A rising hunger among children, By Kay Lazar, July 28, 2011, Boston Globe: “Doctors at a major Boston hospital report they are seeing more hungry and dangerously thin young children in the emergency room than at any time in more than a decade of surveying families. Many families are unable to afford enough healthy food to feed their children, say the Boston Medical Center doctors. The resulting chronic hunger threatens to leave scores of infants and toddlers with lasting learning and developmental problems…”

• Recent war vets face risk of homelessness, By Gregg Zoroya, July 25, 2011, USA Today: ” More than 10,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are homeless or in programs aimed at keeping them off the streets, a number that has doubled three times since 2006, according to figures released by the Department of Veterans Affairs.The rise comes at a time when the total number of homeless veterans has declined from a peak of about 400,000 in 2004 to 135,000 today. “We’re seeing more and more (Iraq and Afghanistan veterans),” says Richard Thomas, a Volunteers of America case manager at a shelter in Los Angeles. “It’s just a bad time for them to return now and get out of the military.”…”
• $1 million grant a lifeline for vets, By Adam Parker, July 28, 2011, Post and Courier: “George Krowska traveled to Myrtle Beach this spring after a relationship went sour. He had been staying in a Colorado shelter for a couple of months, the first time in his life the 62-year-old Army veteran was homeless. But in Myrtle Beach, he was abandoned, he said. Krowska has a heart blockage that qualifies him for disability benefits and requires a certain proximity to a VA hospital, so he hitchhiked to Charleston. At the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, he received treatment, learned about Crisis Ministries, the area’s homeless shelter and got a bus pass…”
• VA embarks on national homeless prevention initiative, By Lidia Dinkova, July 27, 2011, Miami Harald: “The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has embarked on a national initiative that aims to financially support low-income veterans and their families. The funds will be distributed in the form of grants to non-profit organizations, which, in turn, will give the money to veterans. Six Florida organizations are recipients of these grants, including the Advocate Program and Carrfour Supportive Housing, both in South Florida…”

• Food stamp usage up 58 percent in S. Dakota, By Austin Kaus, July 26, 2011, Daily Republic: “Enrollment in a federal program that provides food assistance increased by 58 percent in South Dakota between 2007 and 2010, according to the results of a study released this week. The Urban Institute reported that enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps) increased nationally by 69 percent from 2007 to 2010. Increases in state caseloads varied from 23 percent in Arkansas to 128 percent in Nevada…”
• Idaho food stamp growth saw massive drop in June, By Dustin Hurst, July 27, 2011, Idaho Reporter: “Though food stamp enrollment numbers have been growing steadily in the Gem State in the past few years, officials with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) told IdahoReporter.com last week that the month of June saw the smallest increase in new enrollees in many months. Tom Shanahan, spokesman for DHW, reported that only 168 new people joined the food stamp program. June was the first time since July 2008 that less than 1,000 people joined the program in any one month…”
• Nevada Has Biggest Increase in Food Stamp Caseloads, July 26, 2011, Nevada News Bureau: “Nevada experienced the greatest growth among the states in food stamp caseloads between 2007 and 2010 with an increase of 128 percent, according to a recent report from the Urban Institute. The jump in caseloads is attributable to a nearly 250 percent increase in state unemployment between 2007 and 2010, says the report…”

Our hungry kids: 40,000 NZ kids fed by charities , By Simon Collins and Elizabeth Binning, July 27, 2011, New Zealand Harald: “School principals say the number of pupils turning up for breakfast is increasing daily, despite the collapse of one of the two main breakfast programmes, a Red Cross scheme which ended this month after Countdown supermarkets withdrew their sponsorship. A Herald investigation has found that at least 185 of New Zealand’s 256 primary and intermediate schools in the poorest 10th of the nation (decile 1) give their children breakfast or other food during the day, on top of the Government’s fruit in schools scheme…”

• USDA: Parts of W.Va. qualify as ‘food deserts’, By Taylor Kuykendall, July 24, 2011, Register-Herald: “West Virginia, a state that conjures up memories of wooded valleys, streams, rivers, lakes and lush fields, is also a land of desert - not a hot, dry expanse, but instead areas with extensive droughts in regard to food access. According to the USDA, a ‘food desert’ is a ‘low-income census tract where a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store.’ This is defined as communities with a poverty rate of 20 percent or higher or a median family income at or below 80 percent of the area’s median family income or a community with one-third of its population more than a mile (or 10 miles in a rural area) from a supermarket or grocery store. The effort has largely been spearheaded by first lady Michelle Obama, who has promoted various healthy initiatives since moving into the White House…”
• Michelle Obama, Wal-Mart and the ‘food desert’ problem, By Daniela Hernandez, July 22, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Nothing’s ever as simple as we’d like it to be. A case in point: Policies that simply increase access to supermarkets may not get people to choose an apple over ice cream, a recent study reported. Changing people’s eating habits is difficult, in other words. One reason is money. Healthful foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and dairy, can often be pricey. For the cost of a couple of peaches, a person can get a full meal on the dollar menu at a fast-food outlet. Another problem: The produce in stores in low income neighborhoods is often of low quality.This is a hefty problem, given that 1 in every 3 children and adults is overweight or obese. Policy-makers and health-food advocates across the country are developing programs to increase access to healthful foods-and make it easier for people to buy them…”

• Big retailers make pledge of stores for ‘food deserts’, By Sean Collins Walsh, July 20, 2011, New York Times: “Executives from Wal-Mart, Walgreens, SuperValu and other stores joined Michelle Obama at the White House on Wednesday to announce a pledge to open or expand a combined 1,500 stores in communities that have limited access to nutritious food and are designated as ‘food deserts.’ With the pledges, secured by the Partnership for a Healthier America, which is part of Mrs. Obama’s campaign to reduce childhood obesity, the stores aim to reach 9.5 million of the 23.5 million Americans who live in areas where finding affordable healthy foods can be difficult. In those areas, many people turn to fast food restaurants or convenience stores…”
• First lady, grocers vow to build stores in ‘food deserts’, By Yian Q. Mui, July 20, 2011, Washington Post: “Supermarkets joined with first lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday in a pledge to build stores in poor neighborhoods that have historically lacked access to fresh groceries, part of her signature effort to combat childhood obesity. Participating retailers include Wal-Mart, the country’s largest grocer, Walgreens and Supervalu and regional supermarkets such as Brown’s Super Stores in Philadelphia and Calhoun Foods in Alabama and Tennessee. Together, they promised to open more than 500 stores that will employ tens of thousands of people…”

