TEFAP Alliance Blog

Foodlinks America - February 2, 2007

In this issue:

· Sign On to Support TEFAP Funding Increases
· Farm Bill Action Gets Underway
· Congressional Committee Assignments Announced
· Poverty Growing in the Suburbs
· Federal Poverty Guidelines Updated
· Summer Food Reimbursement Rates Issued
· Obesity Round-Up
· Community Food Project Profile: Helping A New Culture Thrive in Green Bay
· 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.

Sign On to Support TEFAP Funding Increases

Endorsements from supporting organizations are being requested for a statement of principles on “Transforming TEFAP – A Call for Action.” The TEFAP Alliance and California Emergency Foodlink, which sponsor this newsletter, are seeking allies to back funding increases in both food and administrative support for The Emergency Food Assistance Program in this session of Congress through the Farm Bill and subsequent appropriations.

The Alliance would like to see $500 million per year in food purchases to help replace substantial reductions in bonus commodities over the last two years and $175 million in annual distribution funds to partially offset rising transportation costs. Though sign-ons may be made at any time, a list of endorsers will initially be taken to Congress at the end of February 2007. To review the statement, go to: http://www.tefapalliance.org and click on the “Take Action” button.

Farm Bill Action Gets Underway

A wide variety of interest groups have begun staking out positions on reauthorization of the Farm Bill, the legislation that determines key ingredients of the nation’s agricultural, nutrition, and conservation policies once every five years. The Farm Bill process starts in the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, which expect to draft legislation this summer.

Democrats in Congress plan to coordinate their Farm Bill efforts to an unprecedented extent. Senate Agriculture Committee chair Tom Harkin of Iowa and House Agriculture Committee chair Collin Peterson of Minnesota, in a highly unusual move, have said they intend to meet weekly throughout the year to limit the number of differences in their respective bills. “We’re trying to make sure we have open lines of communication,” said Harkin, who credited Peterson with the idea for weekly meetings.

“The more we talk things through, the easier it will be” to concur on a final bill, added Peterson. Though the bills will not be identical, most stumbling blocks should be ironed out in advance. “We’re both on the same time frame,” said Peterson. “We want to get this done by September.”

The Agriculture Committees have to contend with a number of competing interests in fashioning a Farm Bill that will meet both international and domestic priorities. U.S. crop subsidies may have to be adjusted to comply with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Though WTO negotiations on agriculture supports and other trade barriers are currently at an impasse, they could be jump-started at any time.

Getting a sufficient budget allocation to meet Farm Bill needs is the first big domestic hurdle the legislation will face. Government payments are at a low ebb due to high world crop prices and, consequently, the Congressional Budget Office is expected to offer a relatively modest figure to meet subsidy needs, reducing the overall total of funds available for the Farm Bill. Conservation and nutrition groups have been eyeing the commodity title of the Farm Bill as a source of funds to boost their programs.

Meanwhile, new alliances are forming to push for major changes in Farm Bill programs. A coalition of family farm, rural, conservation, sustainable agriculture, anti-hunger, and nutrition groups, working under the rubric of the Farm and Food Policy Project (FFPP), released detailed recommendations on January 22, 2007 for a bill that would address the country’s most serious social, economic, health, and environmental issues.

In addition, a dozen leading food advocacy groups, including the Community Food Security Coalition, Bread for the World, and American’s Second Harvest, are promoting an anti-hunger agenda for the Farm Bill based around improvements in the Food Stamp Program. And the TEFAP Alliance is asking Congress to significantly increase The Emergency Food Assistance Program to help address chronic food relief shortages.

“There are a tremendous number of unmet needs related to agriculture and food, and the best program ideas are desperate for funding,” said Ralph Grossi, president of American Farmland Trust at a news conference unveiling the FFPP report. “Innovative programs that expand new markets for local, regional, and value-added products will increase access to healthier and more sustainably produced foods; and provide tools offering farmers and ranchers real economic opportunities.”

