Foodlinks America - July 4, 2008
Foodlinks America - July 4, 2008
In this issue:
• Appropriations Battle Joined; Delayed Outcome Expected
• New Law May Make Inroads on Food Waste
• Food Stamp Facts
• Obesity Round-Up
• New Demographic Dimensions
• 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: http://www.tefapalliance.org. To request a free subscription to the newsletter or to submit story ideas, contact Barbara Vauthier at: bvauthier@tefapalliance.org.
Appropriations Battle Joined; Delayed Outcome Expected
The determination of funding levels for nutrition assistance programs next year has begun, but it is a protracted process that may take months and final numbers are not expected until well into 2009. Congressional appropriations subcommittees have held hearings to examine program needs and begun to mark up legislation to provide fiscal year 2009 funding, but progress was abruptly halted in late June and Committee-level action may not be completed before the month-long August recess.
Although fiscal 2009 appropriations may ultimately pass at the committee level before the end of the summer, final funding determinations will likely await the installation of a new President and Administration early next year. In the interim, a continuing resolution of at least several months’ duration is expected before fiscal year 2009 appropriations are finalized.
However, subcommittee funding levels give an indication of where programs are headed. In this regard, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee met on June 19, 2008 to review discretionary programs under its jurisdiction. Although nutrition programs already received a hefty proportion of budget increases this year, in large part because most of them receive mandatory or entitlement funding, rapidly rising food and transportation costs are going to demand every available dollar.
The cost of the WIC Program is the biggest unknown. Currently pegged at $6.65 billion next year, the $550 million increase from fiscal 2008 may not be enough, as skyrocketing dairy costs and increasing participation stretch the program’s finances at the seams. In order to keep sufficient funds free for WIC, the Subcommittee had to economize elsewhere, limiting increases for smaller programs.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is slated to receive $250 million for food purchases in fiscal 2009, but just $55 million has been allocated for distribution and storage of those commodities, though up to $15 million of the desperately-needed food dollars can be converted to transportation. The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) staved off another Bush Administration attempt to end the program was given a $19.6 million increase to $159.3 million. The Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program was held steady at $20 million.
The big ticket items in the agriculture appropriations bill – food stamps (soon to be known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and child nutrition services – received large automatic funding increases due to their entitlement status. Food stamps is budgeted at $39.8 billion next year, a $3.66 billion increase and child nutrition programs will get a $558 million increase to help offset food price inflation in the $14.5 billion child feeding programs.
New Law May Make Inroads on Food Waste
Americans waste an incredible amount of food: an estimated 27 percent of total food available for consumption; roughly a pound a day per person, according to a decade-old government report. However, a recently-passed federal law – the Federal Food Donation Act – may begin to change the numbers.
In the only study of its kind ever done, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1997 estimated that two years earlier, 96.4 billion of the 356 billion pounds of edible food available in the U.S. that year was never eaten. Significant wastage occurred with fresh produce, milk, grain products, and sweeteners, which comprised as much as two-thirds of the waste stream. A more recent study by the Environmental Protection Agency, focusing on disposal rather than production, estimated that Americans discard roughly 30 million tons of food waste annually; about 12 percent of the total garbage generated.
The Federal Food Donation Act will assist in reducing the amount of food waste the federal government generates. “The purpose of this Act is to encourage executive agencies and contractors of executive agencies, to the maximum extent practicable and safe, to donate excess, apparently wholesome food to feed food-insecure people in the United States,” according to the legislative wording. Any government contract over $25,000 “for the provision, service, or sale of food” must include a clause encouraging the donation of excess food to non-profit organizations feeding the hungry.
“It’s a worthy piece of legislation that rises above politics and partisanship to address a very serious problem for our nation,” stated Representative Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), the House sponsor of the bill, which passed both the House and Senate without a dissenting vote and was signed by the President on June 20, 2008. “In our great country, with so much opportunity for every American, millions are hungry at some point during the year. I think the Federal Food Donation Act is a solution with real merit and the ability to help alleviate that problem, and I am glad for the president’s swift action to sign the bill into law,” Emerson said.
One of the non-profit supporters of the legislation is Rock and Wrap It Up, a New York-based organization that stresses donations of leftover food as a contract requirement for rock concerts, sporting events, meetings, and other venues. The group’s founder and CEO, Syd Mandelbaum, has scheduled a meeting with the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal procurement agency, to insure that donation procedures are in place within 180 days, as the law stipulates. “With the dire need because of empty pantries across America, the faster the law can be implemented, the faster pantries and agencies will have more food to give,” Mandelbaum noted.
Legislators feel the federal government should lead by example. “There is a deep need in our country by Americans who are forced, usually for a short while, to rely on the kindness and goodness of their neighbors. The federal government should be a good neighbor, too, and this legislation will prevent a great amount of food waste all across the nation,” Representative Emerson concluded.