• UN declares Somalia famine in Bakool and Lower Shabelle, July 20, 2011, BBC News: “The United Nations has declared a famine in two areas of southern Somalia as the region suffers the worst drought in more than half a century. The UN said the humanitarian situation in southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle had deteriorated rapidly. It is the first time that the country has seen famine in 19 years. Meanwhile, the UN and US have said aid agencies need further safety guarantees from armed groups in Somalia to allow staff to reach those in need. Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group which controls large swathes of south and central Somalia, had imposed a ban on foreign aid agencies in its territories in 2009, but has recently allowed limited access…”
• Somalis dying in world’s worst famine in 20 years, By Katharine Houreld (AP), July 20, 2011, Denver Post: “Tens of thousands of Somalis are feared dead in the world’s worst famine in a generation, the U.N. said Wednesday, and the U.S. said it will allow emergency funds to be spent in areas controlled by al-Qaida-linked militants as long as the fighters do not interfere with aid distributions. Exhausted, rail-thin women are stumbling into refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia with dead babies and bleeding feet, having left weaker family members behind along the way. ‘Somalia is facing its worst food security crisis in the last 20 years,’ said Mark Bowden, the U.N.’s top official in charge of humanitarian aid in Somalia. ‘This desperate situation requires urgent action to save lives … it’s likely that conditions will deteriorate further in six months.’ The crisis is the worst since 1991-92, when hundreds of thousands of Somalis starved to death, Bowden said…”

The face of hunger: Migrant workers in southern Minn., By Julie Siple, July 12, 2011, Minnesota Public Radio: “Every year, workers from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas gather their children and clothes and drive 1,500 miles to Minnesota, in an annual migration that spans generations. Most will head for the vegetable processing plants sprinkled across southern Minnesota, where they work for a handful of companies, including Seneca Foods Corp. They process peas and corn and other vegetables that wind up on your grocery store shelf. A number of the workers arrive with almost nothing, having spent the money they made the year before. That brings many to the Salvation Army Montgomery Food Shelf, 50 miles south of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, where their numbers are a challenge for volunteers…”

Access to grocers doesn’t improve diets, study finds, By Daniela Hernandez, July 12, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Better access to supermarkets - long touted as a way to curb obesity in low-income neighborhoods - doesn’t improve people’s diets, according to new research. The study, which tracked thousands of people in several large cities for 15 years, found that people didn’t eat more fruits and vegetables when they had supermarkets available in their neighborhoods. Instead, income - and proximity to fast food restaurants - were the strongest factors in food choice. The results, published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, throw some cold water on the idea that lack of access to fresh produce and other healthful foods is a major driver in the disproportionate rates of obesity among the poor, or that simply encouraging grocery chains to open in deprived areas will fix the problem, said study lead author Barry Popkin, director of the Nutrition Transition Program at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill…”

Some schools will serve free meals to all, thanks to new federal program, By Monica Eng and Tara Malone, June 20, 2011, Chicago Tribune: “Any school in Illinois where at least 40 percent of students are needy will be able to serve free meals to all children, regardless of family income, starting this fall as part of a pilot program offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Across Illinois, 125 districts have at least one school that is eligible, and the program could affect up to 1,235 schools in all, according to preliminary numbers from the Illinois State Board of Education. Districts can decide whether to participate on a school-by-school basis. In Chicago, home to the state’s largest district, the vast majority of schools would qualify for the universal free meals. But officials said Monday that they haven’t determined if they will participate, saying they don’t yet know how the program would affect the bottom line in a district with a $712 million deficit…”

Many needy California schoolchildren not taking part in subsidized summer meal programs, By Alexandra Zavis, June 16, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Fewer than 1 in 5 of the children who relied on free or reduced-price lunches during the 2009-2010 school year in California received subsidized meals last July, according to a new report. That represents a 15% drop in participation in summer meals programs from the year before at a time when enrollment in other federal nutrition programs is increasing because of the lingering effects of the recession. The report by California Food Policy Advocates blamed cuts to the state’s education budget, which caused many school districts to eliminate summer learning and enrichment programs. That reduced the places where needy students received breakfasts, lunches and snacks during the summer months…”

Indiana’s food stamp program earns $1.65M bonus for improving, By Maureen Groppe, June 16, 2011, Indianapolis Star: “Indiana’s troubled food stamp program has improved enough to earn a $1.65 million bonus from the federal government. The state was second best in the nation in cutting the percentage of recipients who received too many or too few benefits, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday. ‘Indiana is certainly headed in the right direction,’ said Kevin Concannon, the department’s undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services. Indiana’s 7.13 percent payment error rate for 2009 fell to 2.6 percent in 2010. That put Indiana below the national error rate for the first time since 2004…”

Food prices set to stay high, says UN food agency, June 7, 2011, BBC News: “Global food prices will remain high and volatile throughout this year and into next despite record food production. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) twice yearly Food Outlook analysis says rising demand will absorb most of the higher output. It says its index of food prices in May was at 232, only five points below February’s record high of 237. The FAO says higher food prices could mean poor countries will see food import costs rise by up to 30%. That would mean them spending 18% of their total import bills on food this year, compared with the world average of 7%. The organisation says the next few months will be critical in determining how major crops will fare this year…”

