Three Ways To Reduce Childhood Food Insecurity

New research, using simulation modeling, identifies three policies that ensure young children have reliable access to food.


●    Increasing SNAP benefits by basing benefit calculations on the Low Cost Food Plan (vs. the Thrifty Food Plan), gives participant families with children 8% more  food purchasing power, and  helps 5.31% of food-insecure people in those families to become food secure.

●    Increasing WIC age-eligibility from age 5 to 6, increases the food purchasing power of 1.47% of newly eligible 5-year-olds’ families, helping them to become food secure.

●    Maintaining the current Community Eligibility Program (CEP) criteria (>40% poverty rate) in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, assures that the food purchasing power of 3.17% and 3.77% of families with children who participate in free and reduced-price meals, respectively, shift into higher income-to-poverty-ratio categories. Consequently, 3.23% of food-insecure School Meals participants’ families became fully food secure.

Source: Children’s Health Policy, 11/16/17, Reducing Food Insecurity

SNAP Helps Cut Child Poverty in Half

Thanks to government programs, the child poverty rate fell to a record low of 15.6% in 2016, a little more than half its 1967 level of 28.4%.  Data incorporating the Supplemental Poverty Measure (which counts the income that the SNAP, rental subsidies, and other federal non-cash benefits and tax credits provide) show that the drop is largely attributable to safety net programs, particularly SNAP and refundable tax credits for earned income and child care.

This improvement has benefited all demographic groups.  Between 1991 and 2016, SPM poverty rates among black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white children were all cut roughly in half.  When poverty is measured without counting safety net income, child poverty is only modestly lower than it was in the 1960s.

Source: Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, 10/5/17, Child Poverty

Signs of Summer

For the past several years Foodshare’s Hunger Action Teams have worked hard to let families know where kids can get a healthy and free summer lunch through the USDA’s Summer Meals program.

Bloomfield Town Pool 2016

Bristol B & G Club 2016

HATS saw the need to promote the meal sites and strategized how to get them out on the curbs where meals were being served.

When signs were available from other sources we used them, when they were not we funded Partnership Program awards or paid the cost for signs, knowing that kids would benefit greatly and the program would thrive.

Our goal?  More food security for kids who were able to get a free or reduced cost lunch during the school year.

Vernon Park, 2016

This year’s signs topped all – big, bright and beautiful orange signs graced more than 100 entrances to meals across our region.. When our friends at Budget Printers heard what we were doing they generously donated a large part of the cost. Hats off to Budget Printers,1718 Park Street in Hartford for showing such great community spirit!

New Britain, 2017

Hartford, 2017

Increasing signage was just one of the ways Foodshare has promoted the Summer Meals program. Stay tuned for information about our Expect More Healthy Kids events and Championship coming soon!

Summer Meal Champions!

On a rainy Saturday morning in August, thirty-one kids from five towns made their way to Parker Memorial Community Center in Hartford for the Expect More Healthy Kids Championship Event. On the line were awesome prizes: a Minion’s bike, an electric scooter, a Fitbit, and gift cards to Toys R Us and Target.

Leading up to this event, more than 250 children competed each week in July to earn ribbons and an invitation to the final competition. From the kid’s perspective, it was fun and games. But Foodshare had a serious reason behind it -- getting the word out about free summer meals in our region.

Why does Foodshare care about a federal program like summer meals? We realize that the 11.5 million meals we provide at pantries, shelters and community kitchens are only one part of the equation. To keep Connecticut kids strong, we need strong programs in place like school meals and summer meals.

The USDA Summer Meals Program began as an extension of the school lunch program in 1968, yet it is still the ‘best kept secret’ in child nutrition programs. Few parents know that there are free meals for kids at 600 locations across Connecticut -- less than 25 percent of kids who receive a free or reduced cost lunch at school will get a summer meal!

