For New Yorkers, Farm Bill Nutrition Aid is Necessary but Insufficient

After months of legislative extensions, the $309 bill Farm Bill passed with wide bipartisan support, despite a Presidential veto. The bill includes a $10.36 billion increase in nutrition spending over the next 10 years, and an additional $1.26 billion to bolster The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides commodity food to local emergency food programs. Reforms to food stamp benefits include raising and indexing the minimum standard deduction for calculating food stamp eligibility, and increasing the minimum monthly benefit from $10 to $14. New Yorkers will see an increase in combined food stamp and TEFAP benefits of about $30 per person per year. “It’s great that we have this money,” said NYCCAH Executive Director Joel Berg, “but before the ink is dry, increases will be devoured by skyrocketing food prices.” Congress voted to override a veto of the bill issued by the President on May 21, but the omission of a 34-page section on food aid from the vetoed draft led to uncertainty about the legal status of the bill. The House Agricultural Committee has since issued a statement confirming that the remaining thirteen titles now have the force of law. Funding levels for nutrition programs will go into effect as soon as September.

As Food Costs Continue to Rise, Seniors Turn to Emergency Food

For seniors living on Social Security and struggling to pay medical expenses, a slight increase in food costs can quickly lead to financial crisis and food insecurity. Long-time Brooklyn resident Mary Hood, 89, turns to the Haber House Senior Center for meals when money gets tight.  “It's a damn shame, said Hood, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer... Sometimes I run out of money before the end of the month.” Many seniors are finding the cost of living outpacing Social Security benefits, while emergency food providers are finding it harder to adequately serve seniors as demands for emergency food continue to increase. Local chapters of Meals on Wheels, a free food delivery service for seniors, have been hit hard by both rising gas costs and food prices, forcing four out of ten local chapters to relegate new customers to waiting lists. Clara Stock, 82, also turned to Haber House after medical costs started cutting into her food budget. Stock receives $1,100 in Social Security benefits a month; $768 covers her rent and utilities, her medical expenses cost $200 a month, leaving her only $132 for food and other necessities. “Only what I need very, very much do I buy,” said Stock. Seniors who apply for Social Security are automatically enrolled in the Food Stamp Program, but many receive only the minimum benefit of $10 a month. Many seniors remain unaware of their eligibility and fail to apply for increased benefits.

City Accepting Applications for Green Cart Licenses

On March 13, 2008, Mayor Bloomberg signed Local Law 9, which established 1,000 permits for mobile food carts that offer fresh produce in designated New York City areas. The Green Carts program aims to increase availability of fresh fruit and vegetables in New York City neighborhoods so that more New Yorkers can buy fresh fruit and vegetables close to home.  The Coalition conducted a Green Carts application process information session in May for people and community organizations who were either interested in becoming Green Cart vendors or looking to bring vendors into their neighborhoods.  Anyone interested in becoming a Green Carts Vendor should apply now; all applications must be postmarked no later than June 18, 2008. A valid mobile food vending license and a Green Cart permit is needed to operate a Green Cart. Each Green Cart permit allows a cart to operate in one New York City borough only, and only in designated areas. A total of 500 full-term permits will be available in 2008: 175 permits for Brooklyn, 175 for the Bronx, 75 for Manhattan, 50 for Queens, and 25 for Staten Island. Beginning in July, 2008, these permits will be issued to individuals who have applied to be on the Green Cart waiting lists. In 2009, 500 more Green Cart permits will be available.  For more information on the Green Carts Program visit www.nyc.gov/greencarts.

Rethinking Ethanol: When Food-to-Fuel Means Gas or Groceries

Worldwide demand for increased grain production has dampened initial excitement about a future powered by ethanol. Queens City Councilman Eric Gioia has drafted two-fold resolution calling on Governor Paterson to petition the Environmental Protection Agency for a state-wide waiver on federal ethanol production requirements, while urging the federal government to gradually withdrawal their use of edible crops for fuel production. NYCCAH Executive Director Joel Berg supports the measure, calling government subsidies of ethanol production a “corporate welfare program,” which acts as “one of the most pointless contributors” to food cost increases. Biofuels production contributed to one half of the growth in demand for staple crops in the past year, according to the International Monetary Fund, and with the U.N. calling for a 50 percent increase in world food production by 2030 the 30 percent of America’s corn crop devoted to biofuels has begun to look less like progress and more like a liability. Alternatives to food-based fuel include increasing the efficiency of traditional fuel and improving hybrid technology, while encouraging car owners to scale back their time spent behind the wheel.

Economic Downturn Fuels Twin Threats of Hunger and Obesity

Though the language of “crisis” has been applied to both the current economic situation and America’s rising obesity rates, rarely have the two problems been explicitly linked by their common factor: hunger. A recent series of studies has acknowledged this troubling connection, which is exacerbated by rising food costs and inadequate access to healthy food in low-income neighborhoods. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that women in poverty were 50% more likely to be obese than women of higher economic status, while a 2006 University of Pennsylvania study found that poor 15 to 17 year olds were also 50% more likely to be overweight or obese than children from higher-income families. Derek Felton, a Philadelphia anti-hunger advocate who was raised in poverty, describes the cycle of hunger and weight gain that accompanies inadequate benefits levels: “I was the oldest of seven, with a lifetime of no breakfasts to eat. When we had the chance to eat, we ate white bread to feel full.” Rising costs of healthy staple foods like milk, eggs, and fresh produce have forced residents to rely on cheap, high-calorie food available in neighborhood bodegas and discount stores. In order for obesity rates to undergo a truly significant change, we will need to further address not only behavioral causes of this disease, but also the underlying economic factors that make low-income Americans more susceptible to excessive weight gain.

© 2008 New York City Coalition Against Hunger