NYC Alliance for Child Nutrition Reauthorization

A Collaboration of NYC Organizations Committed
to Ending Hunger and Improving the Health of Our Children

Dear NYC anti-hunger advocates:

As you may know, over the next few months, Congress will have the opportunity to make serious improvements to programs that feed millions of children each day. By passing a strong Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act this year, Congress can take steps towards ending child hunger and to significantly improving the nutritional health and awareness of our children.

This legislation includes all the Federal child nutrition programs, including: the School Breakfast Program, the National School Lunch Program, the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). In reauthorizing the bill, Congress and the President will jointly decide how much will be spent on feeding hungry children, how many children will be aided, how much schools and non-profit groups will be reimbursed for providing meals, and what the nutritional qualities of the meals will be.

We cannot overstate the importance of these decisions. A strong Reauthorization will allow the United States to move towards ending child hunger and to considerably improve the nutritional health and awareness of our children. In order to help Congress achieve these objectives through this Reauthorization, the NYC Alliance for Child Nutrition Reauthorization has been working over the past several months to prepare a comprehensive set of recommendations.

Please see the attached document that briefly explains our recommendations. We hope that you will sign on to these recommendations and become an organizational supporter of the NYC Alliance for Child Nutrition Reauthorization. In addition, we hope that you will consider participating in an event with elected officials and community members to help spread the word about the importance of the CNR Act. We must use this opportunity not only to improve the federal nutrition programs but also to raise awareness about these important issues.

Thank you for your daily work in New York City. We look forward to working with you to improve the federal child nutrition programs and to ensure a healthier generation of children in the United States. This is an historic opportunity and we hope you will be a vital part of this effort.

Please contact Kristen Mancinelli (City Harvest) at (917) 351-8706 or visit our website at http://nycforcnr.org/ to learn how you can join the campaign, mobilize your community, or propose your own recommendations to your elected officials.

Sincerely,
The New York City Coalition Against Hunger and the rest of the NYC Alliance

P.S. Do you have two minutes?

PLEASE WRITE TO YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS to encourage them to support this legislation.

In particular, we encourage you to write to Senator Schumer on the Senate Finance Committee and Senator Gillibrand on the Senate Agriculture Committee:

Letter to Schumer
Letter to Schumer (Spanish)
Letter to Gillibrand
Letter to Gillibrand (Spanish)

If you are in Congresswoman Clarke or Congressman Rangel's districts, they also sit on important committees dealing with Child Nutrition Reauthorization, so write them!

Letter to Rangel
Letter to Clarke
Letter to Clarke (Spanish)

As the economy continues to worsen, more children in New York City and throughout the United States are vulnerable to experiencing hunger. The Food Bank of New York City reported that, in 2007, more than one out of every five children (397,000) in New York City is relying on soup kitchens and food pantries, 48% more children than relied on emergency food in 2004. For the most recent report on child hunger in New York City, please consult the Food Bank of New York City’s report entitled “Child Hunger: The Unhealthy Return on Missed Investments” at this link: Child Hunger in New York City Report

Many hungry children also suffer from obesity because healthy food is often more expensive than processed, unhealthy fare. A strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization would also allow school meals and other programs that serve children to provide healthier food by increasing the amount that programs are compensated for each meal they serve. Find more about the growing epidemic at the following link: Study finds 1 in 5 obese among 4-year-olds

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Join the IVAH Movement to End Child Hunger!

During his campaign, President-elect Obama pledged to end child hunger by 2015 as a downpayment on ending all domestic hunger - now let's help him make good on his campaign promise! Sign the Petition to End Child Hunger, a part of the Interfaith Voices Against Hunger (IVAH)/Feed the Solution initiative. Please visit this link to view the petition: www.citizenspeak.org

We believe that the bill should:

1. Set a goal of cutting food insecurity among U.S. children in half by 2012 and ending it by 2014.
2. Provide the funding and the guidance necessary to enable most elementary and secondary school in American to provide every student with free school breakfasts (regardless of their family income) in the first class period.
3. Provide the funding to enable every school in America to provide free lunches to all their students, regardless of family income. (By making school meals universal in this way, the country can decease government funding on paperwork now used to make income eligibility determinations and instead use that money improve the nutrition of children.)
4. Increase reimbursements to school districts that provide healthier foods, particularly for districts buying from small local farmers.
5. Make the Women Infants and Children (WIC) nutritional assistance program an entitlement available to any low-income parent or child who needs it and fund nutritional improvements in the WIC package.
6. Increase reimbursements for both government and non-profit agencies that sponsor after-school and summer meals for children.

If you agree with the petition, fill in your information here . IVAH will be collecting signatures electronically through the end of January and will then send a hard copy of the petition with everyone's signatures to the elected representatives just after the inauguration. Of course, we also encourage you to send or email the Senators and the President Elect a copy of the petition or your thoughts on the Reauthorization as an individual as well.

NYCCAH's Memo to President-Elect Obama

How the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Bill Can Help the Obama Administration Meet Its Goal of Ending Child Hunger by 2015.