Martinez extends state’s food stamp aid, By Barry Massey (AP), June 6, 2011, Santa Fe New Mexican: “Republican Gov. Susana Martinez announced Monday she will extend a state program through September to supplement federal food-stamp benefits for about 4,000 low-income elderly and disabled New Mexicans. Martinez will use federal economic stimulus money to prevent a reduction of food-stamp benefits starting in July, when the program otherwise would have ended. The Legislature did not approve any money for the program in the upcoming fiscal year, which starts next month, although the Martinez administration had requested $650,000. The governor estimated it will cost $50,000 a month to continue the food-stamp assistance…”

Federal program helps feed low-income children during summer, By Kim Archer, June 2, 2011, Tulsa World: “Children in the Tulsa area don’t need to go hungry just because school’s out for the summer. A little-known federal program to ensure that low-income children get proper nutrition during summer months will kick off at Tulsa-area schools, churches and community centers next week. ‘Just because the lunch lady isn’t there to make sure you eat, it doesn’t mean you have to go hungry,’ said Corbin Anderson, spokesman for Tulsa Public Schools’ Summer Café. The Summer Food Service program was created as part of a larger pilot project in 1968, becoming separate in 1975. The U.S. Department of Agriculture funds the program, and in Oklahoma, the state Department of Education manages it…”

State plans to stop food stamp supplement for elderly, By Barry Massey (AP), June 2, 2011, Alamogordo Daily News: “About 4,000 low-income elderly and disabled New Mexicans will see their food stamp benefits drop in July due to state budget cuts. Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration plans to end a state program that supplements federal food stamp benefits for the elderly and disabled to ensure they get at least $25 a month in assistance. ‘That’s 4,000 seniors who will have less money for food. That’s the impact,’ Ruth Hoffman, director of Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in New Mexico, said Tuesday. New Mexicans who qualify for $16 a month in federal food stamps - currently the minimum amount from the federal government - also get an extra $9 a month from the state to make certain their combined assistance is $25. But the Democratic-controlled Legislature provided no money to continue the supplemental benefits in the upcoming budget year, which starts July 1. The Martinez administration had requested $600,000 from the Legislature to continue the program…”

• Food stamp use explodes in the suburbs, By Janice Podsada, May 18, 2011, Hartford Courant: “Nhan Do, a supervisor at Five Star Farmers Market in Hartford, says she always schedules extra people to work the first three days of the month. Those are ‘big shopping days’ for people who use food stamps. Despite modest job gains, Do and other area merchants say they haven’t seen a reduction in the number of customers using food stamps. On the contrary, the number of Connecticut people enrolled in the federal food stamp program has been climbing for 28 consecutive months in a steady progression during and after the officially declared national recession…”
• 1 in 6 getting food stamps in Volusia, By Anne Geggis, May 25, 2011, Daytona Beach News-Journal: “More than one of out every six Volusia residents got government help buying food in March, according to statistics released this week that show a dramatic increase in assistance in the past four years. In Flagler County, three of every 20 residents got help. That translates into nearly 100,000 people in the two counties. Comparing data from before the recession began, in March 2007 to March of this year, the latest statistics available, the number of area residents getting food stamps increased by nearly 189 percent…”

Feds threaten state with loss of FoodShare funds over privatization, By Jason Stein, May 20, 2011, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Federal officials are threatening to withhold new money and take back previous funds for Wisconsin’s food assistance if state officials don’t scale back efforts to privatize the program. The letter from federal officials follows an April visit to Wisconsin by USDA staff and goes a step further than similar past warnings by saying the state FoodShare program is already in violation of federal rules because of the privatization efforts by two governors. Federal officials are also separately questioning a new privatization proposal put forward by Republican Gov. Scott Walker for FoodShare, the successor program to food stamps…”

More farmers markets take food stamps, By Mary Jane Smetanka, May 3, 2011, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “The drive to get fresh food to low-income Minnesotans is getting a boost this year with a big increase in the number of farmers markets that will accept food stamps. Eight new markets will allow customers to buy fresh fruit and vegetables with food stamps this year, bringing the number of markets belonging to the Minnesota Farmers’ Market Association that accept food stamps to 13. While that doesn’t sound like a lot — there are an estimated 130 formal farmers markets in the state — using food stamps at those markets is a financial and technical challenge. Users of the federal program, officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), buy food with a card that is swiped like a credit card. That requires a card reader and an electrical or wireless connection, which are not always easy to get at makeshift market locations…”

Walker plan brings warning from USDA, By Jason Stein, April 28, 2011, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to privatize work determining who is eligible for food assistance in the state would violate federal law and could expose the state to a loss of more than $20 million in federal money, federal officials say. In an April 14 letter to state Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith and Children and Families Secretary Eloise Anderson, Ollice Holden, a Midwest administrator for the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, warned that the work of interviewing applicants and deciding who is eligible for the Wisconsin FoodShare program needs to be done by public workers who are essentially civil servants. If not, he said, the state could lose some of the federal funds supporting FoodShare, the successor in Wisconsin to the food stamp program…”

• Food stamps equal big money, By Ginnie Graham and Gavin Off, April 24, 2011, Tulsa World: “Retail smokeshops, convenience stores, substance abuse rehabilitation centers and take-and-bake pizza shops across the state received millions in food stamp purchases during a nearly two-year period examined by the Tulsa World. But much of the nearly $1.2 billion in food stamp expenditures went to Walmart stores, which brought in about $506 million between July 2009 and March 2011, according to data supplied by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. And though recipients might live within a mile of a store that accepts food stamps, most recipients travel more than 10 miles for the bulk of the food-stamp spending, according to the World’s analysis…”
• Food stamps a patch, not a panacea, By Ginnie Graham and Gavin Off, April 25, 2011, Tulsa World: “Wilford Case tries to be conservative with his monthly $90 in food stamps. He knows which store knocks down meat prices mid-month, what grocer has longer-lasting produce and once in awhile he’ll find an unexpected sale at a retailer farther from his home. ‘It helps me survive,’ Case said. ‘I don’t need much because it’s just me. I don’t have 19 kids or anything. I have to put a little money in to get dishwashing soap and things like that.’ But bargain shopping is tough because Case does not drive. He is on Social Security disability income because of epileptic seizures and relies on family members, neighbors and friends for rides. He offers money to the driver to help with rising gas prices…”
• Military commissaries see spike in food stamp usage, By Ginnie Graham and Gavin Off, April 24, 2011, Tulsa World: “Oklahoma military base commissaries received nearly $1.8 million in food stamp purchases during a nearly two-year period of state data examined by the Tulsa World. The World examined food stamp data provided by the Department of Human Services covering the period from July 2009 to March 2011. During that time, the average monthly purchases in food stamps, called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, at the base commissaries grew by about 187 percent. Commissaries are available on base to active and retired military personnel and their families and offer grocery items usually lower in cost than at retail stores. The Fort Sill Army base in Lawton posted about $1.1 million in sales using food stamps, followed by about $625,000 at Tinker Air Force base in Midwest City, about $110,000 at Altus Air Force Base and about $5,000 at Vance Air Force Base in Enid. The growth in the monthly averages spent on food stamps has skyrocketed…”

