FOOD JUSTICE NEWS
To All Those Interested in Food and Justice...
A usually weekly update of news about hunger, nutrition, food prices and a host of other issues, focusing on things you can become involved in! (Targeted to the LA area, but we like all the rest of you too)
July 22, 10 / July 8, 10 / July 04, 10 / June 21, 10 / June 16, 10 / June 11, 10 / June 4, 10 / May 20, 10 / Apr 20, 10 / Apr 6, 10 / Mar 22, 10 / Mar 18, 10 / Mar 10, 10 / Mar 2, 10 / Feb 26, 10 / Feb 19, 10 / Feb 13, 10 / Feb 1, 10 / Jan 22, 10 / Jan 9, 10 / Jan 3, 10 / Dec 14, 09 / Nov 30, 09 / Nov 17, 09 / Nov 11, 09 / Nov 2, 09 / Oct 23, 09 /Oct 20, 09 / Oct 2, 09 / Sep 25, 09 /Sep 18, 09 /Sep 10, 09 / Sep 3, 09 / Aug 28, 09 / Aug 19, 09 / Jul 08, 09 / Jun 23, 09 / Jun 15, 09 / May 27 09 / Mar 27, 09 / Mar 17, 09 / Mar 5, 09 / Mar 2, 09 / Feb 20, 09 / Feb 05, 09 / Jan 30, 09 / Jan 13, 09 / ARCHIVES / HOME
July 22, 2010:
1. LA City Council Passes Food Surplus Ordinance
2. Hunger Action LA Meeting July 30 Focuses On New Food Stamp Procedures, Farm Bill
3. California State Budget Actions: Fight To Prevent More Poverty in California
4. Town Hall Meeting August 12: Zoning Out Unhealthy Food
5. New Policy Brief: Promoting Grocery Store Development in South LA
6. Proyecto Jardin Sponsors Garden Blessing Event, July 25
7. Food Pantries Address Dual Issues of Hunger and Obesity in Kids
8. South Central Farm Hosts Fundraiser Dinners
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1. LA City Council Passes Food Surplus Ordinance
The Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance today that strongly encourages city departments to donate extra food they might waste. The ordinance was proposed by Hunger Action Los Angeles in June 2009 and championed by Councilman Jose Huizar, who then crafted legislation for a citywide surplus food policy.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/07/21/la-city-council-approves-adoption-of-citywide-surp/
2. Hunger Action LA Meeting July 30 Focuses On New Food Stamp Procedures, Farm Bill
Friday July 30, 10 am, 464 S. Lucas Ave. Los Angeles (90012)
Special guest speakers at the Hunger Action LA monthly meeting include Alexis Fernandez of California Food Policy Advocates who will walk us through new phone-in food stamp procedures that should make the program easier to access for thousands of Californians: and Patty Lovera of Food and Water Watch who will give us an overview of the Farm Bill—what it is, the timeline, and what the issues are. HALA will use this as a starting point to begin to engage the broader community in action . Call 213 388 8228 or frank@hungeractionla.org for more information or to RSVP.
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3. California State Budget Actions: Fight To Prevent More Poverty in California
Please call your State legislators today - and all week-long - and remind them that millions of California seniors, working families, people with disabilities and children are counting on them to pass a timely budget that:
1) Creates and maintains jobs,
2) Protects our state’s vital health and human services, and
3) Includes targeted revenue solutions at the State and Federal levels, to get our economy, our State, and all families back on track!
A simple call takes just five minutes – and can have a HUGE impact on millions of California families threatened by devastating budget cuts!
Click here to find your Assemblymember and State Senator and call them today!
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html
BIG OIL MUST PAY! Oil ACTION-JULY 22 @ 5PM
DATE: Thursday, July 22
LOCATION: 11000 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles-Federal Building
TIME: 5 PM
On July 22 at 5pm at the Federal Building we will be marching to Occidental Petroleum to ask the legislature know that communities of California are asking for oil companies to pay to extract oil from California. California is the only state in the nations that does not charge for the extractions, Oil companies in Alaska pay 25% and California is only asking for 9-10%. This would bring $1.5 BILLION to California and it would help close the budget gap and protect all the programs that are being threaten in the budget debate.
http://www.seiu721.org/2010/07/californians-to-demand-big-oil-do-its-part.php
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4. Town Hall Meeting August 12: Zoning Out Unhealthy Food
Community Health Councils and Food Policy Roundtable are sponsoring a town hall to address the upcoming expiration of the South LA interim ordinance. Let’s stop fast food restaurants from taking over our community! Let your voice be heard!
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Light Refreshments and Children’s Play Area Provided
Second African Methodist Episcopal Church
5500 South Hoover Street
Los Angeles, CA 90037
The South Los Angeles Fast Food Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) expires September 14, 2010. This temporary regulation has restricted the development of new stand-alone fast food restaurants in our community for almost two years.
There is no permanent regulation in place to control fast food restaurant permits which could lead to an influx of new fast food restaurants after the ICO expires.
Help to protect the health of our community by coming to the town hall meeting and sharing your concerns with elected officials and community leaders. Please contact Tanishia Wright at (323) 295-9372 or Tanishia@chc-inc.org to RSVP and if you have any questions.
5. New Policy Brief: Promoting Grocery Store Development in South LA
Ready access to healthy food is taken for granted in most neighborhoods. But that is not the case in South Los Angeles, where many residents must travel outside the community to find fresh and nutritious food or accept expired meat and brown bananas. Food Desert to Food Oasis: Promoting Grocery Store Development in South Los Angeles, released today by Community Health Councils and available at www.chc-inc.org/policy-briefs , examines policy and systems changes the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County can adopt to attract full-service grocery stores and improve access to affordable healthy foods in what is now a food desert.
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6. Proyecto Jardin Sponsors Garden Blessing Event, July 25
From Proyecto Jardin in Boyle Heights: “This month, Proyecto Jardin offers you an opportunity to fulfill your personal and organizational aspirations to create a healthy and sustainable urban ecology in Los Angeles. Our Sol-a-Sol Garden Blessing welcomes the return of the sun’s energy to Proyecto Jardin via our refurbished electricity-producing solar system, which will be up and running after 9 months of deferred maintenance and disrepair. Thank you Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative for your generous support to repair our solar power system.”
SAVE THE DATE: Sunday, July 25, 2010
MAKE THE TIME: From Sunrise to Sunset, 5am to 9pm
BE THE CHANGE: Spend the night, Sunday, July 24, 2010, Starting at 4pm (Please RSVP)
COMMUNE: Healing Ceremony and Prayers by Sergio Ruiz and Danza Tenochtitlan
LET IT FLOW: Your financial donation will enable us to provide small stipends to our presenters and instructors as a token of our appreciation, and also pay for workshop materials, tools and equipment. The list of potential workshops and related costs is included as an attachment.
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: SEEDS FOR TOMORROW
MAIL TO: c/o of Irene Pena
654 Echo Park Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90026
INQUIRIES: Irene Pena
323-774-7824
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7. Food Pantries Address Dual Issues of Hunger and Obesity in Kids
Children are going hungry in America. It's becoming irrefutable based on recent studies by government agencies and anti-hunger groups. These groups estimate that 3.5 million children under the age of five are "food insecure" at some point during a given year.
The trouble in tackling this problem is another irrefutable fact. Our children are obese. As NPR's recent series on child hunger in America described, a family living on $600 in food stamps a month often has no choice but to choose a cheap source of calories like McDonald's over fresh fruits and vegetables.
"A gallon of milk is $3-something. A bottle of orange soda is 89 cents," [food pantry manager Elaine Livas] says. "Do the math."
Livas says low-income families might know milk is better for their kids, but when it comes to filling a hungry stomach, a cheaper high-calorie option can look pretty good.
The Obama administration has asked for another billion dollars to make changes to school lunches and subsidize meals, but as NPR explains, there are those who oppose these measures and don't fully understand why hunger can often equal obesity:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/20/food-pantries-offering-nu_n_652713.html
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8. South Central Farm Hosts Fundraiser Dinners
The South Central Farm is working to purchase the land they were evicted from four years ago. They are hosting a series of community fundraiser dinners to help raise awareness and spread the word, while eating fresh from the farm meals -- for only $10.
Please feel free to spread the word and plan to attend a dinner. Bring your family, friends and those who support the farm in their efforts not only to purchase the farm back, but, to support them as they continue to grow affordable, organic produce on 110 acres in Bakersfield and bring it back to Los Angeles for all communities to enjoy.
Constance DePaepe-Layton
310-439-4009
VEGGIE-FRIENDLY DINNER!
All you can eat fundraiser!
Come support South Central Farmers!
Friday, July 30th! 6:30pm
Then every other Friday!
August 13th
August 27th
September 10th
September 24th
October 8th
October 22nd
Same time! Same place!
$10 Donation
Location : South Central Farm Center
1702 E. 41st. Street. Los Angeles, CA. 90058
Time: 6:30pm—8pm
(On the Corner of 41st and Long Beach. Near Metro Rail Blue Line Vernon
stop. Walk aprox 3 blocks north on Long Beach to 41st Street.)
RSVP: scfdinner@gmail.com, Dan: 310-594-2098
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July 8, 2010: The Health and Human Services Network is leading the charge in actions to find solutions to California’s budget crisis without cutting vital services such as cash assistance to working families, disabled people and seniors. Go to the link below to find out about many upcoming events and ways to get the word out. “The HHS Network’s Summer of Action is well underway -- calling for a Family Recovery Budget with at least $9 billion in targeted revenue solutions for our $20 billion budget gap, taking the best of both the Assembly and Senate plans –- and NOW is the time for you and your organization to get involved!!!”
http://www.hhsnetworkca.org/summer-of-action/
1. South LA Fast Food Restrictions Expiring: Constituents Should Call their City Officials
2. Federal Government May Be Ready For Crackdown on Junk Food Marketing
3. We Need More Government Investment For Local Food to Succeed
4. Proyecto Jardin Sponsors Garden Blessing Event, July 25
5. Wall Street Journal Reports That Boosting Soda Prices 35% Cuts Consumption
6. Debating Food Stamp Policy for Seniors and Disabled
7. Slavery Still Happening In U.S. Agriculture
8. Summer Meals Participation Down, But Program Widely Available in L.A.
1. South LA Fast Food Restrictions Expiring: Constituents Should Call their City Officials
From Community Health Councils: “The Fast Food Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) is set to expire September 14, 2010 and is ineligible for an extension. Currently, there are no alternative regulations in place to control fast food permits which could lead to an influx of fast food development after the ICO expires. Let’s continue to protect the health of our communities by joining CHC in our phone calling campaign. We encourage those who can to call your elected officials and express your concern regarding the expiration of the Fast Food ICO. The campaign will run from July 8th, 2010 until July 15th 2010. Councilmember’s regularly ask their staff to report on the issues and opinions expressed by constituents calling the office. Please see the attached phone script on page 2 for talking points. When calling your Councilmember’s office, be sure to:
• Identify yourself as a constituent.
• Explain the issue, its impact on you and other constituents in their district, and your recommendations.
• Ask what the legislator’s position is and why.
• Make sure your communication is timely.
The phone numbers of the four Councilmember’s who represent parts of South Los Angeles are:
• Bernard Parks – District 8: 213-473-7007
• Jan Perry – District 9: 213-473-7009
• Herb Wesson – District 10: 213-473-7010
• Janice Hahn – District 15: 213-473-7015
A more in depth sample script is available on our Facebook page:
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2. Federal Government May Be Ready For Crackdown on Junk Food Marketing
For the past five years, the FTC has kept a watchful eye on the many sugary and highly processed products the food industry markets to kids. Now the agency appears poised to crack down — and the food industry could face an ugly scenario should the proposed rules survive in final form.
A document created by an interagency working group (PDF link) consisting of officials from the FTC, the FDA, the CDC and the USDA lays out the federal government’s current thinking on nutritional standards for foods that are marketed to kids aged 2-17.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/08/junk-food-crackdown-feds_n_639100.html
Read the new standards:
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3. We Need More Government Investment for Local Food to Succeed
With the next Farm Bill coming up in 2012, advocates should begin discussions about creating strong unified positions on the direction of America’s food system. In the last farm bill, specialty crops (fruits and vegetables) and organic farming (farming that doesn’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides) got more support than before, but woefully inadequate to make a significant difference in the ratio of organic agriculture to industrial agriculture. An article in the American Prospect is very informative on what the economic issues are that currently hinder a move to a food system that is healthier for us and for the earth.
Heather Rogers in “The Local Food Revolution Doesn’t Stand A Chance”, in the American Prospect: “ While the public and organic advocates may be wooed by feel-good photo-ops, the fact is Obama has yet to get his hands dirty and truly commit to reforming the industry. The stakes are high: Unless the administration takes immediate steps to remake oligopolistic, fossil-fuel reliant, scorched-earth agriculture, the small farmers meant to lead the way will remain critically endangered.”
“Reforming agriculture won't come cheap. Most organic consumers know premiums for cleaner food are 10, 20, 50 percent -- and can reach 500 percent or more -- but this produce is also demanding for farmers to grow. It's so expensive because the caretaking of natural systems is more labor-intensive than industrial agriculture, which engineers its way to productivity. Many organic farmers must rely on hand labor to bring in crops and keep fields free of weeds and bugs without using sprays; more workers mean costly payroll taxes and unemployment and workers' compensation insurance. What's more, these growers are typically located in areas near urban markets, where high real-estate values mean hefty mortgages and taxes.”
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=slowed_food_revolution
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4. Proyecto Jardin Sponsors Garden Blessing Event, July 25
From Proyecto Jardin in Boyle Heights: “This month, Proyecto Jardin offers you an opportunity to fulfill your personal and organizational aspirations to create a healthy and sustainable urban ecology in Los Angeles. Our Sol-a-Sol Garden Blessing welcomes the return of the sun’s energy to Proyecto Jardin via our refurbished electricity-producing solar system, which will be up and running after 9 months of deferred maintenance and disrepair. Thank you Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative for your generous support to repair our solar power system.”
SAVE THE DATE: Sunday, July 25, 2010
MAKE THE TIME: From Sunrise to Sunset, 5am to 9pm
BE THE CHANGE: Spend the night, Sunday, July 24, 2010, Starting at 4pm (Please RSVP)
COMMUNE: Healing Ceremony and Prayers by Sergio Ruiz and Danza Tenochtitlan
LET IT FLOW: Your financial donation will enable us to provide small stipends to our presenters and instructors as a token of our appreciation, and also pay for workshop materials, tools and equipment. The list of potential workshops and related costs is included as an attachment.
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: SEEDS FOR TOMORROW
MAIL TO: c/o of Irene Pena
654 Echo Park Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90026
INQUIRIES: Irene Pena
323-774-7824
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5. Wall Street Journal Reports That Boosting Soda Prices 35% Cuts Consumption
From their health blog: “a study show(s) that a 35% — or $0.45 — increase in the price of non-diet sodas cut unit sales by 26%, at least in one Boston hospital cafeteria.
Combining a price increase with an educational campaign advising people they could lose 15-25 pounds per year by giving up one soda per day also produced a drop in sales, says the study, published online in the American Journal of Public Health. (The educational campaign alone did squat to stem the soda tide.)
a study showing that a 35% — or $0.45 — increase in the price of non-diet sodas cut unit sales by 26%, at least in one Boston hospital cafeteria.
Combining a price increase with an educational campaign advising people they could lose 15-25 pounds per year by giving up one soda per day also produced a drop in sales, says the study, published online in the American Journal of Public Health. (The educational campaign alone did squat to stem the soda tide.)
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/06/17/study-boosting-soda-prices-by-35-cuts-consumption/
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6. Debating Food Stamp Policy for Seniors and Disabled
The LA Times did a piece about the quandary of many of California’s low income seniors and disabled, who can’t get food stamps in spite of being poor.
“California is the only state that does not allow its 1.2 million recipients of federal Supplemental Security Income to apply for the benefit. The state decided in 1974 to increase its matching grant — known as the State Supplementary Payment — by $10 a month in place of administering food stamps for them. This additional amount has not changed in more than three decades.”
Hunger Action LA in outreaching to many buildings occupied by low income seniors has found out that the vast majority don’t qualify for food stamps, precisely because they get SSI. They feel the walls closing in on them from rents and bus fares going up, and are disappointed when they find out they can’t get additional food assistance.
However, changing the rule would be complicated as some people would come out better and others would actually lose food stamp assistance they get now.
It should be noted that people getting “regular” Social Security, or who receive Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) can qualify for food stamps, if their income is low enough. However, some of the SSDI recipients also receive a portion of SSI, and even one dollar of SSI makes them ineligible for food stamps. Also, other people who don’t get SSI but live in the household of an SSI recipient can get food stamps if their income is low enough. And SSI recipients with no access to cooking facilities can get a “meals allowance” of around $70, which may be more than what they would get with food stamps.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-food-stamps-20100702,0,7469891.story
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7. Slavery Still Happening In U.S. Agriculture
The Department of Justice has announced the eighth prosecution for forced labor in Florida’s fields since 1997. This time Haitians are being exploited. According to the Gainesville Sun newspaper, “"... Federal prosecutors allege in the indictment that once the Haitian workers arrived in Miami they were denied access to their own passports and visas, effectively preventing them from going anywhere other than the farms where they were to work.
The indictment also alleges that the workers were underfed, "supplied substandard housing and few beds, and denied necessary medical care, causing the workers to suffer chronic hunger, weight loss, illnesses and fatigue."
At least one worker told investigators about being forced to work in fields recently sprayed with chemicals so harsh they left her with permanent scars.”
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8. Summer Meals Participation Down, But Program Widely Available in L.A.
Alexandra Zavis in LA Times: “Participation in federal summer meals programs for low-income children dropped 10% in California last year, despite an increase in eligibility due to the recession, according to a new report by California Food Policy Advocates. A total of 481,339 California children received free meals at schools, parks, recreation centers and other sites in July 2009, more than 60,000 fewer than the previous year, the report said. That is just 21% of the number who receive subsidized meals during the school year.”
"While legislators recognize that summer school cuts remove valuable academic enrichment, very few policy makers consider the nutritional impact of summer school reductions, which directly jeopardize the health and academic success of 1.9 million low-income students" who received free or reduced-price meals during the school year, said Matthew Sharp, a senior advocate at California Food Policy Advocates.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-summer-meals-20100630,0,6438591.story
Elizabeth Medrano of Healthy School Food Coalition adds, “Additionally and very importantly, please do read and share the following information and resources for families with children younger than 18 years old. At least 260 LAUSD schools sites are open for Summer Feeding as well as over 100 Parks and Recreation Centers.”
Hunger Action Day featured demands for the city not to cut its summer lunch programs even though many Parks and Rec staff were laid off beginning this month.
Here’s the website of Summer Food locations in California:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sh/sn/summersites10.asp
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July 4, 2010:
In addition to the failure of Congress to extend unemployment benefits we have these new layoffs at the city level: the bus fare increase that went into effect today: and the Governor threatening to cut state employees to minimum wage. All adding to the phenomenon of hunger in the wealthiest and most technologically advanced nation ever to exist on the planet.
About 360 city employees faced layoffs Thursday. .L.A.'s budget chief stated that even more layoffs were likely.
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/city-news/los-angeles-city-layoffs/
After enduring more than a year of unpaid monthly furlough days, state workers could see their pay cut to minimum wage until Sacramento strikes a budget accord this summer, according to a memo from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration sent Wednesday.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/24/local/la-me-schwarzenegger-wages-20100624
1. The Community’s Doing Something About Food Stamp Underenrollment
2. You Can Submit Comments on Federal Dietary Guidelines
3. FDA Has Its Hands Full: Food Safety Issues
4. Health Advocacy Organization Pushes Back Against Fast Food Marketing To Kids
5. Could you live on a $20 food stamp budget for a week?
7. Lawmakers Struggling To Extend Help To the Jobless
8. Robin Hood, the G20, and What That Has To Do With Social Security
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1. The Community’s Doing Something About Food Stamp Underenrollment
On Friday, June 25th, USDA’s Deputy Administrator for Food Stamps, Lisa Pino, assembled a fabulous panel of top administrators from the state (CDSS Director John Wagner), county (DPSS director Phillip Browning) and federal government (USDA regional administrator Allen Ng), as well as UFW co-founder Delores Huerta, to hear comments about ways to strengthen participation in nutrition safety net programs. The California Endowment hosted the forum at their headquarters in downtown LA. $90 billion in federal funds are available across the nation for individuals and households to improve nutrition, through school meals and food stamps. Underuse of food stamps in LA county alone might be worth $1.5 billion.
Over 150 audience members spent the morning listening to over 50 thoughtful questions, observations and recommendations from community organizations and local leaders. Best practices in application assistance were discussed, as well as pending legislation in Sacramento and Washington, DC. Several themes emerged:
• Many residents need to be approached with respect by trusted neighbors and partners to consider seeking public assistance.
• Food Stamp Program operations need to be standardized and improved at the local level, to ensure high-quality service for all applicants in all communities.
• New strategies are needed to more effectively enroll immigrants, seniors and to utilize faith-based organizations.
Each of the panelists pledged to take the comments back to their staff and begin devising responses to better connect hungry families with the help they are entitled to receive through USDA-funded programs. Lisa Pino assured the audience that the partnerships formed through events like these are a key component to reaching the President’s goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015.
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2. You Can Submit Comments on Federal Dietary Guidelines
Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee's ReportOn June 15, 2010, a Federal Register notice (PDF / TXT) announced the release of the Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, the solicitation of written comments on the Report, and an invitation for oral testimony at a public meeting.
Written comments on the Report can be submitted and must be received before 5:00 pm EDT on July 15, 2010. To find out how to submit comments:
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/dietaryguidelines.htm
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3. FDA Has Its Hands Full: Food Safety Issues
a) FrankenFish May Be Swimming To a Table Near You
“The Food and Drug Administration is seriously considering whether to approve the first genetically engineered animal that people would eat — salmon that can grow at twice the normal rate.” We’ve been eating genetically modified corn, soy and other plant based products for years now, many of them not labeled. This salmon would be the first animal product on the market that’s genetically engineered.
“The F.D.A. must also decide on the environmental risks from the salmon. Some experts have speculated that fast-growing fish could out-compete wild fish for food or mates.Mr. Stotish said the salmon would be grown only in inland tanks or other contained facilities, not in ocean pens where they might escape into the wild. And the fish would all be female and sterile, making it impossible for them to mate.” ……Remember “Jurassic Park” ? the genetically created dinosaurs were all female and couldn’t reproduce, so nothing could go wrong….….
“The F.D.A. is expected to hold a public meeting of an advisory committee before deciding whether to approve the salmon. Typically at such advisory committee meetings, much of the data in support of the drug application is made public and there is some time allotted for public comment.But Gregory Jaffe, biotechnology project director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said such meetings often do not give the public enough time to analyze the data.”
There never seems to be…..
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/business/26salmon.html?pagewanted=2&src=busln
b) Meds In the Meat Can Make you Sick
Calling antibiotic use in meat production a "serious threat" to public health, the Food and Drug Administration is urging meat producers to limit the amount of antibiotics they use on animals.
The FDA says that using antibiotics in meat production promotes the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can infect humans who consume the meat.
c) Food Safety Bill Needs Action
From Consumers Union: “Eric Schlosser urges your help now! A bill to make our food system safer passed the House a year ago, but has stalled in the Senate despite bipartisan support. Every day that goes by without action, someone else gets sick from the food they eat: cookie dough, spinach, peppers. Your plate could be next.”
That's why "Fast Food Nation" author Eric Schlosser has joined our fight in person to urge you to send a message to your Senators and help us bring this bill to a vote.
"We've seen what happens when we let Wall Street regulate itself. When we let the oil industry regulate itself. It makes absolutely no sense to let the food industry continue to regulate itself."
https://secure.consumersunion.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2281
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4. Health Advocacy Organization Pushes Back Against Fast Food Marketing To Kids
A nutrition watchdog group will sue McDonald’s if the fast-food chain continues to use toys to promote Happy Meals. According to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, using toys to lure small children into that chain is unfair and deceptive marketing and is illegal under various state consumer protection laws. CSPI today served McDonald’s a notice of its intent to sue, fulfilling a legal requirement of several states in which CSPI might bring the lawsuit.
http://www.cspinet.org/new/201006221.html
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5. Could you live on a $20 food stamp budget for a week?
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_15407019
In an effort to help raise hunger awareness in the face of a state budget crisis, Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada is taking on the "Food Stamp Challenge" for the 3rd year in a row - her second as a state legislator.
The Challenge asks participants to live for one week on the nation's average weekly food stamp benefit of $4 per day or $1.33 per meal. Yamada will also blog about her experiences while taking the Challenge.
"California faces a budget crisis that will affect millions of citizens, especially those with the lowest incomes and greatest need," said Yamada. "By taking this Challenge, I hope to draw attention to those in hunger, and urge the Governor to take notice and not cut these essential programs."
The rules are simple: Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner spending only $1.33 a meal for five days or $20 total. The challenge is whether healthy and tasty meals can be prepared on the grocery budget of millions of Americans receiving food stamp benefits.
Yamada began her challenge on Monday and will continue through Friday. So far she has spent $19.24 on the following:
- 2 packages of ground turkey-buy one, get one free, $4.99
- 2 bananas, 0.98 pounds @ $0.79 lb = $0.77
- 2 roma tomatoes, 0.40 pounds @ $1.99 lb. = $0.80
- 1 package whole mushrooms, @ $0.99
- 1 package fresh spinach, @ $0.99
- 1 package extra firm tofu, @ $1.25
- 2 ready-made deli sandwiches, @ $1.99 = $3.98
- 1 loaf potato bread, @ $1.49
- 1 package angel hair pasta, @ $0.99
- 6 cartons of yogurt, overstocked sale price 3 for $1.00 = $2.00
- 1 package ground coffee, 1.5 oz., @ $0.99
- Change = $0.76
Yamada's trip to the supermarket required more time and thought than usual.
"I spent 45 minutes hunting for bargains, putting items in and out of the cart because they exceeded my budget. At least three supermarket employees asked if I needed any help or if I was having trouble finding anything. When I explained the Challenge - to live on a food stamp budget for five days - they were all sympathetic, with one not aware that the allotment was so little, $4 a day. While this challenge is a short-term choice for me, it is a way of life for millions of Americans."
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Now that school’s out, the California Dept. of Education has updated their summer food website, which provides parents and referral agencies with a list of locations where children may receive free nutritious meals during school vacation and off-track periods. It’s an interactive map: just click on your county. Please call site contact to confirm participation. The data is current as of June 28, 2010;
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sh/sn/summersites10.asp
California Food Policy Advocates released their study “School’s Out…Who Ate?” last week (July 25, 2010). According to the report, 1.9 million children who ate federally-subsidized lunches at school last year did not participate in subsidized lunch programs during summer months. State and local budget cuts to summer school will severely reduced access to free, nutritious lunches this summer.
While the summer lunch program operates at community sites as well as at schools, over 80 percent of subsidized summer meals are served in conjunction with summer school, making summer school cuts a threat to student health. More information including press release:
http://www.cfpa.net/press/SOWA2010.html
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7. Lawmakers Struggling To Extend Help To the Jobless
“More than 1.3 million laid-off workers won't get their unemployment benefits reinstated before Congress goes on a weeklong vacation for Independence Day.
