MinnPost - New exhibit at the Mpls Photo Center puts a face on 21st century poverty in America

MinnPost - New exhibit at the Mpls Photo Center puts a face on 21st century poverty in America

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Minn. non-profits announce $2.2M fund to help low-income families | Minnesota Public Radio NewsQ

Minn. non-profits announce $2.2M fund to help low-income families | Minnesota Public Radio NewsQ

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FNS programs will help those workers and families hardesthit by the economic crisis.

See the USDA plans to help SNAP, WIC, School Lunch, TEFAP, & Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.

Federal Legislation

The Obama Administration, which believes that improved health care coverage for low-income Americans will help ease hunger and nutrition concerns nationwide, has allotted $635 billion in the fiscal year 2010 budget for health care. Approximately $300 billion more in savings from Medicare and Medicaid in future years would help pay for improved health care.


Additionally, President Obama has pledged to end childhood hunger in this country by 2015, in part by bolstering funding for the WIC Program. On June 11, 2009, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee met to mark up a spending bill for next year, and WIC was allocated a record $7.541 billion, $681 million � or 10 percent � above fiscal year 2009 levels. Support at that level would allow the program to serve 10.1 million women and children, 300,000 more than the Administration requested.


�Food costs and participation [for WIC] continue to increase at dramatic rates for fiscal years 2009 and 2010,� noted Subcommittee chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). In addition to support for increased caseload, the bill sets aside $125 million for the upcoming WIC reauthorization, encompassing a number of program improvements, such as, increasing fruit and vegetable vouchers, enhancing management information systems, furthering electronic benefit transfer (EBT) technology, and expanding breast feeding peer counseling programs. The panel, however, did not replenish the WIC contingency fund, estimating that an anticipated $487 million in other discretionary funds would be available for that purpose.


As in previous years, WIC spending continued to dominate the discretionary funds category in the Agriculture budget. A little money was left over for other purposes. For example, the Subcommittee did squeeze out another $20 million for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), bringing total funding to $180 million for fiscal 2010, enough to allow six new states to join the program � Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Utah.


With a proposed PAYGO rule in place, however, Congress will be hard pressed to identify funds for backing other discretionary efforts, such as increasing distribution and storage funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). TEFAP is struggling to distribute over $600 million in commodity foods this fiscal year. Although up to $100 million is authorized for TEFAP transportation next year, the full amount has never been appropriated.


Proposed Legislation



Among bills recently introduced in the 111th session of the U.S. Congress are the following:


House Resolution (H.R.) 2690: Introduced by Representatives Joe Sestak (D-PA) and two co-sponsors, the School Meal Enhancement Act would create a universal, paperless school meal program that is nationally available.


H.R. 2803: Introduced by Representative Chaka Fattah (D-PA) and two co-sponsors, the Paperless Enrollment for School Meals Act would improve paperless enrollment and efficiency for the national school lunch and school breakfast programs.


H.R. 2841: Introduced by Representative Zachary Space (D-OH) and one co-sponsor, the Promoting Charitable Actions Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the enhanced charitable deduction for contributions of food inventory.


Senate (S.) 1226: Introduced by Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) and two co-sponsors, the Paperless Enrollment for School Meals Act would improve paperless enrollment and efficiency for the national school lunch and school breakfast programs.


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

Summer Lunch Program Keeps Kids Fed

The Vikings Children's Fund "Summer Lunch program" is working to fill the gap during the summer.

Twitter for Food

#twitterforfood Skip a meal July 1st and donate the savings to HSM. http://tr.im/m1Pq

Need a Better Food Budget? We help put healthy food within reach.

Call the Minnesota Food HelpLine – Minnesota’s Food Support (Food Stamp) hotline

1-888-711-1151

⇒ We offer Food Support eligibility screening and application assistance.
⇒ Call Monday-Friday— 8:30 to 4:30. After-hours calls/messages will be returned the following business day.
⇒ Se habla español. Multilingual translation service is available.

Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson and defensive ends Jayme Mitchell and Ray Edwards educate students on proper nutrition

“I used to be one of these kids. I grew up on free lunch and reduced lunch and things like that. I had to take advantage of it growing up, because in a single-parent home there was not a lot of food to go around as a growing boy,” he said, adding: “If you’re hungry, you start doing things that you wouldn’t normally do. I believe if you’ve got a full stomach, kids start being more productive.” – Ray Edwards

Minnesota Vikings, Hunger Solutions Minnesota and Second Harvest Heartland to Announce Partnership to Help Feed Hungry Children This Summer

Minnesota Vikings, Hunger Solutions Minnesota and Second Harvest Heartland to Announce Partnership to Help Feed Hungry Children This Summer

USDA Budget

The proposed budget for Agriculture includes a record level of SNAP/food stamp enrollment – at 35 million people – projected for fiscal year 2010, with over $61 billion in funds reserved to support the effort. The President’s budget proposes an additional $10 billion over 10 years to bolster child nutrition programs for more than 32 million children who are expected to eat lunch at school and another 11 million or more will have breakfast daily. And adequate funds are being sought to serve 9.8 million women and children in the WIC Program in the face of rising food prices.

Smaller programs also fare well in the President’s budget and will likely be supported by the Democratic majorities in Congress for the upcoming fiscal year. After years of being zeroed out, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) is included in the budget at $163 million. A total of $75 million is provided for storage and distribution costs under The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). The Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) is slated to receive $21 million and the WIC FMNP an additional $20 million.

Congress is expected to complete fiscal 2010 appropriations by the October 1, 2009 start of fiscal year.