Fraud taints state’s FoodShare program, By Raquel Rutledge and Jason Stein, April 23, 2011, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Thousands of people who receive publicly funded food assistance report losing their benefits card routinely - a sign investigators say shows many are cheating the state’s $1 billion program. Some sell their Quest cards for cash. Others trade them for drugs. And that’s not the only way the state’s FoodShare program is being abused, an investigation by the Journal Sentinel has found. Instead of using the cards as intended - as a tool to keep the poor from going hungry - participants who aren’t hungry can use the cards to profit. Unscrupulous recipients sometimes buy steaks, seafood and other expensive items with their subsidized benefits and then sell the food to friends at a discount to get cash. Other times they approach strangers in grocery stores, offering to use their Quest cards in exchange for cash - completing the deal in the parking lot and pocketing $50 for every $100 they spend in Quest funds for the strangers’ groceries. In other cases, recipients fail to report all their income or that a working spouse lives in the home. Some collect money from multiple states. Lax rules and oversight make the program susceptible to fraud…”

When the next meal is a maybe, By Renée C. Lee, April 25, 2011, Houston Chronicle: “Every day more than 700,000 people in Harris County are uncertain about where they will get their next meal. Not all of them are poor - many are working people who don’t qualify for federal food programs. These are among the findings of a recent study that provides the first detailed look at hunger at the county level. Harris County families struggling to keep food on the table have a food budget shortfall of $12.97 per week, per person. To fill the meal gap, $277 million is needed annually to ensure that every person has three meals a day, according to the report’s calculations. The federal government defines food insecurity as limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. On average, food insecure families go at least seven months of the year without enough food, the study said. The study, based on 2009 figures, was conducted by Feeding America, a national hunger relief organization, with the goal of helping local food banks develop better strategies to target hunger. Food banks traditionally have relied on state and national data to estimate food insecurity needs, but the new county data give them a more accurate assessment…”

Child nutrition program faces cuts, By David Abel, April 16, 2011, Boston Globe: “Governor Deval Patrick and state lawmakers are proposing to slash more than 20 percent of state money from a decades-old program that helps thousands of low-income mothers afford formula and other basic foods for their children. The Women, Infants, and Children program, widely known as WIC, is regarded as a pillar of the social safety net, providing 130,000 low-income women in Massachusetts who are pregnant, breast-feeding, or raising young children with supplemental food, health care referrals, and nutrition education. Despite concerns raised by advocates for the poor, state officials said they have no choice but to make the cuts because of the state’s budget crunch…”

Study quantifies food insecurity - hunger - in the suburbs, By Alfred Lubrano, April 21, 2011, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Hunger quiets people, and there was almost no conversation among the 145 who gathered in an Upper Darby church parking lot, awaiting a charitable distribution of produce, on a recent wet spring morning. Breaking the silence, Juliana Noble said, ‘A lot of changes in my life brought me here today.’ The 50-year-old mother of a high school senior from Yeadon, Noble was laid off from her job as a course adviser at a Main Line college two years ago. She now works part-time at a clothing store, struggling to pay the mortgage and utilities. Fresh produce doesn’t fit in her budget, so she shows up at Christ Lutheran Church for the bananas, potatoes, lettuce, and other food in the weekly Fresh for All distribution by Philabundance, the hunger-relief agency…”

Republicans revive 1990s-era welfare debate over food stamps, suggest overhauling program, Associated Press, April 18, 2011, Washington Post: “House Republicans resurrected a 1990s-era fight over food stamps in their budget approved last week, arguing that any serious attempt to cut spending must include an overhaul of government programs that help needy families pay for food. Congress already has started cutting some food programs, including reducing the Women, Infants and Children Program by $500 million as part of a deal on this year’s budget. And last year, more than $2 billion in future funding for food stamps was redirected to other programs. On Friday, the House approved a Republican proposal to overhaul the $65 billion food stamp program - known officially as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP - by replacing it with capped block grants to states, which would pay for the aid but make it contingent on work or job training. That proposal was included in a 2012 budget plan put forward by Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis…”

• Obstacles seen in poor areas for new farmers’ markets, By Diane Cardwell, April 11, 2011, New York Times: “For years, the Bloomberg administration has labored to improve the eating habits of New Yorkers, banning trans fats from restaurants, urging food purveyors to use less salt and creating special zoning to encourage fresh-food supermarkets to open in produce-poor neighborhoods. But the city still puts roadblocks in the way of community groups seeking to open farmers’ markets in low-income neighborhoods, says a report to be released on Tuesday by the Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer. Those efforts face excessive fees, confusing rules and a lack of coordination among agencies, the report says…”
• Coming to a vacant lot near you, the neighborhood farm, By Madeleine Baran, April 7, 2011, Minnesota Public Radio: “Farmers looking for land to grow food to sell may have another option. A plan to expand urban agriculture in Minneapolis passed the city’s zoning and planning committee on Thursday, opening the door for farmers to turn vacant lots into commercial farms. Minneapolis is already home to community gardens and farmers markets, but the city lacked definitions or regulations of land used to grow and sell food. Urban agriculture supporters said that made it impossible to get approval for innovative farming projects. Similar plans have been adopted in Cleveland, Seattle, Portland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Kansas City, Oakland and Detroit…”