An additional 200,000 people who have been without a job for at least six months stand to lose their benefits each week, unless Congress acts.
For the third time in as many weeks, Republicans in the Senate successfully filibustered a bill Wednesday night that would have continued unemployment checks to people who have been laid off for long stretches. The House is slated to vote on a similar measure Thursday, though the Senate's action renders the vote a futile gesture as Congress prepares to depart Washington for its holiday recess.
A little more than 1.3 million people have already lost benefits since the last extension ran out at the end of May.”
Hello, lawmakers: No one ever starved from a budget deficit, but people do go hungry, homeless, and desperate when benefits are cut. The “deficit” is seldom discussed when war or tax cuts are involved, but it’s most useful as an excuse for the wealthy to cut spending on social programs to shore up the value of their wealth. For more on “budget deficits” see the next article, about the G20….
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/29/unemployment-benefits-bil_n_629731.html
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8. Robin Hood, the G20, and What That Has To Do With Social Security
The G20 group that just met in Toronto has plenty to do with world hunger, with hunger in the United States and probably with your retirement. The decisions they recently made will no doubt cause more hunger here and may affect your Social Security benefits in the future.
It’s bad enough we have to fight domestic opposition to programs that help people survive, but now in addition to battles on the city, state and federal levels, there are international institutions with strong influence pressuring the United States along with other major economies, to slash social spending. Why? To reduce government deficits. So again we see deficit spending is apparently considered okay for war, but a bad thing if it helps people eat, house themselves and have meaningful work.
Some critics describe the G20 as essentially a gathering of the wealthy nations that undermines the United Nations (where all 200+ member countries have a vote.)
Nearly one billion dollars was spent on SECURITY ALONE at the meeting in Toronto.
Leaders at the G20 did discuss a simple but brilliant idea for a tax on banks and hedge funds -- dubbed the Robin Hood Tax -- that could raise $400 billion for good causes every year. Oxfam, the international hunger relief organization, pressed for half this money to help poor people hit hardest by the economic slump, hunger and climate change.
Do you think they agreed to implement that tax? Let’s not be naive. See:
Inside the G20 summit, world leaders agreed to a controversial goal of cutting government deficits in half by 2013. Economists say such a move could usher in sizable tax increases and massive cuts in government programs, including benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare. The Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz criticized the G20 agreement, saying, "There are almost no successful cases of countries cutting back on their expenditures as a way of getting out of the kind of economic downturn." Meanwhile, world leaders at the G20 failed to come to an agreement on setting new global rules for big banks or imposing a new across-the-board global bank tax.
For insights into how and why the G20 was formed, read or listen to Naomi Klein’s account. Basically two guys from wealthy countries (USA and Canada) made a top-down decision as to who was in and who was out, drafting up the invitee list on the back of an envelope, in 1999:
http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/6490-klein-on-real-g20-crime-scene.html
John Boehner, the House Republican leader, says ensuring there's enough money to pay for the war will require reforming the country's entitlement system. He said he'd favor increasing the Social Security retirement age to 70 for people who have at least 20 years until retirement, tying cost-of-living increases to the consumer price index rather than wage inflation and limiting payments to those who need them…..
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_688102.html
In other words: To be sure we have enough money for killing people overseas, we need to kill people off slowly here.
June 21, 2010:
1. Hunger Action LA Meeting June 24
2. State Has Trouble Cutting Red Tape
in Food Stamps (LA Times Story):
State Budget Still Needs Calls from Advocates:
Sacramento Bee Chimes In on Diverting Food Stamp Funding
3. Kids Like Food Better If Cartoon Characters
Endorse It
************************************************************
1. Hunger Action LA Meeting June 24
Next Hunger Action LA meeting is Thursday June 24, at LAANE---464 S. Lucas LA 90017, from 3 pm to 5 pm. In addition to updates we will follow up on this summer’s activities on the state budget. Please RSVP tofrank@hungeractionla.org or to 213 388 8228. Below is a photo of the “chain letter” we created on Hunger Action Day for delivery to the Governor’s office:
2. State Has Trouble Cutting Red Tape in Food Stamps (LA Times Story):
State Budget Still Needs Calls from Advocates:
Sacramento Bee Chimes In on Diverting Food Stamp Funding
LA Times Saturday June 19: “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators in both major parties have shown interest in cutting red tape that has California lagging far behind most of the nation in obtaining the benefit. But hopes that this would translate into speedy legislative action have dimmed as reform efforts have become caught up in horse-trading to close a $19.1-billion budget gap.” Reporter: Alexandra Zavis. The story discusses much of the legislation we’ve been fighting for and why it is having such a hard time:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-food-stamps-20100619,0,7863114.story
But That Doesn’t Stop Us!!
The Budget Conference Committee has begun meeting to reconcile differences between the Assembly and Senate budget proposals and the Governor's May Revise. Though this has been a tough year for many needed improvements, all hope is not lost. Call these key conference committee members:
Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego (Chair), 916-651-4040
Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Sylmar, 916-319-2039
Please also call Speaker John Perez: he is not on the committee but is critical to decision making:
Tel: (916) 319-2046
(A list of the full conference committee can be found at www.cfpa.net . )
We are asking that you please call key legislators above to express your support for the following:
1) Thank you for rejecting the proposals to eliminate CalWORKs, to eliminate the California Food Assistance Program, and to reduce SSI/SSP and CalWORKs benefits. These proposed cuts would have increased food insecurity in California and would have resulted in poor health outcomes.
2) Please continue to pursue the elimination of the Statewide Finger Imaging System (SFIS); a barrier to good nutrition.
3) Lastly, we urge you to pay particular attention to one very problematic proposal in regards to food stamps. In December, Congress allocated $30 million in new, 100% federal food stamp funds. These one-time funds were allocated through the Department of Defense Appropriations Act to supplement the food stamp program due to more people needing assistance during the recession. However, the Governor’s May Revise proposes to move this money into the state’s General Fund to pay off other debts. Please do not use this money for the General Fund---use it for food stamp improvements as it was intended.
Questions? Contact Alexis, alexis@cfpa.net, 510.433.1122 x111
The Sacramento Bee chimes in on the senselessness of diverting money intended for food stamps to other programs:
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/18/2831306/a-shortsighted-raid-on-food-stamp.html
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3. Kids Like Food Better If Cartoon Characters Endorse It
Salynn Boyles, WebMD Health News: “SpongeBob SquarePants, Shrek, Dora the Explorer, and many other cartoon characters also do double duty selling junk food and sometimes healthy foods to kids, and new research shows why manufacturers use them. The study found that foods packaged with popular cartoon characters really do taste better -- or at least they do to 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds.”
“The effect was not as great with carrots as with less healthy fruit-flavored gummies and graham crackers, but more children said they preferred the taste of all three snacks when the foods bore the image of a familiar cartoon face. Food and beverage companies in the U.S. spend close to a billion dollars each year on marketing aimed at children under age 12, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).”
“An FTC investigation found that in 2006 alone, food product cross promotions involved about 80 movies, TV shows, or animated characters that appeal primarily to young children. The Yale researchers say the findings confirm that branding food products with characters children recognize influences taste preferences, especially for high-calorie foods with little nutritional value.”
“They conclude that the use of licensed characters on such foods should be restricted, arguing that this would be more likely to improve the diets of children than using the familiar likenesses to sell healthy foods.”
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20100621/kids-like-cartoon-branded-snacks-better
If you are outraged by the use of characters to attract kids, you may be interested in a DVD called “Consuming Kids”, which “throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and violent video games to bogus educational products and the family car”
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=134
June 16, 2010:
1. Hunger Action LA Meeting June 24
2. Hundreds Rally Downtown LA Against State Budget Cuts
4. South LA: Food Policy Roundtable Meets Tomorrow June 17, 10 am-Noon
5. Rally for Housing Tomorrow, June 17
6. Join Ralphs to Fight Hunger in our Communities
7. Dietary Guidelines Suggest Plant Based Diet
8. UN Warns of High Food Prices Worldwide
************************************************************
1. Hunger Action LA Meeting June 24
Next Hunger Action LA meeting is Thursday June 24, at LAANE---464 S. Lucas LA 90017, from 3 pm to 5 pm. In addition to updates we will follow up on this summer’s activities on the state budget. Below is a photo of the “chain letter” we created on Hunger Action Day for delivery to the Governor’s office:
2. Hundreds Rally Downtown LA Against State Budget Cuts
The Budget Rally and Die-In drew 300 participants in a boisterous rally at the State Building downtown to oppose the Governor’s extreme cuts to assistance for disabled and senior residents, working families, and education. Link to HALA”s Facebook page
for video highlights and other scintillating coverage of recent community actions, including Congressmember Maxine Waters’ speech at Farmchella last Saturday.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Hunger-Action-Los-Angeles/186356138975
The Budget Conference Committee has begun meeting to reconcile differences between the Assembly and Senate budget proposals and the Governor's May Revise. Though this has been a tough year for many needed improvements, all hope is not lost. Call these key conference committee members:
Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego (Chair), 916-651-4040
Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Sylmar, 916-319-2039
Please also call Speaker John Perez: he is not on the committee but is critical to decision making:
Tel: (916) 319-2046
(A list of the full conference committee can be found at www.cfpa.net )
We are asking that you please call key legislators above to express your support for the following:
1) Thank you for rejecting the proposals to eliminate CalWORKs, to eliminate the California Food Assistance Program, and to reduce SSI/SSP and CalWORKs benefits. These proposed cuts would have increased food insecurity in California and would have resulted in poor health outcomes.
2) Please continue to pursue the elimination of the Statewide Finger Imaging System (SFIS); a barrier to good nutrition. The use of SFIS has been questioned by the federal government and we would like to recognize that it does not make sense for IHSS or CalWORKs and food stamps.
3) Lastly, we urge you to pay particular attention to one very problematic proposal in regards to food stamps. In December, Congress allocated $30 million in new, 100% federal food stamp funds. These one-time funds were allocated through the Department of Defense Appropriations Act to supplement the food stamp program due to more people needing assistance during the recession. However, the Governor’s May Revise proposes to move this money into the state’s General Fund to pay off other debts. Please do not use this money for the General Fund---use it for food stamp improvements as it was intended. (See item #6 on this newsletter for examples of bureaucratic difficulties in processing food stamps)
Questions? Contact Alexis, alexis@cfpa.net, 510.433.1122 x111
************************************************************************************
4. South LA: Food Policy Roundtable Meets Tomorrow June 17, 10 am-Noon
Community Health Councils sponsors its monthly Food Policy Roundtable meeting tomorrow Thursday June 17, from 10 am to noon at their conference room, 3731 Stocker St. (near Crenshaw/MLK blvd. intersection). Highlights include a presentation from California Center for Public Health Advocacy and ongoing discussion about next steps on limiting new fast food sites in the area (The Interim Control Ordinance restricting fast food restaurants in South LA expires in September). RSVP: 323 295 9372
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5. Rally for Housing Tomorrow June 17!
Please join the LA Human Right to Housing Collective TOMORROW!
Housing Rights March
Thursday, June 17th
5:30 PM
Meet at the corner of Sunset and Echo Park Blvd.
Bring signs and noisemakers!!
Given our temporary setback on the rent freeze – it is more important than ever for us to be strong and visible in pushing forward full rent control reform and our other demands!
More information: (213) 228-0024
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6. Join Ralphs to Fight Hunger in our Communities
Ralphs Grocery Company, a division of The Kroger Co., is inviting customers to help the hungry in our communities by "Bringing Hope to the Table®." This company-wide promotion runs from June 6 to June 19, 2010, and will generate $4 million in financial support and food donations. In 2009, Ralphs donated more than $3 million in financial support and food donations to local food banks.
Several generous vendor partners make "Bringing Hope to the Table" possible. Items included in the campaign will be clearly marked with yellow shelf tags and other signs to indicate their pledge to support "Bringing Hope to the Table."
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/join-ralphs-to-fight-hunger-in-our-communities-96328979.html
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7. Dietary Guidelines Suggest Plant Based Diet
New U.S. nutritional guidelines should focus on keeping Americans from getting even fatter, experts said on Tuesday, with an emphasis not only on healthy foods but on finding ways to help Americans eat better and exercise more.
The committee's recommendations emphasize a plant-based diet with plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables and moderate amounts of lean meat, poultry and eggs.
They also suggest decreasing sodium from the current level of less than 2,300 milligrams a day to less than 1,500 and said Americans need to phase out processed grains like white flour.
"There is a call for drinking fewer sugar-sweetened beverages.”
And it veered into public policy, something avoided in past reports.
Families need to learn how to cook healthier food, and kids need recess, it said.
"For all Americans, especially those with low income, create greater financial incentives to purchase, prepare, and consume vegetables and fruit, whole grains, seafood, fat-free and low-fat milk and milk products, lean meats, and other healthy foods," the report added.
It suggested development of fish farms to help people afford fish.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN159599220100615
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8. UN Warns of High Food Prices Worldwide
by Katie Allen
Food prices are set to rise as much as 40% over the coming decade amid growing demand from emerging markets and for biofuel production, according to a United Nations report today which warns of rising hunger and food insecurity.
Somalis protest over high food prices during the spike of 2008. (Photograph: Abdurashid Abikar/Getty Images)Farm commodity prices have fallen from their record peaks of two years ago but are set to pick up again and are unlikely to drop back to their average levels of the past decade, according to the annual joint report from Paris-based thinktank the OECD and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/16-1
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June 11, 2010: Several activities in the upcoming week to protest state budget cuts and celebrate the South Central Farmers’ new farm north of LA: phone calls are needed on state budget issues and federal child nutrition reauthorization.
1. State Budget : We Need Support on $30 Million in Food Stamp Admin Assistance
3. Child Nutrition Reauthorization: Tell Washington We Need Better School Food for Kids
4. Homegirl Café Garden Wall Installation June 15
5. Dying for Revenue: Rally at State Building June 15 Against Cuts to Needy Californians
6. So Cal Counties Have Problems Processing Food Stamps
*******************************************************************
1. State Budget : We Need Support on $30 Million in Food Stamp Admin Assistance
(From California Food Policy Advocates)
The Budget Conference Committee has begun meeting to reconcile differences between the Assembly and Senate budget proposals and the Governor's May Revise. Though this has been a tough year for many needed improvements, all hope is not lost. Call these key conference committee members:
Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego (Chair), 916-651-4040
Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Sylmar, 916-319-2039
(A list of the full conference committee can be found at www.cfpa.net )
We are asking that you please call key legislators above to express your support for the following:
1) Thank you for rejecting the proposals to eliminate CalWORKs, to eliminate the California Food Assistance Program, and to reduce SSI/SSP and CalWORKs benefits. These proposed cuts would have increased food insecurity in California and would have resulted in poor health outcomes.
2)
3) Please continue to pursue the elimination of the Statewide Finger Imaging System (SFIS); a barrier to good nutrition. The use of SFIS has been questioned by the federal government and we would like to recognize that it does not make sense for IHSS or CalWORKs and food stamps.
4)
3) Lastly, we urge you to pay particular attention to one very problematic proposal in regards to food stamps. In December, Congress allocated $30 million in new, 100% federal food stamp funds. These one-time funds were allocated through the Department of Defense Appropriations Act to supplement the food stamp program due to more people needing assistance during the recession. However, the Governor’s May Revise proposes to move this money into the state’s General Fund to pay off other debts. Please do not use this money for the General Fund---use it for food stamp improvements as it was intended. (See item #6 on this newsletter for examples of bureaucratic difficulties in processing food stamps)
Questions? Contact Alexis, alexis@cfpa.net, 510.433.1122 x111
For background, here’s an overview of the Governor’s budget proposal from May 15, which is what the legislators are responding to:
California Legislature passes several bills that will improve food stamp participation: we’ll see if the Governor signs them, and if they’re included in the budget:
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2. South Central Farmers Two Events This Weekend:
a) Farmchella: Celebrate South Central Farmers’ New Farm on June 12!
Please RSVP!!
The South Central Farmers are pleased to invite you, your friends and family to join us and members of the farming communities in Los Angeles and Kern Counties Saturday, June 12th for Farmchella to celbrate completion of our new well and the Groundbreaking of our 85 acre farm in Buttonwillow, CA. Events include Native American Blessing of the Land: Groundbreaking: Music: Great Food: Great People: Workshops: Pesticide Awareness: Children's activity area with games, storytelling: and more...Fest schedule&updates www.SouthCentralFarmers.com
Many thanks to the incredible generosity of time, resources, and spirit from the companies and individuals that made it possible.
http://www.southcentralfarmers.com/
b) Aqui Estamos y No Nos Vamos: The South Central Farmers Invite you…”Continuing the Story-Four Years Later”
Sunday June 13th @ 7 PM (Gathering at Alameda and 41st St., Los Angeles, 90058)Vigil and Procession: Join us as we remember the Four-Year anniversary of the destruction of the South Central Farm, largest urban farm in the country , as well as celebrate the continuing story of the South Central Farmers. More info: 800:=-249-5240
outreach@southcentralfarmers.com
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3. Child Nutrition Reauthorization: Tell Washington We Need Better School Food for Kids
(From Food Research and Action Center www.frac.org )
June 10th and 11th CNR Call-in Days: Call your Congressperson in support of a strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill that meets President Obama's proposal for an additional $1 billion a year/10 years for Child Nutrition program improvements. Use the toll-free line 1-800-815-3740 to reach Members of Congress via the Capitol switchboard. Special thanks to the Children's Leadership Council for providing the toll-free number.
Rachel Ray fans: Rachael Ray and 2015: For a video clip of celebrity chef Rachael Ray and House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) sporting red "2015 End Hunger" pins as Ray explains why she is urging Congress to pass a strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill, go to "Rachael Ray: Time to help kids to eat healthier," by Katherine Dorsett, CNN, 6/10/10, posted at http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/10/rachael-ray-time-to-help-kids-to-eat-healthier/.
****************************************************************************
4. Homegirl Garden Wall Installation June 15
Vertical Garden Wall Installation
at homeboy industries Tuesday, June 15 11am
South wall of Homeboy Industries: Join us as we fill the pockets with soil & seedlings & drink Angela's Potion!
Homeboy Industries, Urban Farming, Woolly Pockets and Farmlab are collaborating to create another link in the "Urban Farming Food Chain" by installing an edible wall at Homegirl Cafe. A variety of fruits, vegetables & herbs will be grown in the 24 foot long edible wall & used in Homegirl Cafe's dishes. Homegirl Cafe has established a small organic garden with hopes of eventually expanding our garden to grow all of the produce used in the Homegirl Cafe & Catering. The employees of Homegirl Cafe currently grow the bulk of mint, cilantro, jalapenos, tomatoes & spinach used in the restaurant.
The garden is another service of Homeboy Industries that gives young women & men a sense of hope, something positive to be involved in & contributes to a better community & city.
homegirl cafe hours: m-f 8am-2:30pm | sat brunch 9am-2pm
213.617.0380 hgcafe@homeboy-industries.org [a division of homeboy industries]
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5. Dying for Revenue: Rally at State Building June 15 Against Cuts to Needy Californians
From California Partnership: The Governor released his revised budget, and he is threatening to eliminate entire programs such as CalWORKs and Subsidized Child Care, as well as make huge cuts to In Home Supportive Services, SSI, Medi-Cal, and more. While the Governor cuts programs for the neediest Californians he is giving his corporate friends tax breaks at the expense of seniors, children, disabled, and students. The Governor speaks about morality but where is the morality in this budget?
Please stand with the community on Tuesday june 15, 2010 at 4 pm to tell the Governor that a budget without revenues is NOT the solution! Corporations and oil companies need to pay their fair share. The rally will be a Die-In so please wear black shirts if you can.
When: Tuesday June 15 at 4 pm
Where: 300 S. Spring St. , State Building
For more information contact Astrid Campos at acampos@communitychange.org or (213) 407-5840.
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6. Southern California Counties Have Issues Processing Food Stamp Applications
If you wonder why the money in the state budget in item #1 on this newsletter is a big deal, take a look at the problems California counties have in getting food stamp applications processed in a timely way:
Orange County Settlement: Attorneys representing SNAP/Food Stamps applicants have settled class action litigation against Orange County (CA) and secured a three-year consent decree designed to ensure more timely processing and approval of SNAP/Food Stamps applications. Co-counseling with Western Center for Law and Poverty were O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Public Law Center, and Rothner Segall & Greenstone. See "Class action attorneys' full statement on food stamp settlement," Orange County Register, 6/9/10, posted at http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2010/06/09/class-action-attorneys-full-statement-on-food-stamp-settlement/58701/.
San Diego County upset by federal criticism: Meanwhile in San Diego County officials officially responded in a May 28 letter to a federal review of their food stamps process released in April. The federal review by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service, which oversees food stamps, criticized the county's implementation last year of its new system for processing food stamps applications. The USDA said San Diego County families needing services in the meantime were negatively impacted by "cumbersome processes" and other problems. When the review was released, the county responded that the federal reviewers had captured a snapshot of an evolving process -- unfairly in some places. The county is continuing to improve the system for processing food stamps applications, said Dale Fleming, a top county Health and Human Services Agency official.
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/survival/article_aa7f891a-74f0-11df-a47c-001cc4c03286.html
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7. TV Reports on Hunger in LA
Los Angeles’ Spanish language media produced excellent reports on June 2 on hunger in Los Angeles. Both Channel 62 and Channel 34 featured interviews with low income families and food bank volunteers and representatives, as well as footage of the Hunger Action Day rally and Councilmember Jose Huizar speaking on the city’s initiative to donate surplus food.
KRCA Noticias 62
Windows Media Streaming
http://wms26.streamhoster.com/pulse2/HungerActionKRCA.wmv
File Download
http://wdl26.streamhoster.com/pulse2/HungerActionKRCA.wmv
KMEX Noticias 34 solo a las Once
Windows Media Streaming
http://wms26.streamhoster.com/pulse2/HungerActionKMEX.wmv
File Download
http://wdl26.streamhoster.com/pulse2/HungerActionKMEX.wmv
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June 4, 2010
1. Hunger Action Days in Sacramento and LA Engage New Advocates
2. State Budget: We Need Help in Saving Money Needed to improve Food Stamps
3. Farmchella: South Central Farmers Open New Site in Buttonwillow June 12!
4. Child Nutrition Reauthorization: Tell Washington We Need Better Food for Kids
5. Rent and Bus Fare Hikes Threaten More Hunger For Poor L.A. Residents
6. Is It Okay For Stores To Change The Expiration Dates on Meat? New York Thinks So
7. Former Food Critic Lives off Food Stamps Now
*************************************************************************
1. Hunger Action Days in Sacramento and LA Engage New Advocates
California Hunger Action Coalition (which includes Hunger Action LA among its members) sponsored Oversight Hearings held by the Human Services Committee in Sacramento this past May 19. You can see a video of the testimony at the link below. Low income people from LA, San Diego, Fresno, the Bay Area, Monterey County, and rural areas testified on how the recession has hurt them and how state budget cuts to human services programs such as SSI have made life difficult. For many of the speakers it was their first time to speak about their situation to lawmakers. Assemblymember Jim Beall chairs the committee and his staff worked hard with CHAC to make the hearings possible. Here’s the link to the testimony: it takes some time before the video will play.
https://www.calchannel.com/channel/viewvideo/1404
In LA on June 2, Hunger Action Day was marked by a convergence of 19 local organizations demanding the city add its voice to ours in calling for a fair state budget that does not slash assistance programs. We also called on the city to protect seniors’ and childrens’ meal programs that might be threatened by layoffs of city workers coming soon. This event also engaged many advocates including youth who have never participated in a public demonstration. There was good coverage on Channels 34 and 62 each of whom augmented coverage of the rally with footage from local food pantries and food banks and interviews with low income residents. For a photo album of the days’ festivities see link below. The chain is a linked collection of handwritten letters on paper circles to be delivered to the Governor’s local office next week:
|
Untitled Album Jun 3, 2010 Hunger Action Day LA |
*********************************************************************************
2. State Budget : We Need Support on $30 Million in Food Stamp Admin Assistance
(From California Food Policy Advocates)
Budget Conference Committee Starts Today: Calls Needed!: The Budget Conference Committee is starting to meet today to reconcile differences between the Assembly and Senate budget proposals and the Governor's May Revise. Though this has been a tough year for many needed improvements, all hope is not lost. Several programs have avoided cuts, SFIS (finger imaging) is once again on the chopping block, and we may still be able to secure the much needed $30 million in bonus federal food stamp funding for its intended use of improving the program.
Senate conferees are:
Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego (Chair), 916-651-4040
Senator Bob Dutton, R-Inland Empire, 916-651-4031
Senator Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, 916-651-4029
Senator Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, 916-651-4003
Senator Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, 916-651-4027
Assembly conferees are:
Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, D-Woodland Hills (Vice Chair), 916-319,2040
Assemblywoman Connie Conway, R-Tulare, 916-319-2034
Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Sylmar, 916-319-2139
Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, 916-319-2002
Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, 916-319-2014
We are asking that you please call key legislators above to express your support for the following:
1) Thank you for rejecting the proposals to eliminate CalWORKs, to eliminate the California Food Assistance Program, and to reduce SSI/SSP and CalWORKs benefits. These proposed cuts would have increased food insecurity in California and would have resulted in poor health outcomes.
2) Please continue to pursue the elimination of the Statewide Finger Imaging System (SFIS); a barrier to good nutrition. The use of SFIS has been questioned by the federal government and we would like to recognize that it does not make sense for IHSS or CalWORKs and food stamps.
3) Lastly, we urge you to pay particular attention to one very problematic proposal in regards to food stamps. In December, Congress provided $30 million in new, 100% federal, no match necessary, food stamp funds. These one-time funds were allocated through the Department of Defense Appropriations Act with the intent of supplementing and improving the program in the face of a steadily rising caseload. However, the May Revise proposes to supplant, described by the administration as “replace”, these desperately needed funds. The Senate has accepted.
a. Please reject this general fund backfill strategy and provide that these funds be used for new efforts to improve the food stamp program and remove barriers to Participation.
b. There are many reasons to propose that this money be used for the implementation of Semi-Annual Reporting (SAR) in the food stamp program. SAR fulfills the federal requirement to implement a simplified reporting system, it is a onetime investment leading to long term savings, California is the only state left without a simplified system, and it would reduce barriers and increase access to the program. But, we are not proposing to do this right now. We are simply asking that you do not throw away this money now. We urge you to make this money available for future improvements, such as SAR, but that can also include other food stamp purposes.
Questions? Contact Alexis, alexis@cfpa.net, 510.433.1122 x111
For background, here’s an overview of the Governor’s budget proposal from May 15, which is what the legislators are responding to:
California Legislature passes several bills that will improve food stamp participation: we’ll see if the Governor signs them, and if they’re included in the budget:
***************************************************************************
3. Farmchella: Celebrate South Central Farmers’ New Farm on June 12!
Please RSVP!!
