Short window to speak up for child nutrition

 Most of us probably have a specific memory from childhood of nervously walking into the school cafeteria for lunch. The experience can be a nerve-wracking gauntlet of social pressures and self-consciousness.

On top of navigating those familiar anxieties, a lot of kids today also are dealing with food insecurity at home, literally coming to school hungry, or leaving school unsure of when they’re going to eat again.

Earlier this year, when COVID-era relief ended, thousands of families in West Virginia stopped receiving emergency allotments of $100-or-so a month in food money through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. At the same time, the cost of nutritional staples, like eggs, has doubled.

To put it simply, skyrocketing food prices, alongside cuts to food assistance, have put families teetering on what is being called a “hunger cliff.”

There are many policy solutions on the table, so to speak, but one solution that would increase access to free and reduced school meals is up for public comment. And all of us have a chance to speak up for feeding millions of kids in our state and around the country.

Here’s how: The U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting comments until Monday on a proposed rule that would increase the ability of schools to participate in Community Eligibility Program, or CEP (read: free meals), by lowering the minimum percentage threshold of identified student participation from 40% to 25%.

Anyone can go to the USDA’s website and make a comment in support of this rule change. If adopted, schools would have more flexibility to invest nonfederal funds to offer no-cost meals to all enrolled students. As a result, more students would have an opportunity to access meals at no cost and with no stigma (reducing the aforementioned anxiety in the cafeteria), families would have school meal debt eliminated and school staff would have less-burdensome paperwork.

Many anti-poverty groups in the state began advocacy for CEP in 2013, the year West Virginia became eligible to participate under the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.

The Legislature at that time passed the Feed to Achieve Act, which sought to offer free school meals to all students in the state. One component of the legislation required that schools provide nontraditional ways of serving breakfast by 2015, a move that spurred more participation in the CEP program.

Ten years later, most of the counties that implemented CEP in schools where enough kids met eligibility requirements chose to expand CEP countywide. What was heard, at least anecdotally, was that schools that opted in saw benefits like improved nutrition, reduced discipline problems and improved focus among the students.

Imagine having to navigate the social anxieties and pressures of school on an empty stomach. Now, imagine that you can take an easy action to help the millions of kids who navigate this reality every day. All you have to do is go to regulations.gov, where you can make a unique comment, and, if enough of us do so, we will create a chorus speaking up for feeding kids.

A little anxiety in the cafeteria is an inevitable part of growing up, but hunger should never be.

(This op-ed by Lida Shepherd, director of the AFSC WV Economic Justice Project, appeared in the Charleston Gazette-Mail.)

More not all bad

 I've been making it a practice lately to notice good things that happen, especially in a year when there have been so many disappointments, when truly historic opportunities to make big  and positive changes slip away.

So here's my latest:

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an easing of income eligibility requirements for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC) food assistance. The program can assist women who are pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding and cover kids up to five years of age. This means more and better nutrition in a period critical to the health of mothers, infants and young children.

Under the new policy, states have the option of raising WIC eligibility to to 185 percent of the federal policy level. While all bets are off about most things West Virginian these days, I was glad to learn that WV decided to go for the more generous level of benefits. 

The WIC announcement is just one example of many federal efforts, often related to the pandemic, to promote food security. These range from increased SNAP benefits to expanded school meals to pandemic electronic benefits cards to kids when they are out of school. Read more on that here. Unfortunately, some of these are temporary unless further action is taken, which means staying on the case.

A little good news

 This isn't earthshaking, but I'll take what I can get these days. The USDA just announced that it will withdraw a proposed rule issued during the bad old days of the Trump administration. The dead rule would have changed eligibility requirements for SNAP and other food assistance programs in ways that were estimated to have cut food aid to three million or more Americans and also affected the eligibility for free school meals for around one million kids.

Unsportsmanlike, in other words. I blogged about it here and here back in 2019 during the public comment period. As I wrote at the time, 

Here's why it's bad: the proposed change eliminates "broad based categorical eligibility" (BBCE), which allows people who are eligible for other assistance programs (such as TANF or welfare, SSI or other programs) to be automatically eligible for SNAP.

Eliminating the BBCE creates a cliff effect in which people could experience drastic cuts in benefits when their living conditions modestly improve.

I take my food fights seriously. It's nice to have one less thing to worry about.

Some good news

 A friend drew this for me as a joke.

The American Friends Service Committee first came to West Virginia 99 years ago. There were hard times in the coalfields and child nutrition was an issue. Sound familiar? 