So while the kids enjoyed fun activities – field games, basketball, and Yard Goats baseball - we were asking them to go back to friends and family as ‘ambassadors’ for the free meals at their summer programs. A week of nutrition education rounded the activities out, with the help of the SNAP4CT staff who taught basic “My Plate” rules for healthy eating during relay races. Fox61 and iHeart Radio provided a media spotlight to get the word out. Panera provided delicious sandwiches for competitors and their families at the championship, and donations to Foodshare from their new delivery program. Stop & Shop provided the funding for us to do this important outreach. It was truly a team effort and we can Expect More Healthy Kids as a result.

Foodshare thanks all of our partners and special thanks to the City of Hartford Department of Families, Children, Youth and Recreation who graciously facilitated activities on two sites and provided the Championship venue. Thanks to Fox61 morning anchor Tim Lammers for acting as master of ceremonies, a passionate advocate for Connecticut kids!

Joy in Childhood Foundation Awards Foodshare $100,000 Grant

Over the next three years, the Joy in Childhood Foundation, in partnership with Feeding America, is providing $1.5 million in grants to food banks across the country to support local child hunger programs. This year, we are very excited to announce that Foodshare is one of nearly 20 food banks selected and will receive a multi-year, $100,000 grant from the Joy in Childhood Foundation! This funding will strengthen Foodshare’s efforts to support local programs that feed children in Greater Hartford, through healthy food distribution and capacity building.

Representatives from the Joy in Childhood Foundation joined us last week at Dunkin' Donuts stadium in Hartford to celebrate this grant award, along with youngsters from Hartford’s summer program at the Department of Families, Children, Youth, and Recreation. The children were invited to the stadium to participate in pitching, hitting and running clinics with the Hartford Yard Goats.
 

Many thanks to the Joy in Childhood Foundation for this generous support!

FoodXChange Draws 165 Hartford Residents

One hundred and sixty-five people attended the first ever FoodXChange program at the Hartford Public Library, SAND/Ropkins Branch on July 26, 2017. The event was a partnership of Foodshare’s Promise Zone Hunger Action Team, Hartford Public Library, Farrell Treatment Center, and the House of Bread. This pilot program invited community members to exchange their packaged, processed foods for fresh fruits generously donated by the House of Bread. Altogether, the event exchanged 301 servings of processed, prepackaged food for 653 servings of fresh produce! Most of the participants were parents and children.

In addition to providing participants with healthy food, the FoodXChange featured a number of activities like:

• Live music performed by two students and a teacher from the Charter Oak Cultural Center.
• A sugar demonstration and healthy recipe booklets provided by the UConn SNAP-Ed nutrition program.
• A kid's area with interactive games.

Thank you to all of the community partners and residents who helped make this event a success! 

Interns Succeed With Summer Meals

Summer Meals Squad pictured left to right: Jim, Maddie, Megan, Angelina, Sarah S, Bea, and Jack

During a four week period we had the privilege of having three hardworking, young ladies contribute their skills and talents for our Summer Meals program.

Maddie Appleton, a nursing student from Central Connecticut State University, served as the Summer Meals Event Coordinator. As coordinator, Maddie managed and organized all of the sports activities that were held at a summer meals site. The activities included; basketball, baseball, track and field, and nutrition education.

Angelina Opoku, a UConn student supported the efforts of publicizing the summer meal sites. As an American Savings Foundation intern, she held the responsibility of performing various outreach activities to get more kids to attend a summer meal site. Angelina successfully distributed close to 20,000 flyers to numerous towns within the Hartford region.

Megan Ewald, a recent college graduate from Michigan served as a Summer Meals VISTA. Megan was in charge of serving children a healthy meal at the summer meals sites in  Plainville. She also provided support to Maddie in coordinating the sport and food education activities at five different sites.

Angelina, Maddie, and Megan, we wish you all the best!

Students Earn Their Passports to Nutrition

Recently, Stop & Shop of East Hartford ,volunteered at Robert J. O'Brien STEM Academy. Associates introduced students to nutrition facts through their Passport to Nutrition program. The program focuses on: what nutrients are, MyPlate and the 5 food groups, the importance of exercise and staying hydrated, the role of the senses in tasting food, how to read food labels, and portion control.