The South Central Farmers are pleased to invite you, your friends and family to join us and members of the farming communities in Los Angeles and Kern Counties Saturday, June 12th for Farmchella to:
Celebrate Completion of our new well
***Groundbreaking of our 85 acre farm in Buttonwillow, CA
Native American Blessing of the Land: Groundbreaking: Music: Great Food: Great People: Workshops: Pesticide Awareness: Children's activity area with games, storytelling: and more...
Fest schedule&updates www.SouthCentralFarmers.com
Many thanks to the incredible generosity of time, resources, and spirit from the companies and individuals
that made it possible.
http://www.southcentralfarmers.com/
***************************************************************
4. Child Nutrition Reauthorization: Tell Washington We Need Better School Food for Kids
(From Food Research and Action Center www.frac.org )
House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) is expected to introduce his Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) bill during the week of June 8th, with Committee "mark up" to follow in June.
Urge your Members of Congress to build on the Senate Agriculture Committee-passed Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill by adding funds for program access priorities to achieve President Obama's goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015, but oppose cutting SNAP Nutrition Education funds and pass Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) by the end of the 111th Congress.
June 10th and 11th CNR Call-in Days: Generate calls to Congress in support of a strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill that meets President Obama's proposal for an additional $1 billion a year/10 years for Child Nutrition program improvements. Use the toll-free line 1-800-815-3740 to reach Members of Congress via the Capitol switchboard. Special thanks to the Children's Leadership Council for providing the toll-free number.
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5. Rent and Bus Fare Hikes Threaten More Hunger For Poor L.A. Residents
While we fight to preserve income for vulnerable residents in the state budget and expansion of food stamps and child nutrition, hikes in rent and in bus fare may make it a case of “one step forward, two steps back” for low income people here in L.A. Recent weeks have seen grassroots organizations fighting back to prevent hunger before it hits.
Proposed rent freeze abandoned: The Los Angeles City Council on Friday (May 21) effectively scuttled a proposed four-month freeze on rent increases in the city, igniting a chaotic protest by tenant rights advocates inside the City Hall chambers that led to three arrests.
The proposed ordinance would have prevented owners of 630,000 rent-controlled apartments from raising rents between now and Oct. 31 to provide a respite for tenants buffeted by the recession. Instead, the council voted 10 to 5 to send the measure to a committee for further study, a procedural move killing the proposed freeze and allowing landlords to raise rents by up to 3% on July 1.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/22/local/la-me-0522-council-rent-20100522
Transit advocates decry bus fare hikes: The Bus Riders Union handed out bags of groceries to symbolize the food that’ll be taken away from low income passengers when bus fare hikes go into effect in LA on July 1. The Metro board approved a two-step fare hike back in 2007. The first hike was implemented as scheduled, but the second hike was delayed for a year — to this July 1.The plan is to raise the fare for one-way rides by 25 cents to $1.50, and monthly passes by $13 to $75. Daily passes will go from $5 to $6, and the EZ transit pass from $70 to $84.
Ten members of the Bus Riders Union also fasted in the days leading up to the MTA hearing on May 27. The BRU effectively shut down that hearing:
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_15159498
http://www.intersectionssouthla.org/index.php/story/bus_riders_protest_mta_hikes/
http://www.thestrategycenter.org/blog/2010/05/29/media-coverage-bru-shuts-down-mta-board-meeting
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6. Is It Okay For Stores To Change The Expiration Dates on Meat? New York Thinks So
You know those nifty "sell-by" tags on food that seem like they're there for your safety and to separate our 21st Century grocery stores from, say, medieval street fairs? Well, it turns out they're not for you. Evidently, they're for the convenience of the store owner, according to this unsettling report in the Brooklyn Paper.
An angry customer of a Brooklyn Heights Key Food pointed out that store store placed a newer "sell-by" tag over an expired, 11-day old one on a
(spoiled) D'Artagnan chicken.
If that wasn't unsettling enough, state officials at New York's Department of Agriculture and Markets seem pretty lax about the whole thing:
"'Sell by' dates are nothing but a tool for store managers," said Jessica Ziehm, spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture and Markets that inspected the Key Food after Viljoen's claims. "It's not illegal to re-date or re-package, though they're still required to sell safe, wholesome products. We went there and found no problems."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/02/relabeling-expired-chicke_n_598484.html?ir=New%20York
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7. Former Food Critic Lives off Food Stamps Now
Unemployed writer Ed Murrieta writes in the Seattle Times about his personal story and the 39 million Americans now having to use food stamps, including the 6 million who have no other source of income:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2011906512_pacificpfoodhunt30.html?cmpid=2628
top of updateMay 20, 2010: Add to this intense list of food policy issues: The Interim Control Ordinance, a difficultly-named law that prohibits new fast food restaurants in much of South LA, expires in September. Activists fighting for healthier food in South LA will be asking soon for your support in calling on city councilmembers in the area to create new incentives to bring healthier food to the area. Stay tuned!
1. Upcoming Events : Hunger Action Day-LA, June 2
2. Recent Advocacy at State Capitol
4. Michelle Obama's Plan to End Childhood Obesity Epidemic
5. Food Safety Poses Barriers To Small Farmers
6. Pesticides in Vegetables Could Be Causing ADD in Kids
7. Wal Mart Plans on Donating Billions to Food Banks
8. New York City Admits: Finger Imaging Food Stamp Recipients Catches No Fraud…….
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1. Upcoming Events
Hunger Action Day –Los Angeles Edition: Wednesday June 2 @ 4:30 PM, City Hall Lawn. Hunger Action Day is a chance to meet other people who are passionate about ending hunger. Nearly two million people in LA rely on public benefits or emergency food to get sufficient nutrition .Our event in 2009 resulted in the passage of County legislation to ease food stamp access for families with kids, and the introduction of an LA City ordinance requiring the city to donate surplus food from its facilities. This year we will educate officials and the public about consequences of budget cuts to nutrition programs, especially for kids and seniors.
WE NEED YOU THERE, WE NEED YOUR VOICE TO HELP ENSURE THAT NO ONE IN L.A. GOES HUNGRY! JOIN US! WEDNESDAY JUNE 2, 2010…..CITY HALL SOUTH LAWN
Spring St. between 1ST and TEMPLE…..GATHER 4:30 PM…..MORE INFO: 213 388 8228
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2. Recent Advocacy at State Capitol:
Hunger Action Day**(Sacramento Statewide Day! LA Day is still to come, June 2):
From Allison Pratt of California Hunger Action Coalition: “A big THANK YOU to all the advocates who took part in yesterday’s Hunger Action Day! The day was a huge success! More than 150 advocates from San Diego to far northern California converged on the state capitol to participate in a hearing- “Out of our Mouths”: an oversight hearing on hunger, poverty and budget cuts, which featured personal testimony on hunger, the experience of trying to access the Food Stamp Program and the effects of cuts to safety-net programs, such as SSI.”
“The afternoon included legislative visits where advocates asked their elected officials to support legislation that will make the Food Stamp Program more accessible and will support healthy food choices. Advocates also rallied against the Governor’s May Revise budget proposals and asked officials to pass a family recovery budget. To see CHAC’s entire leg agenda please visit www.hungeraction.net “
“If you missed Hunger Action Day it is not too late to take action! The Governor’s May Revise included devastating cuts to safety-net programs including the complete elimination of programs such as CalWORKS and the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP). Intense budget negotiations will take place over the next several weeks.”
“For too long, Californians have been at the mercy of a secretive, closed-door budget process that, year after year, has proven only to benefit some of the wealthiest corporations in the form of massive corporate tax breaks and dubious loopholes. But this year, we’re demanding change! Join fellow Health and Human Services Network advocates in calling on state leaders to END “Big 5” backroom budget deals that put corporations above the needs of our families and communities! Click here to sign the petition to end secret backroom budget deals and stand strong for a budget that creates jobs, protects our families and encourage California’s economic recovery!”
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/no_more_giveaways/
California budget process:
http://california-partnership.org/images/stories/StateBudgetProcess.pdf
California Partnership Calls for More Sunshine in State Budget
On April 27th, California Partnership kicked-off advocacy days in the Capitol. Community members from dozens of organizations around the state demanded state legislators pass a Family Recovery Budget for California - one that creates and maintains jobs, provides a vital safety net for where there are no jobs, pursues smart revenues to help our economy and families.
Wearing their bright green stickers stating that "California Needs of Family Recovery Budget" to show solidarity with all organizations fighting for budget justice, 150 community leaders visited over 40 legislators. They asked them to stand up for the needs of their constituents and end backroom deals in the budget process.
More videos to come, but check out the videos already posted on our new website:
http://california-partnership.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=73
or on the HHS Network Website http://www.hhsnetworkca.org/action-days-2010/
or on Facebook:
http://california-partnership.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=73
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3. California Food Policy Advocates: Urge Passage of Child Nutrition Reauthorization This Year!
From California Food Policy Advocates: Urge Congress to Act Quickly on Child Nutrition Reauthorization!
As you may recall from this past alert, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed its revamp for the child nutrition programs in late March. In what is a rarity these days in our nation's capital, the bipartisan Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill was passed unanimously. This bill is waiting to be taken up by the full Senate. Our past alert praised the important improvements included in the Senate Ag bill but also noted that, as it moves forward, more funding needs to be identified to improve the child nutrition programs even more.
Meanwhile, we expect the House Education and Labor Committee to release an outline of their bill in the coming weeks and to begin their formal "mark-up" process after the Memorial Day recess. Once House Ed and Labor passes their bill, the full House must approve it. Then the Senate and House bills must go to a conference committee to get both of the bills aligned. After conference, the bill will be sent to the President for his signature.
As you can see, the process still has quite a few steps before it is complete. With summer approaching and an increasingly crowded legislative calendar facing Congress, making sure that we get a bill this year is of primary importance. Because the child nutrition programs are set to expire in October, if Congress fails to act soon, they will be forced to pass another extension and re-consider the reauthorization next year in a different political and fiscal environment.
Rachael Ray Speaks Up for Child Nutrition:
Celebrity chef, cookbook author and talk show host Rachael Ray joined New York Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand recently on Capitol Hill to lobby in support of additional reimbursement funding in the upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization. "How could you go to any state in the union and say you are not for an extra couple of cents to eradicate hunger, to make our kids healthier, stronger, better focused?" said Ray during her four-hour visit with lawmakers. "It doesn't make any sense that you would even have to have a long conversation about that, to me." Senator Gillibrand has been a supporter of increased financing for child nutrition programs, which has won her approval from child hunger and anti-obesity advocates. "For a new member, it shows a lot of guts," said Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/nyregion/12food.html?src=mv
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4. Michelle Obama's Plan to End Childhood Obesity Epidemic
Goal: Cut Child Obesity From 20% to 5% by 2030
By Daniel J. DeNoon WebMD Health News Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD
May 11, 2010 -- Spearheaded by Michelle Obama, a new presidential initiative would reverse the child obesity epidemic.The goal, as set out in a report from the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity, is to reduce childhood obesity from 20% to 5% by 2030. To accomplish this, the plan makes 70 recommendations for early childhood, for parents and caregivers, for school meals and nutrition education, for access to healthy food, and for increasing physical activity.
U.S. kids haven't always been obese. Only one in 20 children ages 2 to 19 was obese in the 1970s. But around 1980 child obesity began to rocket to today's stratospheric level: Nearly one in three kids is overweight or obese, and nearly one in five is frankly obese.Other effects are becoming apparent. The U.S. armed forces now warn that one in four Americans aged 17 to 24 is too heavy for military service.
To reverse these trends, the White House plan seeks to cut child obesity and overweight rates by 2.5% by 2015 and by 5% by 2020. Other measurements:
* The number of children eating a healthy diet as measured by the USDA Healthy Eating Index. A score of 80 out of 100 indicates a healthy diet. Today's score: 55.9. The goal is to score 65 by 2015 and 70 by 2020.
* The amount of sugar in children's diets.
* The amount of fruits and vegetables in children's diets.
* The number of children meeting yet-to-be-established physical activity guidelines.
http://children.webmd.com/news/20100511/michelle-obama-plan-to-end-child-obesity-epidemic
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5. Food Safety Poses Barriers To Small Farmers
Small farmers in California who have led a national movement away from industrial agriculture face a looming crackdown on food safety that they say is geared to big corporate farms and will make it harder for them to survive.
The small growers, many of whom grow dozens of different kinds of vegetables and fruits, say the inherent benefits of their size, and their sensitivity to extra costs, are being ignored. They are fighting to carve out a sanctuary in legislation that would bring farmers under the strict purview of the Food and Drug Administration, an agency more familiar with pharmaceuticals than food and local farms.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/04/28-4
6. Pesticides in Vegetables Could Be Causing ADD in Kids
Add one more to the list of environmental factors that could contribute to the rise in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): pesticides. A new study out in Pediatrics argues that there’s a connection between high exposure to common pesticides and increased risk for children developing ADHD.
Maryse Bouchard and colleagues looked at more than 1,100 children aged between 8 and 15. All of them had been sampled by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2000 and 2004, and 119 had been diagnosed with ADHD. Bouchard’s team studied their urine samples for chemicals called dialkyl phosphates, which result from the breakdown of organophosphate pesticides used to protect fruits and vegetables.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/17/tech/main6492410.shtml
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7. Wal Mart Plans on Donating Billions to Food Banks
Wal-Mart announced plans Wednesday to donate $2 billion over five years to food banks and hunger relief organizations, one of the largest charitable efforts that the nation's largest grocer has undertaken.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based chain said it will give more than 1.1 billion pounds of food -- from packaged goods to fresh produce -- to food banks and other nonprofit groups. It also is providing $250 million in grants to hunger-relief groups, including $6 million to buy refrigerated trucks for Feeding America and $2 million to the National Recreation and Park Association's summer food program for children. Wal-Mart said it is lending its expertise in logistics to help nonprofit organizations deliver and store food more efficiently.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/12/AR2010051205075.html?hpid=topnews
Question: Couldn’t WalMart fight hunger better with $1 billion of wage increases and medical insurance for its employees? Or by not donating so much money to candidates from the political party that has consistently opposed expanding the safety net?
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8. New York City Admits: Finger Imaging Food Stamp Recipients Catches No Fraud…
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Kerry Birnbach, kbirnbach@nyccah.org
May 18, 2010
(212) 825-0028, ext. 212
City Admits: No Criminal Fraud Found with Food Stamps Finger Imaging: Advocates Say City Was Just “Called On Its Bluff”: First Lady/White House Obesity Report Decries the Practice
New York City’s Human Resources Administration (HRA) Commissioner Robert Doar, admitted in a City Council hearing today that the City’s costly practice of requiring food stamp applicants to provide finger images never results in referring people for prosecution for food stamps fraud, thereby undermining his previous assertions that the practice acts as a deterrent against fraud. The admission comes on the heels of a report, issued by the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity and announced by First Lady Michelle Obama, that also called finger imaging a “barrier” to food stamp participation
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9. ….So Maybe We Should Finger Image Store Owners: Ralph’s Grocery Accused of Overcharging Customers
By Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times
The multicount criminal case, filed by the Los Angeles city attorney's criminal branch, said Ralphs overcharged on prepackaged and weighed products such as fried chicken, bulk coffee, salads and fish. The chain was fined for similar violations in 2008 and 2009. Ralphs and parent company Kroger Co. could face fines and penalties of up to $256,000 each.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0512-ralphs-20100512,0,6451010.story
April 20, 2010: Mayor Villaraigosa today is announcing 750 layoffs in the city including Rec and Parks dept., which will likely affect the free summer lunch program for kids; more info as details arrive
2. County Promotes Homeless Prevention Program
3. A Review of State Hunger Legislation 2010
4. Child Nutrition Update from Washington DC
5. First Lady Visits Community Farm and Farmers’ Market in San Diego (Our Neighbor)
6. Chefs Plan Out Food Stamp Menus
8. Is It Big Agriculture’s “Tobacco Moment”?
9. Iceland’s Volcano Highlights Global Nature of Food System
10. Nine Sneaky Food Labels Exposed
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Hunger Action LA: Next meeting is Thursday April 22 , 3 pm at LAANE, 464 S. Lucas Los Angeles 90017. Invited special guests from organizations doing “market makeovers” in Los Angeles---helping retool and redesign convenience stores to offer healthier foods such as more fruits and vegetables rather than junk food, plus planning for Hunger Action Day in LA. . RSVP to 213 388 8228
Remote Area Medical (RAM)Free Medical, Dental, and Vision Care: On April 27 – May 3, 2010, Remote Area Medical (RAM) will provide free medical, dental and vision care to thousands of needy individuals in the Los Angeles area, at Los Angeles Sports Arena located at 3939 North Figueroa Street , near USC. 1,200 people a day will be treated—possibly more depending on the final number of volunteers and participating organizations. The event is planned and operated by Remote Area Medical, a Volunteer 501(c)(3) charity providing free care to uninsured, underinsured, and indigent Individuals throughout the United States . For more information visit: www.ramusa.org
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2. County Promotes Homeless Prevention Program
Please forward far and wide, but note the geographic restrictions:
County Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) Lost your job? Work hours reduced? Through this program, you could receive monetary support for: Back rent, Rental subsidy, Past Due Electric Bills, Security deposit, Utility turn-on fee
TO FIND OUT IF YOU MAY QUALIFY:
Call 2-1-1 for more information about HPRP, or go to the Los Angeles County Housing Resource Center (LACHRC) website at: http://housing.lacounty.gov/HPRP
To find out if someone is eligible for the County’s program, a pre-screening tool can be found at http://housing.lacounty.gov/HPRP or one may call 2-1-1. Other cities may be offering this program; call 2-1-1 for more information or go to http://www.lahsa.org/hprp.asp to access the HPRP Program Referral List.
The County HPRP serves the following geographic areas:
1) The unincorporated areas of the County;
2) The City of Alhambra and the City of Huntington Park; and
3) 47 cities with a population of less than 50,000.
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3. A Review of State Hunger Legislation 2010
Here is the status of several bills around food stamps and other hunger issues and who to call for more details on each one:
AB 1198 - Food Stamps for Recovery – Sandré Swanson (D-Oakland) Fully remove life-time ban on former drug felons who have gone through recovery. Held in Senate Appropriations Committee. More info: Opio Dupree 916 319 2016
SB 1322 - Food Stamp Employment and Training - Carol Liu (D-Los Angeles) Improve delivery of Food Stamp Employment and Training programs and options for Food Stamp Recipients. Will be heard on April 26 in Senate Appropriations Committee. More info: Lark Park, 916 651 1524
AB 537 - EBT at Farmer’s Markets - Juan Arambula (D-Fresno) Establishes a method for farmers’ markets, flea markets and similar open air vendors to accept food stamps by January 2012. Passed Assembly on a 66-3 vote and will be heard next in Senate Human Services Committee: for more information call Deborah Yashar of ALBA (831) 758-1469 x 14
AB 1914 - Public Social Services: Emergency Food Stamps - Mike Davis (D - Los Angles) Requires the state to provide emergency food stamp benefits to those waiting for their unemployment benefits or an extension of unemployment benefits to become available. Passed Health and Human Services committee and will be heading next to appropriations. More information: Jessica Bartholow, Western Center on Law and Poverty (916) 442-0753 x15
AB 2084 - Child Day Care Facilities: Nutrition - Julia Brownley (D - Santa Monica)SUMMARY: Requires a licensed child day care facility to follow specified guidelines to the provision of beverages. Passed Assembly Human Services committee, re-referred to Appropriations. More info: CFPA 213 482 8200
AB 2720 - Public Health: Food Justice - John A. Perez (D – Los Angles) Provides recommendations to the Legislature regarding actions that need to be taken to promote food justice in the state. This bill will help the state get more federal money for food projects.
SB 1210 - Taxation: Sweetened Beverage Tax - Dean Florez (D – Central Valley) Taxes every sweetened beverage manufacturer, concentrate manufacturer, or other person who makes the first sale in this state of a sweetened beverage or concentrate of a rate of $0.01 per teaspoon of sugar placed into the sweetened beverage or equivalent amount of concentrate. Will be heard in Senate Revenue and Tax Committee May 12. More info: Sergio Rosas, 916 651 4016
SB 1359 - Public Social Services: Food Stamps - Curren Price (D – Los Angles) Moves to semiannual reporting for the Food Stamp program. Forgoes fingerprint imaging and asset tests for Food Stamp applicants. Passed Human Services Committee and referred to appropriations. More info: Sebastian Ridley-Thomas 916 651 4026
SB 1269-Surplus Food Donation –Jenny Oropeza (D-Carson) Facilitates dissemination of information about release from liability for businesses that donate surplus edible food. This will be heard in Senate Judiciary Committee today (April 20). The bill requires sending a notice encouraging donation of surplus food when the State Dept. of Corporations sends out their reminder for all corporations to mail in their Statement of Information each year (All you nonprofit administrators out there know what I’m talking about). More info: Tomasa Dueñas 916 651 4028
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4. Child Nutrition Update from Washington DC
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act passed the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry with bipartisan support last month, though the amount funded is far less than the $10 billion President Obama had requested. The Growing Farm to School Programs Act was introduced in the Senate last month. It has also been assigned to the Agriculture committee, though it has not yet been heard.”
Food Research and Action Center urges folks to get their representatives to sign on to a bipartisan Dear Colleague letter for a proposal that would double the amount to the level requested by the President (and thus increase the reimbursement rate for school meals to something closer to what’s needed to purchase healthy food) :
“Urge House Members to sign a "Dear Colleague" letter from Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) that supports an increase of $1 billion per year over ten years (the level requested by President Obama) to improve and expand Child Nutrition programs; the letter asks Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to help identify funds for House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) to use for the House reauthorization bill. The deadline for sign ons is April 23rd.
For a copy of the letter, go to http://frac.org/Legislative/action_center/dear_colleague_april2010.htm ;
2) Urge Senate Finance Committee members and Senate leaders to build on the Senate Agriculture Committee Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill by adding funds for program access priorities but opposing taking money from SNAP Nutrition Education; and
3) Share with Members of Congress copies of the FRAC sign-on letter that demonstrates broad-based support for making low-income children's access to healthy meals a priority. For a copy of the sign-on letter, go to http://www.frac.org/Press_Release/orgs_sign_ltr_for_cnr.htm
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5. First Lady Visits Community Farm and Farmers’ Market in San Diego (Our Neighbor)
Michelle Obama visited San Diego to promote healthy eating. She stopped at the City Heights
Farmers’ Markets, which provides bonus vouchers for people using food stamps (and for SSI pariticipants) and the New Roots Community Farm to highlight eating healthy food as part of her “Let’s Move” campaign against obesity. Additionally, volunteers from the San Diego Hunger Coalition are available at the market to advise people who are unsure whether they qualify for food assistance programs. Ms. Obama's visit launched the California Endowment's Building Healthy Communities initiative. Obesity related diseases cost the U.S. $147 billion in 2008 by some estimates.
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6. Chefs Plan Out Food Stamp Menus
“As increasing numbers of Americans add a food stamp card to their wallets—12 million in the past two years alone—the food stamp program has become a popular topic of conversation. Families grumble that the monthly allotment is not nearly enough; to prove the point, activists have asked members of Congress to take on a food stamp challenge.
The AP joined the conversation this week, challenging two chefs and a magazine food editor to plan out a week's worth of meals for a family of four using the average weekly food stamp budget: $68.88. The most useful ingredients? Thorough planning and an open mind.
http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/04/14/the-food-stamp-strategy-eating-well-on-a-budget
Eat, Drink and Be covered the AP story and added a link to the recipes:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36513629/ns/health-health_care/
An anonymous contributor to “before It’s News”:
“When we hear about thousands of people lining up at Wal-Mart just before midnight so they can enter and shop with their newly charged debit card, we know that something is amiss between Main Street and Wall Street. Now some people would argue with the cost. But $53 billion going to 40 million Americans makes more sense than giving a handout to Goldman Sachs just so they can increase their bonus pool. Plus $53 billion is a drop in the bucket compared to the $13 trillion given to Wall Street.”
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7. What About Cash Welfare?
NY Times: “Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of Americans receiving benefits under the main federal-state welfare program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, has increased less than 10 percent, even though unemployment has nearly doubled and the number of people receiving food stamps has grown more than 40 percent, to 39 million. Congress overhauled the welfare law in 1996 to emphasize work, and in a booming economy the changes were widely considered a great success.
But the latest trends are prompting federal officials to ask whether welfare is fulfilling its mission in tough economic times. Congress and the Obama administration are considering changes as the program comes up for renewal this year.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/us/11welfare.html
Almost half of all children living in the United States will receive food stamp assistance at some point before they turn 18, according to a study conducted by researchers from Cornell and Washington Universities and published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
According to researcher Andrew Gelman, the findings rebut the common perception "that people are either on welfare or they're not." In reality, many families use food stamps and other forms of economic assistance to get through short-term difficulties such as job loss, professional transition, or other financial troubles.
http://www.naturalnews.com/028550_poverty_food_stamps.html
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8. Is It Big Agriculture’s “Tobacco Moment”?
Will Allen and Ronnie Cummins: “The farm and chemical industry may now be as vulnerable as the tobacco industry was in the 1990s. People in the U.S. have finally become suspicious of the safety of the (non-organic) food supply. Millions are wary of home pesticides, weed killers, and synthetic garden and lawn fertilizers. Big agricultural chemical companies are under increasing criticism from consumers, including relatives of those hospitalized and killed by farm chemicals and factory farm contaminated food…..The time has come to stand up and be counted, to force the chemical, genetic engineering, petroleum and sewage sludge corporations to bend to the people's will, to endure their own tobacco moment. “
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/04/10-5
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9. Iceland’s Volcano Highlights Global Nature of Food System
The volcanic eruption in Iceland has given our neighbors in Europe something to think about when we talk about promoting local food:
“SHOPPERS could face food shortages and soaring prices because of the flight ban due to volcanic ash, experts said last night. Millions of pounds’ worth of perishable goods including fruit, vegetables and flowers cannot be flown into Britain because of the volcanic ash. The delay could mean a shortfall of goods such as asparagus, grapes, green onions, lettuce, pre-packed fruit salads and flowers.”
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/169845/Volcanic-ash-Food-prices-may-soar
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10. Nine Sneaky Food Labels Exposed
Americans are becoming more health conscious and looking at food labels before they buy, but some of the labels can be misleading. People are drawn to terms like "All Natural" and "Made With Whole Grains." "Natural" labeled food generated $22.3 billion in 2008, up 10% from 2007, and 54% of all cereals are now labeled "whole grain," including plenty processed, sugary ones.
The Center For Science in the Public Interest recently released a 158-page report, "Food Labeling Chaos", detailing the misinformation prevalent in the food industry. While the report has prompted the FDA to crack down on some of the specific products mentioned, many more go unnoticed and unregulated.
