healthy food - BRING A LEGISLATOR TO THE TABLE - SIBEJO

State legislators are in a unique position to tackle hunger and increase access to healthy food. Legislators simultaneously wear the hats of policymaker and community leader. They can direct and provide incentives for state agencies to implement new programs, catalyze coordination among agencies, give start-up or expansion funding to promising initiatives, and establish an award to recognize an organization fighting hunger in their communities.  As community leaders, they can bring together the public, nonprofit, corporate, and foundation sectors to inspire meaningful change and imagine innovative solutions for low-income communities. A new publication from the National Conference of State Legislatures offers nine examples of innovative programs that involve partnerships among multiple organizations and state-level support to support SNAP, food distribution, child nutrition, and access to healthy food.

Source: NCSL, 8/16, Legislative Outreach

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 - SNAP ASSET LIMITS HAVE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES - SIBEJO

SNAP asset limits aim to target government resources and program benefits to people with the greatest need. But they may discourage low�income households from building a savings cushion that would help them weather economic shocks, such as a job loss or an unexpected car repair or medical bill. A new study finds that relaxing SNAP asset limits increases low�-income households� savings (8% more likely to have at least $500) and participation in mainstream financial markets (5% more likely to have a bank account). It also reduces SNAP churn (households cycling on and off SNAP due to fluctuations in their income) by 26%. Taken together, relaxed asset limits increase households� financial security and stability by increasing savings and reducing benefit fluctuations, and they can decrease government administrative program costs when fewer people cycle on and off the program.

Source: Urban Institute, 7/26/16, SNAP Asset Limits

healthy food - WELFARE RULES THWART MOVING UP - SIBEJO

The welfare reform law of 1996 required Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipients to meet �stringent work requirements.� TANF is delivered to states through block grants, which require that states place a certain percentage of people into the workforce. However, many of these jobs are low-wage, and states discourage people from acquiring skills for better jobs, pushing them to find a job as soon as possible. Lacking training or education, these low-wage workers find it nearly impossible to advance into higher paying jobs.The number of TANF recipients has decreased from 13 million in 1995 to three million today. And those who could not find even low-skill jobs in the allowed amount of time lost all government help, which thrust them into deep poverty. Today, about 1.5 million households, including about three million children, are living on $2.00 per person or less per day.

Source: The Atlantic, 7/11/16, Failing Welfare Reform

healthy food - DINE OR DUMP? - SIBEJO

Americans toss billions of dollars worth of food every year. A good portion of that is still safe to eat, but we don't because of confusion over expiration labels. Licensed dieticians say those dates are often mistaken as the deadline to toss. But many of the items are still safe to eat, far past what's labeled. Cheese typically lasts for a couple weeks; condiments can last a couple months; eggs are good three to five weeks after the expiration date. Congress is now considering the Food Date Labeling act of 2016,  which aims to clear up the food date dilemma with by adding a quality date and a safety date to let consumers know when the food is past its peak and when it becomes unsafe to eat. Currently the dates listed are merely guidelines for the manufacturer:

• "Sell by" dates are meant to let stores know when to pull the product from their shelves. Just make sure you purchase the product before the date passes.
• "Use by" dates mark when the item is at its peak quality.
• "Best by" dates are recommended for best flavor.

Source: KPMI, 7/19/16, Expiration Labels

healthy food - NEW YORK EXPANDS ACCESS TO SNAP - SIBEJO

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo�s decision to increase eligibility for SNAP benefits goes into effect this month. The state raised the income limit for working households from 130% of the poverty line to 150%, which will make thousands of New Yorkers eligible for nutrition assistance. For a family of three, that's the difference between $2,177 a month and $2,512 a month. The eligibility change was one of several recommended by an anti-hunger task force convened by Cuomo. The revised limit is expected to yield as much as $688.5 million in additional federally funded SNAP benefits for as many as 750,000 people. The change is not expected to trigger an additional direct cost to state government.

Source: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, 7/7/16, NY SNAP

healthy food - CONGRESS FIGHTS OVER SCHOOL MEAL MONEY - SIBEJO

Rep. Todd Rokita�s (R-IN) proposal in the House child nutrition bill to conduct a block grant pilot program for school meals in three states �demonstrates a broader effort to block grant the school meal program nationwide,� said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). If the pilot program were approved, states that were chosen would be given a capped amount of money for child nutrition programs to use as they see fit. The one requirement is that they provide at least one affordable meal a day. According to the School Nutrition Association, block granting a program makes it easier to eliminate. The House bill also would raise the threshold for schools to participate in the community eligibility program to 60% of students in poverty, thus eliminating the ability of 7,000 schools to offer free lunch to all students, and would eliminate that option for 11,000 schools currently eligible but not participating.

