TEFAP Alliance Blog

Foodlinks America - October 13, 2006

In this issue:

· Rising Demand, Declining Supply Characterize Food Bank Crisis
· International Conference Advances Food Security
· Food Stamp Facts
· WIC Watch
· Obesity Round-Up
· 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@281.com.

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@281.com.

Rising Demand, Declining Supply Characterize Food Bank Crisis

The emergency food system nationwide is overwhelmed. The need for food continues to increase dramatically, as more families – particularly low-wage working families – struggle to make ends meet. Donations and supplies are down, pushing providers to seek new sources of product. These trends, which were identified by a random sample of food bank staff interviewed by Foodlinks America, are expected to continue through 2007.

“Lines are longer,” said Kelly Thompson, manager of community partnerships for City Harvest, a food recovery organization in New York City. “Requests from our recipient agencies are up 15 percent over last year,” said Tina Osso, director of the Shared Harvest Foodbank in Fairfield, OH, who noted that 30 to 35 percent of families are making their first-ever visit to a food pantry. “Our client surveys show that, on average, families will visit food pantries six times per year. That means I’ve got 35 percent more people who will come in five more times this year,” Ms. Osso said. “It’s a dramatic problem; there’s not enough food to keep up.”

The increased cost of living, high housing expenses, and the lack of livable wages are the culprits in the surge for food assistance, say the food bankers. “Absolutely the fastest-growing sector of people we serve is the working poor,” noted Judy Carter, director of the Capital Area Food Bank in Austin, TX, who said her food bank and its partners are seeing 8,500 more clients per month than they were a year ago. And in the Northwest, a new job gap study found that it takes an hourly wage of more than $23 for a family to become independent in her state, Sharon Thornberry, a rural organizer for the Oregon Food Bank, explained. Very few jobs offer salaries at that level, she added.

Food supplies are also harder to come by. The Orange County Food Bank in Garden Grove, CA has seen a 450,000-pound drop in food donations in the past year, according to director Mark Lowry, with private sector donations down 1.1 million pounds. In Ohio, Shared Harvest distributed 9.4 million pounds of food in 2004, but last year, that number declined to 8.4 million. In 2006, “We will be struggling to hit eight million pounds,” Ms. Osso told Foodlinks America. Not only is the food industry becoming more efficient, but staple, non-perishable items are being diverted to secondary markets where they are sold cheaply.

The amount of government commodities under The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is dropping, too. Although funds for entitlement purchases have held steady, there has been a significant decline in “bonus” or surplus items. Preliminary numbers provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) show that the value of bonus foods in fiscal year 2006 was $53.3 million, only a third of that provided in fiscal 2005 and just 23 percent of the fiscal 2004 figure.

To make up the difference, many food banks are seeking and distributing more perishable items, particularly fruits and vegetables. Though they are getting more fresh produce to help substitute for the loss of non-perishables, the quantity is not keeping pace with need, said Orange County’s Lowry. Plus perishable foods are harder to handle and more costly to distribute, as they often require refrigeration.

In spite of the shortfalls, a number of emergency food organizations are turning down some donations as they seek to improve the nutritional quality of the foods they provide. For example, finding quality nutritious food is the most critical issue facing the Missoula Food Bank in Missoula, MT, reported director Bonnie Buckingham. In Ohio, “Nutritional quality is improving dramatically; it’s no longer just snacks and cookies,” said Ms. Osso. However, food bank and food rescue groups approach the nutrition issue with caution, not wanting to offend current or potential donors. “We’re really trying to be careful what we say yes to,” commented Kelly Thompson from City Harvest, “and what we say no to.”

Judy Carter in Austin emphasized that her food bank and a few others around the nation have begun to shift from merely counting total pounds of food to analyzing the nutritional and economic value of what they distribute, including non-food items. Products such as cleaning supplies and paper goods, which cannot be bought with food stamps, are also important household necessities now being tabulated.

And, an increasing number of food banks are engaging in advocacy to push changes in public policy that they hope will ultimately deliver higher wages, better public benefits, and a decreased need for food.

Those surveyed were unanimous that identifying new sources of food is the most critical issue they face. “Finding enough food to meet the need and being able to afford it” is the biggest challenge, said Ms. Carter. “Our warehouse is empty. We need more food right now!”

International Conference Advances Food Security

Nine hundred people from the U.S., Canada and other points around the globe came together earlier this week to promote sane and humane food policies that encourage local production and consumption, reduction in the number of miles food travels from field to table, and respect for the food sovereignty of indigenous peoples. They came to Vancouver, British Columbia from 37 states and the District of Columbia, 11 Canadian provinces and territories, 12 sovereign Indian Nations in North America, and nine foreign countries, including Mexico, Ireland, Kenya, and South Korea, for the first joint meeting of the U.S.-based Community Food Security Coalition and Food Secure Canada.