Huffington Post has compiled photos of 9 particularly misleading food labels:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/20/9-most-misleading-food-la_n_538868.html
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April 6, 2010:
2. Media Project Covers Hunger in The Golden State
3. Soda Industry Makes Changes To Fight Obesity, But Officials Say It’ s Not Enough
4. Ag Secretary Remarks on Incentives for Fruit and Vegetable Purchases With Food Stamps
5. Supermarkets May Raise Prices, In Spite of Record Crops
6. Child Nutrition Bill in Congress Falls Short, Takes Money from Environmental Funding
7. Kellogg Cares Video on Facebook
8. Food Forward Volunteer Backyard Fruit Collection Program Highlighted
9. County Promotes Homeless Prevention Program
10. In The Wake of Cesar Chavez Day: Farmworkers Gain But More Progress Needed
11. Community Leaders Get No Answers From State Agencies About Proposed Cuts
12. The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters
13. Representative Proposes Office of Urban Agriculture
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1. Upcoming Events
Earth Day South LA, Saturday April 17: The 2nd Annual EARTH DAY SOUTH LOS ANGELES EVENT, Saturday April 17th 2010 from 11am to 6pm will be at Normandie Avenue Elementary School, 4505 S. Raymond Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90045. A growing movement in South Los Angeles area has serious momentum and is being expressed through the arts, workshops, and food culture. Over a hundred artists will participate in performances and ceremonies of music and dance, community mural, graph art pieces, recycled art exhibit and fashion show, and art sale. Local food will be showcased with recipe demos, food vendors and produce for sale .Information: (323) 299 7075 or www.earthdaysouthla.org
Free webinar on how to become a free summer lunch site: You are invited to participate in a free webinar!”How to Provide Free Summer Meals to Kids in California! (through the USDA Summer Meal Programs)”, Wednesday, April 7 from 10:00 am - 11:30 am. No charge to participate, but you must register.Click here to register: https://publichealthinstitute.webex.com/publichealthinstitute/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=96031965
Who should join us:School districts, food banks, summer programs, YMCAs, Boys and Girls clubs, recreation departments, county health and social services departments, food service providers, policymakers. Learn how to become a sponsor or site that provides free summer meals to kids --How to access free model materials and resources to simplify program management --How to join the Summer Meal Mentoring Network
"From the Crib to the Penitentiary Pipeline" panel discussion & job fair this Thursday, April 8, 2010 From 9:00am-1:00pm , Jr. Blind of America 5300 Angeles Vista Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90043. Great Beginnings for Black Babies (GBBB) Fatherhood Initiative, invites you to take part in a critical discussion on how a fathers absence, poor education, poverty, mental health disparities, and the direct impact it plays on young men of color disproportionately representing the prison population nationwide. Lunch will be provided to all who attend. Information: 323.789.7955
Remote Area Medical (RAM)Free Medical, Dental, and Vision Care: On April 27 – May 3, 2010, Remote Area Medical (RAM) will provide free medical, dental and vision care to thousands of needy individuals in the Los Angeles area, at Los Angeles Sports Arena located at 3939 North Figueroa Street , near USC. 1,200 people a day will be treated—possibly more depending on the final number of volunteers and participating organizations. The event is planned and operated by Remote Area Medical, a Volunteer 501(c)(3) charity providing free care to uninsured, underinsured, and indigent Individuals throughout the United States . For more information visit: www.ramusa.org
Hunger Action LA: Next meeting is this Thursday April 22 , 3 pm at LAANE, 464 S. Lucas Los Angeles 90017. Invited pecial guests from organizations doing “market makeovers” in Los Angeles---helping retool and redesign convenience stores to offer healthier foods such as more fruits and vegetables rather than junk food, plus planning for Hunger Action Day in LA. . RSVP to 213 388 8228
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2. Media Project Covers Hunger in The Golden State
As record numbers of Californians struggle to put food on the table, programs designed to help the hungry are under stress. A four-month examination by reporters from USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism shows that food banks and food stamps, two key safety net programs for poor people in California, are sagging under soaring demand and long-ignored problems that impair their effectiveness. See the link below for press, radio and video reports:
http://hungerincal.uscannenberg.org/
Food waste issue examined: State studies have found that more than six million tons of food products are dumped annually, enough to fill the Staples Center in Los Angeles 35 times over. Food is the largest single source of waste in California, making up 15.5 percent of the Golden State’s waste stream, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board.
KPCC reports: http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/04/05/hunger-series-food-waste/
LA’s response to food stamp gap: With fewer than half the eligible Californians enrolled in the federal food stamp program, state and local officials have been stepping up efforts to spread awareness of the benefit. The California Department of Social Services has a pre-screening tool posted on its website that people can use to estimate if they are eligible for food stamps. They can also download the forms to apply for the program.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services sends outreach workers to food pantries, health centers and other community sites to inform residents about food stamps. It has also contracted with faith-based and other nonprofit organizations to help residents with the application process.
The city of Los Angeles has opened 21 Family Source Centers to provide free counseling and connect struggling residents to government services. At the centers, residents can fill out a form known as a One-E-App to help determine eligibility for a variety of programs, including food stamps.
http://mayor.lacity.org/PressRoom/PressReleases/LACITYP_008757
LA moves forward on blueprint to end hunger: Los Angeles currently has a handful of food policy initiatives in the works and today one of them took a step forward. Last November, Councilman Paul Koretz introduced a motion based on a blueprint to end hunger (.pdf) in Los Angeles County published by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, which called attention to the local hunger problem, food insecurity and lack of access to fresh and healthy foods.
http://laist.com/2010/03/23/hungry_no_more_a_blueprint.php
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3. Soda Industry Makes Changes To Fight Obesity, But Officials Say It’ s Not Enough
CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller report the industry is now selling healthier - instead of high calorie - drinks to students. Still not good enough, say public health officials.
A growing number of cities and states want to reduce adult consumption of sugary drinks by taxing them. New York has revived a proposal to impose a penny per ounce tax on sweetened beverages. Colorado has already levied such as tax. So has Illinois. California is considering it.
A penny per ounce tax on sugared beverages would mean that a two liter bottle of Coke would cost you 68 cents more. A study released Monday suggests it would, claiming an 18 percent price increase on soda would lead people to trim 56 calories from a daily diet. That's a five pound weight loss over a year.
Article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/08/eveningnews/main6279674.shtml
Read the Reporthttp://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/FoodPrice.pdf?tag=contentMain;contentBody
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4. Ag Secretary Remarks on Incentives for Fruit and Vegetable Purchases With Food Stamps
At a March 3 Senate Ag Appropriations hearing, Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., noted that he has observed rural shoppers using food stamps to buy “empty calories” and asked USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack if USDA has considered requiring food stamp beneficiaries to make their purchases according to food quality standards for the school lunch and special nutrition program for women, infants and children known as WIC. Vilsack said that grocery stores contain 50,000 items, which makes it impossible for USDA to encode the electronic benefit transfer cards to limit many purchases. But he added that USDA is considering incentives for food stamp beneficiaries under which the grocer would be paid $1 if a beneficiary purchased certain foods such as fruits and vegetables, but the beneficiary would be charged only 80 cents on the card.
http://www.agweek.com/event/article/id/153600/publisher_ID/40/
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5. Supermarkets May Raise Prices, In Spite of Record Crops
Many supermarket operators were hurt last year by declining food prices, deep discounting and promotions to attract price-conscious consumers. Cincinnati-based Kroger said recently that food prices declined at a 2.85% rate in the fourth quarter, making it difficult to pass along rising labor and packaging costs, crimping profit margins. Recently, industry executives pointed to signs that food-price declines have bottomed and may signal better times ahead for the sector. Some analysts predict food prices will turn up in the middle of the year, though high unemployment remains a concern.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704784904575111702870367256.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Farmers expect to boost corn and soybean acreage to historic highs this year. And, the USDA says that should drive food prices down. But, one local ag expert says prices may not fall as far, or as fast, as consumers want them to. Joel DeJong, ISU Extension Crop Specialist said, "Quite often the input that goes in it there's a lag there from the final price of the product. Secondly, prices might go down for some food stuffs, but my guess is not significantly because corn and soybeans are such a small percentage of the cost of putting the product on a shelf."
http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12237979
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6. Child Nutrition Bill in Congress Falls Short, Takes Money from Environmental Funding
The Obama administration was seeking a $10 billion boost in child nutrition to make school lunches healthier. But Senator Blanche Lincoln’s child nutrition proposal under consideration doesn’t provide enough money to keep school lunch quality the same, much less improve it, and worse yet, the slight 6 cent per lunch increase would be paid for by taking money from the Environmental Quality Incentives Progam (EQIP), an agriculture conservation program.
From SF Gate: “There is widespread agreement in both parties that corn chips with cheese sauce, fried chicken nuggets and other staples of the school lunch menu have to go. Obesity has risen dramatically in children..The Senate Agriculture Committee approved a $4.5 billion increase for school nutrition over the next decade, with broad bipartisan support. That is less than half the $10 billion that the White House wants. The problem for Congress is that new pay-as-you-go budget rules require cutting other spending or raising taxes to offset the cost.
To pay for the increase, the committee targeted for cuts a farm conservation program called the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, that goes to farmers of all crops, many of them small. Left untouched were the much larger crop subsidies that go to big corn and other grain and cotton growers. Environmental advocates contend there is more than enough money available for school nutrition if lawmakers would be willing to trim those payments.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/24/MNBA1CKM0O.DTL#ixzz0ju3oSwxf
During the 2008-2009 school year, about 19 million students received free and reduced lunches, which is 895,000 more than the previous year — a jump of nearly 5 percent and that greatly outpaced the overall increase in school enrollment, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. Typically, the increases are about 1 to 2 percent each year.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gKa1gGQ2ZHBc3fwYJQIXVTaC6SqAD9EN43AO0
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7. Kellogg Cares Video on Facebook
"Join a community that cares," urges this Kellogg Cares video on Facebook. The video, produced in 2009 for Kellogg by Ashton Kutcher's social media group Katalyst and directed by wife Demi Moore, featured user-generated content submitted by people moved to end hunger, following Twitter requests by Mr. and Mrs. Kutcher. It also garnered thousands of new fans for Kellogg Cares, the Kellogg Company's Facebook fanpage, who are kept abreast of their ongoing efforts to fight hunger.
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8. Food Forward Highlighted
Food Forward is an all-volunteer organization here in LA that visits private residences to remove unwanted fruit from their trees. They deliver it to nearby food pantries, where it's usually consumed fresh within a day. Food Forward founder Rick Nahmias wrote about his organization last May on HuffPost:
“I started this as a neighborhood project with zero experience. I'd get on my bike, and when I'd see someone with a tree, I'd stop and talk to them, saying something along the lines of, "Hi, we're Food Forward, this is what we do...Would you be interested in letting us empty your tree and get a charitable tax deduction in the bargain?"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-daniel-harris/fixing-americas-hunger-cr_b_516561.html
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9. County Promotes Homeless Prevention Program
Please forward far and wide, but note the geographic restrictions:
County Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP)
Lost your job? Work hours reduced? Through this program, you could receive monetary support for:
Back rent, Rental subsidy, Past Due Electric Bills, Security deposit, Utility turn-on fee
TO FIND OUT IF YOU MAY QUALIFY:
Call 2-1-1 for more information about HPRP, or go to the Los Angeles County Housing Resource Center (LACHRC) website at: http://housing.lacounty.gov/HPRP
To find out if someone is eligible for the County’s program, a pre-screening tool can be found at http://housing.lacounty.gov/HPRP or one may call 2-1-1. Other cities may be offering this program; call 2-1-1 for more information or go to http://www.lahsa.org/hprp.asp to access the HPRP Program Referral List.
The County HPRP serves the following geographic areas:
1) The unincorporated areas of the County;
2) The City of Alhambra and the City of Huntington Park; and
3) 47 cities with a population of less than 50,000.
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10. In The Wake of Cesar Chavez Day: Farmworkers Gain But More Progress Needed
Foodservice giant Aramark signs Fair Food agreement with Tomato Harvesters Organization: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) have been fighting for years and successfully won several price increases for tomato workers in Florida, many of whom have been working under near slavery conditions with documented labor abuses. The huge food service company Aramark has signed a “Fair Food” agreement with the workers, their eighth success, leaving only Sodexo as the major food company not yet reaching agreement with the workers. The victory was achieved in the wake of the “Dine with Dignity” campaign of the Student/Farmworkers Alliance.
In the agreement, Aramark will pay a 1.5 cent premium for every pound of tomatoes picked with the increase distributed directly to harvesters. Aramark and other companies working with the tomato harvesters will gear their purchases to growers who make efforts to meet high labor standards and away from growers found to be associated with abusive labor practices.
Urge Congress to Protect the Safety, Health and Well-Being of Migrant Farmworker Children
From Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs: “Call your Representative to support the CARE Act (H.R. 3564) . Hundreds of thousands of children work in agriculture throughout the United States. Child farmworkers as young as twelve often work 8-12 hour days under dangerous and grueling conditions. They risk pesticide poisoning, injuries, and suffer fatalities at five times the rate of children working in other jobs. As a result of their long hours, they drop out of school at alarming rates. Nationally, barely half graduate from high school. Although agriculture is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States, child farmworkers are exempt from the legal protections granted to all other working children in the US. “
“Please help us honor the legacy of civil rights leader and advocate for farmworkers Cesar Chavez by urging your Representative to sponsor the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE), H.R. 3564. This important piece of legislation would adjust the age and work hours for children in agriculture to the same standards as other sectors, ensuring equal protection for all children. Currently, 77 members of the House of Representatives have sponsored CARE, but we need additional sponsors to get the bill passed.”
http://www.afoprograms.org/?page_id=490
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11. Community Leaders Get No Answers From State Agencies About Proposed Cuts
(A Report on the Assembly Budget Subcommittee #1 (Health and Human Services) Hearing Wed March 24, 2010“Toll on Californians of Adopted and Proposed Health and Human Services Cuts”):
“Yesterday, community representatives from SPIN, CAP, Parent Voices, United Health Workers, Health Access and many others witnessed an amazing display of uninformative responses from agency representatives about the human toll of proposed cuts to vital programs. While legislators grilled department heads and representatives with questions and requests for vital information, and quoted from a prepared 70-page document detailing the cumulative cuts to CalWORKs, In Home Support Services, health insurance, developmental services, drug and alcohol programs, foster youth -the list goes on and on – agency representatives gave fairly consistent responses:
“We don’t have that information;” “We can’t assess that impact at this time;”
“We are unable to provide you with that data.”
No public comment was taken at the meeting, though Assemblyman Chesbro (filling in for new Chair Dave Jones) acknowledged the audience and encouraged us to participate in the ongoing budget hearing process. Unfortunately, the committee didn’t even stick to its own plan to hear advocate responders present their data on how Californians will be impacted. Still, the legislators made some remarks that will resonate with all of us, and gave us some hope that they will stand firm in refusing to agree to more cuts to health and human services programs.
Assemblyman Chesbro said: “ I am getting visions of California as a third-world country, with disabled people and children and families begging in the streets.”
Assemblyman Beall asked hard questions of agency heads, time and time again, and at one point, said “ I want us to maintain the services and grants, and cut administrative costs instead.”
Assemblyman de la Torre: “ This is a political game we play every year. The administration proposes these cuts in order to force the Legislature to the negotiating table. And while that happens, for three to six months out of every year, people out there are living in fear of whether their services will be eliminated.”
Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, the outgoing chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, said: “We are in the people’s house, and the people are getting sc_____ed.”
(Thanks to Alicia Lepe of California Partnership for this report)
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12. The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters
PolicyLink and The Food Trust http://www.thefoodtrust.org/index.php present The Grocery Gap, the most comprehensive review of studies of healthy food access and its impacts -- 132 studies conducted in the United States in the past 20 years.
http://www.policylink.org/site/c.lkIXLbMNJrE/b.5860321/k.A5BD/The_Grocery_Gap.htm?msource=grocerygap
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13. Representative Proposes Office of Urban Agriculture
“Marcy” Kaptur, a Democratic Member of Congress from Ohio, has proposed creating the Office of Urban Agriculture “To increase the emphasis on urban agricultural issues in the Department of Agriculture through the establishment of a new office to ensure that Department authorities are used to effectively encourage local agricultural production and increase the availability of fresh food in urban areas, particularly underserved communities experiencing hunger, poor nutrition, obesity, and food insecurity, and for other purposes.”http://www.lavidalocavore.org/diary/3464/join-rep-marcy-kaptur-in-supporting-urban-ag
March 22, 2010:
June 2 is the new date for Hunger Action Day in LA. That’s when hundreds of us will gather to educate the public and elected officials about the impact of hunger on peoples’ lives in LA. It’s a chance for low income people directly suffering from poverty to speak out.
1. Upcoming Events: HALA Meeting Thursday March 25
3. Jewish Groups Work to Fight 'Food Deserts'
4. City Council To Hear Reports from Agencies on Food Assistance
5. Child Nutrition: Support Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act
6. Call Senators to Support Growing Farm To School Programs Act
7. Mayors for Meals Day is This Wednesday, March 24: Meals on Wheels Association
8. Food Makers Pledge To Cut Sodium
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1. Upcoming Events
Hunger Action LA: Next meeting is this coming Thursday March 25th 3 pm at LAANE, 464 S. Lucas Los Angeles 90017. Special guests from organizations doing food stamp outreach in Los Angeles, plus planning for Hunger Action Day in LA. . RSVP to 213 388 8228
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2. LA Times: California Food Stamp Participation Second Lowest in Country: Legislation to Address Paperwork
California's food stamp participation rate is nation's second-lowest in the USA.
Fewer than half of residents eligible for food stamps received them in 2007. Recent changes may have boosted the rate, but critics say far too much federal money is being left on the table. This LA Times article focuses on some of the barriers including immigrants’ fears that receiving benefits will result in deportation, fingerimaging, and paperwork:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-food-stamps21-2010mar21,0,2474321.story
State Bill to Address One of Those Issues: In relation to the paperwork, “AB 1642 is a bill that seeks to remove millions of pages of unnecessary paperwork and increase participation in nutrition programs. The bill would move California to a semi-annual reporting system for CalWORKs and the Food Stamp Program. In addition, AB 1642 supports the US Department of Agricultures’ recent efforts in requiring a plan to move California to a semi-annual reporting system. …..The bill will be referred to the Assembly Human Services Committee, which is expected to take up the bill April 13th. Given this fast approaching hearing date, we are asking supporters to please fax a letter of support to Assembly Member Jim Beall, Human Services Committee Chair at 916.319.2124 by Friday, April 2nd.” >From California Food Policy Advocates.
See more info on the bill www.cfpa.net
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3. Jewish Groups Work to Fight 'Food Deserts'
LA Times: Alliances organize a tour of areas where grocers are scarce, and members consider what they can do to help. 'Food, liberation and sustenance are closely intertwined in Judaism,' organizer says.
“The tour featured testimony from students at Lincoln High School, residents of the Ramona Gardens housing project and an Asian American community activist helping to launch a community garden. Ivonne Nieto, a Lincoln High student and vegetarian, said it is nearly impossible to find a variety of soy-based products in the local market, where she said food is more expensive and of lower quality than the larger supermarkets in her old neighborhood, Echo Park.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-food-desert22-2010mar22,0,6551341.story?track=rss
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4. City Council To Hear Reports from Agencies on Food Assistance
City Council is hearing a report back from city agencies about Councilmember Koretz’s motion to support the Blueprint to End Hunger, tomorrow (probably today by the time most of you read this). In this city document you’ll see where the city spends money on food assistance programs. It’s our hope the city budget cuts won’t threaten these programs:
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2009/09-2858-S1_RPT_CLA_03-19-10.pdf
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5. Child Nutrition: Support Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act
From Food Research and Action Center: Last week, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) released her chairman's mark for Child Nutrition Reauthorization, The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. This Wednesday, March 24, the Senate Agriculture Committee will "mark up" the bill.
Bill summary: http://frac.org/Legislative/action_center/healthy_hungerfree_kids_act_highlights.htm
Call Your Senators before Wednesday at the Capitol Switchboard, 202-225-3121.
• Urge them to pass a Child Nutrition Reauthorization package that builds on Chairman Lincoln's $4.5 billion (over 10 years) bill, which provides a critical start toward improving Child Nutrition Program access and participation, especially for low-income children.
• Ask them, especially those on the Finance Committee and in leadership, to work with Chairman Lincoln to identify sufficient funding for a more robust Child Nutrition Reauthorization. In his FY 2011 budget, President Obama had requested an additional $10 billion (over 10 years) for Child Nutrition Reauthorization.
Sign the Access Letter - Deadline for Signatures is Wednesday, March 24 at 12 p.m. EST.
If you haven't already done so, add your organization to the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Access Priority Letter - and tell your colleagues and networks to do the same. Click here to view and sign on to the letter.
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5118/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2051
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6. Call Senators to Support Growing Farm To School Programs Act
From Community Food Security Coalition: LAST WEEK Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced the "Growing Farm to School Programs Act of 2010" (S. 3123), legislation which provides $50 million in mandatory funding for a competitive grants program for Farm to School as part of the Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization. Gaining additional co-sponsors for this bill is critical to ensuring that it is included in the the Child Nutrition Act when the Senate Agriculture Committee votes on it this week, and when the full Senate takes the Child Nutrition Act up for consideration. Please call or fax your Senator's office and ask them to co-sponsor this important piece of legislation.
Click here for a fact sheet on Senator Leahy's bill.
http://www.farmtoschool.org//policy/NFSNSenate.pdf
Click here for a list of existing co-sponsors. If your Senator has already co-sponsored S. 3123, please thank him/her for their support! (Neither California Senator has co-sponsored).
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-3123
You can also call the Capitol Switchboard, provide your Senator's name and be directly connected to their office: (202) 225-3121. Once connected to your Senator's office ask to speak to the aide that works on child nutrition.
The message is simple. "I am a constituent of ________ and I am calling to ask him/her to co-sponsor Senator Leahy's "Growing Farm to School Programs Act" (S. 3123) which will provide $50 million in mandatory funding for the Farm to School Programs as part of the Child Nutrition Act reauthorization."
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7. Mayors for Meals Day is This Wednesday, March 24: Meals on Wheels Association
From Meals on Wheels Association: “In 2006, MOWAA introduced a new component of the March For Meals campaign called Mayors For Meals. On a designated day in March, mayors across the country deliver meals with their local Meals On Wheels Program to seniors in their community. Mayors For Meals garners media attention both locally and nationally and helps raise public awareness about senior hunger. This year Mayors For Meals Day is on March 24, 2010. We encourage you to contact your mayors and local elected officials and ask them to participate in Mayors For Meals Day.”
http://www.mowaa.org/mayorsformeals2010
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8. Food Makers Pledge To Cut Sodium
Kraft says it’ll cut sodium in its products by 10%
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1713232920100317
Pepsi sees your sodium, and raises you fat and sugar cuts promised as well:
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/health/Pepsi-Pledges-Cuts-in-Fat-Salt-Sugar-88826257.html
Both pledges come on the heels of First Lady Michelle Obama’s call on food manufacturers to make healthier products.
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March 18, 2010:
We’re awaiting selection of a new date for Hunger Action Day in Los Angeles (the previous choice won’t work out) so stay tuned. That’s when hundreds of us will gather to educate the public and elected officials about the impact of hunger on peoples’ lives in LA. It’s a chance for low income people directly suffering from poverty to speak out.
1. Upcoming Events: Food Desert Tour This Sunday: HALA Meeting Thursday March 25
2. How Government Policy Promotes Junk Food
3. More on Incentives To Buy Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
4. Budget and Health Are Concerns in School Meals
5. Continued Climb in Hunger and Need for Food Assistance in the U.S.
6. Food Prices Are Going Up….Maybe Down, for the Time Being
7. Mayor Villaraigosa To Groundbreak Garden: Georgia Proposes Urban Farming Bill
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Hunger Action LA: Next meeting is Thursday March 25th 3 pm at LAANE, 464 S. Lucas Los Angeles 90017. Special guests from organizations doing food stamp outreach in Los Angeles, plus planning for Hunger Action Day in LA. . RSVP to 213 388 8228
Food Desert Tour: Progressive Jewish Alliance and Alliance for Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores invite you on a bus tour of food deserts in Boyle Heights and Lincoln heights. Learn from local health experts, students , community gardeners and grocery workers about how communities in East LA are deprived of the healthful food choices and middle class job opportunities prevalent in other parts of LA. The tour will conclude with an interfaith observance of Passover, set in the first home of LA’s Jewish Community. Sunday March 21 at 12 Noon. Bus departs from Breed St. Shul, 247 N. Breed St. LA 90033. More info: Jonathan Matz jmatz@pjalliance.org 323 761 8350 ext. 103. Food deserts:http://laane.org/projects/current-projects/healthy-grocery-stores
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2. How Government Policy Promotes Junk Food
Why does a salad cost more than a Big Mac? “The Farm Bill...governs what children are fed in schools and what food assistance programs can distribute to recipients. The bill provides billions of dollars in subsidies, much of which goes to huge agribusinesses producing feed crops, such as corn and soy, which are then fed to animals. By funding these crops, the government supports the production of meat and dairy products--the same products that contribute to our growing rates of obesity and chronic disease. Fruit and vegetable farmers, on the other hand, receive less than 1 percent of government subsidies.”
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/no-this-is-why-youre-fat.php
The connection between our “cheap food” policy and our children’s alarming weight gain is explained by David Wallinga, MD, director of the Food and Health Program at the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. He says, “Our farm policies have made unhealthy calories the most affordable ones. So if you’re on a limited budget and you’re trying to get the biggest calorie bang for your buck, you’re going to supersize your meal at a fast-food restaurant and get a lot of corn- and soy-derived calories.” (A homeless colleague of ours in Hollywood revealed the huge amount of filling eats you can get for $1 each at Burger King---although it did include one salad, it was pretty much grease held together with starch.) An interview with Dr. Wallinga:
“Precious” and Food Deserts: Food deserts (See Upcoming Events at the top of the newsletter) contribute to the paradoxical situation of people being hungry and obese at the same time.
From NY Times: “Precious, the character at the center of the Academy Award-winning movie by the same name, would probably count as food insecure even though she is severely obese . There she is stealing a family-size bucket of fried chicken from a fast-food restaurant. For breakfast. That it is greasy chicken, and that she vomits it up,points to the the scarcity of healthful options in low-income neighborhoods and the unlikelihood that poor, food-insecure people like Precious would choose them.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/nyregion/14hunger.html
Companies Cutting HFCS: Bowing to consumer demands, major brands are removing high-fructose corn syrup from some of their products in favor of sugar. Few, however, are shouting it from the rooftops as it would cast a shadow on those products that still contain HFCS.
http://adage.com/article?article_id=142788
First Lady Says Cut the Junk: First lady Michelle Obama urged the nation's food industry on Tuesday to "step it up" and move faster to create and market healthier foods to kids, her toughest speech yet in her anti-childhood-obesity campaign. She delivered her speech to the Grocery Manufacturers Association here, a trade group of some 300 food, beverage and consumer products makers. Chicago area based Kraft and McDonald's are among the members.
