healthy food - FARM STORAGE LOANS EXPANDED TO HELP FARMERS REACH LOCAL FOOD MARKETS - SIBEJO

USDA�s Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced in April that their Farm Storage Facility Loan program can now help finance portable storage structures, portable equipment, and storage and handling trucks in addition to continuing its longstanding capacity to finance stationary crop and cold storage on-farm facilities. This expansion of the low-interest loan program will help FSA better serve fruit and vegetable farmers and others who need to get crops safely and efficiently to local farmers� markets, schools, restaurants, food hubs, and retail stores.

The program also offers a new "microloan" option, which allows applicants seeking less than $50,000 to qualify for a reduced down payment of five percent and no requirement to provide three years of production history. Farms and ranches of all sizes are eligible. The microloan option is expected to be of particular benefit to smaller farms and ranches, and specialty crop producers who may not have access to commercial storage or on-farm storage after harvest. These producers can invest in equipment like conveyers, scales or refrigeration units and trucks that can store commodities before delivering them to markets.

healthy food - POVERTY IS TOXIC TO CHILDREN�S BRAINS - SIBEJO

Mounting evidence shows that children who grow up poor are more likely to be subjected to stresses like hunger and neglect that act like toxins and hijack the developing brain. In small doses, stress is normal, even helpful. But repeated exposures to adverse childhood experiences remake the architecture of a child�s developing brain, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, which is in charge of executive function and differentiating between good and bad, and the hippocampus, which handles memories and learning. Toxic stress can interact with other toxins like air pollution with consequences including cognitive deficits and emotional disorders, which in turn, help perpetuate disadvantage. There is evidence that children aren�t only affected by stress they experience directly, but by traumas experienced by their parents and grandparents. Some researchers have found evidence that these traumas are passed from parent to child.

Source: Mailman School of Public Health, 5/10/16, Toxic Stress

healthy food - USDA Official: Reauthorize Child Nutrition Programs So They Benefit Children - SIBEJO

Posted by Kevin Concannon, Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services

It may seem like common sense for child nutrition programs to benefit children, but some see it differently today.

Nationwide, schools have made the lunchroom a healthy environment. In fact, in only the second school year of full implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA), over 98 percent of schools participating are already meeting the healthier meal standards.  Students are eating more fruits and vegetables during the school day and more low-income children are eating nutritious breakfasts and lunches at school. And data show obesity rates for some children are leveling off. With all the success of HHFKA, now is not the time to intentionally go backwards on nutrition standards in healthier school meals and to block access to these meals for millions of children.

In January, the Senate Agriculture Committee unanimously took a bipartisan step toward reauthorizing critical child nutrition programs like school lunch and breakfast. Rather than diminish the progress we�ve already made, the Senate�s bill ensures these improvements to our children�s diets will continue.  The bipartisan Senate bill represents a compromise that allows us to stop rehashing old debates and secures a healthier future for our kids. It represents a win for children, parents, schools, and our country�s future.

In contrast, the House Education and Workforce Committee�s bill aims to weaken one of the most successful aspects of HHFKA. The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which allows high-poverty schools or districts to serve all students free meals without any burdensome paperwork, has been lauded for increasing student participation, reducing administrative burdens and costs on schools, cutting down on paperwork for busy parents, and improving program integrity. But the House bill would place new limitations on the number of schools in high-poverty areas that qualify for CEP, forcing many high-poverty schools to lose eligibility. This would cause school meal participation to fall dramatically, and schools would be forced to spend more time on paperwork and less time focusing on feeding kids. And some children who need free meals may slip through the cracks.

The House bill would also roll back the school meal nutrition standards and gut the Smart Snacks in School rule, which ensures that all snack foods and beverages for sale to students during the school day are nutritious. Under the House bill, school vending machines could go back to selling soda and junk food.  Schools have already invested time and effort into making the switch to healthier options.  The snack food industry has innovated and developed hundreds of new products that meet the requirements and are popular with students.  Now is not the time to regress.

