FRAC Weekly Digest - 1/16/2018

FRAC WEEKLY NEWS DIGEST
Issue #3, January 16, 2018
follow us:    

---

Register Today for the 2018 National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference Register today and join 1,200+ of your colleagues for what is sure to be the anti-hunger community's biggest and best conference yet! Begin planning your conference experience by downloading the draft agenda, and find out more at the conference website.

---

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 

Berkshire County food pantries gird cuts to SNAP benefits after tax bill — Berkshire Eagle, January 7, 2018
The tax bill is projected to result in a $1.5 billion deficit by 2027, and SNAP is one target of possible cuts to offset the deficit. In Massachusetts’ Berkshire County, food pantries expect to see greater need if SNAP benefits are cut. Christina Maxwell, director of programs for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, said the food bank would not be able to meet the increased need if SNAP benefits are reduced.    
With Benefits Already Skimpy, Food Program Advocates Fear Cuts in Ky. — WFPL, January 10, 2018
About 15 percent of Kentucky’s population — more than 651,000 people — receive SNAP benefits. Even with that assistance (in the state, the average benefit amount is $120 a month), many have trouble affording groceries. SNAP recipients often turn to emergency food providers for help in feeding themselves and their families, said James Ziliak, founder of the Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky. “The charitable system is already struggling to keep up with demand for emergency food assistance in Kentucky,” said Tamara Sandberg, head of the Kentucky Association of Food Banks. “So that’s why it’s adamant that [SNAP] needs to be strengthened and not reduced in any way.”    Senate committee approves bill that would allow drug felons to get food stamp benefits — The Indy Channel, January 11, 2018 
Indiana’s Senate Committee on Family and Child Services approves legislation that would allow residents with certain drug convictions to receive SNAP benefits if they successfully complete probation, parole, community corrections, or other post-conviction monitoring programs. Indiana is one of only four states still prohibiting people with prior drug felonies from receiving SNAP. Supporters of the bill note that every $5 in SNAP benefits generates more than $9 in economic activity, and that incarcerating an adult in 2016 cost the state $1660, while the SNAP monthly benefit is $118.
     

SNAP and Farm Bill

With Congress To Debate Farm Bill, Questions About Whether SNAP Reform Will Be Included — UA Little Rock Public Radio, January 8, 2018 
The Farm Bill is set to expire this year, and there are proposals to change SNAP to a block grant program, which will reduce the program’s flexibility, particularly during natural disasters, said Ellen Vollinger of FRAC in a recent address at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. She noted that members of the Arkansas congressional delegation, particularly Rep. Rick Crawford, a member of the House Committee on Agriculture and the Subcommittee on Nutrition, are in a prime position to affect changes to SNAP.
    

Anti-Poverty Programs
Keep anti-poverty programs — News-Press, January 9, 2018
"We need to make clear to Congress that we won’t stand for any attempts to unravel anti-poverty programs,” writes Alexis Maestre-Saborit in this letter to the editor. There have already been attempts in the recent past to cut SNAP and Medicaid, and these programs will likely end up targeted for cuts in the wake of the new tax plan. “With one in eight Americans below the poverty line, this is both bad public policy and just plain wrong.”
     

Institute: Vermont’s economic growth is benefitting the wealthy — Addison County Independent, January 8, 2018
In Vermont, the average nominal income for the top five percent of earners increased 42 percent from 2006 to 2016, while the average increase for the bottom fifth of earners only rose six percent, according to a report from the Public Assets Institute. The report also noted that many Vermonters still struggle financially, with single parents experiencing the most difficulty. The authors advocate increasing assistance to low-income families to help boost incomes.

    

Child Nutrition Programs

We can end child hunger. Do we have the will? — Austin American Statesman, January 9, 2018
More than 3 million Texas children were at risk of spending the recent holiday break without access to school meals, yet most of them could be offered meals during school breaks through the Child and Adult Care Food Program, write Bob Sanborn, president and CEO, and Jenny Eyer, director, of the Center for Child Health Research and Policy at Children at Risk, in this op-ed. The authors urge readers to find out if their child’s school district offers afterschool meals and breakfast in the classroom — and if not, to ask why.

     

Hunger on College Campuses

It's Hard to Study if You're Hungry — The New York Times, January 14, 2018An estimated half of all college students struggle with food insecurity, even at elite flagship universities. Last fall, students at two of the nation’s premier historically black colleges went on a hunger strike to pressure their schools to allow students to donate unused meal plan vouchers to those on campus who needed them. But long-term, preventive solutions must be found, writes Sara Goldrick-Rab, professor of higher education policy and sociology at Temple University.Charitable food donations must be supplemented with changes to how food is distributed and priced on campus, and access to SNAP should be broadened for students.