Going hungry in America: ‘Distressing,’ ‘humbling’ and ‘scary’

Yahoo news has collected the stories of many Americans experiencing hunger. Tim Skillern compiled stories of Americans throughout the country struggling to put food on their tables and the safety net that nutrition assistance programs have provided. Click here to read more.

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity: Ending Childhoold Hunger in America

From the Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity: 

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity will be running a series of commentaries in the summer of 2012 on the fight to end childhood hunger in America.

This commentary is the ninth installment in the series, which is entitled “Ending Childhood Hunger in America.”

by Neil Nicoll, YMCA of the USA 

Betty Hood is a senior in Georgia trying to raise her two young grandchildren on a fixed income. Like nearly 50 million people across this country, she struggles to put food on the table. Before learning about a summer food program at the Tiftarea YMCA, Ms. Hood tearfully said there were days when she just didn’t know how she would make ends meet or be able to buy groceries to feed her grandchildren.

It is stories like Ms. Hood’s that underscore the urgency of addressing child hunger. More than 16 million U.S. children currently live in food insecure households, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). These families too often confront a painful choice—pay bills, provide shelter, or put food on the table. To address this increasing need, nonprofits, foundations, government, and corporations must work together to make sure more children have access to the safety net programs that can provide them with the food they need to thrive.

Read the full commentary online.

SNAP Works Video

“There's a new and largely invisible population of poor people emerging in the post Great Recession America. The Supplemental Nutrition Program makes a big difference in their health and ability to put food on the table.” 
 
Follow this link to the comment and accompanying video, by Bob Belinoff and Digital WksShop, YouTube, 8/9/12.  

Nearly One in Six New York State Residents Report Struggle to Afford Enough Food

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 23, 2012
Contact: Alisa Costa, (518) 436-8757 x 122
alisa.costa@hungersolutionsny.org

Nearly One in Six New York State Residents Report Struggle to Afford Enough Food 

During First Six Months of 2012

Food Hardship Rate Underscores Need to Protect SNAP

Albany, NY – August 23, 2012 – New data released this week by the Gallup organization show the food hardship rate for New York was 17 percent during the first six months of 2012. Hunger Solutions New York noted this rate shows that far too many New York State residents continue to report that there were times during the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy the food they or their families needed.

Nationally, the food hardship rate was 18.2 percent during the first six months of 2012. Among states, Mississippi had the highest food hardship rate (24.9 percent) and North Dakota had the lowest (9.6 percent). 

People across the country continue to report their struggle to afford food in the aftermath of the recession and ongoing unemployment and underemployment. Despite these struggles, some in Congress are trying to make harsh cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Senate plan for the Farm Bill includes a cut of $4.4 billion over 10 years to the program, a proposal that would trigger sizable reductions (averaging $90/month) in SNAP benefits for an estimated 500,000 households a year (300,000 in New York State). The House Agriculture Committee bill would make these same cuts plus end benefits totally for a minimum of 1.8 million people nationwide, cutting the program by $16 billion.

“Food hardship continues to a big problem in this country. The numbers underscore the point that many people still continue to struggle. Proposed cuts to our nation’s nutrition safety net will only worsen a bad situation,” said Linda Bopp, Executive Director of Hunger Solutions New York. “These cuts to SNAP will particularly harm seniors, children and working families, taking food away from the poorest and most vulnerable among us. Congress must reject these attempts to make false economies by taking from those who have the least.” 

While many in Congress are proposing to provide less to struggling families, here in New York State, Governor Andrew Cuomo is responding to this need. With his leadership, the Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP) is expanding into 16 additional counties and expanding services in six. Soon, residents in 52 counties will have access to assistance in applying for nutrition assistance.

The food hardship question is asked as part of a survey conducted by Gallup through the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index project. Gallup has been interviewing 1,000 households per day almost every day since January 2, 2008 for this project. Respondents are asked a series of questions on a range of topics, including emotional health, physical health, healthy behavior, work environment and access to basic services. 

“Hunger is unacceptable and entirely preventable,” said Bopp. “We encourage anyone who is having trouble affording food to contact their local NOEP provider.”

To find a local NOEP provider for help applying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the new name for the Food Stamp Program, or to learn more about nutrition assistance programs, visit www.FoodHelpNY.org. 

Click here to view the Gallup food hardship data.

Hunger Solutions New York is a statewide non-profit dedicated to alleviating hunger for all New York State residents.

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Newsday: Food stamp cuts would be heartless

Yesterday's editorial from Newsday highlights the impact of proposed cuts to SNAP in the Farm Bill.

"If Congress wants to wring maximum suffering from minimal savings, then cutting funding for food stamps in this sluggish economy is just the ticket."

Click here to read the entire post. 

Webinars About School Nutrition Updates and Afterschool Snacks and Suppers

From the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC): 

Register Now for FRAC's Upcoming Back-to-School Webinars

Across the country, schools are getting ready to open their doors for the next school year. FRAC is here to help with informative updates on increasing access to healthy school meals and afterschool meals for low-income children.

