001 that decreased family income and increased poverty rates. “Welfare reform has shown us … that the low-wage economy, which devalues work, will leave millions of families too far behind to ever see a decent life.” Suzette Strickland saw much too often that the reform hit hard single mothers at her outreach job at End Hunger Connecticut! Although the state’s minimum wage has risen to $7.40 an hour, the stagnation of the federal minimum wage “has kept pay scales at the poverty level or lower for millions of single mother,” Haar writes. Even Strickland, herself a former welfare mother, admits she does not know how they make ends meet. The Connecticut General Assembly’s panel, currently reviewing the state’s program, “ought to conclude” that there is an “obvious need to spend more money on support programs.”

http://tinyurl.com/pssm4

10. California: Ventura County Boosts Food Stamp Participation Through Easier Access to Benefits and Aggressive Outreach

(More County Residents Qualify for Food Stamps,” venturacountystar.com, August 24, 2006)

Ventura County, Calif., is one of the richest counties in the state, but social workers see more and more local residents applying for food stamps. Ventura food stamp rolls grew by 37 percent over the past six years, rising from 8,260 households in 2000 to almost 11,300 of March 2006. Grocery stores also saw an increase, as the total value of stamps issued to county residents grew from $18.7 million to $30 million. Officials say the rolls are rising because of relaxed eligibility standards, a simplified application process and a way to pay for groceries with electronic benefit cards. California welfare benefit workers also say they are qualifying an unknown number of drug felons who were once deemed ineligible. Under a provision in the 1996 welfare reform law, drug felony convictions meant you could not get food stamps. However, sates could exempt convicted of use or possession, which California did starting last year. The county is running an aggressive campaign to educate people about food benefits. Still, less than half of the almost 60,000 people who are eligible for food stamps in Ventura County are receiving them, according to California Food Policy Advocates. The state’s participation also is relatively low. In 2003, it was 45 percent, compared with a national average of 56 percent. “Our goal countywide is to make sure anybody eligible is in the program,” said Curtis Updike of the Ventura County Human Services Agency. “In a country such as ours, you shouldn’t have hungry people.” Some groups are also trying to educate eligible immigrants about available programs.

http://tinyurl.com/pbpfv

11. Massachusetts Blocks Partnership With Nonprofit Enrolling Eligible Residents in State Benefit Programs

(“State Scraps Nonprofit Group’s Bid to Streamline Medicaid Applications,” boston.com, August 24, 2006)

Mitt Romney’s administration in Massachusetts ended talks with RealBenefits, scrapping plans to let the company link to a state computer network that handles human services benefit applications. RealBenefits is a nonprofit firm that sells computer software to nonprofit groups and healthcare providers to digitize and speed up the application process for government assistance programs, including Medicaid and food stamps. Healthcare advocates said officials are missing an opportunity to reach more of the 700,000 Massachusetts residents who lack Medicaid insurance and other state benefits. State Sen. Richard T. Moore said the partnership “would be worth it and would help individuals who were in need” and would “expedite getting benefits.” State officials explained they ended the talks with RealBenefits, since they felt that the state computer network has already penetrated deep into the state’s healthcare system and it would be wasteful to link to a “redundant” system. They also cited potential security and duplicate service risks. RealBenefits has helped sign up 55,000 Massachusetts households for various state programs. Last week, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation recognized its achievement by a $500,000 grant for “delivering services and challenging old paradigms.”

http://tinyurl.com/nfpcx

12. Texas Officials Sponsor Public Help Sessions to Catch Up With Problems Created by Private Benefit Enrollment System

(“Need Help Applying for Public Benefits? Find Answers at Convention Center,” statesman.com, August 22, 2006)

Texas state officials hosted a public event for people who need help with applying for Medicaid, food stamps, the Children’s Health Insurance Program or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families at the Austin Convention Center. At the event, sponsored by the local legislative delegation, Mayor Will Wynn and the Austin City Council and nonprofit organizations, state workers assisted with applications and answered questions. Problems with access to benefits, which many eligible residents of Hays and Travis counties have experienced since the state allowed a private contractor to determine eligibility for programs such as food stamps in their counties, spurred the initiative. The problems include denial of services to qualified individuals and the contractor’s call center representatives lacking the training to answer questions about services. “To the people who need those services, these glitches are measured in pain and illness untreated by a doctor,” said state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos. Texas officials froze their original plans to rollout the new system statewide until problems with the pilot can be resolved.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/22/23accenture.html

