TEFAP Alliance Blog

Foodlinks America - November 23, 2007

In this issue:

• Farm Bill Stalls in Senate
• Appropriations Remain At An Impasse
• One in Nine Americans Food Insecure
• Food Stamp Facts
• 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: www.tefapalliance.org. To request a free subscription to the newsletter or to submit story ideas, contact Barbara Vauthier at: bvauthier@tefapalliance.org.

Farm Bill Stalls in Senate

The U.S. Senate, after two weeks of partisan procedural maneuvering, has failed to initiate debate on the 2007 Farm Bill. Progress has bogged down because Republicans want to bring up the bill with unlimited debate and no restrictions on amendments – more than 260 of which have been filed so far. Democratic efforts to set a rule that limits debate, known as cloture, failed on November 16 by a vote of 55-42, five votes short of the number needed.

Farm Bill proponents were disheartened. “It is frustrating and perplexing that we cannot move such a strong, bipartisan measure that came out of Committee without a dissenting vote,” said Tom Harkin (D-IA), chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. “With the Farm Bill in week two of consideration by the full Senate and still no action, we are seeing a pattern in the Republican leadership: while the Administration threatens a veto, Congressional leadership stalls.”

Any Farm Bill progress will be delayed until at least next month, as Congress has adjourned for a two-week Thanksgiving recess through December 3. Harkin has said he will continue telephone negotiations with both Democratic and Republican leaders during the holiday recess to try to break the impasse.

With a stalemate in the Senate, several House Republicans have filed legislation to extend the current Farm Bill for one year. “I never thought the Senate leadership would be unable to get its act together,” commented Representative Jerry Moran (R-KS).

An extension of the 2002 Farm Bill would leave current policies in place and put on hold the “major new investments [that] … will allow low-income Americans to put a little more food on the family table,” noted Senator Harkin, who is backing a number of food stamp improvements. Retention of current policy would continue the erosion of food stamp benefits, leaving in place a $10 minimum benefit level that has not been adjusted for 30 years, asset limits frozen since 1986, and a dependent care deduction unadjusted for inflation since 1993.

Emergency food providers are also seeking relief from a new Farm Bill. Despite huge increases in need, the amount of federal commodities provided under the Farm Bill through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is stuck at $140 million annually. Provisions of the pending Farm Bill would increase that yearly infusion to at least $250 million.

Appropriations Remain At An Impasse

Congress and the Administration continued their disagreement over fiscal year 2008 spending, with President Bush vetoing a $606 billion appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education on November 13, 2007, claiming excess spending of $6 billion more than was spent last year. The House vote was three short of the number needed to override a veto.

Calling the veto “a cavalier and heartless act,” Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee noted that, “This bill contains critical funding for education, for health care, for life saving medical research, for job training, for mine safety, for homeless veterans, for mental health services for returning veterans, and for families who will be struggling to pay increased home heating costs this winter.”

Byrd expressed frustration that the President would sign without hesitation a defense spending bill that is $40 billion over last year’s level, but was unwilling to approve legislation “that helps each and every American family in one way or another. Why is a $40 billion increase for the Department of Defense fiscally responsible,” asked Byrd, “while a $6 billion increase to educate our children and improve the health of our citizens is bloated spending? Let us stop this display of political petulance, Mr. President.”

In the absence of final fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills, a continuing resolution (CR) is currently in place to maintain government funding through December 14, 2007.

One in Nine Americans Food Insecure

Hunger and food insecurity in the United States in 2006 was unchanged from the previous year, leaving some 35.5 million people living in households that are just barely getting by with enough food. Nationwide, 89.1 percent of all households were “food secure” last year, having consistent access to enough food for a healthy, active lifestyle, according to a new government report.

But 10.9 percent of households – over 35 million individuals – were categorized as “food insecure,” with family members reducing their food intake or disrupting normal eating patterns due to a lack of resources to obtain enough food. Approximately one-third of the food insecure had “very low food security,” a category referred to until last year as “food insecure with hunger.”

The estimates come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which has surveyed the population on food security annually since 1995. For 2006, USDA noted that, “The prevalence of food insecurity varied considerably among different types of households. Rates of food insecurity were substantially higher than the national average for households with incomes near or below the Federal poverty line, households with children headed by single women, and Black and Hispanic households. Geographically, food insecurity was more common in large cities and rural areas and, regionally, more prevalent in the South.” The ten states with the highest food insecurity rates in 2006 were Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Arizona, in that order.

USDA also found that over 20 percent of food insecure households obtained emergency food assistance at some time during the year, causing food banks and food pantries to do a brisk business. “We hope this new report is a wake-up call for all Americans,” said Vicki Escarra, president of America’s Second Harvest, a national food bank network, noting that, “Our food bank members across the nation tell us they are facing critical shortages of food because of increased demand. There simply may be no food for many families when the rest of the nation gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving and religious holidays,” she added.

“As costs for food, energy, and housing continue to rise and wages stagnate or decline, households are finding themselves increasingly strapped. Millions have difficulty affording a healthy and adequate diet,” said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). “This may mean even worse numbers in 2007. We need to do more to make sure that households have access to healthy food by improving and expanding proven programs that help.”

To review the USDA report on Household Food Security in the United States, 2006, click on: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR49/.

Food Stamp Facts

Caseloads still growing: Nationwide participation in the Food Stamp Program continued to increase over the summer, with enrollment reaching 26,832,179 persons in August 2007, an increase of 217,614 persons over July and nearly 700,000 more than August 2006.

