Thursday, July 9, 2009
MinnPost - New exhibit at the Mpls Photo Center puts a face on 21st century poverty in America
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Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Minn. non-profits announce $2.2M fund to help low-income families | Minnesota Public Radio NewsQ
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Federal Legislation
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.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Summer Lunch Program Keeps Kids Fed
Twitter for Food
Saturday, May 30, 2009
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 espaƱol. 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
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Minnesota Vikings, Hunger Solutions Minnesota and Second Harvest Heartland to Announce Partnership to Help Feed Hungry Children This Summer
Friday, May 22, 2009
USDA Budget
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.