Federal Continuing Resolution Bill Threatens Anti-Poverty Programs

This week, the House passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) bill to fund the federal government for the rest of the FY 2011 (through September 20, 2011). The bill proposes to cut spending by more than $65 billion in the next seven months.

Proposed cuts could affect:

• WIC,
• Commodity Supplemental Food Program,
• Congressional Hunger Center,
• Hunger Free Communities Grants,
  
• Home Energy Assistance Program
• Head Start, and
  
• Community Services Block Grant.
  

Read the press release from the House Committee on Appropriations (here) and check out a chart of program cuts (here).

For additional analysis, visit the Food Research and Action Center (here).

Join a national effort led by the Coalition on Human Needs to protect programs and services for low-income families (here).

President's 2012 Budget Proposes Restoration to SNAP/FS Cuts

Last week, President Obama's released his proposed 2012 FY budget.

The President's proposed budget provides support for the federal nutrition programs and anti-hunger efforts, including:

• Restoration of cuts to SNAP/food stamps made last December to partially finance Child Nutrition Reauthorization,
• Suspension of a restriction that caps food stamp benefits to certain adults trying to meet program work requirements
• Support for WIC,
• New funding for school breakfast expansion grants,
• Restoration of cuts to emergency food,
• Support for state and local anti-hunger efforts,
• Funds for the Congressional Hunger Center, and
  
• Support for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, and effort to combat food deserts.

When passed/adopted, the 2012 budget will go into effect on October 1, 2011.

To learn more about funding for the Department of Agriculture, please visit the White House (here) and/or the Food Research and Action Center (here).

Free Webinar: All About Summer Food

On March 3rd from 2-3pm, the Nutrition Consortium of NYS and the NYS Education Department are co-sponsoring a free, web-based discussion about the SFSP. If your organization is interested in getting involved with summer meals for this summer, please join us.

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/815114232

Please note: This webinar is catered to potentially new sponsors and sites, not existing SFSP sponsors and sites.

Accessing the Food Stamp Application

A Food Stamp Policy Memo is now available on our website that emphasizes the policies regarding distributing and/or accepting applications for the Food Stamp Program (FSP). The memo highlights the federal and state regulations that all LDSS/HRA centers must follow when distributing or accepting an application for the FSP.

To view the memo click here.

To view OTDA's Policy Memo 10-INF-22 click here.

If you have any questions about this memo, or any other food stamp related question, please contact Dawn Secor at (518) 436-8757, ext. 12, or by e-mailing Dawn.Secor@nutritionconsortium.org

Implementation: Child Nutrition Reauthorization

The USDA is now releasing policy memos about the implementation of provisions in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

Visit the USDA's website to access these memos and learn how the new law will be implemented.

Click here to access and continue checking the USDA site for additional memos.

Winter 2011 CN e-News: What's in CNR, SB Scorecard, SF Webinar + More

The Winter 2011 edition of Child Nutrition e-News (CN e-News) is now available on our website (here).

Child Nutrition e-News is a digest of research and reports related to the School Breakfast Program (SBP), National School Lunch Program (NSLP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).

To receive CN e-News by e-mail, please visit our homepage and enter your e-mail address under "Sign Up for Our Newsletter" (here).

NYS Ranks 38th in Nation for School Breakfast Participation

Despite the record demand for school meals, school breakfast participation is still falling short, according to an annual study conducted by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC).

While eating school breakfast can help all children focus in class and concentrate on school work, school breakfast particularly helps low-income children access essential nutrition they may not be eating at home.

According to FRAC, over 1.13 million low-income children ate school lunch daily in NYS, but less than 460,000 low-income children ate school breakfast daily.

Too many low-income children benefiting from school lunch are missing out on school breakfast. According to FRAC, NYS ranks 38th in the nation for low-income students eating both school breakfast and school lunch.

To read FRAC's report, the 2010 School Breakfast Scorecard, please click here.