Foodlinks America - May 23, 2008
Foodlinks America - May 23, 2008
In this issue:
• Veto Override Needed to Finalize Farm Bill
• Farm Bill Highlights
• Congress Seals 2009 Budget Deal
• Input Requested on Child Nutrition Reauthorization
• Breastfeeding Bulletins
• Reports from the Field
• Small Bites
Foodlinks America is published 24 times a year by California Emergency Foodlink in Sacramento, CA and distributed by Weinberg & Vauthier Consulting, 6412 CR 116, Burnet, TX 78611; Zy Weinberg and Barbara Vauthier, Editors; email: bvauthier@tefapalliance.org.
Foodlinks America is not copyrighted, so the information can be freely shared with colleagues and friends, though attribution for reprinted articles is appreciated. For archived issues of Foodlinks America, go to: www.tefapalliance.org. To request a free subscription to the newsletter or to submit story ideas, contact Barbara Vauthier at: bvauthier@tefapalliance.org.
Veto Override Needed to Finalize Farm Bill
Two years in the crafting and more than eight months overdue, Congress has finally passed a Farm Bill, with substantial majorities of both Representatives and Senators shrugging off the objections of President George Bush and overriding his veto of the legislation. Enactment of the legislation will lead to improved food stamp access, more commodities for overwhelmed emergency food providers, enhanced economic opportunities for food projects in low-income communities, and more farmers’ markets.
Farm Bill spending will total approximately $300 billion over the next five years. About two-thirds of the funding goes for food stamps, commodity programs, and other domestic nutrition assistance. Subsidy programs for rice, cotton, corn, sugar, soybeans, wheat and other crops – programs the President opposed as too generous to wealthy landowners – receive 14 percent of the bill’s funding. Conservation programs receive nine percent of the funds and another eight percent goes for crop insurance. Expansion of food stamps and other anti-hunger programs attracts urban support for a bill that otherwise addresses rural needs.
As Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) noted, “a lame-duck President has a very weak loyalty in the Congress,” and Republicans abandoned the President wholesale in support of the final, negotiated Farm Bill. The May 14, 2007 vote on the House floor was 318 for and 106 against. The following day, the Senate passed the bill by an even wider margin – 81 to 15. In both chambers, more Republicans voted for the bill than against it. The only four Senators not recorded on the final vote were a hospitalized Edward Kennedy and the three Presidential candidates (Clinton, McCain, and Obama) who were out on the campaign trail, where Senator McCain said he sided with the President and would also have vetoed the bill were he in charge.
Final passage of the Farm Bill in Congress, however, was delayed by a clerical error. A House clerk inadvertently omitted the section on trade policy before the Farm Bill was sent to the White House. Consequently, the bill the President vetoed and the bill overridden by a 318-106 margin on May 21, 2008 were not the same. Republicans labeled the action a “monumental Democratic screw-up.” Democrats said they would fix the problem by re-passing the whole bill again, approving the trade portion as separate legislation, or providing another two-week extension of current law to get matters corrected. The issue had not been resolved as Foodlinks America was being published on May 22, 2008.
When and if final passage of the Farm Bill is completed, programs that have been on hold for months will be rejuvenated. Food banks, food pantries, and community kitchens will be ordering badly needed supplies under The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to meet burgeoning hunger needs, community-based non-profits will be gearing up to vie for Community Food Projects grants that must be made before the fiscal year ends in September, and new states can start developing applications for an expanded Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program. For additional details on what is in the 2008 Farm Bill, see “Farm Bill Highlights” below.
In the arena of international trade, however, the new Farm Bill may stir up a hornet’s nest of problems, as congressional negotiators basically ignored agricultural reforms being sought through the World Trade Organization. “This Farm Bill heads in the wrong direction in terms of our international obligations,” commented Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner recently. “It’s no secret our current farm programs … have come under enormous fire,” he added. “How does this bill respond? This bill responds be increasing trade-distorting supports on 17 out of 25 of the commodities that we provide,” Conner noted. Our trade partners “are going to be incensed, and we would expect them to protest in every way they can,” he concluded.