Isle food stamp use rises, By Alan Yonan Jr., March 28, 2011, Honolulu Star-Advertiser: “The number of Hawaii residents signing up for food stamps increased at a faster pace than the national average last year as state officials expanded eligibility for the program to help people suffering from the economic slowdown. Data released recently by the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that 156,355 Hawaii residents were enrolled in the federally funded program in December, up 16.7 percent from the same month a year earlier. The increase was the 13th largest among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Nationally, the number of people on food stamps under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program rose 13.1 percent to 44 million in December from a year earlier…”

• Next meal elusive for hundreds of thousands of needy in D.C. area, By Annie Gowan, March 24, 2011, Washington Post: “More than 400,000 Washington area residents experienced periods of hunger and empty cupboards during the recession, including tens of thousands living in some of the country’s most affluent counties, according to a new study released Thursday. The study, “Map the Meal Gap,” used Agriculture Department, 2010 Census and unemployment data for a sweeping county-by-county portrait of hunger in America, from unemployed timber workers in the South to more than 1.7 million residents in Los Angeles with high unemployment and housing costs…”
• Millions of Americans can’t always afford food, By Kim Carollo, March 24, 2011, ABC News: “While many people may not think much about grabbing a bite to eat, for millions of Americans, it’s been a lot harder. A new report shows about 50 million people aren’t always sure how they’re going to afford their next meal. According to the Map the Meal Gap report by the hunger relief charity Feeding America, about 15 percent of American households experienced “food insecurity” at some time during 2009, or believed they didn’t have enough or couldn’t get enough money for food. The report uses food insecurity data gathered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The report provides food insecurity rates for every county and congressional district in the country and also analyzes each county’s population to determine whether people are eligible for federal nutrition assistance programs…”
• Study: Tens of thousands have too little food, By Julie Wurth, March 24, 2011, Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette: “A new national hunger study says 79,000 people in East Central Illinois don’t have enough to eat — and more than half of them may not qualify for federal food assistance. About 15.5 percent of the 508,000 people in the 14-county region served by the Eastern Illinois Foodbank are classified as ‘food insecure,’ unable to get enough food on a regular basis, according to a study released Thursday by Feeding America, a national hunger-relief organization. The study, called “Map the Meal Gap,” provides numbers for the first time about food insecurity for each county and congressional district. Previously, that data was only available on a state-by-state basis from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, officials said…”
• Study: Minnesotans miss 100 million meals each year, By Julie Siple, March 25, 2011, Minnesota Public Radio: “A study released this week by the hunger relief organization Feeding America estimates that Minnesotans struggling with hunger collectively miss almost 100 million meals each year. The study says, nationwide, hungry people would need $21.3 billion to fill the gap in their food budgets. Work in Minnesota inspired the study. Rob Zeaske and his colleagues at Second Harvest Heartland food bank were looking for a better way to understand who needs help. ‘Traditionally we’ve measured hunger by who comes in for help, by who comes into a food shelf or who comes into a soup kitchen,’ Zeaske said. ‘The attempt was - how do we make a better estimate of who’s out there needing assistance, and how badly, but might not be getting help?’ Feeding America ran with that idea. The national study they released Thursday does two things that hadn’t been done before. It estimates the number of people struggling with hunger in each U.S. county. And it puts a number on how many meals people are missing…”

Soaring food prices send millions into poverty, hunger, By John Waggoner, March 17, 2011, USA Today: “Corn has soared 52% the past 12 months. Sugar’s up 60%. Soybeans have jumped 41%. And wheat costs 24% more than it did a year ago. For about 44 million people - roughly the population of the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago metropolitan areas combined - the rise in food prices means a descent into extreme poverty and hunger, according to the World Bank. The surge in food prices has many causes. Rising population. Speculators. Soaring oil prices. Trade policies. And, ironically, improved standards of living in emerging nations. By itself, the soaring cost of food didn’t cause the political unrest in the Middle East and elsewhere. Those tensions have been building for a long time. But higher food prices amplify those tensions…”

400,000 rely on food banks each month in Ontario, By Laurie Monsebraaten, March 22, 2011, Toronto Star: “Hunger is a daily reality for Mike Crawford, 56, as he treks across downtown Toronto in search of soup kitchens between monthly visits to a local food bank. Crawford, who tumbled onto welfare after a nervous breakdown a decade ago, is among more than 400,000 Ontarians - or 3 per cent of the province’s population - who are forced to turn to food banks every month, according to a new report by the Ontario Association of Food Banks. Food bank use has grown by an unprecedented 28 per cent since the recession in 2008, making Ontario the third highest user of food bank services in Canada behind Newfoundland and Manitoba, says the report released Tuesday…”

Food stamps surge in West, By Jim Carlton, March 16, 2011, Wall Street Journal: “Before the recession hit, Idaho, Nevada and Utah had some of the lowest rates of food stamp use in the nation. It was a boom time in a region that has always prided itself on self-reliance and a disdain for government handouts. But since the recession began, these three states have the fastest growth rates in the nation of participation in the federal program, recently released figures show. Utah saw a nearly 34% jump in food-stamp participation in December from the same month a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Nevada had the second fastest growth rate at 25%, followed by Idaho at 24%. For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, those three states plus Wyoming ranked among the top 10 in food-stamp growth, with Idaho leading with a 42% jump from 2009, according to USDA figures…”