The “Bridging Borders toward Food Security” conference, held October 8-11, 2006, focused on “New Directions for Connecting Food and Health” and “Food as Culture and Health among Native Americans and Aboriginal Canadians.” The conference’s opening session on October 9 coincided with two national holidays that celebrate the domination of Europeans over indigenous cultures – Columbus Day in the U.S. and Thanksgiving Day in Canada.

“Our problems today stem from that colonization,” said Nicole Manuel, a member of the Secwepemc Nation in northern British Columbia. “Before colonization there was a bounty of food, but mining and industrial agriculture are poisoning our hunting grounds. We believe our food has a spirit and we have a spiritual connection to our food system,” she said. But, she added, “Food systems are being destroyed by these colonial policies.”

Ms. Manuel’s remarks provided a counterpoint to the official view of Canadian food policy expressed by provincial minister Gordon Hogg, who touted the 2010 Winter Olympics which are to be held in Vancouver and the plan to start 2,010 community gardens in the area by that time to bolster local food self-sufficiency. Ms. Manuel noted that she and her people are opposing an Olympics-related ski resort and hotel that are being built on their agricultural land, because, she explained “Our food comes from the mountains.”

Conference sessions also explored agriculture and trade issues affecting food security, urban planning, land tenure, and farm policies, and reinvention of dietary guidelines to emphasize sustainability. “Current low commodity prices are the planned result of overproduction, but consumers are not benefiting,” Dena Hoff, a farmer from Glendive, Montana told a plenary session that featured farmers speaking out. “We have to make it a priority to change food and agriculture and trade policies in this country,” she emphasized.

Loel Solomon, of Kaiser Permanente’s Office of Community Programs in Oakland, California, said the American health care behemoth is actively engaged in promoting healthy eating and active living. “Food is medicine,” he noted. “Local healthy foods fit perfectly with public health. The connection between food and health is so obvious,” he said. “We need to keep focused on the environment, and start moving away from individual behavior.”

Food Stamp Facts

States rewarded for customer service and processing improvements: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $18 million to states that improved program access or provided services to food stamp applicants and participants in a timely manner in fiscal year 2005. The awards recognized states that demonstrated high or improved customer service last year.

Missouri, the District of Columbia, Maine, and Tennessee were recognized for best program access. Washington, Illinois, New York, and Iowa were acknowledged for most improved program access. And Massachusetts, North Carolina, the District of Columbia, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Montana won awards for best application timeliness. To learn more, see:

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/PressReleases/2006/PR-0384.htm.

Trafficking reduced: A new analysis from USDA shows that trafficking – selling food stamp benefits to food retailers for cash – has decreased substantially. Between 2002 and 2005, USDA estimated that $241 million, or about one cent of every food stamp dollar, was diverted by trafficking. Larger supermarkets and grocery stores, which redeemed 90 percent of benefits, had the lowest trafficking rates, at 0.2 percent.

However, small stores, which comprised 73 percent of all redemption sites, had a trafficking rate of 7.6 percent. Nonetheless, both the value and rate of trafficking have declined significantly over the years, and the amount of trafficked benefits in 2002-2005 was less than 20 percent of what it was in 1993. For additional details, see: http://www.fns.usda.gov/oane/menu/Published/FSP/FILES/ProgramIntegrity/Trafficking2005Summary.pdf.

WIC Watch

Time running out to make food package comments: Public comment on proposed revisions to food packages provided to women and children in the WIC Program will be accepted for about three more weeks. The first major changes proposed for WIC in over 25 years (see Foodlinks America of September 1, 2006 for background) have attracted considerable attention, and consumer and industry groups alike are mounting letter-writing campaigns among their constituencies. Comments, due by November 6, 2006, may be sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) by regular mail, the USDA website at http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic, email at WICHQ-SFPD@fns.usda.gov or through the federal web portal at :

http://www.regulations.gov .

Special projects funded in five states: Demonstration projects in the WIC Program were provided with $1 million in grants announced by USDA on September 15, 2006. The awards, made to state agencies in California, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont are part of the USDA “Revitalizing Quality Nutrition Services” initiative.

The thrust of the grants is to help fight obesity in young children. The California, New York, and New Hampshire projects will encourage physical activity through nutrition education and counseling activities. Massachusetts and Vermont will be developing concept papers on ways to achieve similar goals in their states. For more information, see:

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/PressReleases/2006/PR-0361.htm.