Hoping to avoid government intervention -- such as taxes on junk foods -- or more regulation, members of the group in recent years have voluntarily changed the recipes of 10,000 products to cut fats, sugar, sodium and calories. Members also have reduced ads targeting certain products to youngsters.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/03/michele_obama_tells_food_maker.html
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3. More on Incentives To Buy Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
A growing number of local programs from Boston to San Diego are trying to make healthier foods more appealing and affordable for low-income families—the population of Americans who are most reliant on food stamps, and most likely to be obese. Meanwhile, public health researchers are looking hard at the federal food stamp program itself, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). They're questioning why the long-standing strategy for helping the hungry may, in some cases, actually be hurting their health by packing on extra pounds. But could a few simple changes transform SNAP into a powerful vehicle for curbing obesity?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=food-stamps-obesity
To create successful incentives, says Yale behavioral economist Dean Karlan, a policy needs to specifically target the people whose behavior its trying to change. "So in the case of broccoli you'd want to find out who's not eating broccoli and then pay them to eat it," he says. You don't want to necessarily make broccoli cheaper for those who are already buying plenty of it, you want to target those who don't buy enough fruits or vegetables.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124610428
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4. Budget and Health Are Concerns in School Meals
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited East LA recently to discuss the Obama Administration's priorities for the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act. Vilsack visited with students and educators at the William R. Anton Elementary School and Early Education Center followed by a forum with community leaders at the East Los Angeles Community Center where he emphasized the importance of passing strong reauthorization legislation.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/PressReleases/2010/0101.htm
School Meals Could Be Reduced Here: As early as spring of this year, some six million children attending public schools in California could see reduced the amount of food available at breakfast and lunch, or eat more canned foods. So if the U.S. Congress does not approve a law that will assign U.S. $ 10,000 million to five public nutrition programs.
Due to the economic crisis that many families face unemployment of one or more household members, there are increasingly more children are dependent on food in schools as the main focus of their daily food, which puts an extra problem the amount of food that school districts must buy.In California in the past two years, has increased by 4.5% the amount of food served in school cafeterias. The average annual increase before the economic crisis was 1%. (Original article in Spanish.)
Senator Introduces Bill To Help School Meal Costs: Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey introduced a bill Wednesday which would assist nutrition programs in schools, helping them to cover the costs of purchasing healthy, nutritious foods. The “National Child Hunger Relief Act of 2010” would provide funding to help federal school nutrition assistance programs adjust to rising food prices and cover the costs of food for those most in need.
http://www.wayneindependent.com/news/x313359611/Casey-s-bill-aids-school-meal-program
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5. Continued Climb in Hunger and Need for Food Assistance in the U.S.
Eleven percent of “Main Street” is now getting food stamp assistance.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/193294-wall-street-celebrates-while-main-street-suffers
Hipsters on Food Stamps: “With the economy the way it's been, many young folks are now finding themselves—by IRS standards—quite poor. Poor enough to be eligible for things like food stamps paid by your taxpayer dollars, which they are using to buy Japanese eggplant. Salon writes about the latest trend of the nouveau pauvre: young graduates applying for the benefits in overwhelming numbers.”
http://gothamist.com/2010/03/16/hipsters_use_food_stamps.php
Riverside County sees food stamp increase: An out-of-work environmental consultant since moving to the Coachella Valley in 2008, Tim Simmons is quickly exhausting his unemployment benefits and food stamps, which run out next month. On a trip to the grocery store last week, he had $21.55 left on his Electronic Benefit Transfer card.“That's all I have left to buy food — and then I go hungry,” the 43-year-old Palm Springs man said with a rueful laugh……..With unemployment at 15.1 percent in Riverside County, more people like Simmons are turning to federal programs for help. In the past year, the Coachella Valley saw a 38 percent increase in the number of people receiving food stamps.
It’s Embarrassing How The Neighbors Talk About Us: Ever wonder how China’s Xinhua News Agency might report on statistics of U.S. hunger and poverty?
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3941942
Americans helping Americans: Americans are now helping other Americans with programs structured similarly to those used to help people suffering overseas. “Every month, hand-wrapped boxes, bearing California return addresses and homemade goodies, arrive at the Atherton Middle School in Burton, outside of Flint. The recipients of these niceties are 14 families struggling to maintain their quality of life in Burton. The families have been adopted by people living on the West Coast through a program called Family-to-Family, which has paired up well-to-do households in cosmopolitan San Francisco with barely-getting-by families in Genesee County.”
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6. Food Prices Are Going Up….Maybe Down, for the Time Being
U.S. consumers can expect to pay 4 to 5 percent more for food by late this year than at the end of 2009 largely because of higher costs for such staples as beef, dairy, and pork, a Nebraska-based economist said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62F3UC20100316?type=FoodandAgriculture10
Wal Mart plans to lower prices: But for the time being….”Wal-Mart wants to woo more shoppers to its grocery aisles, according to one industry analyst, who expects the retail giant to get more aggressive on price cuts in order to put the pressure on traditional grocers. Wal-Mart is "lacing up the gloves as it prepares to step back into the ring and win the modern day price war in food retail," Citigroup analyst Deborah Weinswig wrote in a research note Monday.”
Are company mergers making prices higher? The Justice Department and U.S. Department of Agriculture will kick off the first of a yearlong series of public meetings to examine whether antitrust practices in agriculture are driving food prices higher. The government is trying to ferret out reasons for the sometimes vast gaps between what farmers are paid for producing food and the prices shoppers pay at the grocery store.
Justice Department officials said the push to hold such events was driven in part by President Barack Obama's concerns over how consolidation has affected industry competition. Many experts believe that rising food prices start with seeds.
In recent years, the companies that develop seeds for farmers to sow in their fields have consolidated. Complaints about unfair competitive practices by the few giant firms left have soared. As a result, critics say, the effects of more costly seeds have rippled out to the nation's dining tables.
The farm community - which produces more than $80 billion annually in soybeans and corn - has been pressuring lawmakers to investigate why it's costing them so much more to grow their crops. U.S. farmers spent about $17 billion on seeds last year, up 56 percent from 2006, the USDA said.
http://www.macon.com/2010/03/11/1056184/usda-justice-dept-set-to-probe.html#ixzz0iU5rn9Vk
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7. Mayor Villaraigosa To Groundbreak Garden: Georgia Proposes Urban Farming Bill
On March 20th at 8:30 AM Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be initiating one more project to help the greening of Los Angeles. Celebrating the groundbreaking at the Saturn Street Elementary Community Garden, the mayor will help spearhead the national 'Give Back to Gro' program that is helping promote an awareness of gardening and its power to help stamp out hunger across the country.
The students of the Saturn Street Elementary School will have the opportunity to help create 5100 square feet of raised gardens where they will learn all about how to grow fruits and vegetables. In a time of recession, learning to grow food will not only help the hungry, but it introduce healthy, tasty food (free of commercial toxic recalls) to the kitchen table. Gardening is good exercise, especially for so many young people who are living a sedentary lifestyle.
Urban Farming bill in Georgia legislature: An editorial from Georgia on that state’s proposed “Urban Farming” bill: “With a word-word here and a tweak-tweak there, the Georgia legislature's House Committee on Agriculture and Consumer Affairs has managed to put together an "urban farming" bill that is worthy of the full Georgia General Assembly's support. In its original version, House Bill 842 - which is designed to pre-empt local ordinances restricting production of agricultural or farm products on residential or other urban property - virtually eliminated the ability of local governments to take any action against people raising chickens, rabbits, goats or food crops.”
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/031410/opi_589728398.shtml
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March 10, 2010:
Save the Date for Hunger Action Day---Wednesday May 19 in Sacramento and Thursday May 20 in Los Angeles (at City Hall, 4 pm to 6 pm). That’s when hundreds of us will gather to educate the public and elected officials about the impact of hunger on peoples’ lives in LA. It’s a chance for low income people directly suffering from poverty to speak out. More details to come: call 213 388 8228 for more information.
2. Subsidized Jobs Program Shot Down in Senate
3. Food Industry Losing Billions Because of Fingerprinting Food Stamp Applicants
4. Foodborne Illness Costing Us $152 Billion a Year
5. Reducing Price of Healthy Foods Increases Consumption
6. Michelle Obama, Healthy Eating, and Our Church's Homeless Kitchen
7. City of Orange Fines People For SAVING Water
8. Susan Burton of A New Way of Life Recognized as CNN Hero
9. Tasting Fat: Too Much Salt: And Figuring Out Where Your Taco Came From
10. The True Cost of Cheap Food
11. Wealthy Urged to Buy Up Farmland: Poor Go To Prison for Stealing Food
12. World Vision Sponsors Massive Teen Fast to Raise Funds for Haiti
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1. Upcoming Events
Hunger Action LA: Next meeting is Thursday March 25th 3 pm at LAANE, 464 S. Lucas Los Angeles 90017. Special guests from organizations doing food stamp outreach in Los Angeles, plus planning for Hunger Action Day in LA---Thursday May 20. RSVP to 213 388 8228 or frank@hungeractionla.org
Services for Homeless in San Gabriel Valley, End of March: Free Homeless Services ranging from food to health care referrals, dental treatment, job assistance, and legal services are being offered on the following days and times in the San Gabriel Valley: Monday March 29, Bassett Park 510 Vineland Ave, La Puente CA 91746 ;Tuesday March 30, Peter F. Schabarum Regional Park 17250 East Colima Road Rowland Heights CA 91748; Wednesday March, 31, Charter Oak Park 20261 E Covina Boulevard, Covina CA 91723. Times are 7 am to 3 pm each day. Email contact - Deputy Archambault LASD COPS Bureau Industry station Pjarcham@lasd.org
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2. Subsidized Jobs Program Shot Down in Senate
Debbie Velarde is one of more than 100,000 people who will lose their jobs by September unless Congress extends a stimulus bill provision that gives states funding to create jobs programs for low-income parents and young adults. On Tuesday, Senate Republicans (and four Democrats) defeated a $1.3 billion measure that extends funding until March 2011 for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Fund, the program that pays Velarde's salary. Those lawmakers explained their opposition by saying that the amendment was not paid for and will increase the budget deficit.
….Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday that Senate Democrats will revisit the measure soon….This program has provided at least 4,400 jobs to LA residents.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/10/100000-jobs-subsidized-by_n_493446.html
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3. Food Industry Losing Billions Because of Fingerprinting Food Stamp Applicants
Farmers, supermarkets and truckers across the country are losing billions of dollars in business because California, Texas, Arizona and New York City are using procedures that discourage people eligible for food stamps from applying for them, according to a key USDA official. Agriculture Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon said in a recent interview that he thinks requiring food stamp applicants to have images taken of their finger before receiving benefits and procedural problems discourage low-income people from applying for the food stamp program — now formally titled the supplemental nutrition assistance program or SNAP.
http://www.agweek.com/event/article/id/153602/publisher_ID/40/
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4. Foodborne Illness Costing Us $152 Billion a Year
A new consumer research report released Wednesday has found that the health-related costs of food-borne illnesses total $152 billion a year, including the costs of medical bills, lost wages and lost productivity. That total is more than four times that of earlier estimates calculated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-food-safety3-2010mar03,0,411644.story
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5. Reducing Price of Healthy Foods Increases Consumption
Reducing the price of healthy foods could land more whole grains, carrots and bananas in shopping carts, even months after the discounts are removed, according to a new study. According to a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, after six months of intervention, participants receiving price discounts bought approximately 1.7 more pounds (790 grams) of healthy food per week compared with those not randomized to pay the lower prices.
And although these reductions didn't change the quantity of unhealthy food purchased, almost two thirds of the additional healthy purchases were fruit and vegetables -- low caloric foods that researcher Ni Mhurchu thinks most people need to consume more of anyway.
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6. Michelle Obama, Healthy Eating, and Our Church's Homeless Kitchen
Sarah Gibson of Miriam’s Kitchen, a food program hosted at Western Presbyterian Church in DC: , talks about their program, where Michelle Obama has volunteered: “In our corner of D.C., they work with local farmers, qualified chefs, and amazing volunteers in order to provide healthy meals, served with dignity.”Article by Carol Merritt.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-merritt/michelle-obama-healthy-ea_b_490389.html
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7. City of Orange Fines People For SAVING Water
Some Southern California cities fine residents for watering their lawns too much during droughts. But in Orange, officials are locked in a legal battle with a couple accused of violating city ordinances for removing their lawn in an attempt to save water. City officials told Quan Ha and his wife they were violating several city laws that require residents to cover significant portions of their frontyards with live ground cover saying city codes require that 40% of the yard be landscaped predominantly with live plants."It's just funny that we pay our taxes to the city and the city is now prosecuting us with our own money," Quan Ha said. "Doesn't it waste funds to go back and forth in court, rather than sending pictures, e-mails and having phone conversations?" Meanwhile, the couple said they had reduced their water usage from 299,221 gallons in 2007 to 58,348 gallons in 2009.
My question is: where are all the privacy-rights people now? Also, why aren’t we rewarding people who conserve, and why aren’t we replacing lawns with edible plants? If you’re going to use water, why not water something that’ll be eaten?
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bad-lawn2-2010mar02,0,3613612.story
Check out Food not Lawns: http://www.foodnotlawns.com/
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8. Susan Burton of A New Way of Life Recognized as CNN Hero
LA’s own Susan Burton of A New Way of Life has been recognized as a CNN Hero. By providing a sober place to live and other support services, she's helped more than 400 women get back on their feet at A New Way of Life in South LA
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/18/cnnheroes.burton/index.html
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9. Too Much Salt: Tasting Fat: And Figuring Out Where Your Taco Came From
Australian researchers say they’ve discovered a “sixth taste”. "We know that the human tongue can detect five tastes -- sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami (a savoury, protein-rich taste contained in foods such as soy sauce and chicken stock)," Russell Keast, from Deakin University, said Monday."Through our study we can conclude that humans have a sixth taste -- fat."
"We found that the people who were sensitive to fat, who could taste very low concentrations, actually consumed less fat than the people who were insensitive," Keast told AFP."We also found that they had lower BMIs (Body Mass Indexes)."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i2HKJ8GjTn5F6uP8kV5O9yznKNbQ
So, let’s start with salt: With 73 million Americans suffering from high blood pressure, the U.S. food service industry is attempting to make a change in public health by reducing the amount of salt added to processed foods.
http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=23733
A New York State lawmaker has introduced a bill to ban the use of salt in food preparation at restaurants. Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, who has been a champion of menu labeling and a trans fat ban in the state, said in the bill's text that it is an effort to reduce sodium in consumers' diets to improve overall health.
http://www.qsrweb.com/article.php?id=17532&na=1&s=2
Now, let’s move on to fat: Fast food outlets like Subway and now Taco Bell have touted spokespeople claiming to have lost weight by eating a lot of fast food. Here’s a link to a site with two videos de-mythologizing the idea of a “fast food diet”. One of the things pointed out is that even the low calorie options at fast food places lack fiber and have a lot of ---guess what---sodium.
http://article.wn.com/view/2010/03/02/A_Taco_Deconstructed_Shows_Globalization_Of_Food_Production/
And speaking of tacos, a college group took on the task of identifying where all the components of a taco from a local taco truck had come from. The result was globalization with a vengeance: “According to the class findings, within a single taco, the ingredients had traveled a total of 64,000 miles, or just over two and a half times the circumference of the earth.”
http://www.good.is/post/your-taco-deconstructed/
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10. The True Cost of Cheap Food
Cheap food causes hunger. On its face, the statement makes no sense. If food is cheaper it’s more affordable and more people should be able to get an adequate diet. That is true for people who buy food, such as those living in cities. But it is quite obviously not true if you’re the one growing the food. You’re getting less for your crops, less for your work, less for your family to live on. That is as true for Vermont dairy farmers as it is for rice farmers in the Philippines. Dairy farmers today are getting prices for their milk that are well below their costs of production. And they are going out of business at an alarming rate.
This is the central contradiction of cheap food. Low agricultural prices cause hunger in the short term among farmers. And they cause food insecurity in the long term because they reduce both the number of farmers and the money they have to invest in producing more food.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/03/05-9
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11. Wealthy Urged to Buy Up Farmland: Poor Go To Prison for Stealing Food
Investor urges people to hoard up: The world’s most powerful investors have been advised to buy farmland, stock up on gold and prepare for a “dirty war” by Marc Faber, the notoriously bearish market pundit, who predicted the 1987 stock market crash. The bleak warning of social and financial meltdown was delivered today in Tokyo at a gathering of 700 pension and sovereign wealth fund managers.
Man sentenced to prison for stealing cheese: A California man has been sentenced to up to eight years in prison for stealing a $3.99 bag of shredded cheese in a case critics say shows the need for reform of the state's criminal justice system and overcrowded prison.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/03/03-6
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12. World Vision Sponsors Massive Teen Fast to Raise Funds for Haiti
A couple weekends ago, an estimated half million kids across America fasted as part of an event called the 30 Hour Famine sponsored by Christian organization World Vision.( April 23 and 24 have been set aside for the next 30-hour famine. ) The goal was to raise awareness and funds, estimated at $12 million (nationwide.) The kids also did community service at MEND in Pacoima and Union Station Homeless Services in Pasadena. This year, proceeds will go to Haiti to help with long-term recovery needs such as food for children, mothers and HIV positive adults, planting of fruit trees, construction of eight new clinics serving 55,000, as well as a new pharmacy. Additional funds go to similar projects in nine other countries.
http://www.sanfernandosun.com/sanfernsun/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4918&Itemid=2
Their gargantuan effort may align with new findings in a Parade magazine poll suggesting that the economic recession has made Americans more inclined to give and be involved in their communities, especially as it relates to helping the needy. Over 1,000 were asked how they would donate $100,000 to various causes. Applicants supported "food and shelter for the needy" the most, with "research to cure disease" coming in at a close second. Disaster relief, animal welfare and youth programs were third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/09/food-shelter-disease-rese_n_491816.html
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March 2, 2010: Save the Date for Hunger Action Day---Wednesday May 19 in Sacramento and Thursday May 20 in Los Angeles. More details to come
- Upcoming Events
- Our American Values, Work, and Food Assistance
- Attitudes and Stats on Private Charity vs. Government Spending
- So Why Would Food Stamps At Farmer’s Markets Be Controversial, In A Free Market Society?
- A Review of Hunger Legislation in Sacramento
- And Speaking of the Soda Tax…
- First Graders Can't Identify Fruits And Veggies On Jamie Oliver's New Show
- Food Prices: No Simple Puzzle…..
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Ag Secretary in Town Thursday March 4: Join a community discussion about Child Nutrition. With Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack This is the Secretary of Agriculture’s first visit to East Los Angeles. Come join Secretary Vilsack and other local leaders and community organizations to discuss the importance of nutrition assistance programs like WIC and the National School Lunch Program. Thursday, March 4, 2010 3:00 PM-4:30 PM East Lost Angeles Community Center 133 North Sunol DriveLos Angeles, CA 90063-1429. Please RSVP by contacting the USDA Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships by email at collaborate@usda.gov or by phone at 202-720-2032.
Hunger Action LA: Next meeting is Thursday March 25th 3 pm at LAANE, 464 S. Lucas Los Angeles 90017. Special guests from organizations doing food stamp outreach in Los Angeles, plus planning for Hunger Action Day in LA---Thursday May 20. RSVP to 213 388 8228
Community Garden Opening: Ben’s Place: Please join us Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. for a reception to introduce the Community Garden at Ben's Place. The reception is at L.A. Urban League, 3450 Mt. Vernon Dr. LA 90008. There will of course be good food and information. RSVP by Wednesday March 3, to 323 299 9660.
Friday, March 12, 2010: A Teach-In on the California Budget Crisis: 11:30am-3:00 pm. Registration and Lunch will begin at 11:30am Location: Downtown Labor Center, 675 S Park View St, LA 90057 Featuring: Jean Ross , Executive Director of the California Budget Project: Legislators including the Honorable Karen Bass. Co-Sponsors: California Partnership, Liberty Hill, UCLA Labor Center, Community Health Council, CHIRLA. RSVP to Astrid by Monday, March 8th:acampos@communitychange.org
ENACT Day, April 20: Join California Food Policy Advocates for ENACT 2010: Nutrition and Activity Day in Sacramento. Together we will spotlight the urgent need to improve California's nutrition and physical activity environments.Even during these tough economic times, we can educate policy makers about oppurtunities to improve health. Register: www.cfpa.net/ENACT2010/
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2. Our American Values, Work, and Food Assistance
More than 200,000 laid-off workers will prematurely lose their unemployment benefits this week thanks to Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning's surly refusal to let the Senate extend provisions of last year's stimulus bill, according to an analysis by the National Employment Law Project.
Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky has repeatedly held up an extension of unemployment benefits on the grounds that he’s stopping “wasteful spending” although he’s voted in the past for trillions for wars and other things. He also says unemployment benefits are so cushy that people getting them have no incentive to look for a job. In this respect he’s an ideological compadre of Ruben Navarette who is annoyed at the idea of farmers’ markets accepting food stamps because he thinks food stamps are a disincentive to work. (see next story) ….without a shred of evidence to prove what’s on the mind of millions of unemployed Americans. (One might ask the question if increasing defense spending is a disincentive to peace.)
The reality is that most Americans getting food assistance ARE already working and that unemployment benefits are hardly enough to get by on. Yes, we Americans are an independent lot, and that’s great. We also believe in fair play and don’t like things about our current system that seem injust. We also have deeply rooted religious traditions that stress the importance of helping others, even strangers, “for in doing so some have unwittingly helped angels.” (Hebrews 13:1-2,)We can also see the hypocrisy when politicians and others rail against assistance for the poor but enact huge government contracts to further enrich already-wealthy corporations, such as defense spending.
Congressional inaction on unemployment:
http://www.nelp.org/page/-/UI/PR.extensions.march.2010.pdf?nocdn=1
Jim Bunning’s one man mission to prevent all of us from being corrupted by being able to pay our rent and feed our families while looking for non-existent work:
Majority getting food assistance working: A study released by Feeding America in early February shows the majority of people who seek emergency food assistance are working. They are underemployed or don't have high enough wages to live on. More than a third of client households have at least one employed adult. Mark Rank, a social welfare professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said 58 percent of Americans ages 20 to 70 will find themselves living below the poverty line at some point."More and more people are realizing that this could be me," Rank said. "We ought to think of poverty not as a question of them, but as a question of us."
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/40139/
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3. Attitudes and Stats on Private Charity vs. Government Spending
A look at food assistance : CNN report “Why Can’t We Feed Our People” (you have to sit through an ad before the video, but what else is new?)
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2010/02/25/nr.intv.broken.govt.hunger.cnn?iref=allsearch
The “private charity” canard” Here’s how the business world responded to the CNN story: “Both guests attacked the tragedy of child hunger from the left and made no mention of private charity to solve the problem. Williamson criticized government “corruption” stemming from the “overinfluence” of money.”…. Phillips didn’t include anyone to discuss personal or corporate charity or private solutions to child hunger.”
http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2010/20100225135800.aspx
Easier to raise money for the opera: Nothing wrong with private charity, but in dealing with huge social issues we may want to remember the experience of Arianna Huffington. Once a supporter of private charity over systemic government attempts to solve problems like poverty, Huffington was disillusioned to find that many of the wealthy in this country talk about private charity but don’t practice it. She says, “One of the definite changes in my thinking was born of the hard reality I confronted when I discovered how much easier it was raising money for the opera and fashionable museums than for at-risk children.”
The poorest households in the United States gave on average 4.3 percent of their income while the richest fifth gave just 2.1 percent of their income.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/273664
A report, Patterns of Household Charitable Giving by Income Groups, 2005 published by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University also supports the idea that the poor give more than the rich. Households that had less than $200,000 in income gave a third of their income to charity while those making over that amount gave less than a third.
Moral Underground: One form of private charity being overlooked is what author Lisa Dodson calls the “Moral Underground”---thousands or millions of Americans performing “subversive acts” such as overlooking employee absences. >From The New Press review of her book (The Moral Underground): “Whether it is a nurse choosing to treat an uninsured child, a supervisor deciding to overlook infractions, or a restaurant manager sneaking food to a worker’s children, middle-class Americans are secretly refusing to be complicit in a fundamentally unfair system that puts a decent life beyond the reach of the working poor” .Dodson was interviewed on KPFK (it’s about twenty minutes in):
http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/mp3/kpfk_100302_080030uprising.MP3
A review: http://www.ucimc.org/content/moral-underground-tracking-new-kind-civil-disobedience
“Witnesses to Hunger “ is a project by women in Philadelphia dealing first hand with poverty---the true experts:
http://www.fsrn.org/audio/food-assistance-hunger-rises-americans/6281
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4. So Why Would Food Stamps At Farmer’s Markets Be Controversial, In A Free Market Society?
Ruben Navarette in an editorial published in various California papers this past weekend:
“If people in California or another state are so put off by not being able to shop at farmers markets, they might decide that they don't like being on food stamps after all. Good. Glad to hear it. You're not supposed to like it. In fact, you're supposed to dislike being on any form of public assistance so much that you can't wait to get off. That way the system is temporary and not something handed down from one generation to another. We made a mistake when we tried to remove the stigma from programs like this, and now we're compounding that mistake by continually making it easier and more comfortable for people to become a permanent ward of the state. “
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_14477530
Numerous responses have poured in from anti-poverty and small farm advocates. Judith Bell of PolicyLink: “At a time when record unemployment has shown the critical value of this social safety net program, Mr. Navarrette instead sneers at California’s efforts to help his less-fortunate neighbors.” From Edie Jessup in Fresno:” I can tell you that the $146,000 additional income in EBT sales at the Cherry Auction Farmers Market in Fresno last year did not hurt the feelings of the farmers and vendors there. “
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5. A Review of Hunger Legislation in Sacramento
2010 is shaping up to be a year in which common sense policy changes are being championed once again by many of our state legislators. Several ideas are around simplifying the food stamp program (which many of us have pushed for a long time)and we also see the introduction of the idea of the soda tax---a penny per teaspoon of sugar or sweetener, to pay for the consequences of junk food on our health.
For more information:
California Food Policy Advocates http://www.cfpa.net/2010leg/index.html
California Association of Food Banks http://www.cafoodbanks.org/Policy_Advocacy.html
AB 1198 - Food Stamps for Recovery – Sandré Swanson (D-Oakland) Fully remove life-time ban on former drug felons who have gone through recovery.
SB 1322 - Food Stamp Employment and Training - Carol Liu (D-Los Angeles) Improve delivery of Food Stamp Employment and Training programs and options for Food Stamp Recipients.
AB 537 - EBT at Farmer’s Markets - Juan Arambula (D-Fresno) Establishes a method for farmers’ markets, flea markets and similar open air vendors to accept food stamps by January 2012.
AB 1914 - Public Social Services: Emergency Food Stamps - Mike Davis (D - Los Angles) Requires the state to provide emergency food stamp benefits to those waiting for their unemployment benefits or an extension of unemployment benefits to become available.
AB 2084 - Child Day Care Facilities: Nutrition - Julia Brownley (D - Santa Monica)SUMMARY: Requires a licensed child day care facility to follow specified guidelines to the provision of beverages.
AB 2720 - Public Health: Food Justice - John A. Perez (D – Los Angles) Provides recommendations to the Legislature regarding actions that need to be taken to promote food justice in the state.
SB 1210 - Taxation: Sweetened Beverage Tax - Dean Florez (D – Central Valley) Taxes every sweetened beverage manufacturer, concentrate manufacturer, or other person who makes the first sale in this state of a sweetened beverage or concentrate of a rate of $0.01 per teaspoon of sugar placed into the sweetened beverage or equivalent amount of concentrate.