13. Pennsylvania COMPASS Points to Easy and Confidential Way to Sign Up for Subsidized School Lunches Online

(“COMPASS Points Way to Low-Cost Lunches,” local.lancasteronline.com, August 22, 2006)

This school year all Pennsylvania public schools are required to participate in a “modernized” free and reduced-price lunch program. Schools will be required to use COMPASS, an online system that allows Pennsylvania adult residents to fill out an application that immediately determines what benefits they qualify for based on their income. The system checks eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals, Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, long-term care and home fuel assistance. “We have people in the school system who cannot afford to eat lunch,” said David R. Haines, Solanco School District food service director. “With COMPASS, they know right away if they are approved.” He also expects a drastic reduction in paperwork and increased privacy. “I am not allowed to send a list [of applicants] to a principal. This is strictly confidential,” Haines said.

http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/25054

Also see www.compass.state.pa.us (access to the COMPASS program)

14. Maryland Meals for Achievement Breakfast Program Expands to More Schools

(“Healthy Start,” times-news.com, August 23, 2006)

The Maryland Meals for Achievement breakfast program is being expanded to more schools in Allegany County that have at least 40 percent of their students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The program started in 1998 in several Maryland elementary schools and now provides students of more than 130 Maryland schools daily nutritious breakfasts in their classrooms. Harvard University researchers found that classroom breakfast has a positive impact on grades; improves student attendance by about two days per school year; decreases tardiness and behavior problems; and increases students’ attention spans.

http://www.times-news.com/opinion/local_story_235103725.html?keyword=topstory

15. California: More Needy Students Sign Up for School Meals After Automatic Enrollment Became Available

(“Number of Free Lunches Rises,” tracypress.com, August 25, 2006)

The number of students who are eligible for subsidized meals in Tracy Unified School District in California has grown to 24 percent for free lunches and to 5 percent for reduced-price lunches. This growth, officials say, shows the impact of a change in the school meal enrollment, but does not necessarily reflect an increase in the number of low-income families. Families who receive food stamps or benefits from one of three other federal aid programs automatically qualify to receive free breakfast and lunch at school. According to the 2004 Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act (CNRA), they are not required to submit an application to enroll in school meals. Since the law took effect, “our numbers took a little hike,” said Paula Weeks, director of food services. School districts with more than 25,000 students were required to integrate the CNRA by July 2005, while districts with more than 10,000 students have time until July 2007, said Phyllis Bramson-Paul of the California Department of Education. Direct certification for school meals makes it easier for about 850 Tracy students to have two nutritious meals a day.

http://tracypress.com/content/view/3505/2/

16. Florida: Kissimmee Schools Set to Prove That Healthy School Lunch Leads to Healthier Students

(“The School-Lunch Test,” nytimes.com, August 20, 2006)

Four Kissimmee schools have been testing “Healthier Options for Public Schoolchildren,” or HOPS, to find out whether healthier menus can measurably affect children’s health. The program is the brainchild of Dr. Arthur Agatston, creator of the South Beach Diet, who founded the Agatston Research Foundation. The selected schools, all in the Osceola County ( Fla.) School District, have a large body of students who receive free and reduced-price meals that often are their only nutritious meals of the day, so if a healthful change happens, the program can claim it as its own. Many other initiatives like Alice Waters’ Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, Calif., are following the same objective of making students healthier, but, as researcher Benjamin Caballero points out, “right now we can’t scientifically say that … improving diet, classroom nutrition education, physical activity, parental involvement — actually do work.” When HOPS program started in 2004, children responded with almost a “mutiny” to the removal of some popular, sugar- and fat-laden food items. The program was wrestling with “finicky eaters, reluctant administrators, hostile parents and uncooperative suppliers.” Danielle Hollar and Marie Almon, program staff, “have come to believe that the greatest resistance to nutritional change comes not from the children but from the grown-ups, starting with the very administrators who invited HOPS in.” However, the tactics of making foods already familiar to students with healthier ingredients and gradually introducing new items to the school menu have worked and solved the “acceptance question” – what students are willing to eat. The program has produced mixed results, but “the HOPS team is hopeful … that the biggest fight — to make it a given that school lunch should be healthy — has been won.” This month’s data also showed that the overweight rate in the HOPS schools declined during the 2005-06 school year, with 23 of the 486 overweight children now characterized as “at-risk” or “normal.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/magazine/20lunches.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

17. Meals Matter Website Project Provides Resources for Making Breakfast Healthy and Fun

(“Breakfast Before School May Boost Child's Academic Performance,” nutritionhorizon.com, August 22, 2006)

