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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.
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1. House Passes Child Nutrition Program Bill With Strong Bipartisan Support
2. Report: Child Well-Being Index Finds More Children Are Obese, Live in Poverty
3. Share Our Strength Accepting Grant Applications For Great American Bake Sale Funds
4. States Can Consider Private Contractors to Sign Up Food Stamp Recipients, USDA Says
5. Washington State Governor Signs Law Making Thousands More Eligible for Food Stamps
6. Column: Philadelphia Metro Newspaper Refuses to Run Food Stamp Advertisement
7. Pittsburgh Closes Recreation Centers That Offer Summer Meals to Low-Income Children
8. Vermont School Board Approves Breakfast Program for Low-Income Students
9. Report on Delaware's Low-Income Families Makes Connection Between Poverty, Disability and Poor Nutrition
10. New York City Jewish Community Organization Hires Full-Time Food Stamp Coordinator
11. Hawaii Department of Human Services Collaborates With Adobe Systems To Create Online Applications for Public Assistance
12. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman Allows Wisconsin Milk-For-Cheese Program to Continue
13. San Francisco Food Pantry Demand "Jumped at an Alarming Rate" Over the Past Three Months

1. HOUSE PASSES CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAM BILL WITH STRONG BIPARTISAN SUPPORT

(FRAC Press Release, March 24, 2004)

The House of Representatives approved, by an overwhelming bipartisan majority (419-5), its child nutrition reauthorization bill, The Child Nutrition Improvement and Integrity Act (HR 3873). This bill will expand the availability of nutritious meals to more children in school, in outside school hours programs, and in child care. The bill makes key improvements in the nutrition programs, such as expanding 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; extending eligibility for snacks and meals to children in homeless and domestic violence shelters up to the age of 18; 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; providing migrant children with automatic eligibility for free school meals; creating new ways to improve the nutrition environment in schools; and making the application process for school meals easier for many low-income families.

http://www.frac.org/html/federal_food_programs/cnreauthor/032403reauth.htm

2. REPORT: CHILD WELL-BEING INDEX FINDS MORE CHILDREN ARE OBESE, LIVE IN POVERTY

(Brookings Institution, March 24, 2004)

The Brookings Institution, in cooperation with the Foundation for Child Development and Duke University, released a new index of child well-being, which assesses trends in seven quality-of-life areas for children from 1975 to 2002. Although children are safer than they were 30 years ago and teenage birth rates have substantially declined, more children are obese, living in poverty, and attempting suicide than in 1975.

See the full report and PowerPoint presentation at:
http://www.brookings.org/comm/events/20040324.htm

Read an event summary at:
http://www.brookings.org/comm/op-ed/20040324wellbeing.htm

Read the Washington Post article about the index at (March 24, 2004):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22214-2004Mar24.html

3. SHARE OUR STRENGTH ACCEPTING GRANT APPLICATIONS FOR GREAT AMERICAN BAKE SALE FUNDS

(Share Our Strength, April 2004)

Share Our Strength will be accepting grant applications for this year's Great American Bake Sale grant-making campaign beginning April 4th. Applicants must be either current sponsors of the USDA's summer feeding or afterschool meal service programs for children, or advocacy organizations that provide technical assistance to these programs. Applications will be accepted from registered nonprofits and schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The priority deadline to submit an online application is May 31st. The final deadline is July 25th.

http://www.greatamericanbakesale.org

4. STATES CAN CONSIDER PRIVATE CONTRACTORS TO SIGN UP FOOD STAMP RECIPIENTS, USDA SAYS

(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle, WA, March 24, 2004)

Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Eric Bost said at a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture hearing that the U.S. Department of Agriculture would consider letting states use private contractors to sign eligible people up for the Food Stamp Program, even though federal law says government workers should do the job. Undersecretary Bost noted that if a state had a better way to provide services and save money, then it should be considered. In Florida, a pilot program will allow non-government workers to handle applications for food stamps, as well as Medicaid and TANF benefits.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?
category=1152&slug=Food%20Stamps

5. WASHINGTON STATE GOVERNOR SIGNS LAW MAKING THOUSANDS MORE ELIGIBLE FOR FOOD STAMPS

(Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA, March 23, 2004)

Washington Governor Gary Locke approved a law that would make at least 25,000 more state residents eligible for the Food Stamp Program. The groups made eligible by the law include convicted drug felons and families transitioning from TANF to jobs. Senate Bill 6411 will cost the state very little because the program is federally funded, but it will bring in tens of millions in federal funds to the local economy over the next couple of years. The law removes the lifetime ban on food stamps for people convicted of serious drug felonies, just as a number of other states have done since the ban was implemented. An average of 2,080 Washingtonians are ineligible at a given moment due to a drug conviction.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=032304&ID=s1501975

6. COLUMN: PHILADELPHIA METRO NEWSPAPER REFUSES TO RUN FOOD STAMP ADVERTISEMENT

(Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, March 24, 2004)

Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Tom Ferrick Jr. wonders why the Philadelphia Metro Newspaper publisher is refusing to run an ad from the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger. The coalition hoped to include several quarter page ads in the Metro encouraging low-income Philadelphia citizens to apply for food stamps, part of a greater Food Stamp Program outreach effort by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, Coalition staff received a phone call from the paper's ad representative saying that the publisher would not run the ad. The publisher refuses to comment on why it has refused to run the ad.

http://tinyurl.com/yqx5h

7. PITTSBURGH CLOSES RECREATION CENTERS THAT OFFER SUMMER MEALS TO LOW-INCOME CHILDREN

(Associated Press, March 24, 2004)