New rules address state issues: Regulations to revise and streamline certain aspects of the WIC Program to respond to state agency concerns were issued by USDA in the September 27, 2006 Federal Register. The miscellaneous provisions implement changes in WIC law and policy affecting breastfeeding, reporting requirements, participant certification, and confidentiality.

Two key provisions will have a financial impact on the program. One will allow state agencies to certify a breastfeeding woman for up to one year postpartum or until the woman stops breastfeeding, whichever occurs first, and another will prohibit states from using the possibility of regression into a nutritional risk category as a reason to continue eligibility if the nutrition risk is not actually present at the time of re-certification. For details, see:

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/….06-7875.pdf.

Obesity Round-Up

· The Clinton anti-obesity push, Round II: Former President Bill Clinton has convinced five major snack food manufacturers to agree to cut the fat, sugar, and sodium content of the products they sell to schools. Clinton’s Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a project started last year in conjunction with the American Heart Association, follows up on a similar agreement with soda makers five months ago.

The agreement with Dannon, Kraft Foods, Mars, PepsiCo, and the Campbell Soup Company could ultimately help address the obesity problem by increasing sales of healthier chips, candy, yogurt, chips, and soups. “This is voluntary,” noted Clinton. “They don’t have to do it. But they recognize the challenge we face, and they are helping us take the first step.” The five companies, though large, represent only a handful of the 70 snack food companies that sell snacks to schools, and most sell their products through independent vendors who are not part of the agreement.

Moreover, critics such as the School Nutrition Association (SNA) and the Center for Science in the Public Interest feel voluntary guidelines will not be effective. “Our organization feels pretty strongly that we need some kind of nutrition guidance from the Department of Agriculture,” said Janey Thornton, president of the SNA. “It has to have some enforcement behind it.”

· Weight affects brain power: Call it “the Homer Simpson Effect;” being fat can make you stupid, while being physically fit and trim aids cognitive thinking in middle-aged and older adults, according to the results of two studies published in the October 10, 2006 issue of the journal Neurology.

In a French study, middle aged adults with a high body mass index (BMI) had lower scores on cognitive tests than slimmer people the same age. Researchers administered a word recall test to 2,200 men and women between the ages of 32 and 62 and found that those with a low BMI could remember nine of 16 sixteen words, while fatter people only remembered seven, on average. Heavier subjects also showed a higher rate of decline in cognitive abilities when re-tested five years later. “Consequences on cognitive function could be one more reason to focus on the prevention of obesity,” said lead author Dr. Maxime Cournot. To learn more, go to:

http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/67/7/1208.

A Scottish study found that people in their 70s who are more physically fit are also more mentally fit. “The important result of the study is that fitness contributes to better cognitive ability in old age,” noted Dr. Ian Deary, who lead the research effort. “Thus two people starting out with the same IQ at age 11, the fitter person at age 79 will, on average, have better cognitive function.” For details, see:

http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/67/7/1195.

