TEFAP Alliance Blog

Foodlinks America - September 28, 2007

In this issue:

• Stopgap Measure Keeps Government Funded
• Senate Farm Bill Timetable Still in Flux
• Food Inflation Eating Up TEFAP Supplies
• Proposed Legislation
• Food Stamp Facts
• Obesity Round-Up
• Backpack Programs Expanding Nationwide
• 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:Â 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.

Stopgap Measure Keeps Government Funded

Congress is taking action to maintain funding for federal programs after the October 1 start of fiscal year 2008 through a continuing resolution (CR). On September 26, 2007, the House of Representatives passed a short-term CR to keep government operating through November 16. The bill passed by a vote of 404-14. The Senate will act shortly and the President will likely sign the legislation before October 1.

A CR is necessary because Congress has not finished work on any of the 12 annual appropriations bills for fiscal year 2008. The CR will maintain the status quo, keeping most programs at fiscal year 2007 levels for the time being.

Although Republicans were quick to jump on the Democratic majority for failing to pass fiscal year 2008 spending measures, CRs have become increasingly commonplace. “Continuing resolutions date from at least the late 1970s, and have been a regular part of the annual appropriations process for over 50 years,” commented the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) in a recent report. “In fact, with the exception of three fiscal years – 1989, 1995, and 1997 – at least one continuing resolution has been enacted for each fiscal year since 1954,” CRS noted.

Congressional Democrats claim Republicans share the responsibility for spending decisions, or rather the lack of them. In a posting titled, “The Facts on Appropriations Bills: How this Congress Stacks Up,” House Appropriations Committee chair David Obey (D-WI) stated, “The President’s rhetoric on appropriations bills is over the top when you consider the record. Since the President took office … the federal government has operated under a CR for at least some portion of every year and appropriations bills were completed in December twice, in January twice, and in February twice,” noting that for fiscal year 2003 there were a dozen CRs before the process was completed. Given the lack of consensus on spending issues, additional CRs are likely before final fiscal 2008 appropriations are decided.

Senate Farm Bill Timetable Still in Flux

Consideration of the Farm Bill – the omnibus agriculture legislation that also authorizes the Food Stamp Program, commodity distribution programs, and other nutrition services – in the U.S. Senate remains a moving target that is shifting daily. Senate Agriculture Committee chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) initially promised to have a bill ready this summer, but summer has turned to fall and no action has been taken yet at the committee level.

Harkin is “very hopeful that we can still bring it up before the [Senate’s] Columbus Day recess” from October 8-12 (the House will remain in session), but the odds of that happening are diminishing daily. The House of Representatives, which passed its 2007 version of the Farm Bill in July, awaits Senate action. In the meantime, an extension of the 2002 Farm Bill is part of the government-wide continuing resolution that will keep programs intact and operating through mid-November.

How long current law will be extended is anyone’s guess at this point. Harkin was initially opposed to any extension of the current Farm Bill, but recently said, “We’re going to try to do a new bill. We need a new Farm Bill for the future. But I am not unalterably opposed to extending the present Farm Bill.”

Funding remains the major sticking point. “The difficulty is just trying to find adequate money to meet everyone’s needs and what people want in the bill,” Harkin said. And three key Democratic Senators are offering competing fiscal plans to expand Farm Bill programs. Finance Committee chair Max Baucus (D-MT) says he can identify up to $10 billion in offsets to support Farm Bill programs, but his outline focuses on setting up a trust fund to provide more permanent disaster relief for farmers. Baucus plans to reveal details of his plan in early October.

Another Senator from the Northern Plains, Kent Conrad (D-ND), who chairs the Budget Committee, released a chart on September 26 that offers three Farm Bill funding alternatives, ranging between $10.4 billion and $11.9 billion. Conrad said his chart should be considered as a menu of options rather than a Farm Bill proposal. Harkin has his own funding plan in mind, but details have not been circulated publicly.

Democrats on the Senate Agriculture Committee are meeting almost daily to try to reach consensus on Farm Bill provisions and funding. But regardless of the final Senate outcome, reconciliation of any new Farm Bill with the House version will present unique challenges, as the legislation from the lower chamber includes a new tax on profits from foreign corporations that appears to be dead on arrival in the Senate.