Food Stamp Facts
Administrative excellence rewarded: State efforts to improve the operation of the Food Stamp Program (FSP) were recently recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which has provided $30 million in cash awards for exceptional program administration. Collectively, states achieved a national payment accuracy rate of 94.36 percent in fiscal year 2007, a historic high for the program.
Seven states – South Dakota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Missouri, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Washington – were recognized for having the best payment accuracy rates, while the states of Florida, Arizona, and Kansas were acknowledged for having the most improved payment accuracy rates. Payment accuracy percentages measure both overpayments and underpayments to food stamp recipients.
Four states received awards for having the best negative error rates. They were Nebraska, South Dakota, Alabama, and Minnesota. Oregon and Kansas showed the most improvement in negative error rates. The financial awards ranged from $280,000 up to $5.4 million. More detailed information may be found at: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/…parentnav=LATEST_RELEASES&PC_7_2_5JM_navid=NEWS_RELEASE#7_2_5JM.
Farm Bill provisions examined: The full range of food stamp changes contained in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, also known as the Farm Bill, is inventoried in “Implementing New Changes to the Food Stamp Program: A Provision by Provision Analysis of the 2008 Farm Bill,” just released by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) in Washington, D.C. The 87-page document reviews both mandatory provisions and state options, giving a description, a recitation of implementation issues, and additional resources for different subject areas – issuance, employment and training, administrative systems, and client access rights. To learn more, visit: http://www.cbpp.org/7-1-08fa.htm.
Vehicle asset policies reviewed: States have great flexibility to set food stamp vehicle asset policies to ensure that needy households can get the help they need and still have reliable transportation. Forty-six states have used this flexibility to exempt at least one vehicle from consideration in determining food stamp eligibility. However, nine states still limit the value of the cars participants may own. An updated CBPP report provides information about each state’s policy and which option the state utilized to set its vehicle policy. It is available at: http://www.cbpp.org/7-30-01fa.htm.
Certification costs and errors examined: Preventing and detecting certification errors in the FSP is a major policy concern, as overpayments cost the program $1.29 billion in fiscal year 2005, about 4.5 percent of the $28.6 billion in benefits issued. A new USDA-funded report examines the state-level relationships between FSP certification error rates and factors such as certification expenditures, program policies, caseload characteristics, and economic conditions.
The results show that, during the study period of 1989-2005, a 10-percent increase in certification “effort” – about $35 per participating household – would reduce certification errors by two percent. The report also notes that the effect of certification efforts were significantly smaller between 1997 and 2002, when States were implementing welfare reform. In addition, key simplification policies authorized by the 2002 Farm Bill were estimated to jointly reduce the error index by 4.4 percentage points. To learn more, go to: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/CCR45/.
Obesity Round-Up
Fat is twice as fare: Southwest Airlines has begun asking overweight passengers to buy a second ticket if they spill over into the next seat. Large passengers must purchase an extra ticket if their girth prevents them from lowering the armrest between the seats. Southwest says you only get the space you pay for. Advocates for the full-bodied claim the new policy harms the dignity of passengers and is discriminatory.
Obesity in the workplace costs: Employers conscious of the bottom line should look not only at the health of their business but at the health of their employees, as obesity accounted for 27 percent of the increase in medical costs between 1987 and 2001. Overall, obesity now costs employers as much as $45 billion a year, as overweight people miss work more often, are less mobile on the job, and tend to develop chronic health problems like diabetes. Many companies now supplement health care benefits with wellness, weight management, and exercise programs.
New Demographic Dimensions
Minority majority: Last year New York became the 12th state in which the majority of children under five years of age are from minority groups; New Jersey is set to become number 13. Since 2000, the number of minority children under five has grown in most states, fueled by growing numbers of Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans. The increasing number of children of color is leading the U.S. toward having minorities become a majority of the population by 2050.
Other Census Bureau findings revealed that: Hispanic Americans now constitute more than 15 percent of the U.S. population and remain the fastest growing ethnic group; the number of Asians is growing faster than Hispanics in 15 states; nearly one in three people of color in America live in California or Texas; and the proportion of Americans 65 or over has nudged up from 12 to 13 percent. For further details, see: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/011910.html.
More independent moms: More young mothers are going it alone. The bad image of public assistance that led to welfare reform in the 1990s also led to a decline in the participation of mothers with a recent birth in government assistance programs from 42 percent in 1996 to 29 percent in 2001. The rate rebounded to 34 percent in 2004. Fully one-half (52 percent) of those women were working while receiving assistance.
For more details, go to: http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p70-116.pdf
Reports from the Field – St. Petersburg, FL
Economic hard times have hit many parts of the nation. In Florida, where thousands are turning to food stamps for the first time to feed their families, the situation is grim, as reported in the St. Petersburg Times of June 14, 2008:
In another sign of worsening economic times, Floridians increasingly are turning to the state for the most basic of necessities: food. Statewide, there was a 21 percent jump in families receiving food stamps in the past year – one of the highest increases in the nation. Record high food and gasoline prices, an escalating unemployment rate, and fallout from the mortgage crisis are fueling the trend.