The opening salvo in this year’s Farm Bill battle came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which released its Farm Bill proposals on January 31, 2007. Though the USDA plan would reform commodity payment programs, add funding for conservation measures, and spend money on renewable energy initiatives for ethanol, proposed changes in nutrition programs were modest, with only limited funds added to purchase more fruits and vegetables for school food programs and TEFAP.

USDA would change the name of the Food Stamp Program to the Food and Nutrition Program and make a few new exclusions from income calculations, but basic benefits – now averaging less than a dollar per meal – would be substantially unchanged.

“We are disappointed that the Administration’s Farm Bill proposal does not make any net new investments in the Food Stamp Program,” stated the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) in Washington, D.C. “With one in eight American households struggling against hunger, it is short-sighted to propose net budget savings rather than invest in a program that can make Americans, and particularly children, healthier, better students and more productive workers,” FRAC said. “We hope and expect that the new Congress will do better.”

Congressional Committee Assignments Announced

Membership on most of the key subcommittees that will decide important food and nutrition issues in the 110th Congress have recently been announced for both the House and Senate.

The House Agriculture Committee will be engaged this year in reauthorizing the Farm Bill, the legislation that provides for the Food Stamp Program, commodity efforts, such as The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program. Nutrition-related programs and services are under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry, which will be chaired by Joe Baca (CA). Other Democrats on the subcommittee are Earl Pomeroy (ND), Lincoln Davis (TN), Nick Lampson (TX), Steve Kagen (WI), and Nancy Boyda (KS). They will be joined by Republicans Jo Bonner (AL), the ranking minority member, and Jerry Moran (KS), Steve King (IA), Randy Neugebauer (TX), and Charles Boustany, Jr. (LA).

Providing funds for authorized programs is the province of the Appropriations Committee. The important House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Food and Drug Administration will be chaired by Rosa DeLauro (CT). Other Democrats on the subcommittee are Maurice Hinchey (NY), Sam Farr (CA), Allen Boyd (FL), Sanford Bishop (GA), Marcy Kaptur (OH), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL), and Steven Rothman (NJ). Republicans include Jack Kingston (GA) as ranking member, and Tom Latham (IA), Jo Ann Emerson (MO), Ray LaHood (IL), and Rodney Alexander (LA).

In the Senate, the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry will be taking the lead on Farm Bill concerns. Its Subcommittee on Research, Nutrition, and General Legislation will tackle the bill first. Subcommittee members, however, had not been named as this issue of Foodlinks America was distributed.

The lead on funding decisions is taken by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies will be chaired by Herb Kohl (WI) and include Democrats Tom Harkin (IA), Byron Dorgan (ND), Dianne Feinstein (CA), Dick Durbin (IL), Tim Johnson (SD), Ben Nelson, (NE), and Jack Reed (RI). Republicans on the subcommittee are ranking member Bob Bennett (UT), Thad Cochran (MS), Arlen Specter (PA), Kit Bond (MO), Mitch McConnell (KY), Larry Craig (WY), and Sam Brownback (KS).

Poverty Growing in the Suburbs

As city dwellers move to the suburbs in search of a better life and improved access to
food and other services, poverty follows them. In 2005, the number of poor people in the suburbs – over 12 million – surpassed the number of urban poor for the first time.

“Economies are regional now,” noted Alan Berube, who authored a December 2006 report for The Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C. think tank. “Where you see increases in city poverty, in almost every metropolitan area, you also see increases in suburban poverty.” Berube’s study examined census data for the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas in 1999 and 2005.

Poverty rates rose significantly in Midwestern and Southern metropolitan areas, but remained steady in the West and Northeast. “There’s poverty really everywhere in metropolitan areas because there are low-wage jobs everywhere,” Berube added. And in cities and suburbs where overall poverty rates rose during the six-year period, child poverty rates rose even faster.