Farm Bill Highlights
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, also known as the Farm Bill, is a complex and extensive piece of legislation that covers agricultural production, conservation and land stewardship, food marketing, trade, and nutrition assistance. Dollar-wise, the legislation is dominated by the Food Stamp Program and other domestic nutrition programs, which account for two-thirds of the bill’s spending, about $200 billion annually.
Congress approved more than $10.3 billion in nutrition funding increases over 10 years for food stamps, commodity distributions, and other programs in the Farm Bill to improve benefit levels and increase program accessibility. Major changes made in the Food Stamp Program through the Farm Bill include:
*Increasing and indexing for inflation the standard deduction, which has been stuck at $134 a month for many households for more than a decade;
*Increasing and including an inflation adjustment for the $10 minimum monthly benefit, which has been unchanged for over 30 years, raising it to $14 next year;
*Eliminating the cap on the dependent care deduction to help poor working families obtain necessary child care;
*Promoting savings by exempting education and retirement accounts from asset limits;
*Indexing asset limits, unchanged since 1986 and currently set at $2,000 for most households and $3,000 for households with elderly or disabled members, for inflation; and
*Changing the program name from food stamps to the “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” or SNAP.
The Farm Bill also provides help to emergency feeding organizations by increasing funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Major actions taken in regard to TEFAP in the Farm Bill include:
*An immediate infusion of $50 million more for food in the current fiscal year – 2008;
*Increasing mandatory funding for entitlement food purchases from $140 million to $250 million annually, beginning in fiscal year 2009;
*provision of $250 million each year for food purchases indexed annually for food price inflation through fiscal year 2012;
*increasing the annual authorization level for TEFAP storage and distribution funding from $60 million to $100 million, though these funds are discretionary and must be sought annually through the appropriations process;
*Creation of a $10 million a year program of Infrastructure and Transportation Grants to Support Rural Food Bank Delivery of Healthy Perishable Foods from fiscal year 2008 to 2012.
Since 1996, the Farm Bill has been the vehicle for the establishment and growth of the Community Food Projects program to improve food security in low-income communities. The 2008 Farm Bill maintained the program unchanged at $5 million per year with mandatory funding to guarantee program continuity. In related subject areas, the Farm Bill also:
*Creates a Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development Center to improve food access in underserved communities and funded at $1 million in each of fiscal years 2009 through 2011, with a $2 million authorization for fiscal year 2012;
*Allows schools to specify a geographic preference for the procurement of unprocessed agricultural products that are locally grown and raised;
*Aids rural businesses with financing for local food enterprises; and
*Provides $500,000 for a one-year study of “food deserts.”
Several sections of the Farm Bill support expansion of farmers’ market programs in various ways by:
*Increasing annual mandatory funding for the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program from $15 million to $20.6 million;
*Providing $33 million over five years to increase the scope of the Farmers’ Market Promotion Program; and
*designating 10 percent of annual Farmers’ Market Promotion Program funding for the support of electronic benefits transfer (EBT) projects at farmers’ markets.
A new program authorized under the Farm Bill will take a 14-state pilot program that provides snacks of free fresh fruits and vegetables to children in schools to the national level, with programs in every state and the District of Columbia. By 2012, the effort will be funded at $150 million per year – nearly eight times its current size.
The 2008 Farm Bill makes a number of changes in other programs, too. The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), which President Bush has proposed to eliminate, is continued and reauthorized through fiscal year 2012, with elderly persons getting equal status with women and children for access to the program. Under the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), the U.S. Department of Agriculture is directed to conduct a survey of participants on their preference for traditional foods and also to report to Congress on the FDPIR food package. Finally, the bill authorizes continuation of the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellows Program and the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows Program through the Congressional Hunger Center. The two programs are currently funded at around $2.5 million annually.
Congress Seals 2009 Budget Deal
Congressional Democrats reached agreement on and passed a five-year budget resolution this month that reflects their priorities for 2009 and beyond. The Democrats claim the budget increases government investments, provides tax relief for the middle class, and helps return the budget to a surplus by 2012. The fiscal blueprint, which is not submitted to the President and does not become law, guides congressional spending decisions and establishes a framework for federal programs and appropriations bills.