SB 1359 - Public Social Services: Food Stamps - Curren Price (D – Los Angles) Moves to semiannual reporting for the Food Stamp program. Forgoes fingerprint imaging and asset tests for Food Stamp applicants
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6. And Speaking of the Soda Tax…
A new report indicates that taxing unhealthy foods may be more effective than subsidizing healthy food in promoting change in food spending habits.
Specifically, taxing unhealthy foods reduced overall calories purchased, while cutting the proportion of fat and carbohydrates and upping the proportion of protein in a typical week's groceries.
By contrast, subsidizing the prices of healthy food actually increased overall calories purchased without changing the nutritional value at all. It appears that mothers took the money they saved on subsidized fruits and vegetables and treated the family to less healthy alternatives, such as chips and soda pop. Taxes had basically the opposite effect, shifting spending from less healthy to healthier choices.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100224142046.htm
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7. First Graders Can't Identify Fruits And Veggies On Jamie Oliver's New Show
Jamie Oliver walks into a first grade classroom, up to a table display that is draped with a sheet. As he pulls the sheet up to reveal piles of fruits and vegetables underneath, you can hear gasps of horror ripple through the classroom.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/26/jamie-olivers-food-revolu_n_478824.html
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8. Food Prices: No Simple Puzzle…..
From the Louisiana Farm Bureau: “We saw lower prices during the last year or so after grain prices fell from their 2007 and 2008 highs. The last American Farm Bureau marketbasket survey showed a drop for most commodities and prices for 2009.However, a recent USDA announcement showed a projected increase for the Consumer Price Index for food in 2010 is expected to rise between 2.5 and 3.5 percent—that's more than twice the rise we saw in '08 and '09. So why with declining grain prices is food at the grocery store expected to go up?”
http://www.dailyworld.com/article/20100228/NEWS01/2280328/1002/High-food-prices-no-simple-puzzle
Maybe This Has Something To Do With It: Giant tomato processor SK Foods has been accused of paying off buyers at large food companies to accept mold-riddled tomato products for above-market prices.
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/tomato-bribery-case-california-company-allegedly-paid-off/story?id=9956305
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Feb. 26, 2010: Save the Date for Hunger Action Day---Wednesday May 19 in Sacramento and Thursday May 20 in Los Angeles. More details to come
- Upcoming Events
- White House Unveils Healthy Food Financing Plan, Child Nutrition Priorities
- California’s Dilemma: SSI and Food Stamps
- California Summer Meal Coalition Offers Resources
- LA Times: Food Policy Issues Take Center Stage
- Global Warming’s Long Term Effects on Food Prices
- Recession Hitting Fast Food Outlets At Breakfast Time
- Do We Have To Grow Our Own Food?
- A REAL Food Desert in Southern California: Needles
- New Studies Analyzing Food Stamps, TANF, and Other Support
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Garden School Foundation (GSF) Workday:GSF will be hosting the second monthly workday of 2010 on Saturday, 2/27 (9-12) at the 24th Street School. Please mark your calendars. Bring your garden gear (garden gloves, some water, sunscreen, a shovel or pitchfork). We will continue our spring planting in both the kitchen and California native gardens, build some infrastructure (benches, compost sifters, etc.), make new beds, prepare our 75-foot production bed, and many other tasks. The address is: 2055 West 24th Street, Los Angeles. If you have any questions, please feel free to call Natale Zappia at (310) 699-2902.
Community Garden Opening: Ben’s Place: Please join us Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. for a reception to introduce the Community Garden at Ben's Place. The reception is at L.A. Urban League, 3450 Mt. Vernon Dr. LA 90008. There will of course be good food and information. RSVP by Wednesday March 3, to 323 299 9660.
Friday, March 12, 2010: A Teach-In on the California Budget Crisis: How it Impacts Our Communities AND What we can do to Take Action, 11:30am-3:00 pm. Registration and Lunch will begin at 11:30am Location: Downtown Labor Center, 675 S Park View St, LA 90057 Featuring: Jean Ross , Executive Director of the California Budget Project:; Community dialogue with Legislators including the Honorable Karen Bass. Co-Sponsors:California Partnership, Liberty Hill, UCLA Labor Center, Community Health Council, CHIRLA. RSVP to Astrid by Monday, March 1st :acampos@communitychange.org
Eco Faire, West Hills: Shomrei Torah Synagogue is sponsoring the 2nd Annual Eco Faire & Farmers Market at 7353 Valley Circle Blvd. West Hills, CA 91304 on March 21 from 9am to 1pm. Volunteers, vendors, educators, people who sell “green “ products and backyard fruit growers are invited to attend---free! No fees! The synagogue is working with a few other synagogues on implementing green practices and eating locally. For more information call Connie at 310-439-4009
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2. White House Unveils Healthy Food Financing Plan, Child Nutrition Priorities
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, along with First Lady Michelle Obama, released details last week of a $400 million Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), which will bring food retailers to underserved urban and rural communities in the United States. The initiative is a partnership between the Departments of Treasury, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services.
http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/News/Daily/Pages/ND0223103.aspx
Ag Secretary Vilsack Presents Obama Administration’s Child Nutrition Priorities:
Among the President’s proposals: Improve nutrition standards; Increase access to meal programs.; Increase education about healthy eating; Establish standards for competitive foods sold in schools; Serve more healthy food; Increase physical activity; Train people who prepare school meals; Provide schools with better equipment; and Enhance food safety.
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2010/02/0079.xml
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3. California’s Dilemma: SSI and Food Stamps
As many of you who get SSI (Supplemental Security Income, for seniors and disabled persons), or work with people who get SSI, know, SSI participants in California can’t get food stamps. We’re the only state with this rule, and it stems from a decision to save SSI participants a trip to the food stamp office by incorporating the cash value of the food stamp benefits that they’d be eligible for into their checks. With SSI benefits having been cut three times in the last year, many are wondering if this rule shouldn’t be changed. However, it gets complicated as a change in the rules would actually lower the food stamp benefits for families in which some members get SSI and others don’t. California Food Policy Advocates arranged a study to analyze the effects of changing the rules. Here’s the link to the study:
http://www.cfpa.net/mathssi2010.pdf
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4. California Summer Meal Coalition Offers Resources
(www.ccrwf.org , February 5, 2010)
The California Summer Meal Program Coalition is a new statewide network dedicated to increasing access to summer meal programs. The group will host a series of webinars from April to June 2010, and will develop case studies and tool kits "to help school districts, food banks, and summer programs easily access best practices for program administration, programming, and nutrition education." They will also encourage new sponsors to operate summer meal programs. Coalition members include: California Department of Education, California Association of Food Banks, California School Boards Association, California After-School Network, Bay Area Partnership, California Food Policy Advocates, YMCA of Silicon Valley, California Center for Research on Women and Families, and FRAC.
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5. LA Times: Food Policy Issues Take Center Stage
Mary MacVean, LA Times: “The business of government often has been conducted over a meal, but these days it's food itself that's on the public agenda: how to get more and better food to poor people, how to improve what children eat at school, how to encourage access to farmers' products and community gardens, how to combat obesity, and more.
In a region of great abundance, demand is dramatically up at food pantries, and yet nearly two-thirds of the adults in L.A. County are overweight or obese -- a paradox that experts suggest is the result of such behaviors as eating too much food that's high in calories but low in nutritional value."I think we are just finally realizing that obesity and hunger are connected," says Andrea Giancoli, nutrition policy consultant for Los Angeles Unified School District.
People are connecting a range of concerns about food -- safety, hunger, health and the environment, says Frank Tamborello of Hunger Action Los Angeles. And local politicians are taking notice too. Among the initiatives:
* The L.A. City Council has adopted a measure to make sure that leftover food from city facilities, including the Los Angeles Convention Center (which already donates some food), gets to food banks.
* L.A. County supervisors have taken steps aimed at getting residents who are eligible for food stamps signed up for them. Matthew Sharp, a senior advocate with California Food Policy Advocates, says nearly 1 million county residents don't get the food stamps they are eligible to receive, meaning that millions of dollars in federal benefits are going to waste.
* The City Council's moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in some parts of the city (an effort that some have questioned), intended to fight obesity and to encourage independent sit-down restaurants, runs through March. And starting next year, thousands of restaurants in California will be required to post calorie counts.
* The mayor has announced a food policy task force, which is cataloging public and private efforts in food production, consumption and distribution and considering whether the city needs a permanent food policy council.
* The L.A. City Council is looking for ways to to help defray some of the costs for farmers market operators who have seen their reimbursement charges increase significantly for street closures, signs and other city expenses.
* Hundreds of vending machines in county facilities are to carry healthful food and drinks as their contracts expire -- baked chips, low-fat cookies and crackers -- under a motion adopted last year. But the supervisors stopped short of deciding to develop a plan to prohibit sugar-sweetened beverages from all county facilities, including the Hollywood Bowl.
* The state has limited the use of trans fats in restaurants, and there has been talk about whether to propose a tax on sodas. At a hearing in City Hall last year, some state legislators heard from advocates of such a tax and also from opponents, who argued for consumer choice and for encouraging people to get more exercise to combat obesity..
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-foodpolitics18-2010feb18,0,2643461.story
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6. Global Warming’s Long Term Effects on Food Prices
The impact of global warming on food prices and hunger could be large over the next 20 years, according to a new Stanford University study. Researchers say that higher temperatures could significantly reduce yields of wheat, rice and maize – dietary staples for tens of millions of poor people who subsist on less than $1 a day. The resulting crop shortages would likely cause food prices to rise and drive many into poverty.
But even as some people are hurt, others would be helped out of poverty, says Stanford agricultural scientist David Lobell.
"Poverty impacts depend not only on food prices but also on the earnings of the poor," said Lobell, a center fellow at Stanford's Program on Food Security and the Environment (FSE). "Most projections assume that if prices go up, the amount of poverty in the world also will go up, because poor people spend a lot of their money on food. But poor people are pretty diverse. There are those who farm their own land and would actually benefit from higher crop prices, and there are rural wage laborers and people that live in cities who definitely will be hurt."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-02/su-gwm021710.php
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7. Recession Hitting Fast Food Outlets At Breakfast Time
The recession has resulted in lower breakfast sales at fast food outlets, according to a recent article.
"Typically, if you're unemployed, you're not getting up at six and not going through the drive-thru," said Jeffrey Bernstein, an analyst at Barclays Capital. "There is a direct correlation between unemployment and breakfast sales."
In the five years before the recession hit, breakfast sales jumped 64 percent, according to NPD Group, a consumer behavior research firm, making it one of the fastest-growing sectors in the industry. But traffic slowed as the economy tanked and the ranks of the jobless soared. By the time unemployment hit 10 percent in the fall, breakfast traffic was down 4 percent.
This month, executives at Burger King reported that traffic rose during every meal except breakfast in the most recent quarter. They blamed unemployment for the falloff. McDonald's chief executive Jim Skinner has said that breakfast sales at its 14,000 U.S. restaurants were rocky in areas with high unemployment despite overall growth. Wendy's jumped into the breakfast bandwagon three years ago, only to end up scuttling its menu amid poor sales. It hopes to relaunch the menu next year.
"When people start feeling economic stress, they tend to trade down," said Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president at WD Partners, a food consulting firm. "When they lose their job, they trade out."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/20/AR2010022003718.html
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8. Do We Have To Grow Our Own Food?
Blogger Sharon Astyk asks "Do You Have to Grow Your Own Food?" and comes up with some interesting points:
“There may come a time when we face immediate, pressing and absolute shortages of food, but we aren't there yet, and that doesn't seem to be the most pressing reality for most of us. What's more likely is that we will struggle economically to buy food, be pressed into purchasing it at unaffordable prices due to lack of good access, and be forced to take money out of our food budgets and put it to meeting other needs. What's most likely is that hunger will begin for many of us (has begun for many of us) as a slow grind, wearing us down, and as safety net after safety net begins to slip, we will find ourselves more and more in need of our gardens - and every other mechanism we have to support ourselves.”
“Do you have to grow food? No, and some people never will, from lack of ability or because they are doing other, equally important work. But for most us, the world is no respecter of persons or importance. I would say you do not have to grow food as long as you have faith that you yourself will never become poor - will never lose your job, never struggle to make ends meet, never through the increasingly shaky safety nets.”
To those who think that urban agriculture is not practical:
“Ninety percent of produce grown in China in the early 1990s was grown within cities. In much of sub-Saharan Africa, up to 20% of all calories consumed are produced in cities. in 1981, Hong Kong had 5 million people and 1,060 km2, and was using 10% of that land to produce 45% of the fresh vegetables, 15% of the pigs and 68% of the live chickens eaten in the city, according to I. Wade's essay "Fertile Cities The whole article linked here is pretty long but well worth reading:
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9. A REAL Food Desert in Southern California: Needles
Bashas', the only grocery store in this tiny Colorado River town on old Route 66 is closing for good in six weeks. Its owners made the announcement this week, and it has left the townspeople stunned and frightened.
The nearest market is 27 miles away in Arizona, and many of the retirees in Needles don't drive anymore.
It's even worse for the mothers in town who are receiving aid under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program - they'll need to travel nearly 100 miles to Blythe to use their WIC vouchers. WIC vouchers can only be spent in the state that issued them (unlike food stamps which can be spent anywhere in the U.S.)
It could not be learned on Friday whether the California WIC office would grant an exception to the people of Needles. The office's phones were manned by a student intern, who explained that because it was a "furlough Friday" and Monday is a holiday, officials would not be back in the office until Tuesday.
The Bashas' grocery chain is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which it filed for on July 12, said company spokeswoman Kristy Nied.
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_14401952
J. Maier, a reader in Rialto, adds:
“1) In just a few months, temperatures will soar above 115 degrees. That's going to be very sad for those individuals who don't have air conditioning in their vehicles, let alone any mode of transportation.
2) Why aren't there any other grocery stores in Needles? Are we going to try to blame our president and his advisers or are we going to stop being in denial and face the facts that our state and country are in perilous times, or as the governator would say, "a state of emergency"? “
http://www.sbsun.com/letters/ci_14441471
(A couple years ago concerned residents of Palmdale and Lancaster related the stories of retirees found by social workers with absolutely no food in their house. They were unable to afford gasoline to get to the store during the price hikes that summer—Ed.)
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10. New Studies Analyzing Food Stamps, TANF, and Other Support
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released a new report on the Food Stamp and TANF programs.
The Food Stamp Program, a federal entitlement program, has responded quickly to rising need: nationally caseloads have increased by 4.6 million households (37 percent) since the beginning of the downturn.
TANF, a fixed block grant provided directly to the states, has lagged far behind: caseloads have increased by just 10 percent, and in 23 states, caseloads have increased by 5 percent or less or have actually declined.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3096 http://www.cbpp.org/files/2-25-10fa.pdf
Support for Low-Income Individuals and Families: A Review of Recent GAO Work. GAO-10-342R, February 22. The Government Accountability Office has released a summary of its reports on the support provided to low-income Americans, and African-Americans in particular, including programs and policies supporting low-income workers and families through (1) income supports, (2) worker training, (3) programs involving fathers, and (4) care and protection of children.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-342R
California Not the Only State With Budget Problems: 29 states have made cuts to health care. 24 have made cuts to programs for seniors. 29 have also made cuts in K-12 education and 39 have made cuts in higher education. Center on Budget and Policy priorities report.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1214
http://www.cbpp.org/files/3-13-08sfp.pdf
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Feb. 19, 2010:
- Call Senators to Extend Unemployment and Renew Money for Jobs Program
- Upcoming Events:
- State Budget Update
- Treasure Box Food Boxes
- War on the Poor Continues: More People Need Assistance, Yet More Are Critical of Assistance
- Food Stamps in California: Three Stories
- Childhood Obesity: There’s Money In Obese Kids
- The Economics of Local Farming: Three Stories
1. Call Senators to Extend Unemployment and Renew Money for Jobs Program
From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
“We are contacting you to ask that you take immediate action to contact your Democratic Senators about including an extension and expansion of the TANF Emergency Fund in the unemployment insurance (UI)/COBRA bill that will be under Senate consideration next week .Senator Kerry is currently circulating a letter to Majority Leader Reid and to the Finance Committee chairman, Senator Baucus, urging them, as part of this UI extension legislation, to extend the TANF Emergency Fund for a year, increase the maximum that a state can receive, and add federal funds so states can continue and expand their programs. “
“The Senate must pass the UI/COBRA extension before February 26th so we have a very small window for trying to get these TANF provisions into that bill. (It is possible the deadline will be extended another day but we need offices to hear from you this week.)”
In plain language, we need to call Senators Boxer and Feinstein (202-224-3121 Capitol Switchboard) and urge them to extend unemployment benefits, and while they’re at it extend the TANF Emergency Fund. From that fund came the money that’s provided over 4,000 jobs so far for very low income Angelenos. We need the fund to continue so we can provide more jobs into the next year. For more information call or e mail Liz Schott schott@cbpp.org, 206 324-9627 work, 206 898-0321 cell
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2. Upcoming Events:
The next Hunger Action LA meeting is Thursday Feb. 25 at 3 pm. The location will be: LA Alliance for a New Economy 464 S. Lucas Ave. LA CA 90017 Free parking on top and underneath!On the agenda: Responding to the threatened cuts to cash aid in the California budget: planning for this year’s Hunger Action Day: food stamp outreach efforts: campaigns for healthy grocery stores: and just a lot of good networking with other people working on food related projects. RSVP to 213 388 8228 or frank@hungeractionla.org
Working Families Summit: February 25th. >From the California Center for Research on Women and Families: Register Now! THE CALIFORNIA WORKING FAMILIES POLICY SUMMIT 2010 featuring Keynote Speaker Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis and a taped message from First Lady Michelle Obama! Thursday, February 25, 2010, Sacramento Convention Center http://www.ccrwf.org/
Friday, March 12, 2010: A Teach-In on the California Budget Crisis: How it Impacts Our Communities AND What we can do to Take Action, 11:30am-3:00 pm. Registration and Lunch will begin at 11:30am Location: Downtown Labor Center, 675 S Park View St, LA 90057 Featuring: Jean Ross , Executive Director of the California Budget Project:; Community dialogue with Legislators including the Honorable Karen Bass. Co-Sponsors:California Partnership, Liberty Hill, UCLA Labor Center, Community Health Council, CHIRLA. RSVP to Astrid by Monday, March 1st : acampos@communitychange.org
Eco Faire, West Hills: Shomrei Torah Synagogue is sponsoring the 2nd Annual Eco Faire & Farmers Market at 7353 Valley Circle Blvd. West Hills, CA 91304 on March 21 from 9am to 1pmI am. Volunteers, vendors, educators, people who sell “green “ products and backyard fruit growers are invited to attend---free! No fees! The synagogue is working with a few other synagogues on implementing green practices and eating locally. For more information call Connie at 310-439-4009
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3. State Budget Update
California's Legislature is in the midst of holding hearings on the Governor's 2010-11 state budget proposal. The Governor's plan includes no revenue increases and instead relies on deep cuts to programs vital to our communities, such as Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, and CalWORKs. The Governor is also proposing to eliminate programs for immigrants including full-scope Medi-Cal, the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), and Recent Noncitizen Entrants program in CalWORKs.
Take action now:
Our representatives need to hear from you! Send a letter to the chairs of the Senate and Assembly budget committee TODAY letting them know you oppose cuts to programs on which we all rely. Our state's budget gap is too large to be closed through cuts alone. In this time of economic crisis we need our leadership to fight for our most vulnerable communities. Here’s a sample letter
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=9Q4Lsc5w7ttDxVp0zaa8vb9XnjOAPWTl
For more information or to tell us you took action, contact Marty Martinez at: mmartinez@cpehn.org
Legal immigrants targeted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest proposals to close California's budget shortfall would end public assistance for most new legal immigrants, eliminating emergency cash, food and medical aid for those who don't yet qualify for federal welfare.
The proposal would represent an about-face for the state. In 1996, Congress denied access to welfare for most legal immigrants who weren't citizens. California and other states established programs to fill the gap.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immigrant-cuts17-2010feb17,0,2170860.story
Senate Democrats introduce jobs package hoping to create 140,000 jobs:
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4. Treasure Box Food Boxes
Treasure Box has become an option for many families in the recession. It’s similar to the SHARE program that has come and gone from L.A. a couple of times. The food boxes are distributed from churches and community agencies. their website:
“The Treasure Box provides families and individuals with a substantial box of grocery store quality food retailing between $65-100 for just $30 each. The Treasure Box cultivates relationships with more than 500 major food manufacturers across the country to purchase and provide top quality, nutritious food at sizeable volume discounts to the general public. Each Treasure Box contains between 21-25 pounds of high quality, frozen foods, including chicken, pork, beef, or seafood, as well as vegetables, fruit, a side dish and a dessert. One Treasure Box is enough food to nutritiously feed a family of four lunch and dinner for almost a week or a senior citizen for nearly a month.”
http://www.thetreasurebox.org/mission.php
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5. War on the Poor Continues: More People Need Assistance, Yet More Are Critical of Assistance
IN spite of the fact that food stamp enrollment is at an all time high and even conservative politicians’ attitude toward the program has shifted, In tough times, people are tough on the poor.
In an April 2009 poll by the Pew Research Center in Washington, 72 percent agreed with the statement that "poor people have become too dependent on government assistance programs." That's up from 69 percent in 2007.
"The economic downturn has made the middle class less generous toward others," said Guy Molyneux, a partner at Hart Research Associates, a Washington firm that researches attitudes toward the poor. "People are less supportive of the government helping the poor, because they feel they're not getting enough help themselves.
"It's a divided country, splitting on a fault line: those who think the poor are poor because they don't try enough, and those who think the poor simply need help."Matt Wray, a sociologist at Temple University, agreed: "Hatred of the poor is fueled by the middle class's fear of falling during hard times."
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/84368242.htm l
Arizona Might Forbid Food Stamp Recipients from Smoking, Drinking: A new law is working it's way through the Arizona state capital. It could put some major restrictions on people who use food stamps, as well as how they spend their own money. The law would basically forbid food stamp recipients from smoking or drinking. They wouldn't be allowed to buy t.v.'s over $300, or cars over $500.Recipients would have to stick to basic cable and cell phone plans, and that cell phone would only be allowed if it was a primary phone. The sponsors of this bill believe that people who have the money to spend on things like alcohol and high-end cell phones, shouldn't be relying on the government for help.
That proposed law is reminiscent of the formerly nationwide ban on food stamps for persons with felony drug convictions. Missouri is one of 11 states that still upholds the ban, but a couple of bills in their state legislature would modify that ban, similar to the system now in place in California:
http://www.globe-democrat.com/news/2010/feb/11/lifting-food-stamp-ban-not-about-coddling-drug-use/
Do As We Say, Not As We Do: Some of the disconnect can be seen in people who needed assistance but now condemn it, for other people. Blogger Serafin Anderson in New Hampshire: “At President Barack Obama’s recent appearance in Nashua, I found myself standing among Tea Party posters proclaiming “Down with Government.” Talking with the protesters was revealing. One spoke out against government spending. “The government shouldn’t be going into debt,” she said. “I used to be $17,000 in debt, and now I have paid my debt down to $6,500.”
“That’s great!” I exclaimed. “How did you manage that?” She replied: “I used my unemployment insurance …”
Another was against all government social programs, although she admitted that she lived on food stamps when she was a single mom and couldn’t find work.
There seem to be (two glaring) problems in these conversations. The first is a lack of knowledge about effective government and what it does for communities . The second can be summed up in the words: “I’ll take what I need from government (unemployment insurance, food stamps, etc.), but I don’t want to be fairly taxed for it, and I certainly don’t want government to help out anyone else.”
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6. Food Stamps in California: Three Stories
Expanding access at Farmers’ Markets: State Assemblyman Juan Arambula introduced AB 537 which would allow groups of farmers at farmers markets to accept food stamp payments even if the market operator doesn’t want to invest in the necessary equipment. He s aid he introduced the bill to help poor people gain more access to fresh fruits and vegetables because poverty and unhealthy lifestyles lead to obesity and diabetes. Unemployment soars above 30 percent in some communities in Arambula's Central Valley district.
The Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association, which trains farmers to become independent and sell directly to customers, helped draft the bill. The group has worked with farmers markets from Fresno to Oakland to set up the systems.
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/ci_14408883
Another Report On San Diego’s Food Stamp Denials: Two anti-poverty groups are slamming San Diego County's administration of the food stamp program, saying it falls woefully short of reaching all the people who are hungry and forces applicants to scale unnecessary hurdles.
The San Diego-based Supportive Parents Information Network and the Caring Council of San Diego report calls for mandatory review of all application denials and benefit reductions, reduced waiting times and an end to a home-inspection requirement.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_675c6ada-5604-5ef2-947b-df4051bcbbe0.html
The Supportive Parents and Caring Council study is available online atwww.caringcouncilsd.org
How Food Stamp Outreach is Doing In Cal: The California Association of Food Banks (CAFB) and the Congressional Hunger Center (CHC) have partnered to create a new report on out-of-office food stamp applications in California. The report features a case study on food stamp outreach and application assistance programs, county policies, and online application systems in ten California counties.
The report can be downloaded at http://myfoodstamps.org/aboutfsop.html
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7. Childhood Obesity: There’s Money In Obese Kids
The federal Farm Bill subsidizes the growing of ingredients for unhealthy food, and the marketing industry has employed all the latest tools of science (even down to spying on kids in the bathroom) to find a way to make your kid demand that you buy him/her Sponge Bob Square Pants Macaroni and Cheese. So, while 99.9% of everyone you meet will agree with you we should do something about childhood obesity, there’s a sizeable chunk of people whose livelihoods depend on making kids want to eat junk.
First fix the Farm Bill : Physiologist Karen Nelson: “Did you know that the Farm Bill helps determine what sort of food your children will have for lunch inschool tomorrow? The school-lunch program began back in 1946, at a time when the public-health problem of America’s children was malnutrition, so feeding surplus agricultural commodities to kids seemed like a good strategy.
“Today the problem is overnutrition. A school lunch server trying to prepare healthful fresh food will get dinged by U.S.D.A. inspectors for failing to serve enough calories. If she dishes up a lunch that includes chicken nuggets and french fries, however, the reimbursements flow. The Farm Bill essentially uses our children as a wasteland for all the unhealthful calories that the farm bill encourages American farmers to overproduce. The Farm Bill, heavily subsidizes soybeans, corn, and wheat – three major ingredients, or sources, of many of the ingredients in junk food.”
“Did you know that the real price of fruits and vegetables between 1985 and 2000 increased by nearly 40 percent while the real price of soft drinks (aka liquid corn) declined by 23 percent?”
http://tucsoncitizen.com/kare/2010/02/08/childhood-obesity-first-fix-the-farm-bill/
Consuming kids: Do you know what the TV is doing to your children? “Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood “67 minute DVD throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and violent video games to bogus educational products and the family car.
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=134
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8. The Economics of Local Farming: Three Stories
Responding to criticism of the “locavore” movement : Kurt Friese, on the board of Slow Food, comments on a critic of the movement to grow and eat local food : “In Sunday's New York Times, Damon Darlin (a techno writer who did a one-off column on food-Ed.) states, "People who grow vegetables in empty lots and schoolyards have a nice, wholesome hobby -- but one that can make little sense economically,"….. he needs to do a bit more research .”