And where there is poverty, there is hunger. America’s Second Harvest, the national food bank network, estimates that 42.6 percent of all clients served reside in rural and suburban areas. To learn more, view the Brooking Institution’s report at: http://www.brook.edu/metro/pubs/20061205_citysuburban.htm.

Federal Poverty Guidelines Updated

Federal poverty levels, which are used to determine eligibility for many government benefits and services, have been revised and updated for 2007. The new guidelines, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the January 24, 2007 Federal Register, reflect a 3.2 percent increase in inflation over last year.

A four-person household in the continental United States is now considered to be living in poverty if its income is $20,650 or less. Other levels are provided for families by household size and for those residing in Alaska and Hawaii. The new poverty guidelines may be found at: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/….gov/2007/pdf/07-268.pdf.

Summer Food Reimbursement Rates Issued

Adjusted payment rates for meals served to children during summer vacations and other times when school is not in session were published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the January 29, 2007 Federal Register. Reimbursement rates for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) for Children in 2007 reflect a 3.07 percent increase in the cost of living over 2006. The maximum allowable reimbursement for lunches or suppers in the continental U.S. this year is $2.915, with up to $1.66 allowed for breakfasts, and up to $0.685 for snacks or supplements. Higher rates apply for Alaska and Hawaii.

The SFSP is one of the most underutilized federal nutrition programs. In 2005, less than 18 percent of low-income children who received a school lunch during the school year received a meal during the summer months. To view the Federal Register notice, go to: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/….gov/2007/pdf/07-346.pdf.

Obesity Round-Up

· It’s true; fast food makes you fat: A new study confirms what we have assumed all along; eating more fast food substantially increases your weight and body mass index (BMI). More than 3,300 young adults were evaluated over a ten-year period for their consumption of both fast food and restaurant food. The more fast food subjects ate, the higher their BMI. For every additional fast food meal eaten per week during year seven, BMI rose by 0.13 points. BMI increased by 0.24 points for each additional fast food meal eaten per week in year 10. There was no reported increase in BMI associated with restaurant meals.

“People have been trying to say that, but they didn’t have the kind of evidence we have now,” said Dr. Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina School of Public Health. “It’s a large effect; enough to take you from being non-diabetic to diabetic.” Results were reported in the January 2007 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. For more details, go to: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/1/201.

· Government and industry to collaborate on promoting healthy eating: Food retailers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have launched a new in-store initiative to encourage healthier choices by consumers at the point of purchase. The “Take a Peak” program will promote the government’s food pyramid system and highlight food and beverages that meet federal guidelines for healthy eating, good nutrition, and physical activity. More than 2,000 grocery stores in 17 states are expected to participate, using aisle banners, floor graphics, informational kiosks, educational brochures, and coupon booklets.

“I am very pleased to see the food industry taking up the challenge to help consumers make healthier choices,” said USDA Secretary Mike Johannes. “We’ve had a tremendous response to My Pyramid and I’m confident that as awareness increases, so will the health of Americans.” Retailers will fund the Take a Peak effort, because although the government mandates dietary guidelines, it provides minimal funding to promote them. To learn more, see: http://www.tapintomypyramid.com/.

· Overweight and heart disease linked for girls: If a girl is overweight at age nine or 10, she is more likely to be obese and have an increased risk of heart disease as a woman, according to a new study. Researchers at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute tracked the measurements of over 2,300 girls, about half White and half African American, from age nine to 23. They found that: Black girls had substantially higher rates of obesity and overweight; being overweight as a pre-teen made it up to 30 times more likely that the girl would be overweight as an adult; and a significant relationship existed between the risk of heart disease in adulthood and being overweight by age nine. Study findings, reported in the January 2007 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, may be found at: http://www.jpeds.com/article/PIIS0022347606009267/abstract.

Community Food Project Profile: Helping A New Culture Thrive in Green Bay

Editor’s Note: This is the seventh in a series of articles celebrating the tenth anniversary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Food Projects program and featuring some of the more successful projects.

