Foodlinks America - November 20, 2009
Foodlinks America - November 20, 2009
In this issue:
• U.S. Hunger Numbers Surge in 2008
• Proposed Legislation
• FEEDBAG: A Compendium of News on Nutrition Assistance Programs
• Obesity Round-Up
• Reports from the Field – Wilmington, OH
• Small Bites
Foodlinks America is published 24 times a year by California Emergency Foodlink in Sacramento, CA and distributed by Weinberg & Vauthier Consulting, 122 South Main Street, No. 9, 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, submit story ideas, or unsubscribe, contact Barbara Vauthier at: bvauthier@tefapalliance.org.
U.S. Hunger Numbers Surge in 2008
Almost 50 million Americans, including nearly one in four children nationwide, struggled to get sufficient food last year, according to figures released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on November 16, 2009. The levels were the highest since the government began tracking the problem in 1995.
The Department’s annual report on Food Security in the United States for 2008 found that an additional 12.9 million people were added to the ranks of the “food insecure” since 2007. As of the end of last year, USDA’s Economic Research Service found that a total of 49.1 million people in the country had insufficient resources for food, with some 14.6 percent of all households in the U.S. affected.
Overall, about one-third of all struggling families – some 6.7 million households encompassing 17.3 million people – experienced “very low food security,” or what the government used to call “hunger.” USDA states that for persons in very low food security households “normal eating patterns … were disrupted and food intake was reduced.”
Children bore the brunt of the increases in 2008. The number of children in food insecure households jumped to 17 million last year from just over 12 million in 2007. A total of 22.6 percent of all children in the nation faced uncertainty in getting enough to eat. People of color were also disproportionately affected by food insecurity. Among Blacks, more than a quarter (25.7 percent) of households were food insecure. In the Hispanic community, the rate was 26.9 percent. Both groups were more than twice as likely as white families to be food insecure.
President Barack Obama found the news unsettling and noted that job losses and economic instability “make it difficult for parents to put a square meal on the table each day.” Tom Vilsack, Obama’s Agriculture Secretary, added, “It’s no secret. Poverty, unemployment, these are all factors.” The sobering statistics may also stir up some action. “These numbers are a wake-up call … for us to get very serious about food security and hunger, about nutrition and food safety in this country,” stated Vilsack.
Meanwhile, the government, food banks, and emergency food providers try, with the resources at hand, to get food to the tsunami of hungry families showing up at their door. “The [food security] survey suggested that things could be much worse but for the fact that we have extensive food assistance programs,” USDA Secretary Vilsack told the media. “This is a great opportunity to put a spotlight on this problem.”
Anti-hunger activists were saddened more than surprised by the government’s statistics. “What should really shock us is that one in four children in this country lives on the brink of hunger,” noted David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World in Washington, D.C. For his part, Secretary Vilsack concluded that hunger is “a problem that the American sense of fairness should not tolerate and American ingenuity can overcome.”
To learn more, see the USDA report on Food Security in the United States at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodSecurity/.
Proposed Legislation
Among bills recently introduced in the 111th session of the U.S. Congress are the following:
Senate (S.) 2749: Introduced by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), the proposed Access to Nutritious Meals for Young Children Act would increase the number of meals allowed to be served daily to children in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and increase meal reimbursement rates.
For bill summary and status information, along with the text of legislation, visit: http://thomas.loc.gov/ and enter the bill number.
FEEDBAG: A Compendium of News on Nutrition Assistance Programs
P-SNAP to help fight the flu: New authority provided in the fiscal year 2010 agriculture appropriations bill has given the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) the ability to provide nutrition assistance to children in communities hard hit by the swine flu. The Pandemic Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or P-SNAP, can offer benefits to children in locations where schools or school districts have been closed for at least five consecutive days.
P-SNAP, which is available only for fiscal year 2010, is a state option and not an entitlement program. Under P-SNAP, USDA allows states to provide a weekly payment of $14.50 to each child eligible for a free or reduced price meal if no meals were served that week. Payments, which may be made via electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards, are based on the number of lunches missed due to school closure. For further information, go to: http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/whats_new.htm and click on Item number 2 in the column.
Funds awarded for local food system development: More than two dozen organizations in 16 states have been awarded in excess of $5 million in fiscal year 2009 funds for Community Food Projects (CFP), USDA has announced recently. The CFP program supports projects that meet the food needs of low-income individuals, increase the food self-reliance of low-income communities, promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm and nutrition issues, and meet specific state, local or neighborhood food and agricultural needs.
