Action is Still Needed to Secure More TEFAP in FY2011

We learned earlier this week that USDA is making $50 million available for the purchase of a variety of canned, frozen, and fresh fruits and vegetables and juices. These products will be distributed through TEFAP and will have estimated delivery dates betweek September 2011 and March 2012. Each state will be provided with their fair share of funding, and will be able to order from a menu of products which include tomato sauce, corn, carrots, green beans, peaches, pears, cranberry juice, orange juice, blueberries, potatoes, and oranges. This purchase is being made to satisfy a requirement in the 2012 Farm Bill that USDA purchase $401 million worth of "specialty crops" (i.e., fruits and vegetables) in FY2011.

While we are incredibly thankful for USDA made the decision to allocate this funding for the purchase of much needed TEFAP commodities, much more help is going to be needed to shore up supplies of TEFAP commoditeis nationwide. The inclusion of these products brings total FY11 spending on TEFAP up to $360 million. However, that still level of spending is still approximately $295 million -- or 45% -- below the FY2010 spending level.

As was announced last week, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH) are circulating sign-on letters in the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, urging Secretary Vilsack to use his administrative authority to direct funds to increase the availability of TEFAP commodities in FY2011.

With our network food banks poised to see a significant decline in the amount of TEFAP commodities received in FY2011, it is critical that all supporters of Feeding America food banks contact their Members of Congress to tell them about the importance of TEFAP and urge them to sign on in support of this letter.

A Campaign for a Hunger-Free Minnesota

Today is the official launch of Hunger-Free Minnesota, a statewide movement to close the gap of 100 million missing meals in our state.
You, your co-workers, volunteers and clients all will be positively affected by Hunger-Free Minnesota. It’s a three-year campaign with an action plan designed to focus on three areas of meal delivery:

• Increase annual meal delivery in the emergency food network by 50 million meals
• Increase access in the SNAP/Minnesota Food Support Program by 30 million meals
• Increase utilization of infant and child nutrition programs to yield an additional 20 million meals.

Hunger in Minnesota has doubled in five years. One in ten Minnesotans runs out of resources before the end of every month, missing an average of 10 meals every 30 days. That's 100 million meals missed every year, with devastating effects.

Hunger hurts us all. Fight hunger where you live.

For more information please our website or hungerfreemn.org that contains statistics about hunger in Minnesota and information about Hunger-Free Minnesota.

Summer Hunger

In our mission to engage the community to end hunger, we make an effort to direct a lot of attention to the innocent children affected hunger in our communities. In the Grand Rapids Food Shelf alone, 40% of those coming for food assistance are families with children under the age of 18. These families rely on federally subsidized school breakfasts and lunches as well as our “Kids Packs to Go” backpack program. Our backpack program provides snacks to children at risk of going hungry over the weekend. Every month during the school year, our volunteers pack 1635 “Kids Packs” and we distribute them to 16 schools in Itasca, Aitkin, Cass, Kanabec and Crow Wing counties.

Next month, school is out for summer break. While summer vacation is considered to be freedom for many children, for too many other children it means losing the one place that they can count on for a meal. It is estimated that more than 12 million children are at risk of hunger in America.

For most of the country, the face of hunger is surprising. It does not discriminate against age, race, gender, or ethnicity. It affects working families who are forced to make difficult choices between food and basic necessities such as heat, medicine or rent. These families are left struggling to find a way to keep their children fed when these programs end and summer vacation begins.

The USDA’s Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which provides low-income children with free, nutritious meals during the summer months when school is not in session, is intended to fill this gap. SFSP is the single largest federal resource available for local community organizations that want to combine a feeding program with a summer activity program. It is now easier than ever for organizations to participate and provide food for children in the summer through the SFSP.

