Hurricane Sandy and Replacement SNAP Benefits

Hunger Solutions New York is working diligently to keep New Yorkers up to date on information regarding replacement SNAP/food stamp benefits in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. We can provide people with the forms needed as well as answers to questions regarding replacement benefits.

Click here to read our alert about Hurricane Sandy.

Granola Bars Provide Path Off Food Stamps

The Journal News features a great story about a family that struggled to make ends meet. Today, their granola bar business is growing and they will soon be off food stamps:

In the next couple of weeks, Mary Molina plans to tell the state she no longer needs food stamps to feed her four young children.

But it was less than two years ago, after the small business she and her husband ran shut down, that the Molina family turned to pantries to help put food on the table.

Click here to read the full story and watch a video interview with Mary.

Stories like this happen every day. SNAP/food stamps are there when we need them. For most, it is a temporary boost until life gets back in order.

Upcoming Webinar on Child Nutrition Policy

From Action For Healthy Kids:

Tuesday, October 23rd - "Taking Nutrition Policy to the Next Level"

State agency staff, public health staff, coalition members, Action for Healthy Kids state teams, school nutrition staff, wellness team members and school volunteers, here's your chance to learn how nutrition and food policies are interpreted and put in place at federal, state and local levels and how policy is implemented at the district level.

Understanding how local school districts interpret and put policy in effect is important when working on wellness and nutrition policy at the local level. During theWebinar, Taking Nutrition Policy to the Next Level, tips and technical content for state agencies use to help school district administrators, state board of education/local school boards, wellness team members and school nutrition advocates implement federal and state policy changes into their district policy effectively, efficiently, and clearly will be presented. 

Click here to register.

 

USDA Request for Information: Research on the Causes Characteristics and Consequences of Childhood Hunger and Food Insecurity

DUE BY OCT. 11

Section 141 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 provides $10 million to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for research on the causes, characteristics and consequences of childhood hunger and food insecurity. 

The Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced a request for public comments to assist in determining how best to focus these funds on areas and methods with the greatest research potential to maximize the return on this investment. 

Click here for the FNS Advance Copy: Request for Information - Research on the Causes Characteristics and Consequences of Childhood Hunger and Food Insecurity

Free lunch in Binghamton - and breakfast, too: Program provides meals to eligible elementary school students

From Press Connects: 

by Jennifer Micale

BINGHAMTON - Sometimes, there really is a free lunch — and a free breakfast, too — at least if you’re a Binghamton elementary school student.

The city’s seven elementary schools are part of a pilot program by the state Education Department that enables schools in high-poverty areas to serve all children breakfast and lunch at no charge for four years.

Other districts participating in the Education Department’s Community Eligibility Option include Albany, Syracuse, Jamestown, Niagara Falls, Hempstead and Rochester.

Click here to read the full article. 

Census: Most Schenectady kids live in poverty

The Times Union featured an article on children living in poverty in Schenectady. The article highlighted the recent American Community Survey results from the U.S. Census Bureau which indicated 50.8 percent of Schenectady's children reportedly live below the poverty line.

Click here to read this article.

Beyond the Rhetoric: SNAP (Food Stamps) and America's Poor

Dan Glickman authored a very informative article on The Huffington Post explaining how and why SNAP (formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) has grown so much in recent years and highlighting the positive impact it makes for struggling families.

During the Obama years, SNAP has grown because the recession has driven millions into poverty, and because the president and Congress improved the eligibility for unemployed adults to get benefits. But as unemployment falls in the future (which all of us hope) and the economy strengthens, participation in the SNAP program will also come down. The program is counter-cyclical, growing when the economy is weak and falling when the economy strengthens and people get back to work.

The result is a fundamentally strong program with an unusually strong history of bipartisan support that is doing what it was designed to do: help people when they need help, and pull back in better economic times when they have jobs and family-supporting wages. In my judgment, SNAP is the foundation of our American safety net for the poor and lower income working families.

The piece also highlights recent polling by the Food Research and Action Center noting strong support for the program by Americans.

Click here to read the full article.

New School Nutrition Standards Support Healthier and Well-fed Children

From the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC): 

New School Nutrition Standards Support Healthier and Well-fed Children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jennifer Adach, 202.986.2200 x3018

Washington, D.C. – September 27, 2012 – The “No Hungry Kids Act,” as introduced by Representatives Steve King (R-Iowa) and Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas), would repeal the new school meal nutrition standards and outlaw any rule setting a limit on the number of calories a school could provide in a federally-reimbursed school lunch. Such attempts are misguided, ignore science and good sense, neglect to acknowledge that children can now get additional servings of fruits and vegetables, and risk the future health of America’s school children.


Click here to read more.

New Study: Breakfast is associated with enhanced cognitive function in schoolchildren. An internet based study.

A recent study  "Breakfast is associated with enhanced cognitive function in schoolchildren. An internet based study." by K.A. Wesnesa, C. Pincockc, and A. Scholeyb underscores research indicating that breakfast plays a positive role in maintaining cognitive function during the morning. The study found that children who had had breakfast showed superior performance on tests of attention and memory. This study further emphasizes the correlation between children eating breakfast and better academic performance.

Click here to find the study.

USDA: New Media Resources for The School Day Just Got Healthier

USDA has recently released several Public Service Announcements (PSAs) about "Healthier School Days”. USDA's campaign, "The School Day Just Got Healthier", highlights about how students can expect benefits from healthier and more nutritious food in school.  These PSAs, along with other media resources, raise awareness about the major improvements that are being made across the country to transform school food and to promote better nutrition and reduce obesity. 

Click here for USDA's new media resources. 

Share Our Strength's "Protect SNAP" Video

Share Our Strength has produced a video entitled "Protect SNAP" to generate awareness of the cuts to SNAP that are in the table in Farm Bill. In addition, this webpage features real stories on how SNAP is helping families.


Click here to read more and watch the video. 

From Share Our Strength: 

How Does Farm Bill Affect Hungry Children?

Congress is working to reauthorize the Farm Bill, legislation that provides funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program, formerly known as food stamps.

Drastic cuts to SNAP are on the table and nearly half of all SNAP participants are children. If Congress cuts funding for this poverty relieving program, it will affect millions of children and families, leaving them even more vulnerable to hunger.

SNAP/Food Stamp Program’s History of Bipartisan Support Needed Now

FRAC Weekly News Digest

Issue #38, October 2, 2012

(Aspen Institute blog, October 1, 2012)

 

While the SNAP/Food Stamp Program has been attacked lately by some conservative commentators, USDA’s Economic Research Service reports that the program has acted the way it has for previous recessions, notes Dan Glickman in this blog post.

Glickman, head of the Aspen Institute’s Congressional Program and Chairman of FRAC’s board, notes that the program grew during the Bush administration "because the unequal economic growth of the aughts left millions of working families with wages below the poverty line, and because President Bush, with bipartisan support in the Congress, improved eligibility rules for documented immigrants (especially children) and for low-income working families."

As the recent recession drove millions into poverty, SNAP/Food Stamp participation again grew; in addition, President Obama’s administration and Congress made it easier for unemployed adults to receive benefits. The program is "countercyclical," notes Glickman.  "As unemployment hopefully goes down in the future, participation in the SNAP program will also go down."

full blog...