• 41% of state students eligible for meal subsidies, By Amy Hetzner, March 11, 2011, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “About two of every five Wisconsin school children now qualify for federally subsidized meals because of low family incomes, according to data released Thursday by the state’s education agency. The proportion of students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch has rapidly increased over the past seven years, climbing from 29.5% in the 2003-’04 school year to 41.4% this school year. The rising number of children who meet the standard for subsidized meals reflects increasing economic hardships among Wisconsin families as well as a push among schools to have qualifying students registered for the lunch program, which often is used to calculate government grants. In a news release announcing the new figures, the Department of Public Instruction noted that 95 of the state’s 424 school districts now have at least half their students receiving subsidized lunches. Milwaukee Public Schools had the second highest percentage of students in the state qualifying for free and reduced-price lunch at 82.6% in the 2010-’11 school year. The Lac du Flambeau School District had 90.3% of its students qualify for subsidized meals…”
• Number of Green Bay students living in poverty rises, By Patti Zarling, March 10, 2011, Green Bay Press Gazette: “More than half the schoolchildren in the Green Bay School District qualify for free or reduced-price meals - an indicator of poverty - and that number is growing. Figures released Thursday by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction show 56.5 percent of Green Bay students qualify for the special meal prices this school year, up from 52.9 percent for the 2009-10 school year…”

30 percent of Ohio kids overweight, study shows, By Catherine Candisky, March 3, 2011, Columbus Dispatch: “Despite increased efforts to combat childhood obesity, the percentage of overweight children in Ohio remains at more than 30, virtually unchanged in the past five years, a state health department study released yesterday found. State officials said the findings mirror national data for all states. The causes are no surprise: lack of exercise, poor diet, poverty, lack of access to healthy foods. The study included some alarming statistics. For example, 40 percent of third-grade students drink more than two sugar-sweetened drinks a day, and youngsters who watch three or more hours of television a day were more likely to be overweight and obese than those who spend less time on the couch. Still, officials say the good news is that childhood obesity has not gotten worse…”

Food prices reach record high, By Caroline Henshaw, March 3, 2011, Wall Street Journal: “World food prices rose 2.2% in February from the previous month to a record peak, the United Nations’ food body said Thursday, as it warned that volatility in oil markets could push prices even higher. The Food and Agriculture Organization price index rose by 2.2%-the eighth consecutive rise since June-to an average of 236 points last month, the highest record in real and nominal terms since the agency started monitoring prices in 1990. Global cereal supplies are also expected to tighten sharply this year due low stock levels, the FAO said. The body raised its estimate for world cereal production in 2010 by eight million metric tons from its December estimate to 2.2 billion tons but said it expects that to be outpaced by an 18 million-ton increase in world consumption. But while the world isn’t yet facing a food crisis, the secretary of the FAO’s Intergovernmental Group on Grains, Abdolreza Abbassian, said the recent rise in Brent oil prices to above $120 a barrel could create the same potent mix of factors that pushed grain prices to record highs three years ago…”

State could face sanctions over severe problem with food stamps, By Arielle Levin Becker, February 24, 2011, The Day: “Connecticut wrongly denies food stamps to eligible residents at a higher rate than any other state. It ranks among the worst in the nation in processing food stamp applications on time and paying out accurate levels of benefits. And federal officials warn that without a ‘tremendous turnaround,’ the state could face significant financial sanctions. ‘We’re really concerned with what’s happening in Connecticut,’ James Arena-DeRosa, northeast regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, told members of the Human Services and Appropriations committees Tuesday. Legislators called the figures he presented shocking. Twenty-six percent of cases in which food stamps were denied or cut off were the result of errors, according to preliminary fiscal-year 2010 figures based on a sample of cases. Fewer than 60 percent of applications were processed in a timely manner, and the rate of inaccurate benefit payments was second-worst in the country…”

Some schools cut lunch options for kids who struggle to pay, By Alex Johnson, February 21, 2011, MSNBC.com: “At the turn of the new year, the Lee County, Fla., public schools were losing about $2,000 a week on school lunches. Then came the cheese sandwiches. When classes resumed Jan. 3 after the winter break, the district - the 40th-largest in the United States, with about 80,000 pupils - had a problem. Up to 1,100 pupils weren’t paying for their meals, school officials say. Because the National School Lunch Program, or NSLP, requires participating schools to provide nourishing meals for all pupils, what do school administrators do if a pupil shows up in the lunchroom with no cash and with no money left in his or her electronic meal account? Most raise their prices for kids who can pay, according to research by the nonprofit School Nutrition Association, which found that nearly 60 percent of public school districts raised lunch prices in 2009, the last full year for which national figures were available…”

School-lunch aid up in Ohio, local suburbs, By Catherine Candisky, February 13, 2011, Columbus Dispatch: “The federal free and reduced-price lunch program for low-income children now feeds more than four of every 10 Ohio students. New statistics from the Ohio Department of Education show that the proportion of students receiving the tax-funded benefit - regarded as one of the most-reliable indicators of poverty - has increased nearly 50percent in the past five years to a record high. Although the program has long been a staple in urban and rural districts, some of the largest spikes in recent years can be seen in suburban schools surrounding Columbus, not often seen as the front lines of poverty…”

• Record number of North Dakotans using food stamps, up 19 pct from 2009, By James MacPherson, February 11, 2011, Bismarck Tribune: “A record number of North Dakotans are using food stamps to buy groceries, coinciding with the state’s population growth but contrary to its robust economy, the director of the state Data Center says. North Dakota had an average of 59,888 people per month receiving food assistance in fiscal 2010, up from 53,070 in 2009, said Richard Rathge, the Data Center director and North Dakota demographer. The fiscal year ended Sept. 30. Rathge said the federal Agriculture Department figures show ‘an apparent contradiction’ with North Dakota’s strong economy that has been fueled largely by the state’s booming oil patch. North Dakota’s unemployment rate of 3.8 percent is the nation’s lowest…”
• Record number of Rhode Islanders using food stamps, By Paul Davis, February 11, 2011, Providence Journal: “A record 155,184 Rhode Islanders received food stamps at year’s end, according to figures from the state Department of Human Services. The number of people getting help from the federally financed program - now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP - increased by more than 26,400 people in December, up 20 percent from December 2009. The number has been rising steadily over the past 12 months. That means about one in seven Rhode Islanders relies on government food assistance, another sign that the state’s poorest residents have yet to recover from the worst recession in decades…”

