anti-hunger programs
As it opens more operations, USDA relies on staff to work without pay
Federal meat inspectors are reporting to work without pay during the partial government shutdown, said an industry trade group on Wednesday, as the USDA called on 9,700 furloughed FSA employees to reopen offices nationwide today to serve farmers and ranchers.
Back to square one for USDA nominees
Three nominations for senior USDA posts overseeing research, food safety, and civil rights died with the 115th Congress on Wednesday, and the path forward for those nominations in the two-year session that opened on Thursday is unclear.
Dinner at school is a growing option for U.S. students
Compared to the long-established school lunch program, after-school programs that provide snacks or supper to pupils are tiny. In fact, just 1.2 million suppers, versus 30 million lunches, are served in school each day.
Rural poverty rate drops twice as fast as U.S. average, still high
Rural incomes are up and the rural poverty rate is down, dropping twice as fast as the U.S. average, said the Census Bureau on Wednesday in its annual report on income and poverty.
Two SNAP proposals could cut enrollment by 8 percent, say researchers
A nonpartisan research group says that two of the lesser-known provisions at issue during Senate-House negotiations over the 2018 farm bill could reduce food stamp enrollment by 8 percent. Those affected would include large numbers of the elderly, children, and the disabled.
Food insecurity rates continue to fall, USDA report finds
National food insecurity continued to decline in 2017, according to a new report from the Department of Agriculture, and now affects 11.8 percent of U.S. households, down from 12.3 percent in 2016.
USDA to buy $50 million worth of milk
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that it will buy $50 million worth of fluid milk for distribution to food assistance programs. The purchases would mark the first time that the agency has ever bought fluid milk under a 1935 law that enables the federal government to support farmers by buying up surpluses.
Representative urges colleagues to fight an ‘unconscionable’ House farm bill
Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, a longtime champion of nutrition programs and a farm bill conferee, urged his colleagues not to support the House bill’s language around nutrition programs. “It is vital that we stand strong and that we side with the Senate … with regard to their language in the nutrition title,” he said in an interview on Thursday with the Food Research and Action Center.
New York State deal keeps SNAP working at farmers markets
Food stamp recipients in New York State will be able to use EBT cards, without interruption, at farmers markets throughout New York for the rest of the market season, announced Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Poll: Six in 10 voters oppose cuts in SNAP
A public opinion survey commissioned by the Johns Hopkins school of public health found that six in 10 voters oppose cuts in food stamps, the largest U.S. anti-hunger program. SNAP is the major issue in Senate and House negotiations over the 2018 farm bill.
Second year of decline in summer meals participation
Nearly three-fourths of meals served in school lunch programs — 22 million on an average school day — are eaten by poor children. But when the school year ends, only about one in seven of those children gets a meal through the USDA’s summer nutrition programs.
Senate panel ignores White House on foreign food aid
The Food for Peace program, created during the Cold War to alleviate hunger overseas, would see $1.7 billion in funding in the new fiscal year, a Senate Appropriations subcommittee decided on Tuesday, ignoring a White House proposal to mothball the program.
‘America’s Harvest Box’ is stamped ‘Return to sender’
In a quiet subcommittee vote, Congress declined on Wednesday to take delivery of “America’s Harvest Box,” the Trump administration’s headline-grabbing idea of sending a monthly box of nonperishable foods to SNAP recipients.
Peterson’s farm bill plan: ‘Ask a lot of questions and vote no’
The Democratic leader on the House Agriculture Committee said that “you can’t fix a bad bill,” so when the committee meets on Wednesday to vote on the proposed farm bill, “We’re going to ask a bunch of questions and vote no.”
Conaway’s ‘springboard out of poverty’ is a trap door, say anti-hunger groups
House Republicans said on Thursday that they would expand work requirements to cover 6 million SNAP recipients and were willing to go it alone to pass the first openly partisan farm bill in living memory.
Local food advocates prepare to defend SNAP
Defending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was the top priority of attendees at a convening yesterday of 63 sustainable agriculture and food access organizations in Washington, D.C. The meeting was to prepare members of the Good Food for All coalition to lobby Congress on the 2018 farm bill.
Will Mike Conaway out-do Trump on work requirements for food stamps?
Along with the much-criticized Harvest Box of nonperishable food for low-income Americans, President Trump proposed in his budget more stringent limits on food stamps for people who work less than 20 hours a week. House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway may go beyond Trump in his proposals to restrict eligibility and to channel millions of food-stamp recipients into workfare and job-training programs.
Wisconsin toughens its time limit for food stamp recipients
According to Gov. Scott Walker, “Wisconsin continues to lead the way on welfare reform,” including legislation that requires more of its residents to work more hours per week, or spend more time in job training, to receive food stamps for more than 90 days.