A further complicating factor is the attitude of the Bush administration, which is also opposed to the House plan for financial support based on new taxes. Moreover, the Administration just had a change in leadership; Agriculture Secretary Mike Johannes, who was representing the President on Farm Bill matters, resigned this month to seek a Senate seat in his home state of Nebraska next year, an action that irritated Democrats. “It is completely irresponsible for the Secretary of Agriculture to leave his post right in the middle of negotiations over the next Farm Bill,” commented Conrad. Johannes has been replaced by Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner.

Meanwhile, anti-hunger advocates are concerned that more than $4 billion for hard-won food stamp improvements in the House bill could be in jeopardy. Though both the Harkin and Conrad plans reportedly contain similar support for food stamp changes, inclusion in the final legislation is far from a certainty. “The House of Representatives found new money to stem the losses in food assistance from growing numbers of hungry families,” said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of America’s Second Harvest in a mid-September statement. “It is hard to understand why the Senate seems to be having so much difficulty doing this,” she added.

Capitol Hill observers have likened the Farm Bill situation to a three-dimensional chess game, with the Administration, the House, and the Senate at the corners. Senator Harkin, though frustrated in constructing a package that will move the Farm Bill forward, remains unfazed about the slowness of the process and finishing the Farm Bill. “I’ve been through seven Farm Bills,” said Harkin. “This happens all the time.”

However, optimism remains. “I’m really hopeful we’ll figure this all out,” said Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), a member of the Agriculture Committee. “I think by the time we’re drinking eggnog, we’ll have a new Farm Bill.”

Food Inflation Eating Up TEFAP Supplies

Food price increases averaging 36 percent over the past seven years have significantly diminished the amount of food being provided to food banks and food pantries nationwide under The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), according to a detailed analysis of commodity prices conducted by the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association (WISCAP). Combined with a nearly 80 percent reduction in federal bonus commodities during the same period, emergency food providers across the U.S. are struggling to meet local hunger needs.

WISCAP’s member Community Action Agencies and partner organizations, which distribute TEFAP foods statewide, are also running short of food to give needy residents. To detail the extent of the problem, WISCAP Food Security Program Specialist Mark Bauman looked at 41 TEFAP entitlement food items available in the second quarter of fiscal year 2001 and fiscal year 2008 to examine the difference in prices. Thirty-eight of the 41 foods increased in price, with 16 rising by more than 50 percent.

The biggest increase was in the price of egg mix, which went up 115 percent over the seven-year span. Other large price increases were found in grain products – corn flakes, grits, flour, spaghetti, and macaroni – and beans of all types.

“Most of the increase is recent,” noted Jonathan Bader, Community Action Programs Manager for WISCAP. Commodity purchase prices increased 19 percent for these items between fiscal year 2007 and fiscal year 2008 alone. With current funding for TEFAP entitlement foods at $140 million a year since the last Farm Bill in 2002, “It would take an increase of tens of millions of dollars in annual TEFAP entitlement funding just to offset price increases that have occurred since then,” Bader said.

The overall situation becomes much starker when taking into account the huge increases in local demand states have experienced – Wisconsin has had a 57 percent increase in households served since 2001 – and the precipitous drop in bonus foods in recent years. “All states are facing the same triple whammy of price inflation, increasing demand, and plummeting bonus supplies,” Bader added, “which makes it painfully clear how deficient current funding levels really are for entitlement foods – the very backbone of TEFAP. This price data further buttresses urgent nationwide calls to substantially increase TEFAP entitlement funding in the Farm Bill,” he concluded.  For additional details, contact: mbauman@wiscap.org.

Proposed Legislation

Among bills recently introduced in the 110th session of the U.S. Congress are the following:

House Resolution (H.R.) 3257:Â Introduced by Representative Ron Kind (D-WI) and 18 bipartisan co-sponsors, the Fitness Integrated with Teaching Kids (FIT Kids) Act would, among other objectives, improve access to nutritious food and nutrition education for school children.

H.R. 3503:Â Introduced by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), the Lifelong Improvements in Food and Exercise (LIFE) Act would take actions in the public health arena to reduce the prevalence of obesity.

