KIDS IN DEEP POVERTY AT RISK FOR POOR HEALTH & DEVELOPMENT

Young children in deep poverty, whose family income is below 50% of the federal poverty line, fare even worse on health and development indicators than children in poverty, according to a study released by the National Center for Children in Poverty. The study compared the well being of children in deep poverty to children who are poor, but not in deep poverty, and to non-poor children.

Compared to other poor children, a higher percentage of young children in deep poverty suffer from obesity and elevated blood lead levels--a serious concern associated with learning and behavior problems. The percentage of young children in deep poverty who have elevated lead levels is three times higher than the portion seen in poor children, and over 17 times higher than in non-poor children.

Source: Science 20, 1/12/16, Risk of Deep Poverty

NEW SCHOOL NUTRITION STANDARDS WORK

New research shows that the school nutrition standards that took effect between 2012 and 2015 improve the school nutrition environment and student outcomes. Since the new standards went into effect:

·    Several national studies have found positive improvements to school meals.

·    Some nutrition disparities between predominately white schools and large urban, presumably minority-dominant, schools have been reduced or eliminated.

·    National and school district-specific studies across the country have found improvements in student nutrition outcomes.

Source:  Food Research & Action Center, 1/16, School Nutrition

Scholarships available for National Farm to Cafeteria Conference

Scholarships are now available for the 8th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, a biennial event hosted by the National Farm to School Network that will convene more than 1,500 diverse stakeholders working to source local food for institutional cafeterias and foster a culture of food and agricultural literacy across America. Scholarship awards will cover short course and/or registration fees for the conference, pending available funds. Costs associated with travel, lodging and field trips are not covered by the scholarship award. In order to ensure the conference reflects the full diversity of farm to cafeteria constituents, scholarships are prioritized for farmers, farmer support organizations, youth (through age 22), persons of color, food service professionals, among others. Additional preference will be given to first-time conference attendees and presenters. Representation from all regions of the country will also be taken into consideration when evaluating scholarship applicants. The application is available online at farmtocafeteriaconference.org. Applications must be received or postmarked by 5pm (EST) on February 29, 2016.  

OBAMA & RYAN AGREE ON SOMETHING!

The President and the Speaker both agree that the time is ripe to expand tax cuts for low-income workers who don’t have children. And, in fact, they have nearly identical proposals to do so. Both would phase in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) more quickly as a worker’s earnings rise, raise the maximum credit to about $1,000, and lower the eligibility age from 25 to 21. These changes would make a big difference.  Currently, a childless worker with poverty-level wages filing his or her taxes for 2015 would receive an EITC of $172, not nearly enough to offset the $1,188 he or she owes in income tax and the employee share of payroll taxes.  The proposals would give that worker an $841 EITC, a major step towards lifting the worker back to the poverty line. All told, the proposals from Obama and Ryan would lift about half a million people out of poverty and make another 10.1 million people less poor, the Treasury estimates.

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 1/13/16, EITC

Farm to Institution webinar on February 9

How can we get more local and regional food into schools, colleges and hospitals in the Northeast? The process often involves many different parties and steps to navigate. This webinar will provide an orientation to “Setting the Table for Success: Increasing Local Food Purchasing by Institutional Food Service Management,” a brand new toolkit designed to help you understand the process of working with food service management companies to maximize opportunities to incorporate local and regional food into your menus. The toolkit is also applicable to self-operated facilities for use in setting internal goals and contracting with group purchasing organizations or directly with suppliers.Here’s the link:http://www.farmtoinstitution.org/event/setting-table-success-increasing-local-food-purchasing-institutions

SENATE COMMITTEE ADVANCES CHILD NUTRITION BILL

The Senate Agriculture Committee has approved a bill that reauthorizes and makes some changes to child nutrition programs. The legislation, among other things:

·    Gives schools two more years, until 2019, to reduce sodium levels in the meals they serve students and allows them to serve at least one bread, pasta or grain product a week that is not made up of at least 51% whole grains.

·    Increases support for summer feeding programs and farm-to-school activities, including an annual $5 million increase in grants for the farm-to-school program.

·    Leaves in place standards in 2010 child nutrition legislation that removed soda and most junk food from schools and upped servings of fruits and vegetables in school lunches.

·    Strengthens the summer meals program through reduced administrative burden and relief of regulations that prevented local innovations.

The Committee sent the bill to the Senate floor; a vote has not yet been scheduled.

Source: Senate Agriculture Committee, 1/21/16, Child Nutrition Bill

Different paradigms

One of my many tutors in food system issues is Bill Duesing of Connecticut NOFA.

Bill writes clearly in his recent blog entry about different paradigms of a food system - industrial and biological.

While we are making progress, all of us who care about building a just and sustainable food system need to continue our efforts, both small scale in our own food purchasing and consumption habits and in the community through work with organizations like NOFA and GardenShare.

Gloria