However, nationally and here in our community, the Summer Food Service Program has been underutilized. Sponsors are needed to help coordinate the program, and agencies are needed to host feeding sites and encourage families to bring their children. One of the biggest reasons that the SFSP is underutilized is that families do not know that it is available for their children. Help is needed in raising awareness of this important program. Together, we can ensure that all children have access to healthy meals this summer. A list of SFSP sites will be complied and posted on our website as soon as it is public knowledge. Visit http://www.secondharvestncfb.com/ for more information or call Second Harvest North Central Food Bank at (218)326-4420.

Without Additional TEFAP Commodities, Food Banks May Face Empty Shelves this Year

As Congress crafts a budget that addresses our nation’s long-term fiscal challenges, Second Harvest North Central Food Bank along with Feeding America urges legislators to safeguard nutrition assistance and other safety net programs. The number of families struggling to make ends meet increased significantly during the recession. With unemployment at an average of 12 percent in the region and still hovering near 14 percent in the Grand Rapids area, the need for food assistance continues to grow and food banks are pressed to meet need in their communities.

• 37 million people – one in eight Americans – receive emergency food assistance each year through the Feeding America network of over 200 food banks, a 46% increase in the number of clients served since 2006.
• Federal nutrition programs provide support not only to struggling working Americans and their families but also to America’s farmers and the agricultural industry.
• Feeding America food banks could not provide current levels of food assistance without support from TEFAP and CSFP, nor could we meet added demand if the current funding levels and structure of SNAP and other federal nutrition programs were eroded. We urge Congress to protect essential nutrition safety net programs like TEFAP.

FEDERAL RESPONSE – THE EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (TEFAP): TEFAP is a means-tested federal program that provides food commodities at no cost to low-income Americans in need of short-term hunger relief through organizations like food banks, pantries, soup kitchens, and emergency shelters. Healthy and nutritious food commodities provided through TEFAP are an essential resource for the continued success of Feeding America food banks.

• TEFAP commodities accounted for 24.7% of the food distributed through food shelves and mobile pantry agencies of Second Harvest North Central Food Bank in 2010.
• Local food banks combine TEFAP commodities with privately donated foods to maximize TEFAP program benefits far beyond the budgeted amount for the program. In this way, food banks exemplify one of the optimum models of the public/private partnership.
• Declines in Section 32 funding at USDA and less need for USDA commodity intervention in the agriculture economy have resulted in an estimated 50% drop in commodity purchases for FY 2011. This will reduce the volume of food provided by TEFAP by approximately $345 million at a time when our members are already struggling to meet increased need in their communities.
• If commodity purchases drop as expected by 50%, many food banks will face the prospect of empty shelves beginning this summer and on into the Holiday season. As the demand for food remains high at food banks across the country, TEFAP is necessary for the provision of a steady emergency food supply.

This program is the backbone that supports the emergency food relief work that our food bank network members carry out every day and provides some of the most nutritious food that we distribute. Our challenge is that even as the need for emergency food assistance remains high, the agricultural markets are currently very strong. As a result, there is little need for USDA to intervene in agricultural markets through bonus TEFAP purchases. Unless we take action now to alert Members of Congress and the Obama Administration to the pending dramatic decline in TEFAP supplies, the level of commodity support Feeding America receives from USDA will to drop off significantly – possibly by as much as 50% -- in federal fiscal year 2011 and on into federal fiscal year 2012.

Please contact our Senators and Rep. Cravaack, about the impact a reduction in TEFAP on food banks and call Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at (202)720-3631 and urge him to use his administrative authorities to increase the availability of TEFAP commodities in FY2011.

For more information visit: http://hungeractioncenter.org/

Thank You for Stamping Out Hunger

This past Saturday, May 14th was the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. The letter carriers in the Grand Rapids area collected 5,718 pounds of donated food. Local letter carriers branch #3610 made a donation of $350 and collected an additional $185 in donations during the food drive. That's a grand total of 6,253 combined pounds and dollars! Thank you to all who participated in the food drive and a special thank you to the letter carriers for collecting all of the food and funds!