It's something I've worked on for the last eight years, from nudging county school boards to expand free school meals to trying to fight off attacks on food assistance programs at the state and federal level to supporting .

Free school breakfasts and lunches are a winner all around. They can improve child nutrition, learning, behavior, discipline, academic performance and a host of other things.

I was very excited to learn that the USDA decided to expand/extend free school breakfasts and lunches to all public schools through 2022. This also means more Pandemic Electronic Benefit cards. This is a huge win for kids, schools and working families. I'm hopeful that these measures will prove so popular and beneficial that they'll become permanent.

Forget Christmas-the real war is on food assistance

According to the ancient Chinese classic the Tao Te Ching, which can be translated as The Way and Its Power,

The Tao of heaven is like the bending of a bow.
The high is lowered, and the low is raised.
If the string is too long, it is shortened;
If there is not enough, it is made longer.  

The Tao of heaven is to take from those who have too much
and give to those who do not have enough.
Man's way is different.
He takes from those who do not have enough
to give to those who already have too much. 

For a contemporary example of the latter, you can find a pretty good—or bad—example in the Trump administration’s serial assaults on food assistance, particularly the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.

Earlier this month, the administration announced a policy that make it harder for adults without dependents to get SNAP, imposing work reporting requirements and limits on the length of time they can receive food assistance. It would also make it harder for states to get a federal waiver to avoid these harsh policies.

This measure could cut off benefits for an estimated 700,000 destitute Americans, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). Those affected by the change are among the poorest in the U.S., with an average income at just 18 percent of the poverty line, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture,

“Most of these individuals are ineligible for any other form of government financial assistance because they aren’t elderly, severely disabled, or raising minor children,” notes Robert Greenstein of CBPP. “For many of them, SNAP is the only assistance they can receive to help make ends meet.”

Not only is the administration’s decision to take food off people’s tables morally reprehensible, it will do nothing to encourage employment among SNAP participants. In fact, the measure is a replay of a failed policy that was tried in West Virginia in 2017, when the state imposed similar requirements as a pilot in the nine counties that had the lowest unemployment rate and presumably the best economic opportunities.

When the results were tabulated, it turned out that this measure resulted in cutting over 5,400 people from the program … and it had no impact on increasing employment. By taking away SNAP benefits from low-income people, it actually took money from grocery stores and the local economy—and placed greater burdens on already stressed charities that had to scramble to meet increased need.

The Trump administration’s latest attack on food security comes in the wake of two other proposed changes that would change the way eligibility for SNAP is calculated, resulting in even more cuts to the program and threatening eligibility for other key food assistance programs, including those that provide free school breakfasts and lunches to children.

All these measures are an attempted end run around Congress, which protected SNAP from devastating cuts in the 2018 bipartisan Farm Bill.

The time limits for SNAP are set to take effect on April 1, 2020, unless Congress or the courts takes action to stop it, according to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). “The final rule would cause serious harm to individuals, communities, and the nation while doing nothing to improve the health and employment of those impacted by the rule. In addition, the rule would harm the economy, grocery retailers, agricultural producers, and communities by reducing the amount of SNAP dollars available to spur local economic activity.”

One thing that people around the country could do is talk to their representatives in Congress and urge them to speak out against these cruel changes. Whatever happens next, our goal in West Virginia can be summed up in the saying “food for all.” To state the obvious, the problem isn’t that too many people in the U.S. receive SNAP benefits—the problem is that so many need them.

(This first appeared in a blog post for the AFSC.)

Nag nag nag

Today is the last day to make a public comment on a bad policy that could take away free school breakfasts and lunches from a million schoolchildren in the US. Yes, I know I'm being a bore about this but indulge me for one more day.

Short background: the Trump administration wants to change eligibility for SNAP that will cut off over 3 million Americans from food assistance. That's bad enough. But this will also change eligibility for free school meals under the Community Eligibility Provision. To state the obvious, kids tend to learn and act better when they've had nutritious meals. This would make many of them be hungry at home AND at school.

Click here to comment.

Thanks!

Easy action to help feed kids

In yesterday's post, I wrote about how SNAP (supplemental nutrition assistance program) rule changes proposed by the Trump administration could take away food assistance from one million school children.

Here's how: by changing eligibility for one, the proposed rule would change it for the other.

The USDA apparently realizes at some level that some folks out there actually want kids to eat, so they've reopened the public comment period. It will be open from Oct. 18 to Nov. 1.

