USDA criticizing food stamp application methods
Article by: Jerry Hagstrom, Special to Agweek, March 8, 2010
WASHINGTON — 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.
The Anti-Hunger and Opportunity Corps is an AmeriCorps VISTA project. It is sponsored by the USDA, the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Walmart Foundation, the New York City Coalition Against Hunger. The new VISTA volunteers will work in both rural and urban areas in 18 states as part of a public-private partnership to increase access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for Americans in need. Updates of the 46 VISTAs involved in the program will be regularly posted on the Anti-Hunger Corps blog.
The Case for State Food Action Plans: Laboratories of Food Democracy
Joel Berg delivers a comprehensive strategy for addressing hunger at the state level.
On Tuesday, January 4th, NYCCAH hosted a ceremony for many of our most dedicated Food Action Board (FAB) Members.The FABs are political engagement groups that meet every two weeks for training on advocacy and hunger issues. The goal of the FABs is to bring the voices of people facing food insecurity back into the public policy dialogue around hunger.
In this final installment, Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH), offers his solutions for ending hunger in America. The good news Berg argues, we can accomplish this feat, but we need the federal government to streamline the many separate food nutrition assistance programs into a single program, and increase its access, and benefits to the poor.
Midway through her monthly grocery shopping, Yvonne Shields pauses in the freezer section of Fairway Market in Harlem. She’s stocked her cart with a mix of basics, including a carton of eggs, toaster waffles, oranges to fight the nasty cold she’s been battling, and frozen green beans. Shields rifles through her potential purchases, mentally tallying how much her groceries will cost.
Interviewed by Gabrielle Langholtz.
Photographs by Erin Gleeson.
Joel Berg, the anti-hunger advocate on how he slimmed down, why soda should remain in the Food Stamp Program and why you shouldn’t volunteer at a soup kitchen on Christmas.
Mayor Nutter, Obama Administration Officials Swear-In AmeriCorps VISTA Team to Work in 18 States
Interviewed by Gabrielle Langholtz.