healthy food - FOOD SAFETY NET SHREDS IN SUMMER; DISAPPEARS AFTER GRADUATION - SIBEJO

Summer marks a serious gap in the nation�s food safety net for children. Of the 22 million students who receive free or reduced�-price lunch in U.S. public schools, all but 3.9 million of them lose access to those meals over the summer, according FeedingAmerica. Whether it is because they can�t get to community summer meal sites or don�t know about them, more than 18 million children go hungry over the summer. A bipartisan group of senators introduced the Hunger �Free Summer For Kids Act last August to give communities more flexibility for summer meals programs.Their proposal would allow communities to deliver packaged meals to families or distribute electronic benefit transfer cards to eligible children over the summer, allowing their families to buy extra food from retail stores.

Yet, while students in K�12 schools lose access to reliable food sources during the summer, high school students lose access completely when they graduate and go to college. Graduates lose access to the School Lunch Program, and SNAP work requirements make it difficult to go to college. Campus surveys have found nearly 40% of undergraduate students in the City University of New York system are food insecure as well as 21% of students in the California State University and University of Hawaii systems. Colleges and states are starting to pay attention. As of July 5, 2016, there were 339 active member institutions of the College and University Food Bank Alliance. And the California legislature is considering a bill to help local food banks coordinate with college food pantries and require both public and private colleges to participate in restaurant meals programs in their counties.

Source: Education Dive, 7/28/16, Food Safety Net for Students

healthy food - EARLY CHILDHOOD HUNGER MAY LEAD TO VIOLENCE LATER - SIBEJO

Children who often go hungry have a greater risk of developing impulse control problems and engaging in violence, according to new University of Texas-Dallas research. The study found that people who experienced frequent hunger as kids were more than twice as likely to exhibit impulsivity and injure others intentionally as adolescents and adults. Thirty-seven percent of the study's participants who had frequent hunger as children reported that they had been involved in interpersonal violence. Of those who experienced little to no childhood hunger, 15% said they were involved in interpersonal violence. The findings were strongest among whites, Hispanics and males.

Source: MedicalXpress, 6/20/16, Hunger & Violence

healthy food - Current proposal cuts funding for school meals - SIBEJO

The Republican proposal to test block granting school meal programs in three states would likely cut school meal reimbursements, according to critics of the plan, which include FRAC. It�s estimated that, under block grants, California could lose $78 million in federal reimbursements, Texas could lose $72 million, Georgia $30 million and North Carolina $24 million annually.

Advocates: School meal budgets could lose millions under GOP plan � The Hill, June 15, 2016

healthy food - Summer food programs successful in Vermont - SIBEJO

While the distances and low population density of the North Country make providing summer meals to children in need challenging, our neighbors in Vermont seem to have figured it out.

The Food Research and Action Center�s summer meals report found that Vermont�s rank in serving children free summer meals improved from fourth to third and average daily participation in the state increased 14 percent in July 2015 compared to July 2014. The number of summer meal sites also increased six percent.

�The rural nature of our state presents unique challenges for sponsors who provide summer meals to children,� said Marissa Parisi, executive director of Hunger Free Vermont. The organization has been working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and local communities to feed more children summer meals at sites including libraries, day care centers, and housing developments.

What can we learn from their work?


Vermont ranks 3rd for providing summer meals for children at risk of hunger � Vermontbiz.com, June 14, 2016

healthy food - New report on summer food for children - SIBEJO

After three years of significant growth, national participation in the Summer Nutrition Programs plateaued last summer, according to the Food Research & Action Center�s annual Hunger Doesn�t Take a Vacation report (pdf) released today. During July 2015, the programs served nearly 3.2 million low-income children across the country, a modest increase of 11,000 participants from July 2014. The Child Nutrition Reauthorization currently being considered by Congress provides an important opportunity to invest in the Summer Nutrition Programs so that more children return to school in the fall, well-nourished and ready to learn.

While the report shows New York State among the top ten in the nation for participation in summer meals by low-income children, that does not hold true here in the North Country, where it is very difficult for children in need to find a meal site.

healthy food - BABIES COST MORE WHEN YOU�RE POOR - SIBEJO

New parents quickly learn there are very few financial supports for families with young children to help them buy baby supplies. Many low-income families are doubly penalized because they can�t  afford to join wholesale stores or shop online and therefore pay more for basic supplies. One blogger (with Amazon Prime and Costco memberships and a car) compared her costs with the retail options available to a mother without these options.

• Diapers--22 cents/diaper online versus 36 cents at the local grocery store
• Formula--$20 per week at big box store versus $29 at local grocery
• Baby food--$5 made at home (thanks to  food processor/blender/dishwasher) versus $18 for jars at grocery store
• Baby supplies (swaddles, laundry detergent, diaper cream, and bottles)--free thanks to points on Amazon credit card versus $10 at grocery store.

Total savings=$41 per week or over $2000 a year.