Source: The Hill, 7/5/16, School Food Fight; Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 7/8/16, Child Nutrition Bill

healthy food - CANDY, SODA AND SNAP: THE REALITY - SIBEJO

Angered by the federal government�s denial of his request to bar residents from buying candy or sugar-sweetened beverages with SNAP benefits, Maine Governor Paul LePage has threatened to end the state�s administration of the program. Is there any truth to his claim that SNAP recipients spend most of their benefits on junk food?  

• Poor diet quality is a systemic issue and is not specific to SNAP recipients. Research shows that the diets the diets of SNAP participants are only slightly less healthy than other Americans. According to one study, SNAP participants consume more sugary drinks than higher-income people but the same amount as other low-income people who do not receive SNAP. And compared with higher-income people, SNAP recipients are less likely to consume sweets and desserts, salty snacks, and added fats and oils.
• Comprehensive information about how SNAP participants spend their benefits is lacking, but information from Walmart, which redeems a significant portion of SNAP dollars, gives us an important clue. The top items SNAP households buy in Walmart stores are not soda and candy, but basic inexpensive foods, such as bananas, whole milk, Ramen noodles, and hot dogs. These are perhaps not the most nutritious options, but they indicate that families are frequently searching for inexpensive meals, not desserts and drinks.

Source: Urban Institute, 6/27/16, SNAP Realities

healthy food - HUNGER DOESN�T TAKE A SUMMER VACATION - SIBEJO

After three years of significant growth, national participation in the Summer Nutrition Programs plateaued last summer. 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. A new report measures the success of the summer programs both in absolute numbers and as a ratio of the number of children receiving summer meals to the number of low-income children receiving school lunch during the regular school year. By that latter measure, fewer than one in six children who needed summer nutrition received it in 2015. Even though total participation in Connecticut decreased from 2014 to 2015, at about 25%, the state�s ratio of summer participants was among the top 5 in the nation.

Source: Food Research Action Council, 6/14/16, Summer Meals

healthy food - HIGHER SNAP BENEFITS MEANS MORE FOOD, BETTER NUTRITION - SIBEJO

Boosting SNAP benefits raises not only the amount that low-income households spend on groceries but also its nutritional quality, according to a new study. The study�s main findings include:

• Low-income families report that to meet their food needs, they would need to spend an additional $4-$9 per person weekly on food.  �Food-insecure� families, who are more likely to be poorer, report needing to spend an additional $12-$20 per person weekly.
• If households received an additional $30 per month per person in SNAP benefits (which would be about a 20% increase in the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan, the basis for SNAP benefits), their food spending would go up by about $19 per person, based on the food spending patterns of households with somewhat more resources.
• That increase in food spending, in turn, would raise consumption of more nutritious foods--households would consume more tomatoes and vegetables and less fast food.

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 6/14/16,  More SNAP, Better Nutrition

healthy food - REPUBLICANS PROPOSE TO TEST SCHOOL MEAL BLOCK GRANTS - SIBEJO

House Republicans are proposing to test funding school meal programs through block grants as part of the House child nutrition reauthorization bill. If passed, the pilot would be tested in three yet-to-be-determined states. Republicans claim the Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016, which passed through committee last month, gives schools flexibility to find ways to help children and families in need. But critics, including the School Nutrition Association, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the Food Research & Action Center, say participating schools would lose all paid-meal reimbursements and 6-cent-per-lunch reimbursements collected by meal programs certified as meeting federal nutrition standards.

Source: The Hill, 6/15/16, Block Grants

healthy food - Quote of the Week - SIBEJO

"House Speaker Paul Ryan�s poverty plan...is not just about drastic cuts to proven programs; it�s also about dismantling the stable and effective structure of our nation�s safety net.  It is downright dangerous."

Jim Weill, Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), June 7, 2016

healthy food - Coalition on Human Needs Responds to Speaker Ryan's proposal - SIBEJO

Deborah Weinstein, executive director of the Coalition on Human Needs, issued the following statementy in response to the House GOP anti-poverty proposal:

�The plan put forth by House Speaker Paul Ryan and his GOP colleagues actually is a blueprint for exacerbating poverty and inequality in the United States. While lacking in legislative and policy specifics, this blueprint cannot be separated from the budget proposal championed by House Republicans. This year�s GOP budget derives three-fifths of its cuts from programs that help low- and moderate-income Americans, while protecting tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations.