Rejecting President Bush’s proposed cuts in health care – mostly Medicare and Medicaid – programs, the majority party in Congress added about $20 billion to meet energy, education, and infrastructure needs. “Democrats are ready to take the steps necessary to regain our economic health and reclaim our fiscal future,” said John Spratt (D-SC), chair of the House Budget Committee. “After years of record deficits, an explosion in debt, and an economy struggling, we are charting a new way forward,” stated Senate Budget Committee chair Kent Conrad (D-ND), noting that the budget plan includes no tax increase and maintains the pay-as-you-go rules implemented last year.
Input Requested on Child Nutrition Reauthorization
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is offering opportunities to make written and oral recommendations on changes in child nutrition program preparatory to the 2009 reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act. USDA expects to hear from anti-hunger advocates, school food service personnel, day care providers, program administrators, and health education activists on ways to improve access, meal quality, and nutrition in the programs that are up for renewal: school breakfast and lunch, summer feeding, afterschool and child and adult care food programs, WIC, and the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.
Public comments may be submitted to USDA electronically or by mail through October 15, 2008. Procedures for the submission of comments ware published in the May 20, 2008 Federal Register at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-11236.pdf. USDA has also announced that it will hold seven regional listening sessions on child nutrition programs around the nation this summer. A tentative schedule appears below. The Department intends to compile the results of the listening sessions and comments into a report for the incoming Presidential Administration to use in crafting its reauthorization package.
Regional listening sessions are expected to run from June through early September. Tentative times and places are listed below:
Northeast Region (CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT), June 10, 2008 in Boston.
Southwest Region (AR, LA, NM, OK, TX), July 15, 2008 in San Antonio or Austin.
Western Region (AK, AZ, CA, HI, NV, OR, ID), August 6, 2008 in San Francisco.
Mid-Atlantic Region (DE, DC, MD, NJ, PA, PR, VA, WV), August 6, 2008 in Baltimore.
Southeast Region (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN), last week in August in Atlanta.
Midwest Region (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI), second week of September in Chicago.
Mountain Plains Region (CO, IA, KS, MO, MT, NE, ND, SD, UT, WY), September 9 or
11, 2008 in Denver.
Additional details will be released shortly by USDA.
Breastfeeding Bulletins
Breastfeeding rates rising: More than three-quarters of new mothers in America are breastfeeding their infants, at least briefly, the highest rate in the U.S. in more than a decade, according to a new government survey. In 1994, just 60 percent of new mothers breastfed their babies. But rates have been going up ever since and reached 77 percent in 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported. However, many women do not breastfeed for long. At six months of age, only 42 percent of U.S. infants were still breastfed and only 21 percent after a year.
Breastfeeding delivers positive health outcomes for both mother and child. Studies have shown that children who are fed infant formula have an increased risk of ear and respiratory infections, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. A mother’s age and income may affect her choice to breastfeed. Only 57 percent of low-income women breastfeed and just 43 percent of mothers under age 20 do so. Between 1994 and 2006 the biggest increase was among non-Hispanic Black women, who went from 36 percent to 65 percent breastfeeding during that time.
A smart practice for one’s child: Prolonged breastfeeding has been correlated with higher scores on some intelligence tests. Researchers from McGill University in Montreal examined records for over 8,400 mother-infant pairs in Belarus who participated in an extensive breastfeeding education program and compared them with similar pairs in a control group.
At age six and one-half years, the breastfed children scored significantly higher on vocabulary and word matching tests and teacher ratings were consistently higher for those who were breastfed. Researchers concluded that, “These results, based on the largest randomized trial ever conducted in the area of human lactation, provide strong evidence that prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding improves children’s cognitive development.” For additional details, go to: http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/…=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT .
Reports from the Field
Even with a monthly supplement from the Food Stamp Program, many low-income working households are having difficulty scraping together the resources to feed everyone in the family well. Some poignant examples from Jacksonville, Florida were described in an article in The Florida Times-Union on April 27, 2008:
The cost of 16 food items – basics such as eggs and bread – is up more than eight percent since December, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. That is stretching most everyone’s food dollars and is reflected in charities getting more inquiries, food pantry supplies dwindling, and double-digit increases in requests for government aid.
For those trying to make food stamps last the whole month, though, the priority is to make sure their children eat. For Kennita Byrd, those decisions mean she has water instead of food for lunch during her 12-hour shifts as a security guard.
For Gene Hagins, it’s passing up more expensive whole wheat and sugar-free food he knows he needs to keep his diabetes in check.
Those in need are having to look at their bills and decide what they’re going to put off to put food on the table, said Richard Dryden, program operations manager for the state Department of Children and Families. Food stamp levels are adjusted every year but not until October. The maximum food stamp amounts increased four to five percent last year depending on family size, according to the state. The number of Northeast Florida residents on food stamps last month was up 15 percent from the same time in 2007. The increase ranged from about 12 percent in Duval County to as high as 29 percent in St. Johns County.
Byrd works, so she gets about a third of the $542 maximum assistance available for a family of four. She works at night for Yarbrough Security and pulls 12-hour shifts on the weekends to get as much as she can for her family.
Her $180 monthly allotment gets her through one trip to Winn-Dixie for the 20 or so basic items she’ll need for her three boys. She’ll grab some meat and vegetables, side dishes for dinners, milk, cereal and juices. After that, she’s about done. The trip lasts her about two weeks and she hopes her bi-weekly paycheck is rolling around soon. If not, she doesn’t eat at work.
“The boys come first,” Byrd said. She glances adoringly over her shoulder at sons Deshaun, 4, and Camerone, 3, as they cruise around the living room of her Northwest Jacksonville duplex. Her pantry is sparse - not stocked, but not bare either. She’s about 10 days into her monthly allotment. Some of her friends who can’t work are a lot worse off, Byrd said. “To me, my fridge is empty,” Byrd said, but compared to others, it’s loaded.
Hagins had been a maintenance man all his life. He fell off a ladder, ripping ligaments in both knees. He lost his trailer, hasn’t been able to work for 10 months now and lives in a small Westside apartment with the help of Community Connections. Hagins, his wife, and three children have been on food stamps for five months now.
That $600 used to make it almost the whole month. “Might be out of bread, but only a few days,” he says. “You can do without bread.” Now? It lasts three weeks tops and the family has to go to its church for help. Hagins, 42, has diabetes and heart trouble. He knows he needs to eat better, but he can’t pay for it. “If I took $300 a month to buy diabetic food, you think they’d have enough to eat?” he asks, gesturing toward his three kids. “I don’t think so.”
A few months ago, St. Augustine Christian Service Center was able to provide financial assistance to most people who asked. People who’d hit hard times, a family when the breadwinner lost his or her job. Now, the nonprofit has to limit its help to the elderly, and people either on disability or with serious medical issues, Executive Director Kami Roeder said.
Roeder said the surge in demand has several causes. Mobile home parks in the county are shutting down, leaving people to spend more of their income on rent. Construction companies are scaling back and people are out of work. Gas prices and other expenses continue to rise more than wages. Those who have been teetering on the edge of asking for help are now falling over the edge.
Small Bites
Children in the environment: Seventy-two percent of American adults have children.
Not warming to the future: For 60 percent of American children, global warming causes greater concern that terrorism, cancer, or car accidents.
A mission to cut emissions is needed: Between 2000 and 2050, the U.S. population will grow by 114 million children while Africa will add 1.2 billion – though their respective carbon dioxide emissions will be the same.
Americans in the lead: One American child generates as much greenhouse gas as 106 Haitian children.
Single child savings: China claims its one-child per family policy prevented 400 million births and a savings of 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2004 alone.
Planting for the future: A Hungarian couple would have to plant 300 trees to offset the lifelong carbon footprint of their child born in 2007.
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