Join us for two webinars in September for important updates on increasing access to healthy meals in school and afterschool for low-income children.  Child nutrition and anti-hunger advocates can register today for these informative events:

School Nutrition Update – September  4, 3:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. ET
Register here...
Get the latest information on the implementation this fall of the new school meal standards, new School Breakfast requirements in the Healthier US Schools Challenge, and how schools are reaching more children with breakfast.

Afterschool Meals – September 13, 3:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. ET
Register here...
Join us for an informative webinar looking at strategies to build the Afterschool Meal Program. Learn how national organizations, city leaders and program providers are forging the way to conduct outreach, recruit more sites and sponsors as well as maximize program participation to ensure that more children have access to healthy meals.

Check out the Federal Nutrition Programs section of FRAC’s website to get the information you need to ensure low-income children have access to healthy food during the school year.

Feeding America Warns Cuts To The SNAP Program Will Overwhelm Food Pantries And Hunger Relief Charities

From Feeding America:

If the $16.5 billion in SNAP/Food Stamp cuts in the House Agriculture Committee's Farm Bill become a reality, “the food banks in Feeding America’s network will be even more overwhelmed with people seeking food assistance,” said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America. The organizations served by Feeding America experienced a 46 percent increase in clients served between 2006 and 2010. “The food pantries, soup kitchens, and other organizations that are served by Feeding America are already stretched to the limit. Proposed cuts would mean that some low-income Americans may literally go without food.” The cuts would mean up to 3 million people would lose their benefits, another 500,000 would see their benefits reduced by an average of $90 a month, and 300,000 children would lose their free school meals. Many households on SNAP/Food Stamps already rely on food banks when their benefits run out at the end of the month, and food banks have seen a nearly 30 percent decline in federal commodity donations between 2010 and 2011. 

Click here to read more.

Food stamps don't alter kids' sugary drink choices

By Andrew M. Seaman Reuters

3:22 p.m. CDT, August 10, 2012

 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite hopes that the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can steer people toward healthier eating choices, there's no evidence the program currently influences - for better or worse - how many sugary drinks kids consume, according to a new study.

When children from families participating in the federal assistance program for poor families, commonly known as food stamps, were compared to peers not in SNAP, there was no significant difference in how much milk, soda and fruit juice the kids drank.

The findings don't mean that banning the use of food stamps to buy sweetened beverages, as some have proposed, wouldn't cut down on their consumption.

 But the results do suggest at least that having food stamps doesn't encourage families with kids to buy more unhealthy drinks, according to the report in the August issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

In short, "SNAP does not affect beverage consumption among low-income children," said Meenakshi Fernandes, the study's author and a senior analyst at the health and policy research organization Abt Associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

more...

Back to School Resources: August Child Nutrition e-News Now Online!

The August 2012 edition of our Child Nutrition e-News is now available! 

Free and Reduced-Price School Meal Applications, New School Nutrition Standards, Breakfast in the Classroom tools, Reimbursement Rates, Community Eligibility Option, At-Risk Afterschool Snacks and Suppers, Summer Food Participation, USDA myPlate, and more!

Access CN e-News online.  

USA Today: Schools Scrambling to Serve Up Healthier Lunch Choices

From USA Today: 

When students head back to school this fall, most will be offered a smorgasbord of healthier foods in lunch lines.  The reason: New government nutrition standards for school meals go into effect this year, raising the bar for the first time in more than 15 years. Schools must meet the standards to get federal meal reimbursements.

Many school districts are doing major overhauls. But some have already made significant improvements in nutritional quality of meals over the last few years, and this year they're upping their game.

Read the full article online. 

USDA: The School Day Just Got Healthier

From the USDA:

"Students can expect benefits from healthier and more nutritious food in school.  Thanks to the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act, major improvements are being made across the country to transform school food and to promote better nutrition and reduce obesity. Learn more about the changes, take action within your schools and community, get onboard with this exciting time in school meals!"

Visit the USDA website for a toolkit, other resources, media, and partner links.

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity: Ending Childhoold Hunger in America

From the Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity:  

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity will be running a series of commentaries in the summer of 2012 on the fight to end childhood hunger in America.  

This commentary is the seventh installment in the series, which is entitled “Ending Childhood Hunger in America.”

by James Weill, Food Research and Action Center 

In 2010, 16 million children lived in food insecure households and 22 percent of all American children lived in poverty. These facts are unacceptable. The United States should be and can be a place where all children have the adequate and nutritious food they need to build healthy bodies and strong minds, allowing them to reach their full potential. This is a practical as well as a moral imperative—making sure children are well fed is necessary if America is to reach its health, education, economic, and fiscal goals.

Yet it is not enough to feed children and leave parents in crisis. When parents themselves are struggling with hunger, even while they feed their children adequately, there are adverse effects not just for parents but for the development, health, mental health, and learning of children. That’s why ending childhood hunger must also mean ending family food insecurity. 

Read the full commentary online. 

The faces of food stamps

MSNMoney.com highlights the changing faces of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the new name for the Food Stamp Program. The feature includes photos of people from many walks of life who have needed to rely on SNAP during hard times.

Kudos to the Food & Environment Reporting Network which produced the piece in collaboration with SwitchYard Media.