�The issue of funding is a gaping hole in this proposal. It costs money to give people the tools to escape poverty. But the budget approved by the House Budget Committee earlier this year would cut low-income programs by $3.7 trillion over 10 years, mostly in health care, but also cutting SNAP by $150 billion (a 30 percent cut between 2021-2026), and cutting Pell Grants and other low-income education programs. Do Ryan and his colleagues now disavow these cuts?

�While the report mostly chooses rhetoric over specific proposals, it does hint at an intention to reduce cash assistance. In one very troubling example, it criticizes Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for children with disabilities, calling for �access to needed services in lieu of cash assistance.� Children who receive SSI have severe and long-term disabilities, requiring time and expense that diminish their parents� ability to work. Denying cash assistance to these families will drastically worsen their ability to provide for their children�s significant needs. 

�The report vaguely favors giving states more authority to change federal programs. This appears to be a nod to Speaker Ryan�s past recommendation to create �Opportunity Grants� � fixed funding to states that allow them to change rules in effective safety net programs. It is also similar to the House Agriculture Committee�s Child Nutrition Reauthorization proposal to allow three states to take a reduced funding level and change school meals program standards as they choose. There should be no doubt that freezing or reducing funding while allowing states to change program rules is no way to reduce poverty or increase opportunity. Instead, it will give states more incentives to deny help to people who need it. 

�If Speaker Ryan and his colleagues are serious about cutting poverty and expanding opportunities for American families, they should embrace policies that actually benefit working families. This requires investing in good jobs, raising the minimum wage, ensuring an adequate safety net, adopting family-friendly work policies such as paid medical leave and predictable hours, and investing in human capital through a sound education system, all the way from pre-K through college.�

healthy food - MODERNIZING SNAP BENEFITS - SIBEJO

SNAP  benefit levels are �based on increasingly outdated assumptions, including unreasonable expectations about households� availability of time to prepare food, and need to be modernized,� a new paper explains. It calls for a 20% benefit increase in the short term and more research to modernize the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) � the estimate of a bare-bones, nutritionally adequate diet that USDA uses to calculate SNAP benefits.  The cost of the TFP, which hasn�t been updated to reflect changes in dietary recommendations since the 1970s, �assumes that low-income households can spend an unlimited amount of time preparing food from scratch and has consequently shifted toward the food items that are lowest cost but most time-intensive,� according to the paper.

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 5/25/16, SNAP

healthy food - SUMMER ELECTRONIC BENEFITS REDUCE CHILD HUNGER - SIBEJO

Providing low-income children with $30 to $60 a month during the summer reduced severe food insecurity, according to a USDA report. The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBTC) demonstration project was also associated with positive nutrition changes in participating children. the Summer EBT demonstration project provides parents or guardians of children eligible for free and reduced-price meals with a monthly benefit via a debit-type card that can be redeemed for food purchases throughout summer when children do not have access to school meals.  Providing low-income children $30 or $60 per month per child during the summer reduced the most severe type of food insecurity by one-third.  A $60 per month per child benefit cut less severe food insecurity by 10%.

Source: USDA, 5/11/16, Summer Benefits

healthy food - THE END OF COMPETITIVE BIDDING COULD DRIVE UP WIC COSTS - SIBEJO

The Education Committee bill would change WIC in ways that cater to corporate interests and could make the program less cost-effective. For decades, WIC has used competitive bidding to reduce the cost of infant formula and some other foods for infants. The billwould require states that want to use competitive bidding to jump through a series of hoops that appear designed to discourage competitive bidding.  (Gerber Foods, which controls the majority of the U.S. market for infant foods other than formula and is a subsidiary of Nestl�, has been lobbying for limits on competitive bidding for infant foods other than formula.)

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 5/17/16, WIC Costs

healthy food - HOUSE COMMITTEE WORKS ON CHILD NUTRITION BILL - SIBEJO

The House Education and Workforce Committee, on which Representative Stefanik serves, completed drafting its bill last week to reauthorize the Child Nutrition and Education Act. The bill, critics contend, contains a number of damaging provisions, including: shrinking coverage of the community eligibility provision and inadequately investing in the Summer Food Service Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. The bill would reduce access to the programs, water down nutrition quality, and increase administrative burdens on both schools and families, they say. ? ?This legislation also includes a three-state school meal block grant demonstration pilot to replace School Breakfast, Lunch and other school meal programs. The funding would be capped at the amount a state received for the programs and administrative funding in FY 2016. The pilot states would have broad discretion to:

• establish eligibility rules for free or reduced-price meals;
• decide the length or time of year that meals are provided;
• and abandon the current nutrition standards (meals are only required to be �healthy�).

Source: Food Research  & Action Council, 5/18/16, Child Nutrition Bill; Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 5/17/16, Child Nutrition Bill II

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

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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