Here's a link to make comments:

And here are some talking points.

I couldn't swear to this, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if those who make comments in defense of feeding kids will be reborn in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha, where they can work to attain enlightenment under the most favorable conditions.

If you care about kids, get ready for another school food fight

It's on again. I've written before about threats to food security from the Trump administration, most recently here. It turns out that things are worse than I thought.

For review, Prince Joffrey's President Trump's administration proposed changes in eligibility for the SNAP program that could take away food assistance from over 3 million Americans and eligibility for free school meals to 500,000 kids. Turns out the latter figure is more like a million.

So they'll be hungry at home AND at school. Nice...

In fact, the USDA is soon going to reopen a public comment period on this for a two week period. Details to come.

Here's the latest word from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC):

WASHINGTON, October 17, 2019 — A surprise release of data that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) should have disclosed earlier underscores the deep harm of its proposed rule to limit access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): eliminating food assistance for 3.1 million people and jeopardizing free school meals for nearly 1 million children.

Children who live in households that receive SNAP benefits are directly certified (automatically eligible) to receive free school breakfast and lunch. While the initial estimate showed that the rule could jeopardize more than 500,000 children’s access to free school meals, the new USDA analysis states that as many as 982,000 children could be impacted, with 497,000 children moving from free to reduced-price meals, and 40,000 completely losing eligibility for both free and reduced-price school meals. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) noted in a statement, “Even for those who remain eligible, forcing low-income families to navigate the burdensome paperwork will inevitably lead to eligible children losing access to a critical source of daily nutrition.”

If this rule is enacted, children will be hungry at home and school. Since childhood hunger is linked to academic struggles, difficulties focusing and concentrating, mental health disorders, and increased behavioral referrals, many schools would struggle to meet the educational, health, and mental health needs of the students who lose SNAP benefits and as a result, access to free school meals.

The administration will reopen the public comment period for 14 days. Once it is reopened, FRAC will have a comment platform on its website where people can submit comments opposing this deeply flawed proposal. 

I'll send word out when we know more, but here's some ammo for your comments: there's a new scientific study that shows free school meals (surprise) improve academic performance. Interestingly, this is true of both non-poor and poor kids.

Gird up thy loins for battle once again...

Need a karmic boost? Help fight hunger

In an earlier post, I wrote about the Trump administration's proposal to mess with the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). These changes, if enacted, would cut off food assistance from over 3 million Americans and 25,000 West Virginians.

The deadline to submit public comments on why this is a bad idea is this coming Monday, Sept. 23.

Here's a link to the USDA comment page.

Here's a link to tons of information about why this is a bad idea.

And here's a great story from today's Charleston Gazette-Mail about what this means for West Virginia.

I've been given to understand that making a public comment against these measures will guarantee a fortunate rebirth in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha, where the commentor can work towards Supreme Enlightenment under the most favorable conditions.

Just say no to federal hunger games

Late last year Congress passed the latest version of the Farm Bill with bipartisan support. Members of both houses had the chance to impose requirements that would have cut benefits for literally hundreds of thousands of Americans--and they had the good sense not to.

Unfortunately, the Trump administration is trying to make an end run around congress by proposing USDA rule changes.

This is up for public comment and the deadline for making them is 11:59 pm on April 2. 

Please consider taking a few minutes to make an online public comment. It's the best chance we have at present to protect benefits for an estimated 755,000 Americans. And please also consider getting this information around to people you know who might be willing to comment.

Here's a link with all you need to know to make comments. And, for an example, here are the comments I submitted: 

Greetings, I am writing to request that the USDA not implement the proposed changes to SNAP regarding work requirements. A similar policy was implemented in West Virginia in the nine counties with the lowest unemployment rate. The results were stark: over 5400 people cut off with no noticeable increase in people actually working. In many cases, the people who would be adversely impacted by this policy are homeless, lack transportation, are dealing with untreated and/or unacknowledged mental or physical disabilities, or are working but can't get enough hours to meet the requirement. Many are also non-custodial parents who provide some support to children and some are veterans dealing with PTSD. Congress had the opportunity to pass such legislation as part of the Farm Bill and chose not to do so after hearing from thousands of constituents. I urge the USDA to do the same. These changes won't increase employment; in fact, by reducing the SNAP caseload, they will actually take money out of local economies and away from the local businesses that do provide jobs. I am attaching the WV report on the nine pilot counties which was prepared by the WV Department of Health and Human Resources. Thanks for your consideration.