We are proud of the way the school meals program provides flexibility for schools to tailor the programs to their local needs. For example, schools design their own menus and have the ability to serve items they know their students prefer.  They can also choose options like CEP and serve afterschool snacks and suppers if they are the right fit for their local community. However, in the name of local flexibility, some are considering a proposal to convert the school nutrition programs into a block grant. That is a very dangerous idea. Not only would it put further strain on state and local school districts� budgets, but it would jeopardize children�s access to quality, healthy school meals no matter where they live.
Instead, we are working with schools and districts to ensure their programs meet their needs. One example is the Team Up For School Nutrition Success training. Along with the Institute of Child Nutrition, we offer all state agencies the opportunity to host local events to provide tailored technical assistance, support, and best practices for schools in administering successful meals programs. During the training, schools cover topics like menu planning, financial management, procurement, meal presentation and appeal, as well as youth engagement tactics and strategies to reduce plate waste. Schools have the opportunity to learn from each other in order to make positive strides toward providing healthy school environments with financial stability and strong student participation. With all these strides being made, now is not the time to eliminate the successful partnership between the federal government and state agencies, putting further strain on state and local school districts� budgets.

It would be unwise to roll back the school meal standards and I urge Congress to stay the course for sake of our children. USDA looks forward to working with Congress, schools, parents and communities to continue to improve the health and wellbeing of the next generation.

healthy food - �HEALTHY� TO GET NEW DEFINITION FROM FDA - SIBEJO

Salmon can�t actually be marketed as �healthy� under current FDA guidelines, despite being recommended as a good source of protein in the government�s most recent dietary guidelines. Pop-Tarts, on the other hand, are in the clear.

The labeling rules around �healthy� haven�t been revisited in over 20 years, even though our understanding of healthy eating habits has changed considerably since then. That�s why the FDA has announced that it will reevaluate the definition of �healthy,� seeking to bring labeling up-to-date with modern understanding and current science. Depending on the final rule, the change could have a huge impact on how food can be marketed to consumers.

Source: Think Progress, 5/11/16, Healthy Foods Redefined

Read or listen to more on this topic on North Country Public Radio

healthy food - PREPARING FOR THE NEXT RECESSION BY STRENGTHENING SNAP - SIBEJO

The current economic recovery is already longer than the postwar average, so it may be prudent to ask--is a recession lurking around the corner? While there�s no way to know, Congress could start preparing for one by strengthening the �automatic stabilizers� in the federal budget�programs like SNAP, Medicaid, and unemployment insurance�that, without the need for action by Congress, expand when the economy is weak and contract when the economy begins to recover.

When the last recession hit, Congressional action was needed to increase SNAP�s maximum monthly food benefit by about $63 a month for a family of three, and that boost was only temporary.  In addition to raising consumer demand, this benefit expansion reduced hunger, and it kept nearly a million people out of poverty in 2010. If Congress doesn�t act before the next recession, it will again be pressured to enact a temporary benefit increase, which may not take effect in time. Instead, Congress could enhance SNAP now to ensure that an expansion kicks in automatically when certain economic indicators are breached. Its size should be tied to the severity of the downturn, and the increase would phase out once things improved.

Source: New York Times, 4/29/16, The Next Recession

healthy food - SNAP CASELOADS DROP - SIBEJO

The number of SNAP participants has fallen by more than 3 million in the last three years, new USDA data for show � reflecting the broad pattern for SNAP that the Congressional Budget Office and others had forecast. SNAP grew significantly between 2007 and 2011 to meet rising need, as millions more people became eligible due to the Great Recession and lagging recovery; participation among those eligible also rose.  That�s consistent with SNAP�s design and purpose.  Caseload growth slowed substantially beginning in 2012 as the economy improved.  Participation peaked in December 2012 at 47.8 million and fell by roughly 3.2 million between February 2013 and February 2016, to 44.4 million. The declines have been widespread:  43 states had fewer SNAP participants in February 2016 than in February 2013. 

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 5/10/16, SNAP Caseload

healthy food - Schools get FRESH with local food - SIBEJO

According to the USDA, an investment in the health of America's students through farm to school programming is also an investment in the health of local economies . In school year 2013-2014, school districts purchased nearly $800 MILLION in local food from farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food processors and manufacturers. That's a 105 percent increase over the $386 million of local food purchased in the 2011-2012 school year. Forty-six percent of school districts report that they will buy even more local foods in future school years.

In the North Country:

• With the help of a NYS grant, the Adirondack Farm to School Initiative has just hired a Regional Coordinator who will continue to build momentum in Tri-Lakes schools as well as expand the effort to include more schools.
   
• Assemblywoman Addie Russell (D-116) has developed a pilot project in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties that will increase the amount of locally produced food available in school cafeterias.

For more information on what ANCA is doing to increase regional access to local foods, go here.