An online resource, the Meals Matter website, stresses the importance of eating a nutritious breakfast and offers interactive games, articles and recipes that can help make breakfast a “back-to-school priority” for children and adults. Children who regularly ate breakfast scored higher on standardized tests, exhibited better classroom behavior and were more focused than children who skipped breakfast, according to a study by Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital. “Eating a balanced breakfast before school allows children to focus on classroom learning, not their rumbling stomachs,” said Andrea Garen of Dairy Council of California.

http://tinyurl.com/lzkks

Also see http://www.mealsmatter.org (Meals Matter website project)

18. Connecticut Government Encourages Schools to Ban Bake Sales

(“Schools Tempted to Ban Sweets,” courant.com, August 22, 2006)

The Connecticut Department of Education is tempting school districts across the state to ban sales of unhealthy treats at PTO fundraisers in exchange for a 10-cent-per-meal reimbursement from state funds. Earlier this year, the state adopted a law banning soda from being sold in schools. The new initiative seeks to encourage schools to go beyond that.* Canton, Cheshire and Fairfield districts are among its first pioneers, and have already chosen to ban bake sales. The state has compiled a list of what complies with the reimbursement guidelines. The list is part of the Connecticut Nutrition Standards that, according to some districts, can be difficult to follow. The state is in the process of explaining the reimbursement program to the districts by mailing them letters and hosting training sessions to provide ideas for fundraising alternatives with healthy food such as frozen bananas and trail mix. Joanne Fitzpatrick of the Fairfield school district said the district sees the program as a way to offset any losses to its food service program caused by the added expense of preparing more nutritious meals. “If it’s going to help improve the health of our students, then it’s worth it,” she said.

http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-bakesale0822.artaug22,0,5097099.story?coll=hc-headlines-home

* Under Public Act 06-63, snacks that do not meet the state’s nutritional guidelines for fat and sugar cannot be sold in schools that sign up for the program.

19. Utah Representative Initiates State Audit of Vending Machine Sales in Schools

(“Vending Machine Onslaught Inundates Student Diets,” sltrib.com, August 20, 2006)

Utah is undergoing a state audit of schools to find out how much money they make from vending machine sales and where the money goes. The audit was requested by Utah House Rep. Pat Jones who is concerned about school vending policies and the pressure students face from easy access to unhealthy snacks outside school cafeterias in most Utah junior high and high schools. “Many of our parents teach correct nutrition at home. But there’s an onslaught of unhealthy products being sold to our children in vending machines,” Jones said. “I don’t think many parents realize how much money these schools are making.” Federal law requires that in-cafeteria vending machines must be turned off during lunch, but schools can avoid this rule by installing vending machines outside cafeteria doors. Utah received a failing grade for its school food policies in the 2006 national school foods report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. While many other states regulate the types of food sold in vending machines, a la carte, in school stores or at fundraisers, Utah only follows the minimum requirements set up by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for vending machines.

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_4210327

20. Filling Bellies or Providing Balanced Diet: California Food Banks Debate Their Role

(“Healthy Concern,” pe.com, August 21, 2006)

Emergency food agencies in California are facing a dilemma whether to accept all food donations or choose only those that are healthy and nutritious. Convenience foods, often high in sugar, fat and calories, dominate many food bank shelves, while fresh and healthy items, including fruits and vegetables, are hard to find. Food banks give little input on what they receive from donors, said Daryl Brock, who runs the Second Harvest Food Bank that serves Riverside and San Bernardino counties. If agencies start refusing certain items, donors “may turn elsewhere,” Brock said. Also, most convenience foods are shelf-stable, while produce can spoil before it reaches recipients, which presents more logistical and storage problems. At the same time, agencies are increasingly aware that their clients may suffer the consequences of the obesity epidemic associated with an unhealthy diet. “Food banks are just like the public,” said Jessica Bartholow, spokeswoman for the California Association of Food Banks. “We’re all being educated about the fact that all calories are not created equal.” Some food banks already have made changes. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank hired a nutrition manager and refuses certain products, including soft drinks. Last year, the Alameda County Community Food Bank started a campaign to ensure that at least 75 percent of the food it distributes is nutritious.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_B_food20.67aa28.html

Correction: The title of item 6 in last week’s digest, “Death Rate of Uninsured Children and Children on Medicare Is Double That of Children With Private Insurance,” ("Doctor Visits Save Dollars, Kids’ Lives," The Denver Post) should have read “Death Rate of Uninsured Children and Children on Medicaid Is Double That of Children With Private Insurance.”