Source: Talk Poverty, 6/1/16, Baby Costs

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 - DO NUTRITION PROGRAMS MAKE TEENS HUNGRY? - SIBEJO

As any parent of a teenager knows, his or her child eats a lot. The new U.S. dietary guidelines estimate that teens need as many calories as their parents, and more than three times their younger siblings. While the dietary guidelines treat teenagers like adults, SNAP benefit calculations do not. The maximum SNAP benefit is based on the monthly cost of the USDA�s �Thrifty Food Plan� for a hypothetical (or �reference�) family of two adults and two children under age 12. By USDA�s own calculations, feeding a family of four with two teenage boys would cost $50 more per month than the maximum SNAP benefit available to the family. Reformulating the Thrifty Food Plan with the needs of teens in mind could help to reduce food insecurity and very low food security among recipient households with teenagers.

Nutrition standards for school lunch and breakfast programs could also be revised to pay particular attention to the dietary needs of teenagers and children living in food-insecure households. Current calorie guidelines, developed to reduce obesity, result in male teens getting about 50% of their daily calories from school meals compared to elementary school children who can get up to 75% of their daily calories at school.

Source: Brookings Institution, 4/29/16, Hungry Teens

healthy food - KIDS ARE EATING HEALTHY SCHOOL LUNCHES - SIBEJO

Schools can serve healthy lunches, but whether kids will eat them is a question that has been asked often since 2012-13, when updated national nutrition standards led districts across the United States to raise the nutritional quality of their meals. Multiple studies comparing students� eating habits before and after these changes show that the answer is clearly yes.  For example, researchers from UConn�s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity weighed and photographed lunches served to children at 12 Connecticut schools. Compared with 2012, the amount of their entrees that children ate increased by nearly 13 percentage points in 2013, and 18 percentage points of their vegetables by 2014. Food waste declined as a result. The researchers also found that greater variety led to healthier choices. Each additional fruit option offered was associated with a 9.3% increase in fruit servings selected by students.

Source: Pew Charitable Trust, 4/14/16, School Lunches

healthy food - WIC CHANGES IMPROVE TODDLER�S NUTRITION - SIBEJO

A change to the WIC nutrition program improved the diets of millions of young children in low-income families, a new study says. Researchers compared the eating habits of nearly 1,200 2- to 4-year-olds in low-income households before and after WIC was changed in 2009. With the revamp, more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk were included in the WIC food voucher package.

The change improved the diets for the approximately 4 million children in the program, according to the University of California (UC) study published.

Source: Health Day, 4/7/16, WIC Changes Work

healthy food - Help kids get meals in the summer - SIBEJO

HOW DOES THIS PROGRAM WORK?

Purpose: To serve free, healthy meals to low-income children and teens during summer months when school is out. 

Where: Any safe place for kids (for example: school, park, rec center, library, faith organization, etc.) can be a summer meal site.

Who: Summer meal sites receive meals from local sponsoring organizations (for example: Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, local school district, etc.).  Sponsors prepare the food (or order it), deliver it to the meal site, and are reimbursed by USDA for the costs.

Eligibility: Any meal site open to the public is eligible if it is in a school attendance area where 50% or more children qualify for free and reduced-priced school meals.  If it is not open to the public (for example: a summer camp), 50% of more of the enrolled students must qualify for free and reduced-priced school meals.

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HOW DO I BECOME A SITE OR SPONSOR?

Contact your State Agency that operates the program for your state.  They will provide information about the eligibility of your area and local sponsors that serve meals to sites.

We encourage you to learn if sites are already nearby in your community before starting a new one.  Through community outreach and promotion of the program, you can increase the number of children participating in sites that already exist. 

Learn about sites that may have been in your community last summer, and nearby organizations that can work with sites through USDA's Summer Meals Capacity Builder.  It will be updated with 2016 meal sites closer to summer time.

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WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE?

Summer Meals Short Videos: Watch these inspiring YouTube videos about the program.

USDA Summer Meals Toolkit: Learn tips for getting the word out through community planning and outreach, success stories, and more.

Summer Food, Summer Moves Toolkit: Explore fun games that children can play at sites.

healthy food - Summer EBT extended, but not to the North Country - SIBEJO

USDA recently announced $26.9 million in grant funds to be distributed among eight grantees to continue administering pilots of the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) programs, providing summertime nutrition assistance to children who receive free and reduced price meals during the school year. In addition to funding existing pilots for summer2016, these grants will extend benefits to new rural areas, Tribal Nations, and areas of extreme need.  Unfortunately, the North Country is not among the areas receiving this funding.

Summer EBT provides a monthly benefit on a debit-type card that can be used throughout the summer for food purchases at authorized stores. Summer EBT is a complement to traditional summer meals programs, which offer no cost summer meals at approved sites, and is especially valuable in areas with limited or no access to traditional summer meals programs.

Summer EBT, which is currently operating as demonstration project, was first funded by Congress in 2010. Rigorous evaluations of these pilots found that Summer EBT can significantly reduce very low food security among children, the most severe form of food insecurity, by one-third. Studies also showed that these additional resources enabled families to eat more healthfully, eating significantly more fruits and vegetables and whole grains � key building blocks to better health. Based on these proven successes, the President's proposed plan would allow Summer EBT to reach nearly 20 million children once fully implemented.