New grantees include food banks, youth programs, urban agriculture projects, faith-based groups, farming organizations, and rural initiatives. For a listing of CFP grantees, go to: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB/.cmd/ad/.ar/sa.retrievecontent/.c/6_2_1UH/.ce/7_2_5JM/.p/5_2_4TQ/.d/1/_th/J_2_9D/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?PC_7_2_5JM_contentid=2009%2F11%2F0580.xml&PC_7_2_5JM_parentnav=LATEST_RELEASES&PC_7_2_5JM_navid=NEWS_RELEASE#7_2_5JM.
Commodities on call for flu pandemic: State food distribution agencies may request USDA commodity foods for emergency feeding needs during periods of a human pandemic. Although USDA prefers and encourages the maintenance of “normal channels of distribution for both commercial foods and USDA Foods” at such times, commodities may be needed on a temporary emergency basis. USDA food distribution programs potentially affected include The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), National School Lunch Program, and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). For more details, visit: http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/whatsnew_fd.htm and click on the first item listed for November 5, 2009.
USDA to buy more bonus foods: USDA has announced that, to assist American agriculture, it will buy an additional $82.6 million of meats and fruit this year. The Department intends to purchase $50 million worth of pork, $18.6 million worth of apples, $12.2 million of tart cherries, and $1.8 million of dried plums. The commodities will be channeled to school meal and emergency food programs administered through USDA. For details, see: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB/.cmd/ad/.ar/sa.retrievecontent/.c/6_2_1UH/.ce/7_2_5JM/.p/5_2_4TQ/.d/0/_th/J_2_9D/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?PC_7_2_5JM_contentid=2009%2F11%2F0567.xml&PC_7_2_5JM_parentnav=LATEST_RELEASES&PC_7_2_5JM_navid=NEWS_RELEASE#7_2_5JM.
Obesity Round-Up
Fatty foods for stress: People who face chronic stress more frequently eat fattening foods and feel that their diets are out of control, according to a study presented at the October 2009 annual meeting of the Obesity Society in Washington, D.C.
Researchers from the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) interviewed more than 600 overweight and obese women about their eating habits and stresses in their lives. Those with greater chronic stress from personal, family, or job interactions were found more likely to eat high-fat foods and said they felt they lacked control over eating and hunger, though they tried rigid and restraining regimes to moderate their intake.
“We know from other research that these techniques tend to backfire and people end up overeating and gaining weight,” said Elissa Epel, a professor of psychiatry at UCSF. “Chronic stress really taxes people’s ability to self-monitor their eating behavior. In our current environment of abundantly rich food, we need every ounce of conscious effort to manage our eating, because eating is an automatic behavior we can do too easily and too often if we’re not mindful,” she concluded.
Nutrition in day care addressed: Child-care experts say that anti-obesity efforts need to start in preschool. Recent research from Harvard University has found that few states require child-care providers to implement nutrition and physical activity guidelines.
“We’ve got to start really early. Elementary school is too late,” counsels Dr. Lynn Silver of the New York City Health Department. Though an estimated 20 percent of four-year-olds in the U.S. is already obese, the objective is not to put children on a diet. It is more important to teach good eating and activity habits early in life and make them the norm. Eating “junk” food should also be an infrequent treat, not a daily dose.
The day care program at the Latin American Community Center in Wilmington, DE has been featured as an example of such improvements. Children there consume Latino dishes with brown rice instead of white and macaroni and cheese with whole wheat pasta. “This is a whole new way of eating for our kids,” said center director Maria Matos. “You have to get people used to a different type of eating,” she added. “Some are there, and some are still getting there.”
To find out more about state standards for child-care meals, see Harvard research results at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19103330?dopt=Citation.
Obesity and swine flu: Obesity is a major risk factor for persons who have contracted the H1N1 swine flu virus, according to a study by California clinicians. Staff from the state Department of Public Health examined more than 1,000 hospitalizations for swine flu between April and August of this year and found that half of those hospitalized were obese and more than 25 percent of those hospitalized were morbidly obese, a group that comprises only five percent of the general population. Overall, about two-thirds of those with complications had underlying risk factors. The California study results were published in the November 4, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. To learn more, see: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/302/17/1896.
Reports from the Field – Wilmington, OH
People across America, from the President and First Lady on down are showing a new interest in gardening. Whether the purpose is growing food to lower grocery bills, neighborhood beautification, or just to be outdoors, gardening satisfies a variety of needs. A fairly typical garden initiative – this one in a recession-buffeted community in Ohio – was recently profiled by reporter Dan Sewell in the November 11, 2009 edition of The Washington Post.