The children sampled low sodium cheese, whole wheat bread, apple slices, and organic cereal and had the opportunity to pet a lobster. They also received an activity book, some fruit, a juice box and a frisbee to take home.

Thank you Stop & Shop for sharing healthy eating habits and physical activity with the next generation!

Interested in joining a Hunger Action Team? View our website for more information. 

Healthy FoodXChange

Foodshare's Promise Zone Hunger Action Team (HAT) will be hosting a food exchange program at Hartford Public Library! See flyer below for more details.

This Summer Expect More Healthy Kids

Most kids are excited about summer vacation, but one in six living right here in Connecticut will be too busy worrying about where to find their next meal.  Studies show that hungry kids are more likely to:

· Have learning challenges
 

· Repeat a grade in school
 

· Get sick more often
 

· Have problems with behavior and social skills

Thankfully, help is available.This year Foodshare will be partnering with Fox 61, Country 92.5, The River 105.9, and Stop & Shop to promote awareness of the summer meals program along with fun activities at the following locations; Hartford, East Hartford, New Britain, and Bristol. Meals will be provided by the USDA for kids 18 and under.

 During the summer months kids will have the opportunity to participate in the following activities; basketball, baseball, track & field, and nutrition education.

To learn more about these free events go to the Expect More Healthy Kids website or view the flyer below.

Great American Milk Drive Returns!

Across Connecticut, 438,000 of our neighbors struggle to afford enough food, including basic staples like milk.

To help more of our food insecure neighbors access the essential nutrients they need, Price Chopper has partnered with Feeding America once again to host the Great American Milk Drive.

From June 1 to June 30 customers will have the opportunity to make a monetary gift while shopping at their local Price Chopper store.

All money collected will be used to purchase half-gallons of milk, which will be used to help local food banks like  Foodshare put milk on the table for local families. 

Finding a Solution to School Shaming

"Far too often in school cafeterias across the country, a student is served a lunch, only for it to be thrown away because he or she does not have money in the lunch account or in hand to pay for the meal. Some school districts also reportedly stamp children’s hands or make them wear stickers that say “I need lunch money” — ostensibly to remind a parent or guardian to put funds in a student’s lunch account.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is requiring school districts to establish a policy by July 1 for the 2017–2018 school year for how to handle situations when students do not have money to pay for their meal. Alternatively, states can set a policy for all school districts to follow, or set guidelines that local policies must meet. Though USDA has not prescribed what school districts can and cannot do, this is an important opportunity for states, school administrators, advocates and other stakeholders to establish policies that protect children and prevent stigma in the cafeteria."



Source: The Hill, 5/11/17, Read More >

School Lunch Quality Affects Academic Achievement

In 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The main goal of the law was to raise the minimum nutritional standards for public school lunches served as part of the National School Lunch Program. The policy discussion surrounding the new law centered on the underlying health reasons for offering more nutritious school lunches, in particular, concern over the number of children who are overweight...

Surprisingly, the debate over the new law involved very little discussion as to whether providing a more nutritious school lunch could improve student learning.

A new study attempts to fill this gap, measuring the effect of offering healthier public school lunches on end of year academic test scores for public school students in California.

It finds that when a school contracts with a company that provides healthier lunches, students score better on end-of-year academic tests than those in schools that contract for less healthier meals...

Test scores are also 40% higher for students who qualify for reduced-price or free school lunches."


Source: Brookings Institution, 5/3/17, Quality School Meals

Northeastern School Kids Get More Local Food

"Farm-to-school programs serve locally or regionally produced foods (two common definitions being foods produced within 50 miles or within the State) in school meals in many school districts. According to the USDA’S Farm to School Census, 35% of U.S. school districts reported serving local food in school meals during the 2011-12 school year.