Five-year participation patterns detailed: Trends in food stamp participation over the past five years are reviewed in a narrative and depicted in charts on the web site of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) in Washington. D.C. FRAC compares data from July 2007, July 2006 and July 2002 in a review of caseload statistics. Programs in Massachusetts, Iowa, Delaware, and Missouri have grown the most in the past five years. For more details, see: http://www.frac.org/html/news/fsp/2007.07_FSP.html.

Outreach grants available: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that approximately $1 million is available for grants to public and private non-profit community organizations to improve awareness of the Food Stamp Program for low-income households. Grants of up to two years and $75,000 are being offered. The application deadline is February 19, 2008. Checklists, templates, tools, and lists of resources to assist potential applicants in completing their proposals can be found online at http://www.grants.gov or on USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) website at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/outreach/grants/2008/default.htm.

Disaster program policies updated: New memoranda from USDA have been issued for the Disaster Food Stamp Program on the processing of state plans, authority to operate such programs, and post-disaster review requirements. For more information, go to: http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/whats_new.htm.

ABAWD exemption policy altered: The food stamp law severely circumscribes eligibility for able bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs), although states may seek exemptions from work requirements for this population. On November 8, 2007, USDA revised its policy on allowing unused ABAWD exemptions to be carried forward from one fiscal year to the next. To learn more, see: http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/whats_new.htm.

Reports from the Field

Employees at the state health department in Austin, Texas are not only working to improve health habits for other residents, they are taking steps to improve their own health, as reported in the November 12, 2007 Austin American-Statesman.

Lindsay Rogers was looking for a way to encourage her fellow employees to eat better. Sonny Naegelin was looking for a new market for his fresh produce.

Rogers and Naegelin found the Sustainable Food Center of Austin, which found a way to satisfy both of them. On Thursday, Naegelin and a few of his seasonal employees made their second weekly delivery of hand-packed baskets of squash, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers and seasonal surprises – tangerines and pecans – to the main office of the Department of State Health Services on West 49th Street.

The employees love the freshness and the convenience. Naegelin, who once doubted the whole idea, thinks using a computer to reach his customers might spare his farm for a fourth generation of Naegelins. “Never in my wildest dreams did I believe I’d ever be doing this,” Naegelin said. “I’ve learned that people are willing to pay for good, local stuff.”

Rogers is an obesity prevention specialist who runs the wellness program for the Department of State Health Services. She is also an Austin Farmers’ Market enthusiast. A few months ago, she contacted the Sustainable Food Center to see whether there was a way to bring the market to her co-workers. “The whole concept was to encourage our people to eat healthier,” said Doug McBride, a department spokesman. “What we were looking for was a pilot program, something we could try to see if it worked.”

A bumper crop of carrots three harvests ago got the nonprofit food center into the business of farmer and institution partnerships, said Andrew Smiley, the center’s farm marketing program manager. An employee at one of the Seton hospitals, also a farmers’ market fan, persuaded the hospital system to buy the carrots and eventually a variety of produce. The University of Texas Food Service followed, and the Farm Direct Project was launched at the Sustainable Food Center, Smiley said. The center is working on a plan to put locally grown produce in the kitchens of the Austin school district, he said.

When Rogers polled employees, 400 people expressed interest in getting produce delivered for a fee. Smiley set about finding a farmers’ market vendor who might be able to handle a substantial number of orders.

Naegelin’s ancestors knew good times and bad, growing cotton, peanuts, watermelon and grain on the farm in Lytle, off Interstate 35 about 20 miles southwest of San Antonio. The Naegelins have raised seven children on the farm, but only the oldest, 30-year-old John, still farms with his dad. Weary of competing based solely on price in a brutal international market, Naegelin decided to grow produce and find customers to whom he could sell directly.

“I heard about what they were doing at the Sustainable Food Center a few years ago at the farmers’ market and said no way can that work,” Naegelin said. The center proved that it could work by hiring a Web developer with a grant from the iThrive program of the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department who created a site where state employees could order and pay for their food baskets, Smiley said. Orders are sent electronically to Naegelin on Monday night for delivery on Thursday.

The principals agreed to a price of $25 a week for a basket of produce harvested in season. Deliveries can slow or stop in the cold months of January and February, and in August, the hottest month, Smiley said.

The first week, 140 employees at the main office and the Austin State Hospital placed orders. Rogers took inventory of a typical basket and compared it with the cost of buying the same produce in a grocery store. The $25 basket was $28.27 in the store, according to Rogers’ calculations. “I want them to have a little extra,” Naegelin said, slyly. “I’m not greedy at all.”

This week, the number of orders jumped to 171. Smiley is delighted but said he wants the program to grow slowly so that farmer and the customer get exactly what they want from the partnership. For his part, Naegelin could not be more satisfied. “For the first time, I’m getting paid ahead of time for the stuff I grow,” he said. “I get to meet the people I grow for. They get to trust you like their mom or their dad. It’s a good feeling.”

Small Bites

The national bird: The turkey is the only breed of poultry native to the Western Hemisphere.

The national bird of the day: An estimated 95 percent of Americans eat turkey at Thanksgiving.

The edible national bird of the day: Americans eat 45 million turkeys each Thanksgiving, about one-sixth of all turkeys sold annually.

A national taste: U.S. residents eat more turkey per person than those of any other country except Israel.

A seasonal feast: Americans ate 14 pounds of turkey annually in 2002, most of it at holiday time. Per capita consumption was about the same in 1980.

Sharing the holiday with pets: Some 13 percent of U.S. turkey production is used in pet foods.

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