Healthy Children Healthy Economies Madeleine Levin Food Research and Action Center FRAC March 27 2014 What is FRAC National antihunger organization Nonprofit and nonpartisan What do we do ID: 603153
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Slide1
Healthy Food,
Healthy Children,
Healthy Economies
Madeleine Levin
Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)
March 27, 2014 Slide2
What is FRAC?
National anti-hunger organizationNonprofit and nonpartisanWhat do we do? Conduct research and policy analysisServe as a clearinghouseProvide technical assistance Lobby CongressSlide3
Hunger in
AmericaFood 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 Recessionhttp://frac.org/pdf/food_hardship_2012.pdf Slide4
Federal Nutrition Programs
Reauthorized Every 5 Years (or so…) in Farm BillSNAP (formerly food stamps) Child Nutrition Reauthorization School Breakfast ProgramNational School Lunch Program
Child and Adult Care Food Program
Afterschool Meal Program
Summer Food Service ProgramWICSlide5
Strengths of SNAP
Nation’s first line of defense against hunger…Reduces hunger/food insecurityStructural – 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)Slide6
Strengths of SNAP - Economic
Stimulates economy: each SNAP $1 produces $1.73 - $1.79 of economic activityCounter-cyclicalCreates 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 needsSlide7
Strengths of SNAP - Nutrition
ImpactsRaises food expenditures; improves nutrient availabilityImproves child healthMay reduce obesity
Across broad food categories, little difference between food choices/expenditures of low-income and high-income familiesSlide8
SNAP Benefit Amounts
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)Slide9
SNAP Gaps
Nearly 1 in 5 eligible people is missing out on SNAP benefits; among elderly that is 3 in 5 missing outIncreasing SNAP allotments is a key part of healthy food/healthy economies agendaBasing SNAP calculations on Low Cost Food Plan is one way to address benefit adequacySlide10
Recent Policy Changes Worsen Gaps
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/
Slide11
Farm Bill - Heat & Eat Cut
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 benefitsHardest hit: CA, CT, DC, ME, MA, MI, MT, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, VT, WA,
WI
Affects future option for all statesSlide12
Heat & Eat Implementation Matters
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 eatUSDA Implementation Memo
:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/LIHEAP_Implementation_Memo.pdf
Slide13
Heat & Eat Implementation Matters
Leveraging funds to fight hunger and support the economyGov. 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 SNAPGov. Bullock (MT) invests $24K LIHEAP to preserve $2M annual SNAPGov. Kitzhaber (OR) invests $2M LIHEAP to preserve $56M annual SNAPGov. Patrick (MA) invests $3M
LIHEAP
to
preserve
$142M
annual SNAP Slide14
Other Farm Bill SNAP Implementation Issues
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 Slide15
SNAP Nutrition Access Opportunities
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)Slide16
Future Focus on Adequate SNAP Benefits
“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, 2/4/14http://frac.org/farm-bill-means-less-food-for-struggling-households/ Slide17
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 testsSlide18
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 Slide19
Improves Children’s Diets
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 B6Slide20
May Reduce
Risk of ObesityTeens 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. Slide21
Boosts School Achievement
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 testsSlide22
SBP Participation in
WI 2012-13 SY44 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 49
th
for school participationSlide23
Effective Expansion Practices
Implementation of alternative models – breakfast in the classroom, grab and go, morning nutrition breaksState legislation:Require all schools to have a breakfast programRequire high poverty schools to offer breakfast to all at no chargeGrants to support start-up and expansionSlide24
What Can We Do?
Continue to expand breakfast by making it accessible to all students as part of the school dayPartner with community organizations: anti-hunger, children’s health, afterschool providersHelp spread the word to colleagues that aren’t here: All students should have the opportunity to eat school breakfastSlide25
Looking ahead to Child Nutrition Reauthorization
Early in the process will likely take a while…Invite your Members of Congress to visit child nutrition programsPromote expansion of what’s working Possible areas for improvements - Broaden direct certificationEliminate reduced-price for breakfast Provide additional equipment grants for school kitchensEnhance severe need funding for breakfast Slide26
Learn More…
Follow developments on FRAC website – http://frac.orgSign up for FRAC alerts
Follow FRAC on Facebook
– facebook.com/foodresearchandactioncenter
Follow FRAC on Twitter
–
twitter.com/#!/
fractweetsSlide27
Thank You!
Madeleine Levin, MPHmlevin@frac.org202-986-2200 x3004