H.R. 3628:Â Introduced by Representative Zachary Space (D-OH), the Promoting Charitable Action Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code to extend for four years the enhanced charitable deduction for contributions of food inventory.

Senate (S.) 2066:Â Introduced by Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), the Back to School:Â Improving Standards for Nutrition and Physical Education in Schools Act would, among other objectives, establish and implement nutrition standards for school foods.

For bill summary and status information, along with the text of legislation, visit:Â http://thomas.loc.gov and enter the bill number.

Food Stamp Facts

Access and participation grants made: USDA has awarded almost $5 million to six states and one city-county to test ways to modernize and simplify the Food Stamp Program application process. The grants will support technological advances such as on-line applications, automated telephone services, and application sites outside of the traditional social services office to help serve the elderly and disabled. Awardees are the states of Mississippi, Montana, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Louisville/Jefferson County in Kentucky. To learn more, see: http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/PressReleases/2007/PR-0254.htm.

Administrative bonus awards announced: A total of $18 million has been given by USDA to states that demonstrated exceptional performance in the administration of the Food Stamp Program in fiscal year 2006. States that received cash for the best program access last year were Maine, Missouri, Tennessee, and Oregon. Massachusetts, Mississippi, Vermont, and Maryland were noted for the most improved program access. And receiving awards for the best application processing timeliness rates were Massachusetts, Kentucky, South Dakota, West Virginia, North Carolina, and New Hampshire. For further information, see: http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/PressReleases/2007/PR-0255.htm.

Obesity Round-Up

Sugar is back in school: It was just last year that the major international beverage companies – Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Cadbury Schweppes – in a deal brokered by ex-President Bill Clinton, agreed they would sell only water, low-fat milk, and 100 percent juices in U.S. elementary and middle schools to help reduce sugar intakes that are contributing to America’s obesity problem. In addition, sports drinks and light juices with no more than 66 calories per eight ounces would be allowable for high school students.

But earlier this year, the beverage companies amended the agreement to permit “other drinks” with no more than 66 calories per eight ounces to be sold in high schools, opening the door for the vending of vitamin waters – basically sugar water with vitamins added. Vitamin waters appear to be a fast growing market the beverage companies want to cash in on. Industry claims it was just tweaking the standards and the changes are “much ado about nothing,” according to the American Beverage Association.

Not so, say nutrition advocates. “This is a huge loophole that will bring lots more sugar and calories into kids’ diets,” claimed Margo Wootan, director for nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C. Kate Cyrul, a spokesperson for the Senate Agriculture Committee, chaired by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), who has long sought federal oversight of school drink sales, called the industry move a “quiet backsliding to sneak sugary beverages into our schools again. For the sake of our children’s health, Congress should pass science-based school nutrition standards that cannot be altered at the request of just a few parties and without public input,” she added.

Obesity problem getting bigger: Adult obesity rates increased in 31 states last year, with 22 states experiencing an increase for the second year in a row, according to the Trust for America’s Health in Washington, D.C. in its 2007 annual report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America, released on August 27. No state’s obesity rate decreased, the Trust reported.

Mississippi, with the nation’s highest poverty rate, is also at the top of the obesity charts, becoming the first state ever in which more than 30 percent of adults are obese. Rates of adult obesity exceeded 25 percent in 19 states, up from 14 states last year and nine in 2005. A mere 15 years ago, no state exceeded 20 percent in adult obesity. The report, which includes state data and recommendations for combating obesity, may be found at: http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2007/.

Gestational diabetes affects childhood obesity: Results of a new study show that the more diabetic a pregnant woman is, the more likely her children are to become obese. Children of mothers who had very high levels of blood sugar were 89 percent more likely to be overweight and 82 percent more likely to be obese by the time they were 5-7 years of age, compared to children whose mothers had normal blood sugar levels during pregnancy, according to researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, OR.

“The risk of childhood overweight and obesity rose in step with higher levels of blood sugar in pregnant women,” said Dr. Teresa Hillier, an endocrinologist and senior investigator at the Center. But “the good news here is that when pregnant women were treated for gestational diabetes, their children’s risk for overweight and obesity dropped considerably. In fact, their obesity risk was not statistically different than children of mothers with normal blood sugar levels,” she noted. For more information, go to: http://www.kpchr.org/public/news/new.asp.