Yia Yang, a migrant farmer from Laos, immigrated to Wisconsin in the mid-seventies along with many other Hmong who sacrificed their way of life in supporting the U.S. during the Viet Nam war era. She often reflected on the farm she left behind, so when an opportunity presented itself to use a small patch of land for gardening, Yia grabbed it. A garden could provide healthy food for her family of eight and alleviate the family’s financial burden while Yia and her husband looked for work and took English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.

With assistance from the Community Garden Outreach Program, Yia was able to expand her garden plot to a half-acre. The additional space allowed Yia and her children to raise produce to meet the family’s needs and to sell at the Green Bay Farmers’ Market. “Without use of this land I could not be able to do this and help support my family,” Yia said as her daughter May Lin Yang translated.

Brown County, Wisconsin is home to nearly 6,000 Asians, an estimated 2.4 percent of the total population. Most Asians in the county are Hmong who were born in Laos and who were forced to emigrate to avoid extermination by communist forces when the U.S. pulled out of Laos in 1973. Traditionally, the Hmong have agrarian roots and many immigrants had backgrounds in farming and agriculture before moving to America. While children of these immigrants are largely bilingual in Hmong and English, language is a significant barrier for many older Hmong, especially those who emigrated as adults.

Hmong adults also face other challenges in this community, including access to farmland, lack of bilingual adult education to aid them in using their existing agricultural skills, and business connections that would help members of the community grow their entrepreneurial skills.

The Brown County Task Force on Hunger, along with the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension, conducted a study on food insecurity in the community in the late 1990s and concluded that the Hmong were the population group most in danger of hunger and malnutrition. In response, the Task Force partnered with Extension and the United Hmong Community Center to implement a three-year Community Food Projects (CFP) grant awarded in 2001. The collaboration proposed to address Hmong needs by increasing their proficiency in direct marketing, food safety, and sanitation, and expanding the Hmong Community Center’s shared community kitchen and micro-enterprise development activities.

With CFP grant funds, the Community Center installed a fully functional production kitchen with ample storage space. Food safety and sanitation training and certification were provided to 60 local residents so they could utilize the kitchen for both personal and community purposes. “These people cook together and support community events that are the basis of their cultural beliefs and rituals,” said project director Karen Early with the Cooperative Extension.

As a result of the project more than forty people have participated in a small business and enterprise mentoring program, motivating more Hmong to develop micro-enterprises, such as cut flowers, greenhouses, and an egg roll business. Extension and local Hmong groups have collaborated to organize an entrepreneurs’ banquet with guests from finance, real estate, and other area businesses, helping to forge connections and build bridges to span cultural gaps.

With assistance from the project, a total of 19 Hmong farmers now own land and/or livestock and have begun to work cooperatively to improve their own community. Extension agents Early and Cathy Huntowski report that additional opportunities for continuing bilingual adult education are in progress, including culinary education, direct marketing, wholesale marketing, agricultural planning, and cooperative development for beef farmers and produce growers. Hmong farmers have also begun to work with local buyers to sell their produce wholesale. As the Hmong become a more visible part of the regional population, there is greater understanding and appreciation between cultures, leading to increased economic and cultural growth opportunities for all.

Small Bites

Espousing unmanned households: In a major societal shift, the majority of women in the U.S. – 51 percent – now live without a husband, compared to 35 percent in 1950.

Food vs. fuel: Worldwide demand for food and fuel is projected to double in the next 50 years. Ethanol fuel made from corn is growing in popularity, but corn is also used as an ingredient in more than 3,000 grocery products.

Fuelish energy planning: Currently, less than three percent of electricity generated in the U.S. is derived from renewable sources like wind and solar.

Fruitless diet changes: In 2004, Americans ate 128 pounds of fresh fruit per person, four pounds less than in 1985.

What we will eat: The most popular fruits in America are bananas, apples, seedless grapes, and oranges.

A Mainely blue state: The State of Maine produces about 25 percent of all blueberries grown in North America, including both wild and cultivated varieties.

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