“In fact, during World Wars I, II and the Great Depression for example, more than half of America's produce came from privately held or community-based "Victory Gardens." With respect to making "little sense economically," I've often pointed out that where I live in Johnson County, Iowa, there are about 50,000 households. If each of them redirected just $10 of their existing weekly food budget toward getting something locally - from a farmers market, a CSA, a local brewery, or eggs from the farmer down the road, it would keep $26 million in our economy every year. “
“We are not idiots and none of us expects to see the brick-by-brick dismantling of McDonald's worldwide. But there is a massive amount of room for improvement and we want to see it. …Trying to stick us with an elitist tag when we are trying to help farmers and raise healthy children simply won't wash.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kurt-friese/still-another-critic-of-r_b_464100.html
A critic looks at sustainable ag in Vermont: “Conventional agriculture was adopted because it lowers costs and boosts yields. Sustainable agriculture yields less food that costs more to produce and is more expensive to buy than conventional food….Providing sustainable local food for Vermonters in lower economic classes would require subsidizing the differential cost of conventional and sustainable food. Growing sustainable local food for Vermonters in higher economic classes will entail convincing them to pay the difference.”
The writer seems to suggest that eating healthy actually IS just for the wealthy, and that the poor should just stick to “conventionally” grown food. “Let them eat junk”, I suppose.
http://vtdigger.org/2010/02/15/maroney-sustainable-ag-council-report-is-conceptually-flawed/
Helping Haiti in the Short Term Without Hurting in the Long Term: Foreign aid in the past has often just been a way for U.S. producers to dump surplus goods, and hurts the economy of the aided country by forcing their farmers to compete against much cheaper or free American product. Hopefully, Haiti will be a different story.
Cheryl Mills, Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “With the upcoming planting season in Haiti, there will be a greater supply of farm laborers, but there may also be additional mouths to feed. The destruction of the ports means that trade has been disrupted but farmers may benefit from an increased demand for locally grown food. And though the donor community is committed to supporting Haiti with food aid, this aid must be properly targeted to avoid depressing food prices and hurting farmers.”
“…The U.S. and other donors have joined together with the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture to fund important cash-for-work programs that are employing displaced people and others in rural areas outside Port-au-Prince. These workers are rehabilitating and restoring damaged agricultural infrastructure such as irrigation canals and farm-to-market roads, By giving people the opportunity to earn cash through productive jobs, we create the means for people to purchase what they need, stimulate the local economy and contribute to the country's long-term foundation for growth.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cheryl-mills/the-importance-of-agricul_b_461556.html
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Feb. 13, 2010:
Many thanks to Alicia Lepe, Matt Sharp and others for contributing articles.
- Upcoming Events
- Tell Congress: Don’t Let Unemployment Expire
- Budget Committees Need to Hear From Us!
- Creating Incentives To Increase Healthy Eating
- Food Bank Study: Ten Percent of LA County Sought Food Aid Last Year
- The “Lost Decade” of the Middle Class
- Food Stamp Resources
- An Innovative Idea for Job Creation
- Federal Government Takes On Obesity: Junk Food Takes On Federal Lawmakers
- For Next Farm Bill: Fewer Farm Subsidies?
- Census Prepares to Count Homeless
1. Upcoming Events:
The next Hunger Action LA meeting is Thursday Feb. 25 at 3 pm. The location will be: LA Alliance for a New Economy 464 S. Lucas Ave. LA CA 90017 Free parking on top and underneath!On the agenda: Responding to the threatened cuts to cash aid in the California budget: planning for this year’s Hunger Action Day: food stamp outreach efforts: campaigns for healthy grocery stores: and just a lot of good networking with other people working on food related projects. RSVP to 213 388 8228 or frank@hungeractionla.org
California Food Policy Advocates: 11th Food Stamp Forum: Last Chance to Register!Our annual Food Stamp Forum is next week, Thursday, February 18th! This year's forum already has broken records in attendance. Be there or be square! Attendance is free, as always, and includes lunch. Registration closes on Friday, February 12th. For those who have already registered and may not be able to attend, please let us know! www.cfpa.net
Working Families Summit: February 25th. >From the California Center for Research on Women and Families: Register Now! THE CALIFORNIA WORKING FAMILIES POLICY SUMMIT 2010 featuring Keynote Speaker Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis and a taped message from First Lady Michelle Obama! Thursday, February 25, 2010, Sacramento Convention Center http://www.ccrwf.org/
Eco Faire, West Hills: Shomrei Torah Synagogue is sponsoring the 2nd Annual Eco Faire & Farmers Market at 7353 Valley Circle Blvd. West Hills, CA 91304 on March 21 from 9am to 1pmI am. Volunteers, vendors, educators, people who sell “green “ products and backyard fruit growers are invited to attend---free! No fees! The synagogue is working with a few other synagogues on implementing green practices and eating locally. For more information call Connie at 310-439-4009
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2. Tell Congress: Don’t Let Unemployment Expire
Everyone is feeling the pinch. If Congress doesn't provide fiscal relief to states who are experiencing greater demands for services and reduced revenue, jobs will continue to be cut. At the same time, millions of people out of work could lose benefits and hundreds of thousands of related jobs could be lost. Tell Congress to get states and local governments the relief they need and don't let unemployment expire on February 28. Click here for an easy way to be connected to Congress:http://www.jobs4americanow.org/dont-let-congress-cut-lifelines/
To see estimates of how many in your state are on the brink of losing their benefits in the months ahead see NELP's fact sheet:
http://www.nelp.org/page/-/UI/exhaustion.chart.feb.2010.pdf?nocdn=1
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3. State Budget Committees Need to Hear >From Us!
California's Legislature is in the midst of holding hearings on the Governor's 2010-11 state budget proposal. The Governor's plan includes no revenue increases and instead relies on deep cuts to programs vital to our communities, such as Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, and CalWORKs. The Governor is also proposing to eliminate programs for immigrants including full-scope Medi-Cal, the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), and Recent Noncitizen Entrants program in CalWORKs.
Take action now:
Our representatives need to hear from you! Send a letter to the chairs of the Senate and Assembly budget committee TODAY letting them know you oppose cuts to programs on which we all rely. Our state's budget gap is too large to be closed through cuts alone. In this time of economic crisis we need our leadership to fight for our most vulnerable communities. Here’s a sample letter
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=9Q4Lsc5w7ttDxVp0zaa8vb9XnjOAPWTl
For more information or to tell us you took action, contact Marty Martinez at: mmartinez@cpehn.org
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4. Creating Incentives To Increase Healthy Eating
“Last year, the use of food stamps at (San Francisco’s) farmer’s markets increased 85 percent, according to a new report from Department of Health chief Mitch Katz. This summer, The City will be partnering with the Alemany Farmers Market and Fillmore Farmers Market “to increase market food stamp use by providing nutrition education, cooking classes and incentives,” Katz’s report said.“Food stamp recipients spending at least $10 in food stamps at these markets will receive additional market tokens to purchase more produce,” the report said.”
And why not? The government is looking at two different approaches to promote healthier eating for food stamp participants, one of them being to subsidize the cost of fruit, vegetables and milk, the other to increase the amount of food stamp benefits. A study shows that the subsidy would actually increase consumption more than just raising the food stamp benefits (We all know how expensive fruit, vegetable and dairy are.) See the study summary:
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5. Food Bank Study: Ten Percent of LA County Sought Food Aid Last Year
Surprising new statistics reveal just how tough times have been for Los Angeles County residents. According to a study released last week, nearly 1 in 10 sought food from pantries, soup kitchens and other programs designed to feed poor people last year.
"I can't believe that we live in a society that allows people to choose between food and utilities, food and rent," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of the county Department of Public Health.
Thirty-seven percent of families seeking food at soup kitchens included at least one employed adult, though about two-thirds of those had only part- time jobs.
Twenty-seven percent had a college or technical school education, but were faced with paying bills or buying food, the report found.
The 983,400 residents tracked in the report represent a 46 percent increase from four years ago
Children make up 40 percent of those benefiting from food at shelters, pantries and soup kitchens, a number that has more than doubled during the past four years.
Seniors represent just 5 percent of the total.
"People are rightfully appalled with what we see in Haiti ... we should be equally concerned with what we see in our own backyard," Fielding said.
Full report from LA Regional Food Bank
http://www.lafightshunger.org/images/HILAC2010.pdf
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6. The “Lost Decade” of the Middle Class
Jim Hightower discusses the decline of America’s middle class:
“For the middle class, the 10 years since January 2000 are known as "the lost decade." In that period, the U.S. economy lost more jobs than it created -- zero job growth. That's the first decade since the end of the Depression that our country has had less than a 20 percent rise in job creation.
Also, after the 10-year frenzy of tax-cutting, middle-class families are earning less today, in real dollars, than they did in 1999. Add in skyrocketing health care costs and the plummeting value of people's homes, and we get the harsh reality of mushrooming poverty. “
http://www.truthout.org/jim-hightower-republicans-out-touch-middle-class-sinks56622
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7. Food Stamp Resources
A record 38.2 million Americans were enrolled in the food stamp program at latest count, up 246,000 from the previous month and the latest in record-high monthly tallies that began in December 2008. USDA estimates up to $58 billion will be spent on food stamps this fiscal year, which ends Sept 30, with average enrollment of 40.5 million people. Food stamps were renamed the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in 2008. Participation has surged since the financial-market turmoil of late 2008 and has set records each month since December 2008, when it reached 31.78 million.
More food stamp resources, including an interactive map showing each county in the US food stamp participation, and a history of the program with a photo from 1939, emphasizing that the program was to help farmers sell surplus foods as much as to help the hungry (Note the items listed that can be bought with the “blue” food stamps):
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/11/us/FOODSTAMPS.html
The stigma of receiving food stamps has decreased (in spite of recent comments by some elected officials comparing recipients to “stray animals”). Lawmakers from both parties have been supporting the program, easing rules, and encouraging working people to apply:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/us/11foodstamps.html?emc=eta1&pagewanted=all
Here is how a media spotlight on food stamps helped spur enrollment in Texas: “Because of a food stamp story News 4 WOAI aired in January, thousands of families are now getting the help they need to put food on their tables. Our story also shed light on how effective San Antonio's Food Bank is at getting applicants through the state's failing food stamp system. Now the state is looking to San Antonio for help….News 4 WOAI called the Food Bank of San Antonio Friday to follow-up on our previous story and find out if more families are turning to the Food Bank for help. The Food Bank’s Executive Director Eric Cooper says our story ignited a flood of phone calls and it helped put San Antonio in the spotlight.”
San Diego County spends less on welfare, mental health and related public assistance programs than do similarly sized counties in California, according to a report released Monday by Claremont McKenna College. The county also denies more welfare assistance applications ---- nearly 61 percent ---- than any of the 11 counties the report profiles.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_0bcd519a-8f7e-5516-aff0-ef341048252b.html
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8. An Innovative Idea for Job Creation
James Adler of LA County’s Public Social Services Commission describes LA’s current subsidized employment program and suggests ways to create more jobs: “Using stimulus dollars, the Department of Public Social Services is creating 10,000 jobs paying $10 an hour for 40 hours a week, primarily for recipients of CalWorks, the state's primary welfare program for families. Participants are paid by a county contractor and placed in subsidized jobs that match their skill levels and goals in all sectors of the economy”
“Another way to create more jobs for those with lower skills would be to modify the bidding rules for federal contractors. Now bids are awarded to the lowest qualified bidder, but, in reality, such a bid does not necessarily have the lowest net cost to the federal government. That's because the system takes no account of the real, measurable cost of each unemployed person, including unemployment insurance, welfare, taxes lost, food stamps and other safety-net programs. In periods of high unemployment, these costs are quite high.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-adler7-2010feb07,0,3170003.story
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9. Federal Government Takes On Obesity: Junk Food Takes On Federal Lawmakers
Michelle Obama Introduces Let’s Move: First Lady Michelle Obama introduced “Let’s Move”, a national campaign to fight obesity through healthy eating and exercise:
http://www.letsmove.gov/index.html
Soda Tax Idea Runs Into Massive Wall of Big Money Opposition: From LA Times. Employing a broad-based lobbying effort, the soft drink industry has smothered a plan at the federal level to tax sugared beverages -- a plan advocates said would have reduced obesity and helped finance healthcare reform. The big beverage makers (and fast food companies) formed a coalition to oppose the very idea of a soda tax. Among the groups they recruited to join that coalition were an association of 36,000 Latino doctors that focuses on obesity and diabetes. The association’s leader claims that the fact they got $10,000 from one of the soft drink makers didn’t really affect their decision, at all.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-soda-tax7-2010feb07,0,3512680,full.story
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10. For Next Farm Bill: Fewer Farm Subsidies?
President Barack Obama asked Congress on Monday to slash crop subsidies to "wealthy farmers" and to pare federal support for crop insurance, moves estimated to save $10 billion over 10 years. The administration plan would end crop subsidies to people with more than $250,000 adjusted gross income (AGI) from off-farm sources or more than $500,000 on-farm AGI. The caps now are $500,000 off-farm AGI and $750,000 on-farm AGI.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0118312020100201?type=marketsNews
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11. Census Prepares to Count Homeless
U.S. Census Bureau workers are gearing up to count the nation's homeless as part of the 2010 Census at the end of March, a once-per-decade effort that this year will rely heavily on the expertise of local homeless service providers. In Santa Monica, which conducts an annual count of its homeless population and completed its latest count last week, that means reaching out to City Hall and independent non-profit service providers to ensure a thorough survey.
John Maceri, who chairs the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition and is executive director of Santa Monica-based OPCC, said the last census in 2000 fell short of the goal of providing an accurate picture of the country's homelessness problem. But this year he said the census appears to be taking a different approach. "It feels to me this time like there's much more of a focused effort and they've started earlier," he said.
http://www.smdp.com/Articles-c-2010-02-02-68559.113116_US_Census_prepping_for_homeless_count.html
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Feb. 1, 2010:
- Upcoming Events
- Hunger and Poverty in America During The Recession
- Job Creation To End Poverty
- Fossilized Rhetoric Against the Poor Returns to Life
- Around California: Desperate Times
- Child Nutrition Activities
- Fudge Fights Obesity: Slaughter To Protect Farm Animals
- How Americans are Coping with Poverty
- Dollar Stores: Last Step Before the Food Line
- If They Sell Enough Peanut Butter, It’ll Cover Their Donation
- The Quest for Healthy Food
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1. Upcoming Events:
The next Hunger Action LA meeting is Thursday Feb. 25 at 3 pm: location to be determined. Be part of the planning for this year’s Hunger Action Day.
CSU: Community of Practice Learning Exchange Food Party – Fri Feb 5th, 6pm to 9pm
Community Services Unlimited is sponsoring its monthly fundraising dinner party on Friday Feb. 5th. They are hosting special guests from the Food Project and the Berkana Institute. During this very special Food Party you will hear briefly about the individual work of each organization and about why we choose to engage in a community of practice and how this advances our field of work.
Spaces are limited, so RSVP soon to neelam@csuinc.org or call 323 299 7075. So, get your confirmation in early; for you to be confirmed, we must receive your payment in advance. Rsvp and send your donation ($20. minimum) payable to CSU to 1344 West Martin Luther King Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90037. Or you can pay at our web site through pay pal; http://www.csuinc.org
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2. Hunger and Poverty in America During The Recession:
Nationwide one in five report hunger:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/us/27bfs-ONEINFIVEREP_BRF.html
Nowhere in U.S. hunger-free: Of the 100 largest metropolitan areas, 82 had food hardship rates of 15 percent or more. Likewise, only 23 Congressional districts had a food hardship rate of less than 10 percent, and 139 had rates of more than 20 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/us/26food.html
Cash Assistance Rolls Up: Welfare rolls rose in 2009 for the first time in 15 years, but the 5% increase was dwarfed by spikes in the number of people receiving food stamps and unemployment insurance. The disparity has caused some of those involved in passing the 1996 welfare overhaul to question whether it's failing to help victims of the recession.
"Making the rolls decline got to be a badge of honor for states," says Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution, who led the Republican staff on the House panel that wrote much of the law. "The evidence now is that it is not a very good safety net." (This comment is striking because this welfare reform was one of the pillars of the Republican platform that year---Ed.)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-01-25-welfare-rolls_N.htm
Number of homeless kids up: Since the 2006-2007 school year, 26 states collectively report a 50 percent increase in the number of homeless children attending school.And, during the 2007-2008 school year, school districts reported an additional 114,893 homeless students – a 17 percent increase – over the prior year.
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2010/01/25/daily62.html
See also from last week’s story about homeless kids in LA Unified School District "In extraordinary cases, some have taken in homeless youth to live with them," the report noted.
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/recession-hits-calif-students-152170.aspx
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3. Job Creation To End Poverty:
The Half in Ten Campaign is a national effort to cut poverty in half in the next 10 years. They’re calling for creation of 2 million jobs, extension of unemployment benefits and aid to states in the meantime, and an end to childhood hunger. You can sign on to their campaign;
“Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Friday told the U.S. Conference of Mayors the economic stimulus package is a jobs generator…In his speech, Vilsack called the increase in supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits "an economic driver" that helps truckers, grocery stores and farmers. Those benefits, which used to be known as food stamps, have gotten the most funding of any USDA program.”
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0110/012210cdpm2.htm?oref=todaysnews
Rev. David Beckmann, president, Bread for the World, urged members of the National Latino Congreso to press their representatives in Congress to create more green jobs in order to reduce hunger and poverty among U.S. Latinos. "A recent poll by the Alliance to End Hunger found that half of all likely American voters say their families are living paycheck to paycheck. However, among Latino families, it's an alarming seven out of 10," he said.
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4. Fossilized Rhetoric Against the Poor Returns to Life
Politician Calls Food Stamp Participants “Stray Animals” “Republican Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer of South Carolina recently compared poor people on welfare to stray cats and dogs. Providing hungry people with an “ample food supply,” says Bauer only encourages them to breed more poor wretches whom the state is forced to feed. “
http://chattahbox.com/us/2010/01/24/sc-lt-gov-poor-like-stray-animals-dont-feed-them-or-they-breed/
So Is Bauer Calling Our Military Families “Stray Animals”? :Military members and their families are using more food stamps than in previous years – redeeming them last year at nearly twice the civilian rate, according to Defense Commissary Agency figures.
http://www.military.com/news/article/more-troops-are-relying-on-food-stamps.html
Smarter Than Many Politicians: Linda Roberts of Normal, Illinois, with wisdom for all of us regarding the general ban on food stamps for people with certain past drug felonies: “Whether someone has a felony conviction or not has nothing to do with the fact the person needs to eat. When a felon goes to prison, is that person not fed and housed at the expense of taxpayers and the government? When they have served that sentence, is it not a fact that their debt to society has been paid for the crime they were convicted of? How is a person to come out of prison, rejoin the general population, reunite with children and family, without a job — at least for a short time — without receiving assistance from the government? Where is the sense in this?”
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_96973d60-0ad5-11df-bf55-001cc4c03286.html
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5. Around California: Desperate Times
Nearly one out of five Californians said they did not have enough money to buy needed food for themselves or their family in 2008 and 2009, according to a new report released by the Food Research and Action Center. A number of large metropolitan areas in California were included in the report and ranked high in the percent of people who suffered from food hardship in 2008-2009, including:
Bakersfield: 25.2 percent, Fresno: 24.1 percent, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana: 20.7 percent: Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura: 16.2 percent: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario: 22.8 percent, and San-Diego-Carlsbad-San Marco: 17.6 percent
Bakersfield was ranked second worst in the nation and Fresno the fourth worst among the nation’s metro areas with the highest rates of food hardship in 2008-2009. This in spite of the fact that Fresno is the second most productive agricultural county in the nation!
Betsy Edwards of the California Hunger Action Coalition says "More efforts must to be made to create well-paying jobs and reduce unemployment rates, and federal nutrition safety-net programs such as the SNAP/ Food Stamp program and child nutrition programs must be expanded and strengthened."
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=14245
Inland Empire: Nearly 1,500 San Bernardino County families could lose some or all of their food stamp benefits if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest budget recommendation goes through. He recommends eliminating the California Food Assistance Program, which provides food stamp benefits to legal U.S. residents who have not lived in the U.S. long enough to receive traditional federally funded food stamps.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_14257268
Tulare: Sandy Beals, director of FoodLink Inc. for Tulare County, which provides food for people in need, said she worries about layoffs among county workers who process food stamp applications. If the county scales back, she said, longer lines could result, with people giving up in frustration and coming to FoodLink instead of using the food stamps program.
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20100123/NEWS01/100123004/1002
West LA: St. Josephs in Los Angeles struggles to serve Westside needy, with increasing demand and decreased donations. Article from the Catholic diocesan newspaper “The Tidings”.
http://www.the-tidings.com/2010/012910/stjoes.htm
Food Stamp Gap: Only 48 percent of eligible Californians use food stamps, while the national average is 66 percent. Rep. Joe Baca of San Bernardino recently held hearings that examined this disparity.While many more Californians are using food stamps today - participation started rising dramatically in mid 2007 – California Food Policy Advocates spokesman Matthew Sharp said many Californians are still missing out on food stamp benefits. One possible hindrance, some said, could be the requirement of fingerprinting. Rep. Baca said he agreed that California's practice to require fingerprints of prospective SNAP applicants be abolished.
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_14259000
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_14267156
State Budget: The Governor has proposed huge cuts in health, education, and cash assistance: for an analysis see California Budget Project
http://www.cbp.org/pdfs/2010/100108_Gov_Budget.pdf
Western Center on Law and Poverty analysis
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6. Child Nutrition Activities
Antihunger groups ask $1 billion for child meals: In a letter to congressional leaders, 53 farm, education, health, religious and food groups pointed to President Barack Obama's proposal a year ago for a $1 billion increase for child nutrition. Obama has a goal of ending child hunger by 2015.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60L65720100122
USDA Announces $25 Million in School Kitchen Equipment Grants: On January 14, 2010 USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the availability of $25 million in school kitchen equipment grants to help schools operating a National School Lunch Program (NSLP) replace outdated equipment. According to Vilsack, “These grants will help schools obtain much needed infrastructure to better serve their students and will focus on equipment that helps schools provide nutritious meals, support food safety efforts, improve energy efficiency, and expand participation in school nutrition programs."
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7. Fudge Fights Obesity: Slaughter To Protect Farm Animals
Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) recently introduced a House Resolution (H. Res. 996) to recognize September as Child Obesity Awareness Month. This resolution focuses on the importance of nutrition, physical activity and routine screening and the role of schools, parents and communities in preventing and reversing childhood obesity. To get this resolution passed into law, Rep. Fudge needs 200 members of Congress to co-sponsor it. The American Dietetic Association is sponsoring this resolution with several other organizations.
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2009/12/rep_marcia_fudge_launches_effo.html
Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY) is introducing legislation to limit the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in farm animals. This overuse of antibiotics, in addition to practices like dipping chickens we send overseas in chlorine, has caused Russia to ban U.S. pork and poultry. It is believed to also cause antibiotic-resistant infections in people.
http://www.agri-pulse.com/uploaded/Jan0610H1.pdf
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8. How Americans are Coping with Poverty
Credit Cards: Robert D. Manning comments on another “safety net” strategy, the credit card.”They're yuppie food stamps. Today, Americans are more dependent on credit than savings, a radical departure from the last major economic crisis, in the 1930s. “The rest of Manning’s articles deals with five myths about our country’s current credit card debt and how the companies have expanded their market (and our debt) through deregulation:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012902504.html
Borrowing from Family: More than half of the respondents to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll of 708 unemployed adults nationwide said they had borrowed money from friends or relatives. In most cases, their financial pictures were bleak. Nearly 80 percent of those who reported borrowing money said their family’s financial situation was “fairly bad” or “very bad,” a significantly greater proportion than among those who had not had to borrow.
Nearly 40 percent of those who had been lent money received food stamps, compared with just 13 percent of those who had not. Younger unemployed adults were more likely to borrow money — 61 percent of those under the age of 45 said they had. But more than a third of those over the age of 45 had as well.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/us/30borrow.html
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9. Dollar Stores: Last Step Before the Food Line
As the recession continues, more and more people save by buying food from dollar stores. AlterNet: “The rock-bottom of the food chain, as it were, is the dollar store, the last stop before the food pantry, which is where a lot of unsold dollar store goods end up…While romantics tend to fantasize about a resurgence of locally grown produce and "slow," heirloom and gourmet specialty markets, American discount food manufacturers are meeting an undeniably growing demand for cheap eats.”
The article points out that much of this food is from other countries: and even that in the U.S. is of considerably lower quality than the counterparts in “regular” stores, substituting cheap ingredients.
“Perhaps the most glaring example of adulterated merchandise comes in the form of a plastic bear. "Little Honey Bear Blend" is a product marketed by Global Brands consisting of corn syrup flavored with the "finest imported pure honey" and available for only one dollar, "considerably less than national brands." Having tasted real honey, I can state with confidence that Little Honey Bear Blend tastes exactly like corn syrup tinged with a hint of honey. A child raised on nothing else would not have that frame of reference.”---Habiba Alcindor for AlterNet
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10. If They Sell Enough Peanut Butter, It’ll Cover Their Donation
Anybody else see something funny about this story:
“ConAgra Foods is encouraging families to pack peanut butter sandwiches instead of buying lunch on Wednesdays during February and donate the savings to fight hunger. The Omaha-based company that makes Peter Pan peanut butter has also pledged to donate $200,000 to the Feeding America network of food banks as part of the campaign.”
http://www.action3news.com/Global/story.asp?S=11908984
Wouldn’t it be a little more up-front to just say “buy our Peanut Butter and we’ll donate a percentage to fight hunger”?
Also, “The Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation today announced a $175,000 grant to Feeding America’s BackPack Program, which provides food to hungry children at times when other resources are not available, such as weekends and school vacations. The backpacks filled with nutritious, child-friendly food will be distributed in 14 markets throughout the country, including Los Angeles and San Diego. “
Hope they don’t follow ConAgra’s lead and suggest what should be put in the backpack.
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11. The Quest for Healthy Food
USDA Funding local healthy food for urban areas: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Thursday that USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is awarding $900,000 to the Wallace Center at Winrock International to run the Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development (HUFED) Center. This center will work to increase access to healthy, affordable foods, including locally produced agricultural products to underserved communities.
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/business/story.aspx?storyid=98628&catid=119
United Way in Washington State also promoting healthy retail: The United Way is helping one convenience store in West Seattle fill the nutritious needs of strapped neighbors. There's no grocery store within easy reach for the home-bound or folks without cars. Now, a new refrigeration unit at the store offers space for healthy choices."You've got lettuce, limes, lemons, and cucumbers -- stuff that a family can go home and make a salad and a fresh meal for their family," said Lauren McGowan of United Way.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/82448887.html
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Jan. 22, 2010:
- Hunger Action LA Events
- Tell Governor Schwarzenegger That Families Need a Recovery Plan, Not More Cuts!
