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Healthy Food, Healthy Children, Healthy Economies Madeleine Levin Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) March 27, 2014

Healthy Food, Healthy Children, Healthy Economies Madeleine Levin Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) March 27, 2014 . What is FRAC? National anti-hunger organization Nonprofit and nonpartisan What do we do? Conduct research and policy analysis Serve as a clearinghouse

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Healthy Food, Healthy Children, Healthy Economies Madeleine Levin Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) March 27, 2014

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  1. Healthy Food,Healthy Children, Healthy EconomiesMadeleine LevinFood Research and Action Center (FRAC)March 27, 2014

  2. What is FRAC? • National anti-hunger organization • Nonprofit and nonpartisan What do we do? • Conduct research and policy analysis • Serve as a clearinghouse • Provide technical assistance • Lobby Congress

  3. Food hardship in U.S. • “Have there been times in the last 12 months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?” (Gallup) • Households answering yes in 2012: 18.2% nationally 14% Wisconsin • Lingering Impacts of Recession http://frac.org/pdf/food_hardship_2012.pdf Hunger inAmerica

  4. Federal Nutrition Programs Reauthorized Every 5 Years (or so…) in Farm Bill • SNAP (formerly food stamps) Child Nutrition Reauthorization • School Breakfast Program • National School Lunch Program • Child and Adult Care Food Program • Afterschool Meal Program • Summer Food Service Program • WIC

  5. Nation’s first line of defense against hunger… • Reduces hunger/food insecurity • Structural – responsive to economic need • Targeted: • 91% of benefits  households below poverty line • 82% of benefits  households with seniors, people with disabilities, or children • 47% of recipients are children • Helps working families as well as unemployed (42% of participants are in households with earnings) Strengths of SNAP

  6. Stimulates economy: each SNAP $1 produces $1.73 - $1.79 of economic activity • Counter-cyclical • Creates jobs: $1 billion SNAP  9,800 to 19,800 for FTEs plus PTs • Builds on mainstream commerce • Reduces poverty • Frees up family resources for other basic needs Strengths of SNAP - Economic

  7. Raises food expenditures; improves nutrient availability • Improves child health • May reduce obesity • Across broad food categories, little difference between food choices/expenditures of low-income and high-income families Strengths of SNAP - Nutrition Impacts

  8. 46,782,047 SNAP participants (Dec. 2013) • Maximum $632/month, family of four (Thrifty Food Plan) (Low cost food plan = $825.70/month) • Average SNAP benefit: $4.20 day/person • EBT Cards • Over 94% of benefits redeemed at supermarkets, superstores, grocery stores, specialty food stores, military commissaries (FY 2012) SNAP Benefit Amounts

  9. Nearly 1 in 5 eligible people is missing out on SNAP benefits; among elderly that is 3 in 5 missing out • Increasing SNAP allotments is a key part of healthy food/healthy economies agenda • Basing SNAP calculations on Low Cost Food Plan is one way to address benefit adequacy SNAP Gaps

  10. Nov. 1, 2013 end to ARRA boost = $5B less in FY 2013 for SNAP food benefits—affects all HHs ($11B total multi yr impact) • $11 B multi-yr SNAP cuts = loss of $2.2 B purchases of fruits and vegetables • Important to mitigate impact, including via deductions for out-of-pocket costs for basics ( e.g. medical and child care expenses) http://frac.org/federal-foodnutrition-programs/snapfood-stamps/about-the-november-1-snapfood-stamp-benefit-reduction/ Recent Policy Changes Worsen Gaps

  11. 2014 Farm Bill failed to increase SNAP allotments—instead made $8.6 B in benefit cuts • Cuts SNAP ten-year spending mainly by setting threshold payment of $20 in LIHEAP to trigger SNAP heat and eat impact (4006) • 850,000 HHs could lose $90 per month in SNAP benefits • Hardest hit: CA, CT, DC, ME, MA, MI, MT, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, VT, WA, WI • Affects future option for all states Farm Bill - Heat & Eat Cut

  12. 98 MOCs ask USDA to exercise authority to help states coordinate with LIHEAP allocations and promote orderly transition • http://frac.org/pdf/keg_liheap_heatandeat_letter_to_vilsack.pdf • States can provide $20 in LIHEAP assistance to safeguard current and future recipients to benefits of heat and eat • USDA Implementation Memo: http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/LIHEAP_Implementation_Memo.pdf Heat & Eat Implementation Matters