Rising global food prices squeeze the world’s poor, By Ben Arnoldy, February 10, 2011, Christian Science Monitor: “Amid the stalls of neatly stacked vegetables at this city’s Sarojini Market, Manju shops with her young granddaughter. Her bags have become lighter in recent months, as she’s cutting back on the basics. Food prices have risen sharply over the past year and Manju is even going with fewer onions, the ubiquitous ingredient that fills just about every Indian gravy dish. ‘The kids have stopped eating properly,’ she says. ‘They have lost the taste for food and are complaining.’ Families in many parts of the world - especially India, China, Mexico, Haiti, and Egypt, where food costs spiked in the past year - are making sacrifices and seeking alternatives. The United Nations Food and Agri­cultural Organization (FAO) food price index hit an all-time high in December. This sparked concern that high prices just prior to the global recession could reflect longer-term structural changes in supply and demand that will imperil the poor’s ability to eat…”

Food stamp rolls reach historic levels, By Pamela M. Prah, February 7, 2011, Stateline.org: “Dorene is a certified teacher in Idaho, but the only job she can find is as a teaching assistant, which pays under $11 an hour. That is considerably less than the $45,000 that the average teacher in Idaho earns annually. She asked that her full name not be used because her family doesn’t know she has been getting food stamp benefits for her two young children and herself for a year. ‘We live paycheck to paycheck,’ she says, even with child support. ‘I never thought I’d be in this situation.’ Nationwide, one in seven Americans currently receives help from the government to put food on the table. All but 14 states saw double-digit spikes in the number of people getting food stamps over the one-year period that ended in November 2010. But Idaho had the largest one-year increase in the country: 28 percent, according to the latest government figures…”

California still second to last in food stamp participation, federal officials report, By Alexandra Zavis, February 2, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Just half the eligible Californians were receiving food stamps in 2008, a slight improvement over previous years but well below the national average of 66%, according to federal estimates released Wednesday. California officials dispute the way the figures are calculated and say they are outdated. “The information is based on 2008 data which is three years old, and it doesn’t reflect the impact of some of the recent program changes that were made to increase the access of needy eligible families and adults,’ said Maricela Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the California Department of Social Services. More than 3.5 million Californians received the nutrition benefit in October, the most recent month for which state figures are available. That is nearly 46% more than in October 2008. But the number of people who qualify for the benefit has also increased and it is unclear whether enrollment has kept pace with that growth…”

• Food-stamp use reaches record level in Oregon, By Michael Rose, January 20, 2011, Statesman Journal: “For 14 months, Oregon’s unemployment rate has hovered between 10.5 percent and 10.7 percent. That’s bad enough, but another sign of economic hardship keeps rising to record levels: food-stamp recipients. People receiving benefits from Oregon’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program increased by 7,467 in December. The total number of Oregonians in the SNAP program - formerly known as food stamps - now stands at 748,886…”
• Food stamps now help 1 in 5 in Jacksonville, By Deirdre Conner, Florida Times-Union: “Food stamp use has more than doubled in Duval County over the past five years. That grim statistic is twice the national average and is the second highest in a study of 22 cities nationwide, according to a report released Monday. The report, issued by the Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger advocacy group, showed Jacksonville as second only to Las Vegas in the growth in people who depend on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is commonly called food stamps. It looked at a geographically balanced cross section of urban areas…”

In South Los Angeles, new fast-food spots get a ‘No, thanks’, By Jennifer Medina, January 15, 2011, New York Times: “Driving along Crenshaw Boulevard, it is not difficult to find a place to grab a bite. At some intersections, there is a fast-food joint on each corner. If the restaurant chains had their way in some parts of town, city officials say, no street would be without its own fast-food outlet. Los Angeles is making one of the nation’s most radical food policies permanent by effectively banning new fast-food restaurants in South Los Angeles, a huge section of the city that has significantly higher rates of poverty and obesity than other neighborhoods. A handful of much smaller cities have enacted similar regulations for primarily aesthetic reasons, but Los Angeles, officials say, is the first to do so as part of a public health effort. The regulations, which the City Council passed unanimously last month, are meant to encourage healthier neighborhood dining options. Supporters envision more sit-down restaurants, produce-filled grocery stores and takeout meals that center on salad rather than fries…”

More qualify for food aid, but few make it last, By Jessica Alaimo, January 3, 2011, Newark Advocate: “A couple of kids were trying to entertain themselves in a dull food pantry waiting room, but the adults among them were quiet. However, there was a sense of community as each person was called to walk through the four long walls of wire shelves chock full of cereal, canned goods and personal care items. There also was a refrigerator full of milk and cheese and three freezers full of meat. It was the end of the month. Christy Dilley, 26, and Natasha Blankenship, 27, both young mothers in Lancaster, were there for the same reason — their government food assistance didn’t stretch far enough. This was common for many in the room. In November, more than 1.7 million Ohioans spent $241.1 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds, commonly known as food stamps, which are funded by the federal government. Almost three-fourths of that amount was spent in the first half of the month, and 30 percent was spent in the first five days…”

• Congress approves Child Nutrition Bill, By Robert Pear, December 2, 2010, New York Times: “Congress gave final approval on Thursday to a child nutrition bill that expands the school lunch program and sets new standards to improve the quality of school meals, with more fruits and vegetables. Michelle Obama lobbied for the bill as a way to combat obesity and hunger. About half of the $4.5 billion cost is financed by a cut in food stamps starting in several years. Mrs. Obama said she was thrilled by passage of what she described as a groundbreaking piece of legislation. By a vote of 264 to 157, the House on Thursday passed the bill, which was approved in the Senate by unanimous consent in August. It goes now to President Obama, who intends to sign it…”
• House votes a $4.5 billion boost for child nutrition, school lunches, By Amanda Paulson, December 2, 2010, Christian Science Monitor: “Congress took aim at childhood obesity and hunger Thursday with passage of a landmark child nutrition bill. The bill, formally known as the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, includes some of the biggest changes to the Child Nutrition Act since the program was started nearly half a century ago. The House passed it by a vote of 264 to 157 Thursday. The Senate unanimously approved it in August, and President Obama is expected to sign it soon…”