In response to a $42 million budget deficit, Pittsburgh has closed most of its recreation centers and swimming pools. Last year, 15 recreation centers served free summer meals to about 1,800 children. If the sites remain closed over the summer, the children who rely on free summer meals may be forced to walk farther to find summer food, or forgo participation in the program. "This creates a major problem for the entire city because summer meals pick up where school lunches left off," says DeShauna Ponton of the anti-hunger group Just Harvest. "The meals help contribute to children being ready and able to learn."

http://pennlive.com/newsflash/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1080152951279070.xml

8. VERMONT SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES BREAKFAST PROGRAM FOR LOW- INCOME STUDENTS

(Burlington Free Press, Burlington, VT, March 25, 2004)

The school board of South Burlington approved funding to start a breakfast program for low-income students in town schools. Money for starting the program will come from a reduction in the fund used to pay for unanticipated costs such as extra snow removal. Act 22, a state law passed in 2003 to boost federal breakfast program participation, requires all towns without programs to vote on Town Meeting Day whether to participate in the federal program. The South Burlington School Board decided not to force a vote on the issue (South Burlington's Town Meeting Day is not until May), because it felt that the program should be guaranteed and many people attended the meeting to show their support.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/local/thursday/5000h.htm

9. REPORT ON DELAWARE'S LOW-INCOME FAMILIES MAKES CONNECTION BETWEEN POVERTY, DISABILITY AND POOR NUTRITION

(Delaware News Journal, Wilmington, DE, March 25, 2004)

A report released by the Delaware Housing Coalition entitled "The Realities of Poverty in Delaware" examines the lives of low-income families in the state and recommends policies for lifting people out of poverty. The report points out that low-income people need higher wages, more affordable housing, better nutrition and medical care. One article in the report explores the connection between poverty and disability, concluding that they contribute to each other. In addition, poor nutrition and medical care, as well as exposure to environmental dangers, can exacerbate disability, and thus poverty. The report specifically recommends ensuring low-income children receive food stamps and health coverage.

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/03/25delawarepoverty.html

For the entire report:
http://www.housingforall.org/ROP_0304.htm

10. NEW YORK CITY JEWISH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION HIRES FULL-TIME FOOD STAMP COORDINATOR

(Times-Ledger, Queens, NY, March 25, 2004)

The Jackson Heights-Elmhurst Kehillah, a coalition of 13 Jewish community rganizations in Queens, has hired a full-time food stamp coordinator with a grant from the Nutrition Consortium of New York. Many of the clients are Hispanic persons and immigrants who are not aware that they can participate in the program. The Kehillah applied for the grant after it attempted to start a food pantry at its Jackson Heights office. So many people needed food assistance that the landlord forced it to shut down.

http://www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?
newsid=11169351&BRD=1079&PAG=461&dept_id=170338&rfi=6

11. HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES COLLABORATES WITH ADOBE SYSTEMS TO CREATE ONLINE APPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

(Business Wire, March 24, 2004)

Adobe Systems Incorporated developed an online portal, in collaboration with the Hawaii Department of Human Services (DHS), University of Hawaii and AssistGuide, a developer of online services, for DHS's RealChoices ACCESS (Accountability for Consumer Choice Entry Support System) that allows clients to get information and begin the application process for selected services, including food stamps and Medicaid. Initially, users can begin the process of applying for Medicaid or food stamps by entering information into web-based forms and submitting them to DHS. The system generates a completed government form in Adobe PDF that is downloaded directly to the user's browser. The form can be saved or printed for delivery to DHS.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?
ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040324005735&newsLang=en

For the Hawaii Department of Human Services RealChoices ACCESS web site:
http://www.realchoices.org

12. AGRICULTURE SECRETARY ANN VENEMAN ALLOWS WISCONSIN MILK-FOR-CHEESE PROGRAM TO CONTINUE

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, WI, March 25, 2004)

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced at a Senate hearing that a pilot program, run by the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee, could continue to swap USDA surplus non-fat dry milk for cheese from a Wisconsin dairy. The program operated for a month until Secretary Veneman said it could not continue in February 2004. The program is expected to produce 240,000 pounds of mozzarella, from 516,000 pounds of surplus dried milk, for distribution to Milwaukee County's poor people in the year ahead through a local dairy cooperative. In response to Secretary Veneman's announcement, Senator Kohl said "the Hunger Task Force, and, more importantly, the people they serve, will be gratified for your response."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/mar04/217399.asp

13. SAN FRANCISCO FOOD PANTRY DEMAND "JUMPED AT AN ALARMING RATE" OVER THE PAST THREE MONTHS

(San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, CA, March 25, 2004)

Since the beginning of 2004, the number of people seeking emergency assistance at San Francisco's food pantries has jumped at an alarming rate. The San Francisco Food Bank is on pace to distribute 20 million pounds of food this year, equivalent to 44,000 meals a day, an increase of 11 percent over 2003. The food bank says it probably cannot provide much more food than it is already giving out. Mayor Newsom's special advisor on homeless issues, Angela Alioto, recently called for an investigation. "There is no question the crisis on San Francisco streets is bordering on third-world atmosphere," Alioto said. "I've never seen anything like it in my 15 years working on this issue."

http://www.sfexaminer.com/templates/story.cfm?displaystory=1&storyname=032504n_food

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Ben Winter
Food Research and Action Center
1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 540
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 986-2200 x3019 phone
(202) 986-2525 fax
Email: bwinter@frac.org