  13. Leveraging funds to fight hunger and support the economy • Gov. Malloy (CT) invests $1.4M LIHEAP to preserve $66.6M annual SNAP; protects 50K needy HHs • Gov. Cuomo (NY) invests $6M LIHEAP to preserve $457M annual SNAP; protects 300K needy HHs • Gov. Corbett (PA) invests $8M LIHEAP to preserve $300M annual SNAP; protects 400K needy HHs • Gov. Chafee (RI) invests $1.38M LIHEAP to preserve $69M annual SNAP • Gov. Bullock (MT) invests $24K LIHEAP to preserve $2M annual SNAP • Gov. Kitzhaber (OR) invests $2M LIHEAP to preserve $56M annual SNAP • Gov. Patrick (MA) invests $3M LIHEAP to preserve $142M annual SNAP Heat & Eat Implementation Matters

  14. Farm Bill has other provisions affecting SNAP eligibility, recruitment, and where and how participants use their EBT cards to purchase food – for example, limits on SNAP recruitment and USDA ad buys (Sec. 4018) • Implementation will matter for access and equity, including regarding any particular impact on vulnerable populations, such as elderly persons, homeless persons, and residents of food deserts Other Farm Bill SNAP Implementation Issues

  15. SNAP purchases at CSAs (4012) • Reinvestment of performance bonus awards to improve SNAP technology, administration and integrity (4021) • Increased food access for homebound seniors and people w/ disabilities (4003) • Mobile tech & online pilots (4011) • Study to assess feasibility of tribal organizations to administer more federal food programs (beyond FDPIR)(4004) SNAP Nutrition Access Opportunities

  16. “SNAP benefits and SNAP nutrition education spending now have been cut four times in three and a half years. The result is harm to health, early childhood development, productivity, and learning. Fixing the problem of inadequate SNAP benefits is essential to the nation’s social, economic and fiscal policies.” --FRAC President Jim Weill, 2/4/14 http://frac.org/farm-bill-means-less-food-for-struggling-households/ Future Focus on Adequate SNAP Benefits

  17. School Breakfast and Achievement Children who eat breakfast at school: • Increase their math and reading scores • Perform better on standardized tests • Improve their speed and memory in cognitive tests

  18. Health Benefits • School breakfast improves student behavior and reduces tardiness and absenteeism • A healthy breakfast each day helps prevent obesity • Children who eat school breakfast eat more fruits, drink more milk, and eat a wider variety of foods

  19. Children who eat breakfast tend to have more adequate nutrient intakes than children who do not: • vitamins • minerals such as calcium, • dietary fiber, • folate and • Protein • A higher percentage of children who skip breakfast do not meet two-thirds of the Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamins A, E, D, and B6 Improves Children’s Diets

  20. Teens who eat breakfast tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI) • Adolescents with one or two obese parents who eat breakfast every day are more likely to have BMIs within a healthy range than those who tend to skip breakfast. • Low-income elementary school girls who participate in the School Breakfast, School Lunch, or Food Stamp Programs, or any combination of these programs, have significantly less risk of being overweight. May Reduce Risk of Obesity

  21. Children who eat a complete breakfast, versus a partial one, make fewer mistakes and work faster in math and number checking tests. • Children who eat breakfast at school – closer to class and test-taking time – perform better on standardized tests than those who skip breakfast or eat breakfast at home. • Providing breakfast to mildly undernourished students at school improves their speed and memory in cognitive tests Boosts School Achievement

  22. 44 low-income students eat breakfast for every 100 that eat lunch (national rate is 51.9) • 74% schools offer breakfast (national rate is 89.8%) • WI ranks 43 out of 51 states (and DC) for student participation and 49thfor school participation SBP Participation in WI 2012-13 SY

  23. Implementation of alternative models – breakfast in the classroom, grab and go, morning nutrition breaks • State legislation: • Require all schools to have a breakfast program • Require high poverty schools to offer breakfast to all at no charge • Grants to support start-up and expansion Effective Expansion Practices

  24. Continue to expand breakfast by making it accessible to all students as part of the school day • Partner with community organizations: anti-hunger, children’s health, afterschool providers • Help spread the word to colleagues that aren’t here: All students should have the opportunity to eat school breakfast What Can We Do?

  25. Early in the process will likely take a while… • Invite your Members of Congress to visit child nutrition programs • Promote expansion of what’s working • Possible areas for improvements - • Broaden direct certification • Eliminate reduced-price for breakfast • Provide additional equipment grants for school kitchens • Enhance severe need funding for breakfast Looking ahead to Child Nutrition Reauthorization

  26. Follow developments on FRAC website – http://frac.org Sign up for FRAC alerts Follow FRAC on Facebook – facebook.com/foodresearchandactioncenter Follow FRAC on Twitter – twitter.com/#!/fractweets Learn More…

  27. Madeleine Levin, MPH mlevin@frac.org 202-986-2200 x3004 Thank You!

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