House votes to send child nutrition bill to President Obama, By Nick Anderson, December 2, 2010, Washington Post: “The Democratic-led House voted Thursday to send President Obama a bill that would enable more poor children to receive free meals at school, raise the nutritional quality of cafeteria fare, and reduce the junk food and sugary beverages sold in school vending machines. The bill, which cleared the Senate in the summer, won House approval on a 264-157 vote. More than 15 Republicans broke party ranks to join Democrats in favor of the bill. A handful of Democrats were opposed. The bill, a priority for the president and first lady Michelle Obama, would boost spending on child nutrition $4.5 billion over 10 years and raise federal reimbursements for school lunches more than the inflation rate for the first time since 1973. It also would require for the first time that free drinking water be available where meals are served…”

• Colo. food banks see “staggering” increase in need, By Colleen O’Connor, November 18, 2010, Denver Post: “Colorado’s five major food banks distributed more than 76 million pounds of food throughout the state last year, a 25 percent increase over the previous year, and experts expect worse to come. ‘Already, this fiscal year . . . is on pace for another 7 to 10 percent increase over the prior year, which makes that a 32 to 35 percent increase over a two-year time period,’ said Kevin Seggelke, president and chief executive of Food Bank of the Rockies. ‘That’s just a staggering number. The worst news is that we continue to hear that even if the economy (goes) back to pre-2008 levels, there may be a gap of 18 to 24 months’ before the number of people swamping state food banks returns to pre-recession levels, he said. A report released this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that food insecurity - the lack of consistent access to a nutritious, balanced diet - remained relatively stable in 2009, with the number of U.S. households classified as food insecure increasing slightly to 17.7 million from 17.6 million in 2008…”
• Employed but low-income N.J. families struggle to find assistance, By Carmen Juri, November 14, 2010, Star-Ledger: “Before the economic slump, Contina Wright and her family enjoyed the creature comforts of a middle-class lifestyle. Wright and her husband, a construction worker, spent money freely, vacationed, dined out regularly and had enough left over for savings. ‘We had everything covered,’ said Wright, 38. All that changed when the housing market plunged. With construction jobs scarce, Wright became the sole breadwinner in a family of six. Unable to pay bills, the family hit rock bottom last year and had to live at a homeless shelter for two months. These days, Wright and her family are actually lucky they found a shelter for the underemployed…”
• Hunger grows in Oregon, according to report, By Jillian Daley, November 19, 2010, Salem Statesman Journal: “Oregon is the third-hungriest state in the United States, according to a recently released report. About 6.6 percent of 1,514,000 Oregon households (about 500,000 people) had very low food security, meaning they did not have regular access to healthy food, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Tuesday. The number of Oregonians suffering from low or very low food security is two percentage points higher than it was in a 2004-06 study…”

• Record number of U.S. households face hunger, By Pam Fessler, November 15, 2010, National Public Radio: “The number of Americans who struggled to get enough food last year remained at a record high, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. More than 50 million Americans lived in households that had a hard time getting enough to eat at least at some point during 2009. That includes 17 million children, and at least a half-million of those children faced the direst conditions. They had inadequate diets, or even missed meals, because their families didn’t have enough money for food. ‘Household food insecurity remains a serious problem across the United States,’ says Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon. He says there’s a reason the hunger numbers hit a record high in 2008 and stayed there in 2009: a struggling economy…”
• Rise in U.S. hunger slows, but remains high, By Tony Pugh, November 15, 2010, Kansas City Star: “U.S. agriculture officials said Monday that the nation’s 15 federal nutrition programs helped keep hunger in check in 2009 even as the number of unemployed Americans soared. After a record one-year increase from 2007 to 2008, the number of U.S. households facing food shortages increased only slightly last year to roughly 17.4 million, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The share of households with members who went hungry or cut their food intake because of money also held steady in 2009, albeit at the highest levels since the data were first collected in 1995…”
• 17.4 million U.S. families went hungry at some point in 2009, USDA says, By P.J. Huffstutter, November 15, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “About 15% of U.S. households - 17.4 million families - lacked enough money to feed themselves at some point last year, according to a new U.S. Department of Agriculture report. Released Monday, the study also found that 6.8 million of these households - with as many as 1 million children - had ongoing financial problems that forced them to miss meals regularly. The number of these ‘food insecure’ homes, or households that had a tough time providing enough food for their members, stayed somewhat steady from 2008 to 2009. But that number was more than triple compared with 2006, before the recession brought double-digit unemployment…”

• Hunger in Philadelphia: The safety net is torn, By Alfred Lubrano, November 5, 2010, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Myra Young fits a nebulizer mask over her son Todd’s face to beat back his chronic asthma. Inhaling vaporized medicine that keeps him breathing, the 4-year-old with large eyes leafs through a children’s Bible to pass the time. Young, 41, is an unemployed nursing assistant who lost her job in 2007 caring for Todd during his two-month hospitalization. She watches nervously as the whirring machine eats electricity. The power to Young’s two-bedroom rental in Kensington will be cut in two weeks because the bill has climbed to $770. She lives in the poorest place in Pennsylvania - the First Congressional District. According to a national poll, the district is the second-hungriest in America. Young, who is separated, is not without help. She receives monthly welfare payments of $205, along with $362 in food stamps, and $674 in Supplemental Security Income for Todd’s illness - part of the safety net meant to aid the poor. Young’s husband, a hotel kitchen worker, chips in as well. But all that help still keeps mother and son stuck at the poverty level - not nearly enough to pay the $625 rent, and feed Young’s hungry child and his voracious breathing machine. Because Young hasn’t worked since Todd’s hospitalization, it’s harder for her to get jobs; employers are wary of her two years away from nursing…”
• Inquirer Editorial: We are what we eat, Editorial, November 5, 2010, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Hunger isn’t confined to a single zip code. But there are few places where its impact is more evident than within this city’s First Congressional District, rated the second-hungriest in America. Inquirer reporter Alfred Lubrano recently detailed how that hunger, rooted in poverty, can paradoxically lead to obesity. Many among the poor are overweight not from eating too much, but because they eat the wrong foods…”