About 19% of school districts, containing 30% of American school children, served at least one locally sourced food item daily. Milk, fruit, and vegetables were the most frequently served locally produced foods. USDA’s analysis revealed that districts in the Northeast were 28 percentage points more likely to serve local foods daily than those in the Southwest; districts in cities were 11 percentage points more likely than those in rural areas to do so; and districts with 5,000 or more students were 9 percentage points more likely to do so compared to districts with under 5,000 students. Serving local foods daily in school cafeterias was also more common in states with more legislated policies supporting farm-to-school programs."

Source: USDA, 5/1/17, Farm-to-School

A Community United Against Hunger

The Foodshare Walk Against Hunger is this Sunday, May 7. Rain or shine, this is our chance to tell the world that hunger is not okay. 

It is not okay for a senior, who worked for decades, to be standing in line at a food pantry. It is not okay for members of our military to be worried about putting dinner on the table each night. And it is not okay for children, through no fault of their own, to be hungry when they head off to school. 

We are so grateful to have some of our favorite, and most committed local celebs kicking things off on the main stage—Scot Haney from WFSB Channel 3 Eyewitness News and Renee DiNino from iHeart Media's Community Access. Long-time supporters of Foodshare, they both understand the hard road ahead, but they also know the strength of a community united against hunger. 

Hunger is indeed big. 
We believe the Foodshare community is bigger. 

Celebrity Chef Seeks to End Hunger in USA

Rachel Martin of NPR's Morning Edition recently spoke with celebrity chef and hunger advocate,Tom Colicchio to discuss hunger related issues described below:

"An estimated 13.1 million kids live in homes with insufficient food, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And the number of college students struggling with hunger has prompted more campuses to open food pantries.

Seniors and people with disabilities also suffer from hunger, and federal money for programs like Meals on Wheels may face cuts under President Trump's proposed budget."

Source: NPR, 5/1/17, Read More >

Community Eligibility Continues to Grow

The Community Eligibility Provision allows high-needs schools and districts with high concentrations of low-income students to offer free meals to all students, and eliminates the need for household school meal applications. In the 2016–2017 school year, the third year of the program’s availability nationwide, the number of participating high-needs schools continues to grow.

More than 9.7 million children in 20,721 schools and 3,538 school districts are participating and have access to breakfast and lunch at no charge each school day through community eligibility. This represents an increase of 2,500 schools and 1.2 million children over the 2015–2016 school year.

In Connecticut, 21 of the 46 school districts eligible to participate in the program (45.7%) are doing so, just about the national average. Over 75% of the schools in those participating districts are providing free meals to all, well above the national rate (54.7%).


Source: Food Research Action Council, 3/27, Community Eligibility

FRAC Releases School Breakfast Toolkit for Principals

"School breakfast participation tends to be lower in middle and high schools than in elementary schools, and as a result, fewer teens are benefiting from the improved educational and health outcomes linked to school breakfast. Barriers such as hectic morning schedules, late bus arrivals, and social stigma contribute to this trend.

To help principals increase school breakfast participation among teens, FRAC and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) partnered to release the Secondary School Principals’ Breakfast After the Bell Toolkit."

Source: FRAC, 4/2017, Learn More >

'Lunch Shaming' Will Soon Be Regulated

"Every day in this country students come to school without a way to pay for lunch. Right now it's up to the school to decide what happens next.

With policies to handle unpaid meals all over the map, the USDA, which administers the federal school meal program, will soon require that all school districts have a policy on what to do when kids can't pay — a growing problem.

By July 1, those policies must be in writing and communicated to staff, parents and the community."

Source: NPR, 4/17/7, Read More >

Ask Congress to Reject Cuts to After-School Programs

"More than 1,450 organizations have signed a letter to members of Congress on a key appropriations subcommittee asking that they reject President Trump's plan to cut federal support for after-school programs.

In the letter, the signers request that $1.167 billion be provided for 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC), which is the program's current level of funding. These learning centers provide after-school and summer programs for students in low-income communities. President Trump's proposed budget would eliminate the program."

Source: Education Week, 4/11/17, Read More >