“It used to be when you opened the paper (there) used to be 10 to 15 ads for construction jobs,” said Stephen Honey, 50, a Safety Harbor father of three. “Nowadays there isn’t one.” A gloomy job market and medical problems has the laborer venturing into corners of life he never thought he would see. On a recent Thursday, Honey and his wife spent the better part of a day at the county’s public assistance service center in Largo doing paperwork to keep their $280 monthly food stamps.
In Pinellas, 17 percent more families sought assistance in May, compared to the same month last year. In Pasco, the numbers were almost 30 percent higher; in Hillsborough, 26 percent. Hernando County was the hardest hit in the Tampa Bay area, with 58 percent more families seeking help. The county also has the area’s highest unemployment rate at 6.6 percent.
That’s not news to Louis Walsh, who has five children and no job. The 40-year-old mechanic hasn’t worked since moving to Weeki Wachee from Pennsylvania last year to be near family. “It’s not like I haven’t tried,” he said. “No one is hiring, not even fast-food restaurants.” The family gets by on the $6.79 an hour his wife, Janet, makes as a hotel housekeeper. On Tuesday, they went to the public assistance office in Brooksville to apply for food stamps.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in the number of people not only seeking, but who are eligible to receive food stamps,” said Jennifer Lange, a program director with the Department of Children and Families who oversees public assistance. “I don’t think it’s any surprise that the economy is a major factor.”
Rising food prices are making it harder to stretch a dollar. Consider: A dozen eggs costs 50 cents more than last year. A loaf of bread, 20 cents more. Bananas have gone up 11 cents a pound, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Over weeks and months the pennies add up. That can be problematic for food stamp recipients because allotments are adjusted for inflation once a year, in October. Still, Dottie Rosenbaum, a policy analyst for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, says food stamps are not meant to pay for all of a family’s food needs. “To the extent someone has income, 30 percent of their income is supposed to go to food,” Rosenbaum said.
People struggling to make ends meet call that a good guideline, but one that isn’t always achievable in times like these.
“People are debating whether to buy food or keep their lights on or buy their medications,” said Holly Honey, who applied for benefits with her husband last week. She is 43 and on disability due to complications with lupus, an autoimmune disease. Her husband stopped working in November because of a torn rotator cuff that got infected. Stephen Honey is still recovering, but says he would work if he could find a job.
The family of four was getting by on his $879 monthly unemployment benefits. But those have run out. To stretch their budget, they stock up on fillers like peanut butter, bread and hamburger. Among Honey’s specialities: hot dog pizza. “You cut up the hot dogs all over the pizza … it fills you up,” he said. “You have no choice when you’ve got two boys sitting there.”
Florida’s food stamp costs will reach about $1.5 billion this year, said Lange, the DCF administrator. The federal government pays the bill. Statewide, 768,693 families received food stamps in May. Individual recipients numbered 1.5 million. “So far we’re able to manage the increase. It’s harder and harder,” she said.
With the increase, a wider spectrum of clients has emerged, from two-parent families to single mothers to the elderly. Increasingly, those requesting services are employed. “It’s unbelievable,” said Sherri Mason, supervisor at the Largo assistance office. “Some people come here who haven’t applied in 10 to 12 years, and they say, ‘I never thought I’d be here again.’ ”
On Tuesday, the Walsh family from Hernando was approved for $400 a month in benefits. Louis said he tried to find work in Tampa but realized the price of gas would negate his $7 hourly pay. Then he considered delivering newspapers in Pasco County.
“But gas was too much even for that,” he said. “Between trying to get around and buying groceries for our family, we don’t have much left. We can’t even go to the beach because it’s too expensive to get there.”
Small Bites
No free lunch: The cost components of a $2.75 school lunch in Miami, FL were recently reported to be: fruit, 13 cents; vegetables, 22 cents; milk, 25 cents; protein item (e.g. turkey/cheese wrap), 56 cents; labor, utilities, and supplies, $1.59.
Kid considerations: When it comes to food shopping for their children, the most important things mothers consider are nutrition content (27 percent), the child’s preference (22 percent), taste (21 percent), and price (17 percent).
The cost of keeping them fed: In her first 18 years, an American child in a middle income family will consume over $33,000 of food.
The lifetime food footprint I: Over her lifetime, an average American born in the 1990s will consume 1,654 chickens, 74 turkeys, 25 hogs, 11 cows, and two sheep.
The lifetime food footprint II: She will also eat nearly 20,000 eggs, 87,000 slices of bread, and drink 26,000 cups of milk.
Not so well read: The number of books adults in the U.S. say they typically read each year – None, nine percent; 1-3 books, 23 percent; 4-6 books, 19 percent; 7-10 books, 13 percent; and more than ten books, 37 percent.
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