Reports form the Field
· Emergency food needs continue to increase nationwide in urban and rural areas and in between. Under the banner, “Hunger is growing in the suburbs,” The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, OH ran the following article on September 1, 2006:
Hunger is eating away at families throughout Cuyahoga County, even in some of the most affluent suburbs. People from Euclid to Bay Village are showing up at local food pantries or getting food stamps.
A new report by the Center for Community Solutions found that countywide, the number of food stamp recipients per 1,000 residents soared 43 percent between 2000 and 2005. In the suburbs, that rate was up almost 89 percent. In addition, data from the Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland – a web of emergency food distribution centers – shows that assistance at suburban centers overall had jumped 40 percent since 2000.
“The big message here was the movement of hunger into the suburbs. It’s not just a Cleveland problem,” said Terry Lenahan, a policy and planning associate at the Center for Community Solutions. “People should know that it’s happening all over, maybe right in their own neighborhood.”
“It’s definitely a quiet phenomenon in the suburbs,” said Erin Deegan, communications coordinator for the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, which serves Summit, Stark, Portage, Wayne, Medina, Carroll, Tuscarawas, and Holmes counties. “The people standing in line for food don’t always look like they need emergency help. But with all the job losses, they do.”
Lenahan said some of the rising numbers in Cuyahoga County’s suburbs may be due to people relocating from the city of Cleveland, but she said it’s also clear that longtime residents of the suburbs are feeling the pinch.
The study tracked calls by ZIP code to United Way’s First Call for Help and found a 68 percent increase in requests for food from the suburbs over the five-year period examined. Calls for food assistance more than doubled from Lakewood, Garfield Heights, western Euclid, Fairview Park, North Olmsted, Parma, Broadview Heights, Seven Hills, Independence and Brooklyn Heights ZIP codes.
The local need remains greatest within the city of Cleveland, dubbed the nation’s poorest big city this week by the U.S. Census Bureau. But there are hungry people in every Cuyahoga County community.
Joseph Gauntner, director of the county’s Department of Employment and Family Services, said there are growing clusters of food stamp recipients in places like Lakewood, Parma and Euclid. He’s also noted more cases in traditionally affluent communities such as Bay Village. “What we’re seeing is some of the spread of poverty,” said Gauntner. “It’s hard for folks out there.”
In the mid- to late-1990s, about 8,000 of the households receiving food stamps from Cuyahoga County included people with jobs. That number has now doubled, meaning that despite having jobs, wage-earners still are falling short of meeting a basic need. “Think about the stereotypical steelworker who’s no longer making steel,” said Gauntner. “Now he cleans offices and works at McDonald’s on the weekends.”
As of June, the latest figures available, 181,942 individuals got food stamps in Cuyahoga County. And when the food stamps run out, “That’s where we come in,” said Dana Irribarren, executive director of the Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland. Eight of the network’s 36 food pantries are in Cleveland suburbs; the remainder serve the city itself.
Julie Chase-Morefield, executive director of the Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio, based in Lorain, also has seen food assistance needs skyrocket and surface in what might seem unlikely places. “Amherst has a soup kitchen and they just added a food pantry. Sheffield Lake’s pantry serves Avon and Avon Lake,” said Chase-Morefield. “It’s jaw-dropping for people when they hear it. They say, That’s supposed to be an affluent place. How can that be?’ ”
· Even in the more remote rural areas of the U.S., emergency feeders are facing a shortage of food to feed hungry families in their midst. Under the headline, “The shelves are empty,” the following article appeared in the Laramie Boomerang in Wyoming on September 25, 2006:
The shelves, the overflow pantry and the fridge are bare at Interfaith Good Samaritan, where food is provided to those in need. Lately, Tom Martin, Interfaith director, has seen an increased need in the community for food. “The amount of donations has been the same,” Martin said. “It remains … pretty steady, but there’s more people coming in.”
Martin said that the demand is due to increased fuel and utility costs that put a strain on people’s budgets. Food prices, he said, have also increased due to the increased cost of transportation. Seeing the increased demand for food, Interfaith decided to ask only for food donations and ceased offering clothing — except for infant clothing — in May.
“In a month, we saw over a thousand people, but we had clothes here as well,” Martin said. “We are still seeing those high numbers, but they are coming in solely for food.” Though Interfaith has stopped carrying clothing, Martin said that he still sees 1,100 to 1,200 people a month who come to the pantry for food.
About 700 of them, he said, return on a regular basis. People may come to the food pantry once a week. If a person returns regularly to the pantry, Interfaith will inquire into their situation. Some are experiencing budgeting problems. Interfaith provides budgeting classes on Wednesdays and also offers counseling on topics like impulse shopping. Others who return regularly may be disabled or elderly, or they may have a minimum-wage job that doesn’t provide for all of their needs, Martin said.
The few items on the shelves at Interfaith are not nutritionally diverse. There is plenty of bread that is donated daily by Albertson’s, spaghetti (but no sauce) and some cans of beans, along with a few other items. People might survive on these items, Martin said, but they will not thrive. “Especially families with children,” he said. “If this continues too long, and (children are) not getting proper nutrition, it can affect their development.”
Small Bites

More of us: The U.S. population is predicted to hit the 300 million mark this month. Demographically, that 300 millionth person will be a Hispanic boy born in Los Angeles.

Living, dying, and moving: The U.S. population numbers are generated by a birth every seven seconds, a death every 13 seconds, and a net increase of one immigrant every 31 seconds.

Going nuts for almonds: Americans favor cashews, but 31 percent of the American public now says almonds are their favorite nut, beating out peanuts for the number two position for the first time.

Going nuts in California: Almonds are among the top five crops in California, with a value of over $2.2 billion a year.

Nutnappers: Tree nuts are so valuable in California that they have sparked a crime wave. Almonds, worth over three dollars a pound, are being stolen by the truckload.

Net access at the library: Approximately 99 percent of all public libraries in the U.S. now offer Internet service, compared to 25 percent a decade ago. Many low-income people without computers rely on libraries to apply for public assistance, including food stamps.

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