Take a walk: Forty years ago, half of all American students walked to school or rode their bikes. Today, fewer than 15 percent get to class under their own power. Instead, they are driven to school by a parent or take a bus. In an attempt to promote exercise, October 3 has been declared national Walk to School Day by the Partnership for a Walkable America. To join the movement, see: http://www.walktoschool-usa.org/.

Backpack Programs Expanding Nationwide

School lunch and breakfast programs provide schoolchildren with daily nourishment during the week, but low-income children often fail to get enough food on weekends when school meals are not available. An easy and effective solution to the problem has been found to help thousands of children nationwide stave off hunger over the weekend – backpack programs that provide easy-to-prepare foods distributed at school and sent home with the children every Friday.

Started in 1999, Food For Kids, operated by the food bank of the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency in Sonora, California, mostly likely was the first backpack program in the country. Food bank director Lee Kimball initiated the novel concept after lamenting that The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) was not reaching needy children in her remote rural corner of northeast California. Food distribution in such locations involves significant challenges – huge distances, physical barriers such as mountains, a lack of transportation, and frequent inclement weather.

“The school bus is the only public transportation that goes everywhere in our county,” Kimball told Foodlinks America. “It just made sense to distribute kid-friendly TEFAP foods, like peanut butter, directly to children,” she said. Kimball sought and received state approval to distribute TEFAP commodities and other donated foods not just to elderly, disabled, and low-income adults, but directly to children through the schools.

A modest infusion of other resources helped get the effort underway. Pilot funding from the now-defunct Community Food and Nutrition Program (CFNP) was used to purchase backpacks and other basic foods that kids could carry home on the bus at the end of each school week. And “Volunteers came out of the woodwork to help assemble the backpacks and deliver the food to the schools,” Kimball noted.

Food For Kids offers items that children say they like and will eat – cereal, dry or shelf-stable milk, soup and crackers, tuna, canned or fresh fruit, and nutritious snacks such as pudding cups, raisins, trail mix, and granola bars. Nutrition fliers and simple instructions, geared to a second-grade reading level, accompany the foods. “Kids themselves will even call in their own recipes or tell us which foods they don’t like,” said Kimball.

The Tuolumne program still serves a fairly modest 700 or so children a week, but now reaches a significant 83 percent of low-income children in the poor rural county it serves. More importantly, similar programs have proliferated in urban as well as rural areas across the country. An Oklahoma City backpack program, recently featured in USA Today, is reaching 7,500 students at 250 elementary schools, according to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. The Food For Kids program run by the Arkansas Rice Depot in Little Rock helps ameliorate weekend hunger for 18,000 children in 502 schools across the state and distributes school supplies and personal care items as well as food.

Backpack programs can now be found in 40 states and the District of Columbia aiding approximately 50,000 children a week, according to America’s Second Harvest, the national food bank network. And those numbers continue to grow. Second Harvest announced on September 13, 2007 that part of a $4 million contribution from the Wal-Mart Foundation would help initiate backpack programs at an additional 24 food banks nationwide and allow 33 other food banks to expand their current backpack efforts.

Hunger among children is abated in many different ways by backpack programs. Some children take the food home and squirrel it away for themselves, while others proudly share the bounty with their siblings. “What makes backpack programs so successful,” said Lee Kimball, “is that the kids own the food.”

Small Bites

Taking credit I:Â A full 93 percent of Americans own a credit card today, compared to just 51 percent in 1970.

Taking credit II:Â The average cardholder has seven credit cards.

Where credit is due I:Â The typical American household owes $9,659 in credit card debt.

Where credit is due II:Â The average American family must dedicate 14 percent of its disposable income to paying off its debts.

Poor credits:Â One-third of low- and middle-income American households say they use their credit cards to pay for rent, utilities, and food.

Taking too much credit: Americans owe a total of $850 billion in credit card debt, more than twice as much as the combined debt of the world’s 54 poorest countries.

mvauthier :: Sep.28.2007 :: Foodlinks America :: No Comments »:: Print This Post

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