Many of the new gardeners didn’t know how to grow vegetables, and weren’t sure what to do with them once they did. They learned, though, as part of a project by a local college to help a community hard-hit by the recession grow some of its own food.
Wilmington College provided the 20 plots and the guidance in this southwestern Ohio town after DHL Express decided last year to close its operation here, putting most of 8,000 Wilmington Air Park employees out of work. Local unemployment has soared to 15 percent.
Food pantries and other charities reported unprecedented demand, so the school, besides using its agricultural program to raise and donate crops, decided it could have a lasting impact by teaching people to garden. “It’s not about a handout, it’s a hand up,” said Chris Burns-Dibiasio, whose husband, Daniel, is president of the private college of some 1,700 students. “It’s teaching them how to supplement their groceries; it’s about building a local food system.”
The “Grow Food, Grow Hope” program began in late spring in a grassy lot next to a college parking lot. The 20 initial families were identified with the help of social services agencies.
Students and staff set up 4-by-12-foot plots, and provided manure and compost. An anonymous donor helped cover costs, from hoes for each family to a solar-powered electric fence to keep out critters. Now, nine volunteers from VISTA, the national service program, are also helping out, trying to expand the program to more families and more seasons, and teach schoolchildren how to garden.
“We were surprised; we didn’t know that this little area could produce so much,” said Mandy Gillis as her 4-year-old son, Logan, plucked ripe tomatoes off the vines the family planted and grew themselves. She and her husband, Josh, have enjoyed watching their four children eat broccoli straight from the garden, and have become experts on all things zucchini: zucchini bread, zucchini muffins, zucchini cakes, zucchini spaghetti sauce, hamburgers mixed with zucchini.
Every Tuesday evening, the families came to plant, weed and finally harvest, with the help of Wilmington teachers and volunteer “master gardeners” from the community. “I would tell them, ‘If it doesn’t look like what you planted, it’s a weed, pull it up!’” recounted Monte Anderson, an agriculture professor who helped direct the project.
Community gardens are on a roll across the country, from the one Michelle Obama began on the White House lawn to “urban gardens” in cities from New York to San Francisco. They are popular for aesthetic, environmental, nutritional and economic reasons. “There was a lot of motivation here,” Anderson said.
Gardeners need to remain committed, he said, or community gardens can turn into a mess. Two families dropped out in Wilmington but were quickly replaced. The project’s structured approach, including weekly meetings, helped keep it on target, Anderson said.
As the first lettuce, green beans and tomatoes ripened, gardening lessons were supplemented by demonstrations on cooking and preserving crops. The lessons were conducted using a picnic table and a portable stove. “It was pretty primitive out here,” said Anderson with a laugh, adding that the school is seeking grants for more cooking equipment and other materials for next year.
Lori Fetherolf, 44, who had been without a steady job for nearly a year, said she had always considered a garden too demanding, but was pleasantly surprised that by regularly investing about an hour a week – more during harvest time – she could grow many vegetables to get her through the winter.
“It’s been a tremendous help,” she said. “Vegetables are expensive in the grocery store.” She learned to make fresh radish dip and to cook squash for the first time. She grew nearly 100 tomatoes. She said she realized that while unemployed, she had been filling up on cheap foods that weren’t good for her. “This has allowed me to start eating healthier,” she said. “I’m amazed at how much better fresh green beans taste than out of the can.”
With their newly acquired agricultural knowledge, the Gillis family is planning a garden at home next year and possibly a second garden for corn, which takes up too much ground for the small college plots. “We learned a lot of basic things,” said Josh, 32. “We learned how far down to plant the seeds, how far apart to spread them. I didn’t know; I thought you just put it in the ground and it all comes up.”
But they also want to participate again in the college project. “I’ve met a lot of people here. We share vegetables with each other,” he said. “It’s really been good to get out here in the community and work together.”
Small Bites
Talking turkey: The average American ate 17.6 pounds of turkey in 2008, making it the fourth most popular meat choice after chicken, beef, and pork.
More talk: Turkey production in the U.S. has increased 300 percent since 1970.
A bird’s special day: An estimated 88 percent of Americans eat turkey at Thanksgiving.
But not just a holiday attraction anymore: Forty years ago, half of all turkey consumed was eaten during the holidays; today just 29 percent is.
The native fruit: The cranberry is one of just three fruits native to North America. (The others are the Concord grape and the blueberry.)
Not so fresh: A full 95 percent of cranberries are processed into juice, sauce, or dried and sweetened. Only five percent are sold fresh to consumers.
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