- UCLA Institute: LA School Staff and Faculty Are Feeding and Sheltering Homeless Students
- California Food Stamp Enrollment Increases, But Still Low
- Can People Buy Healthy Food with Food Stamps?
- Beef Recall from So Cal
- Governors Release School Meal Improvement Suggestions
- Hunger, Jobs and Water Wars: The People Who Pick Our Vegetables Are Lining Up at Food Banks
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1. Hunger Action LA Events:
Hunger Action LA monthly meeting is Thursday January 28, 3 to 5 pm, to be held at Community Health Councils, 3731 Stocker St., LA CA 90008. Topics will include update on food stamp rule changes and outreach: an overview of proposed state budget cuts to human service programs: information about campaigns to bring new supermarkets into underserved parts of LA: and information on the Subsidized Employment program. Call 213 388 8228 to rsvp, or frank@hungeractionla.org
Saturday Jan. 30 Hunger Action LA is sponsoring a “Good Food Fair” at St. Mary’s Church, Normandie between Olympic and San Marino in Koreatown. There will be fresh food, a free raffle of 20 fruit trees (thanks to CSU), and opportunity for people to enroll in food stamps and Medi Cal. MCH Access, Community Services Unlimited, Healthy School Food Coalition, Food not Bombs and others are participating. 10 am to 2 pm
Please call Hunger Action LA if you are an agency interested in providing jobs for families through the Subsidized Employment Program. The county is also hoping to address shortages of volunteers at food pantries by allowing GROW (General Relief) participants who wish to volunteer at food pantries to allow that as part of their required work activity. If you are interested in that as well please call. 213 388 8228
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2. Tell Governor Schwarzenegger That Families Need a Recovery Plan, Not More Cuts!
From Children’s Defense Fund: “Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger released his Fiscal Year 2010-11 budget proposal on Friday, Jan. 8, containing significant cuts to critical services for children. He also created a list of "trigger" cuts that would be implemented if the state does not obtain an unlikely $6.9 billion in new Federal funds. The immediate cuts include a reduction in eligibility to the Healthy Families Program, along with premium increases and elimination of vision benefits. The trigger cuts also include the complete elimination of the Healthy Families Program and CalWORKs, as well as the transitional housing program for former foster youth. The Governor has called the Legislature into special session to enact cuts as soon as possible.
During each budget cycle, it is imperative that advocates stand up for children and insist that California's leadership protect and prioritize children's needs in the budget. Advocates across the state have been heard in Sacramento and have helped to save children's services. Please join CDF-CA in emailing the Governor or Tweeting: Governor Schwarzenegger, Protect Children, CA Families Need a Recovery Plan. “
It will be impossible for families to get any kind of healthy food with the cuts proposed in cash assistance programs (CalWORKs and SSI), in addition to the proposal to eliminate the California Food Assistance Program (a local modification of the federal food stamp program serving people eligible under rules previous to 1996.)
http://twitter.com/childdefender
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3. UCLA Institute: LA School Staff and Faculty Are Feeding and Sheltering Homeless Students
The recession has had a devastating impact on California public schools, where layoffs have led to larger class sizes, budget cuts have eroded textbook supplies and after-school programs, and homeless students are moving in with staff and faculty, according to a report issued today by UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access. In Los Angeles, an estimated one in three children now live in poverty, compared to one in five in 2007. Children statewide fare little better, where an estimated one in four live in poverty, compared with one in six before the recession, according to the report. Principals reported staff and faculty taking up collections to help students' families pay their bills and donating food and clothes.
"In extraordinary cases, some have taken in homeless youth to live with them," the report noted. "We make referrals" to social services, the report quotes one principal saying, "but they're having a hard time keeping up."
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/recession-hits-calif-students-152170.aspx
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4. California Food Stamp Enrollment Increases, But Still Low
California has seen a 21% increase in food stamp enrollment, and 7 million across the USA have signed up for food stamps recently:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-food-stamps12-2010jan12,0,1889154.story
A recent surge of people applying for food stamps is indicative of how deep the recession really is, states a report issued by California Budget Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research group. However, California's participation rate ranked second-to-last among the 50 states and was the lowest among the 10 most populous states.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_14212301
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5. Can People Buy Healthy Food with Food Stamps?
Even with a food stamp supplement, money is tight and many people will choose cheap, filling, high calorie foods, because there won’t be much of a choice. Fruits and vegetables tend to be more expensive. Those in our society who are resentful of any kind of government assistance program complain about people using food stamps to buy junk food. There are at least two potential approaches to the issue: restrict what people can buy or offer incentives.
“Arizona is one of a few states working to change what people are allowed to buy when they use food stamps. Will Humble, director of the state Department of Health, is pushing to change what food stamps can buy at the grocery store."We've really pushing nationally to get the USDA to put some criteria on the food stamp program, so that we can start guiding and hard-wiring healthier choices for the recipients," he says.”.
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/health/obesity-more-dangerous-than-smoking-1-6-2010
Incentives are a better and less patronizing path to encouraging healthier choices by food stamp participants, as practiced by the City Heights Farmers’ Market in San Diego, for example, which gives an extra $5 in market tokens to food stamp participants, $4 for WIC participants and $3 for SSI participants:
http://www.kpbs.org/videos/2009/oct/16/4584/
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6. Beef Recall from So Cal
A Southern California meat-packing firm has recalled some 864,000 pounds of ground-beef that might be contaminated with E. coli.The Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said Monday that no illnesses have been reported from the products sold by Montebello-based Huntington Meat Packing under the Huntington, Imperial Meat and El Rancho brands.The affected beef was sold to distribution centers, restaurants and hotels in California between Feb. 19 and May 15, 2008, and between Jan 5. and Jan. 15, 2010. E. coli is a potentially deadly germ that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and, in the most severe cases, kidney failure
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-01-18-california-company-ion-beef-recall_N.htm
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7. Governors Release School Meal Improvement Suggestions
(Thanks to Lynn K for sending this)
The National Governors Association have released “State Strategies to Help Schools Make the Most of the National School Lunch Program”, focusing on improving nutritional quality of meals, increasing enrollment, and “making the most of school lunch dollars”, for example by setting up buying co-ops where groups of schools can save by making large combined purchases from vendors or farmers.
http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/1001SCHOOLLUNCH.PDF
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8. Hunger, Jobs and Water Wars: The People Who Pick Our Vegetables Are Lining Up at Food Banks
The Governor and big Agribusiness are using hungry Latino farmworkers in Fresno County as “poster children” claiming that the water shortage has caused the job loss in agriculture leading to the starving farmworkers. But the farmworkers were exploited by agribusiness at less than subsistence wages for years before the “crisis”.
From an article by Eric Holt-Gimenez and Zoe Brent: “In Fresno County, the state's most productive agricultural area, a hunger crisis has been unfolding for the better part of a year. Some 90,000 people a week lined up at local food banks this holiday season, many of them farm workers. Owing to what he declared a "drought disaster" California Governor Schwarzenegger delivered $4 million in food aid to Fresno last June. This winter he pledged to extend the aid indefinitely.
Alegría de la Cruz, attorney at the Center for Race Poverty and the Environment, and a West Fresno native herself, …, finds it "insulting" that after decades of exploitation, the moment their water supply is threatened, agribusinesses prop up the image of the starving farm worker, quietly obscuring the fact that their own poor labor conditions have historically been the reason for high rates of food insecurity.
“Even before the recession, hunger amongst California's farm workers was more than three times the national average. A 2007 survey of farm workers in Fresno County by the California Institute of Rural Studies found that 45% of respondents went hungry at some point during the year. Farm job wages have been stagnant for 20 years and some claim they have even gone down. Starvation wages are not limited to farm workers, but pervade the food industry. In 2008, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics listed food preparation and serving related occupations as the lowest paid of all job categories followed by farming, fishing and forestry. Working in the industrial food system--quite literally--doesn't put food on the table.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-holt-gimenez/hunger-jobs-and-water-war_b_414840.html
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January 9, 2010: The next meeting is Thursday January 28 at Community Health Councils, 3731 Stocker St. LA 90008. Join us for networking, information, and an opportunity for serious input into the Los Angeles Food Policy Task Force, a project that will be looking for ways to create a sustainable, affordable, healthy food system here in LA County. To rsvp or find out more: frank@hungeractionla.org or 213 388 8228.
- Governor Starts Our Year Off Just Like the Last Seven…
- Some Good News on Food Stamps, And Bad News About Needing Them
- LA Ecovillage Proposing New Community Garden---Input Requested
- Proposal Would Allow Individual Farmers To Accept Food Stamps—Letters of Support Requested
- Push for Healthier Food in Schools faces Barriers
- Means and Ways to Build a Sustainable Food System
- Feeding All the Hungry in the World Won’t Take All The Money in the World…But Our Defense Budget Might
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1. Governor Starts Our Year Off Just Like the Last Seven…
You know the drill. January comes and Governor Schwarzenegger announces massive proposed cuts to cash aid to seniors, disabled, and needy families, as well as to health services including In Home Support Services (whose workers happen to be unionized) and state employees generally. Admittedly he is in a bind with a $21 billion deficit but why there never seems to be any mention of funding mechanisms, like an oil severance tax which could raise $2 billion and exists in every other oil producing state……is all politics. The governor has not been particularly proactive in going after the $3 and a half billion that the state misses out on by not increasing food stamp enrollment. The analysis from Western Center on Law and Poverty:
Statewide protests organized by California Partnership focused on the human services cuts, as well as health care and state employees pay cuts:
Los Angeles: http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/01/08/worker-paycuts/
San Bernardino: http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_14143978
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2. Some Good News on Food Stamps, And Bad News About Needing Them
Good news---The state Department of Social Services has recently announced that it will extend the recently implemented assets waiver from including only families with children to including ALL food stamp applicants----in other words, persons applying for food stamps won’t have to spend down their resources to less than $2,000. More news later on exactly when this will begin.
Bad news for the country: Six million Americans are estimated to be surviving now with only food stamps and no reported cash income:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/us/03foodstamps.html
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3. LA Ecovillage Proposing New Community Garden---Input Requested
If you live in the area near First and Vermont or Virgil Village, you may be aware of the LA Ecovillage. They are proposing a new community garden and inviting your input.
The Beverly Vermont Community Land trust invites you to the1st planning meeting for the White House Place Learning Garden Jan. 16, 2010 4pm @ LA Ecovillage 117 Bimini Place x 1st St. Share your ideas for a new garden in our community! For more info (213) 387-2822 x119
Food stamps in families that don't have any cash income at all
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/01/03/food-stamps-becomes-safety-net-of-last-resort-for-many/
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4. Proposal Would Allow Individual Farmers To Accept Food Stamps—Letters of Support Requested
Assemblymember Juan Arambula is continuing his proposed bill, AB 537, from last year. This bill would allow individual farmers (or more likely, groups of famers) to accept food stamps at farmer’s markets even if the central coordinator of the market doesn’t want to operate an EBT system for the whole market. Passage of the bill would make fresh fruits and vegetables even more accessible to low income people. The Agriculture and Land Based Training Association (ALBA) is sponsoring the bill and requesting letters of support. Below is a sample: for more information contact Deborah Yashar, Food Systems Program Manager, Agriculture & Land-Based Training Association (ALBA), (831) 758-1469 x 18 office deborah@albafarmers.org
Sample Letter:
Honorable Kevin de Leon, Chair , Assembly Committee on Appropriations, State Capitol, Room 2114, Sacramento, CA 95814…………………..Fax (916) 319-2181 (Cc: Assemblymember Juan Arambula and Members of the Assembly Committee on Appropriations)
RE: AB 537 (Arambula) EBT in Farmers Markets and Flea Markets– Support
Dear Assembly Member de Leon: (Name of organization) is writing in strong support of AB 537 (Arambula) EBT acceptance at farmers markets and flea markets.AB 537 would make food sold at farmers markets more readily available for purchase by consumers who use food stamps, by allowing by 2012 the participating farmers operate an EBT system at a certified farmers’ market or flea market, when the market has chosen to not operate the system on its own.
Farmers currently have the ability to and have in some cases already taken the initiative to form a FNS-certified entity to accept EBT. However, not all farmers’ market managers in California allow farmers to take this initiative. Although we would prefer the farmers markets’ manager to take on this responsibility directly, AB 537 allows for farmers in those markets that do not already operate an EBT acceptance system by 2012, to do so independently.
The United States Department of Agriculture currently funds the Department of Social Services to cover their costs to operate EBT. In addition, California has set aside funds to assist markets with funding EBT and provides free EBT equipment to farmers’ markets and flea markets on a voluntary basis. AB 537 will simply facilitate the existing process by giving farmers the right to take initiative where the demand exists . ………….Of the 554 Certified Farmers Markets , only about 20% of them are set up to process food stamps. Although, AB 537 does not directly require every market to accept EBT, AB 537 will give farmers the ability to work together with DSS to make it happen where the customers demand it.
AB 537 will eliminate the barriers that prevent many of our state’s neediest consumers from taking advantage of the nutritional alternatives available at farmers’ markets. We urge you to vote Yes on AB 537.
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5. Push for Healthier Food in Schools faces Barriers
“ Most parents, administrators and legislators agree that the national lunch program is underfunded, forcing providers to serve cheap, often low-quality, foods. The system is also structured to let children's preferences dictate the menu because if kids don't take the lunches, the food providers get less money. Those things probably won't change until Congress shapes the new rules for the Child Nutrition Act in the next few months.
As Congress prepares to discuss the Child Nutrition Act, President Barack Obama has asked for an additional $1 billion in funding for school lunches, which would mean about 30 cents more per lunch. Other observers are lobbying for money to fund a $1 increase.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-suburban-school-lunches-jan05,0,6750587.story
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6. Means and Ways to Build a Sustainable Food System
Jen Dalton is editor of a series called “Local Eats” which features how cities all over the United States are rebuilding local food systems from the ground up. Here she compiles a list of studies, documents, and projects to inspire thinking on sustainable food systems:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/04-7
Noted author Michael Pollan in his new book “Food Rules” enumerates simple ways to improve your eating. Here are six of the rules:
#11 Avoid foods you see advertised on television.
#19 If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't.
#36 Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.
#39 Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.
There is nothing wrong with eating sweets, fried foods, pastries, even drinking soda every now and then, but food manufacturers have made eating these formerly expensive and hard-to-make treats so cheap and easy that we're eating them every day. The french fry did not become America's most popular vegetable until industry took over the jobs of washing, peeling, cutting, and frying the potatoes -- and cleaning up the mess. If you made all the french fries you ate, you would eat them much less often, if only because they're so much work.
#47 Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.
#58 Do all your eating at a table.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-pollan/food-rules-a-completely-d_b_410173.html
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7. Feeding All the Hungry in the World Won’t Take All The Money in the World…But Our Defense Budget Might
Award winning journalist Allan Nairn recently appeared on the “Democracy Now” program and spoke about America’s current three, or four? (are we counting Yemen yet, and what about Colombia etc.) fronts in the war on terror. He brought the discussion around to hunger: “Well, the biggest issue is there are more than a billion people hungry in the world. It recently increased by a hundred million or so because of the Wall Street-induced financial collapse, but it was at about 900 million during the days of top prosperity, as defined by our current economic system. That’s completely intolerable. Until everybody eats, no one should live in luxury. “
“You know how much it would cost to feed those billion people? Less, much less, than was spent on just the bailout of Citibank. No one in the US, no one in any party leadership, talks about shifting those resources to do that. In fact, the President could do that with his own executive authority. For a deeper, longer-term solution, you’d have to change trade rules, you would have to change the IMF and the World Bank, so that farmers in currently hungry areas would have the same opportunities and protections that US yeoman farmers once had back in the age of Jefferson, when the US protected its farmers. But a president or even a rich person like a Gates or a Carlos Slim or a Buffett could instantly feed half the world. The World Food Programme, every few months, comes out with a desperate bulletin, saying we’ve got to cut back the calorie rations because we’re not getting enough for this or that program. “ (Allan Nairn is an award-winning U.S. investigative journalist who became well-known when he was imprisoned by the Indonesian military while reporting in East Timor.)
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/6/obama_has_kept_the_machine_set
How many hungry people could be fed with just a portion of the $636 billion defense budget that passed with hardly any comment from the media recently? Tom Engelhardt & Nick Turse in their article (link below) point out the hysteria over the proposed health insurance reform, by comparison, which is going to cost only a fraction as much as the defense budget….which barely merited mention on any news story or from any “deficit hawk” politician. By the way $636 billion is over half a trillion dollars: thisis equal to about 12% of all the American money that is available in the world. But no big deal, right:
http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/01/09/an-american-world-of-war-what-to-watch-for-in-2010/
**If you wanted to know where I got the figure about all the money available: M2, the broadest measure of money supply, has increased from approximately $7.41 trillion to $8.36 trillion from November 2007 to October 2009, the latest month-data available (from the Federal Reserve.) The formula for M2 includes the total amount of all cash, pocket change, checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, retail money market mutual funds,and small denomination time deposits (certificates of deposit of under $100,000) .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_supply
There is another figure called M3 which the Federal Reserve decided to stop tracking in 2006: for more you can follow these links.
http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Articles/M3_Money_supply_2.asp
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- HALA Meeting Educates Community on Job Creation Opportunity
- Short Term Relief for Overdue Gas and Light Bills in So Cal
- Food Stamp Issues in 2010: California Lagging Behind Due to Outdated Rules
- More Scare Tactics Against Immigrants
- Can We Make Our School Food Safer in 2010?
- Focusing on LA Area Hunger Fighters
- California Ag: Milk, Leafy Greens Wrestling with Food Safety Compliance and Falling Wholesale Prices
- Tide Finally Turning On Hypocritical Attitudes About Public Assistance
- The Past Ten Years, The Next Year: Hottest Food Issues
- Wal Mart: Creating Hungry People with One Hand and Helping Them With the Other
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1. HALA Meeting Educates Community on Job Creation Opportunity
The December 18 meeting of Hunger Action LA brought together over 30 agencies interested in creating new jobs at their organizations through federal economic stimulus money being administered by LA County. Several of those organizations have now signed contracts to provide desperately needed employment to county residents. For more information on the Subsidized Employment program:
The next meeting is Thursday January 28 at Community Health Councils, 3731 Stocker St. LA 90008. Join us for networking, information, and an opportunity for serious input into the Los Angeles Food Policy Task Force, a project that will be looking for ways to create a sustainable, affordable, healthy food system here in LA County. To rsvp or find out more: frank@hungeractionla.org or 213 388 8228.
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2. Short Term Relief for Overdue Gas and Light Bills in So Cal
Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas Co. have both temporarily suspended utility disconnections.
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_14076959
Gas Company spokeswoman Stephanie Donovan described the policy as a means to give a break to cash-strapped customers during the Christmas and New Year's season. Donovan said the Gas Company stopped turning off service Dec. 21 and will continue to do so until Jan. 3.
Edison spokeswoman Vanessa McGrady said the electric provider's moratorium on shutoffs started Dec. 15 and is in effect until Jan. 21.
For more information on CARE or other assistance programs, call Southern California Edison at 800-369-3652 or go online to www.sce.com/assistance. Gas Company customers can call 800-427-2200 or go online towww.socalgas.com/assistance.
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3. Food Stamp Issues in 2010: California Lagging Behind Due to Outdated Rules
37.2 million Americans got SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, “food stamp”) assistance in September---a 35% increase . 10 million have enrolled since December 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34479801/ns/business-personal_finance/
And we all know that California lags in food stamp participation, leaving millions of dollars unaccessed for the local economy:
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/report-89961-food-stamp.html
Reuters “Midnight in the Food Stamp economy”.
“According to J.P. Morgan (JPM.N) which administers EBT programs for more than 20 states, 85 percent of food stamps are depleted within the first three days they are available.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1717031620091218?type=marketsNews
USDA Food Stamp chief says California needs to increase enrollment:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BI02U20091219
Some areas of California have indeed increased participation. Ventura County food stamp enrollment is up by 50% as unemployment hits 11% in the county. Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks have doubled participation, although Ventura and Oxnard account for most of the growth:
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2009/dec/21/use-of-food-stamps-in-county-up-50/
The efficacy of California’s policy of finger-imaging food stamp applicants has been challenged
An ope ed by James and Cokie Roberts saying we can fight hunger by making last year’s food stamp expansions permanent:
http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/101390/
This op ed looks at the practice of subcontracting welfare enrollment services to private contractors, with disastrous results in Indiana:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20091224/EDIT05/312249927/1021/EDIT
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4. More Scare Tactics Against Immigrants
One of the reasons we have low food stamp enrollment in California may be fears of the immigrant community in approaching government offices. LA Times reports on “Immigration law ignites fear in Arizona”:A new state law requires public workers to report illegal immigrants who apply for benefits they aren't entitled to. The attorney general will decide the law's scope.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-immigration1-2010jan01,0,4208275.story
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5. Can We Make Our School Food Safer in 2010?
As Congress and the Obama administration seek new ways to assure the safety of food served to the nation's schoolchildren, the most promising paths are no secret.Scientists and food safety experts say there are industries and major companies, both in theUnited States and abroad, that have made great strides in safety and consistently produce food free of the bacteria that sicken about 75 million Americans a year. Can those practices become the rule for the food the government buys for schools?
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-12-29-school-food-safety-standards_N.htm
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6. Focusing on LA Area Hunger Fighters
Erroll Santos, a man with a mission in the Filipino American community in LA:
http://www.asianjournal.com/community/community-news/3956-errol-santos-a-man-with-a-mission.html
Make a Senior Smile and Sowing Seeds for Life, two San Gabriel Valley nonprofits
http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_14011003
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7. California Ag: Milk, Leafy Greens Wrestling with Food Safety Compliance and Falling Wholesale Prices
As consumers hunted for ever-lower food prices, big stores such asCostco, Safeway, Walmart and Kroger tried to use their purchasing power to meet that demand. A few grocery chains now control more than 80 percent of the market, said Lorri Koster, chairwoman of the Grower-Shipper Association and co-chairwoman of the Mann Packing Board
In September, the USDA held a hearing in Monterey on a proposal to take California's Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement national. The state agreement on food safety measures, participation in which is voluntary, was a response to a fatal E. coli outbreak in Central Coast spinach in 2006. Leafy Greens has support in the ag industry, but some organic farmers protested, citing the cost of compliance and arguing the agreement blurs the distinction between marketing and food safety
The first three months of 2010 will come with a slight bump for Humboldt County dairy farmers, many of whom have suffered through the ailing economy and the collapse of Humboldt Creamery.
Dairymen producing conventional milk -- or who are paid conventional prices for an organic product -- will get a bit more per gallon as part of a recent state decision to raise the minimum price of milk. The price boost is small and temporary, only about 3 cents per gallon for three months, and is meant to help farmers keep operating until the market moves closer to profitability.
The California Department of Agriculture made the decision earlier this month after hearing testimony from farmers about adjusting milk prices. Consumers aren't drinking as much milk or eating as many dairy products during the global recession, the department said. Farmers are being paid less, but feed costs are far more than in 2008.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_14092641
Ag Against Hunger has received $34,590 in grants for equipment and operations. Ag Against Hunger is a nonprofit providing fresh donated produce to food banks in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, then statewide and out-of-state when the fresh produce needs of local food banks are satisfied. Since 1990, area growers and shippers have donated more than160 million pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables to help feed the hungry
The fresh fruit industry is enthused by the new changes in WIC and will move into school salad bars:
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8. Tide Finally Turning On Hypocritical Attitudes About Public Assistance
Commentator Mimi Abramovitz: “Instead of bemoaning the added cost, Sara Murray, a Wall Street Journal columnist, sympathetically declared that "the recent rise in welfare families across the country is a sign that the welfare system is expanding at a time of added need." This is a sign that the public has finally gotten past the simplistic narrow minded thinking of the Reagan and Gingrich eras in which welfare was stereotyped as a program in which “lazy” single moms ripped off the taxpayer. Mimi continues:
“As more people come to rely on public benefits, this is a good time to look around and notice the extent to which many people beyond single mothers routinely get a break from the government but do not think of it in this way…..The CEOs of banks, auto companies and other corporations regarded as "too big to fail" also accepted "welfare," better known as the $700 billion bailout. Their check was far more than the $585 billion spent for Social Security pensions in 2007.”
“In 2006 alone the federal government provided some $92 billion in tax-funded subsidies--such as the Advanced Technology Program, the Export-Import Bank and the federal crop subsidies among others--to corporate giants such as Boeing, Xerox, IBM, Motorola, Dow Chemical, General Electric and wealthy farmers--up 11 percent from 2001.”
“None of these upscale recipients suffer public stigma because controversy almost never glares down on them. Most eagerly look forward to collecting their tax-funded government benefits.”
http://www.womensenews.org/story/commentary/091225/tis-the-season-candor-about-govt-handouts
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9. The Past Ten Years, The Next Year: Hottest Food Issues
The Decade in Food---a review of how the issues of obesity, food safety, locally grown food and others came to prominence in the 2000’s:
http://www.good.is/post/the-decade-in-food
Food author and activist Marion Nestle predicts the top food issues of 2010: She points out that “Hunter Public Relations recently asked 1,000 Americans which food-related issues they thought were most important in 2009. The top three? Food safety, hunger and food prices. For the decade, the winner was childhood obesity. “. Here is her article on 10 “hot button issues for 2010”:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/01/FDHJ1BAK5U.DTL&type=food#ixzz0baKdheH6
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10. Wal Mart: Helping Hungry People with One Hand and Creating Them With the Other?
Reuters interviewed Wal Mart about hunger over the holidays:
“Q: What was the thinking in providing a $2.2 million grant to Meals on Wheels for meals provided to senior citizens?”
“A: It really feels like a forgotten group and most of these folks are poor, isolated and hungry. Meals on Wheels is the organization that is the link for these folks who otherwise would just go hungry.Seniors have been a big part of the Walmart community for a long time, both in terms of shoppers and in terms of associates, the employees.”
“Q: You said you thought it would be a tough holiday season. Why?”
“A: One of the things that hit home for me more than anything was ... (Wal-Mart CEO) Mike Duke telling the story about food stamps, now called SNAP. Shoppers get the card, and it's eligible for spending at midnight. And Walmart has now found that at 11 o'clock the night before, people come to the stores and wait until midnight to go through the shopping line. There's been a significant increase in seeing that. It really stops you for a minute. These people have no food. This is not supplemental food, this is people with empty kitchens and empty refrigerators who are lining up so they can have food.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BH2DP20091218
It should be noted
“Because Wal-Mart employs part-time and relatively low paid workers, some workers may partially qualify for state welfareprograms. This has led critics to claim that Wal-Mart increases the burden on taxpayer-funded services.[43][44] A 2002 survey by the state of Georgia's subsidized healthcare system, PeachCare, found that Wal-Mart was the largest private employer of parents of children enrolled in its program; one quarter of the employees of Georgia Wal-Marts qualified to enroll their children in the federal subsidized healthcare system Medicaid.[45] A 2004 study at the University of California, Berkeley charges that Wal-Mart's low wages and benefits are insufficient, and although decreasing the burden on the social safety net to some extent, California taxpayers still pay $86 million a year to Walmart employees.[46][47]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Wal-Mart
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