On the Move! Senate Introduces Mark-up of Child Nutrition Reauthorization

Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee released her "mark" for Child Nutrition Reauthorization!

The "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010" includes $4.5 billion over ten years to strengthen the child nutrition programs. Click here for an analysis of investments in the proposal.

Highlights include:

Increasing access to child nutrition programs: Universal school meals in low-income areas, expanded and improved direct certification for free school meals, outreach for summer meals, and more.

Supporting child health and reducing childhood obesity: Nutrition promotion in child care settings, support for breastfeeding in the WIC program, increased school lunch reimbursement rates, and more.

Improving program management and integrity: Additional training for food service personnel, simplified paperwork for day care sponsors, transition of WIC food vouchers to EBT cards, and more.

The Chairwoman's mark is the first step in the process of passing a robust Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill. On Wed, March 24th, the committee will mark-up its Senate version of the bill.

For future updates on the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, please sign-up on our agency homepage (click here).

Power Outages and Replacement Food Stamp Benefits

Due to the recent snow storms, more than 220,000 households have lost power from New York City to the Mohawk Valley and throughout the Hudson Valley. Food stamp households that have lost power may be eligible for Replacement Food Stamp Benefits.


Our newest memo describes the criteria and process for current food stamp households, who have experienced food spoilage due to a power outage or some other “household misfortune”, to obtain replacement food stamp benefits.

Click here to veiw the memo and attachments

Food Stamp Program has Broad Support in New York and Nationwide, According to NY Times

Once Stigmatized, Food Stamps Find Acceptance

By JASON DEPARLE and ROBERT GEBELOFF
Published: February 10, 2010

A decade ago, New York City officials were so reluctant to give out food stamps, they made people register one day and return the next just to get an application. The welfare commissioner said the program caused dependency and the poor were “better off” without it.

Now the city urges the needy to seek aid (in languages from Albanian to Yiddish). Neighborhood groups recruit clients at churches and grocery stores, with materials that all but proclaim a civic duty to apply — to “help New York farmers, grocers, and businesses.” There is even a program on Rikers Island to enroll inmates leaving the jail.

“Applying for food stamps is easier than ever,” city posters say.

Read the full article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/us/11foodstamps.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

More Households Receiving UIB Benefits Now Eligible for the Food Stamp Program

Good news! The $25 Unemployment Insurance Benefits (UIB) add-on no longer counts as income for food stamp purposes.The UIB add-on is an additional $25 weekly benefit provided to UIB recipients as part of the economic stimulus package – ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) of 2OO9 – enacted earlier this year. ARRA’s provisions allowed the $25 UIB add-on to be excluded for Medicaid but not for food stamps. In April some households lost their food stamp benefits due to these additional benefits.

Congress “fixed” this problem by adding a special provision into the UIB extension legislation signed into law by President Obama on November 6th. As of November 1, 2009, the $25 add-on is excluded as income for food stamp purposes.

This means that there are many UIB households who are now either (1) eligible for food stamps again or (2) eligible for the first time. These households will need to complete the FS application process.

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New York State Council on Food Policy Recommends Ending Childhood Hunger by 2015, Passing a Strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill

Today, Governor David A. Paterson received the New York State Council on Food Policy’s annual report and recommendations titled, “Making Connections: Developing a Food System for a Healthier New York State.” Authorized by Executive Order #13, the Council on Food Policy works to preserve and enhance agricultural food production in New York and to ensure that all New Yorkers have adequate access to safe, affordable, fresh and nutritious foods. Some of the significant steps the Council recommends New York State take in 2010 include:

1. Join the campaign to end Childhood Hunger by 2015
2. Support a strong Child Nutrition and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Reauthorization Act
3. Maximize federal funding for nutrition and food programs operating in New York.

Click here for the full press release on the Council's report.

For a copy of the Council on Food Policy’s annual report and all of its recommendations, please visit http://www.nyscfp.org and click on “Report to Governor”.

To learn more about the Council on Food Policy, visit http://www.nyscfp.org or contact the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets at 518-485-7728.

Living on Nothing but Food Stamps

New York Times Article By JASON DEPARLE and ROBERT M. GEBELOFF
Published January 3, 2010

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — After an improbable rise from the Bronx projects to a job selling Gulf Coast homes, Isabel Bermudez lost it all to an epic housing bust — the six-figure income, the house with the pool and the investment property.
Now, as she papers the county with résumés and girds herself for rejection, she is supporting two daughters on an income that inspires a double take: zero dollars in monthly cash and a few hundred dollars in food stamps.

With food-stamp use at a record high and surging by the day, Ms. Bermudez belongs to an overlooked subgroup that is growing especially fast: recipients with no cash income.

About six million Americans receiving food stamps report they have no other income, according to an analysis of state data collected by The New York Times. In declarations that states verify and the federal government audits, they described themselves as unemployed and receiving no cash aid — no welfare, no unemployment insurance, and no pensions, child support or disability pay.

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