HH2008

NEW YORK CITY NEWS

Seniors Left Unserved as NYCHA Meals Programs Close

Dozens of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) senior centers are slated to close following a series of funding cuts and budgetary delays, leaving thousands of seniors without the food services they need. NYCHA buildings are home to over 60,000 seniors, many of whom rely on NYCHA senior centers for meals and health-related services. According to recent data from the Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City, seniors living in NYCHA buildings are also likely to be underserved by supermarkets, making meals programs the primary source of food for seniors who lack the physical and economic means to purchase groceries. Despite a 2003 agreement between the Department for the Aging and NYCHA meant to bolster community service programs offered out of NYCHA buildings, the programs have suffered from a nearly $70 million budget deficit. In the wake of this budgetary distress, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has called on NYCHA to sell off unused property to private developers in order to avoid further program cuts.

For more information about low-income seniors and food access, see the Council of Senior Centers and Services’ report: Hunger Hurts: A Study of Hunger Among the Elderly of New York City.

Enough is Enough: Calling for an End to Child Hunger

1 in 5 children in New York City live in food-insecure homes and every day more children in the United States are learning what it means to go hungry. Considering the likely impact of the economic downturn, it is critical that the government act now to create a strong federal safety net for children. The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act, which will be considered by the next Administration and Congress, gives the nation the opportunity to end child hunger once and for all. The legislation includes future funding for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, the Summer Food Services Program (SFSP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). NYCCAH is calling on legislators to end food insecurity among U.S. children by 2014 by ensuring that free school lunches and breakfasts are available to all children and by increasing federal reimbursements to organizations that sponsor child nutrition programs.

Join the movement to end child hunger! Interfaith Voices Against Hunger (IVAH)/Feed the Solution is currently collecting signatures for a petition to the next President of the United States and NY State Senators. Please review and sign the petition at the following link: http://citizenspeak.org/node/1356. Tell our President and legislators, when it comes to child hunger, enough is enough.

Healthy Standards Reveal Growing Need for Direct Food Access

An executive order issued on September 19 made New York the first City in the nation to establish healthy standards for all meals served at city agencies, and highlighted the need for better food access among low-income populations across the city. “This effort is another critical tool in our fight against the public health crisis caused by obesity and diabetes, said Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs. The standards set by the City’s Food Policy Task Force require agencies to offer at least two servings of fruit and vegetables in lunches and dinners, limit sodium levels in all meals and snacks, and phase out deep frying. While the measure marks a substantial improvement in the quality of the 225 million meals served by City agencies each year, more effort is needed to increase direct access to fresh, healthy food among low income populations by expanding food stamp acceptance at farmer’s markets and CSAs, bringing grocery stores into underserved neighborhoods and ending the wasteful practice of finger-imaging food stamp applicants.

STATE AND NATIONAL ROUNDUP

Whose Crisis? Bailout Bypasses Hungry Americans

As politicians begin to applaud temporary gains following the federal bailout of financial firms, 35.5 Americans still struggle to feed themselves and their families. Soup kitchens and food programs continue to operate on the insufficient funds that national and state governments have appropriated to address hunger. In New York state, soup kitchens and food pantries are further suffering from Gov. Paterson’s decision to cut funding for emergency food (in the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program, HPNAP) twice in the past six months.

This chronic lack of funding contrasts sharply with the sudden availability of $700 billion to prop up banks and lending firms. “Just as it is unthinkable for the country to allow financial giants to go belly up, it should be unthinkable to look the other way as tens of millions of low-income Americans (the types of people who clean the offices of AIG and Fannie Mae at night) go without food or shelter. It's time to get our priorities in order,” said NYCCAH Executive Director Joel Berg in a recent letter to the Washington Post. Berg called on legislators to rescind tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, and instead use these funds to end the pervasive crisis of poverty and hunger among American families by establishing a living wage, working towards the creation of new jobs, and making it easier for struggling families to access nutrition programs like food stamps and WIC.

Discount and Dollar Stores Attracting More Food Shoppers

As food prices continue to soar, discount and dollar stores are attracting more shoppers with deep discounts on packaged food. National discount chain Family Dollar has begun dedicating a substantial portion of its retail stores to food items and authorizing nearly a third of its stores to accept food stamps in the coming year.

Food sold through bargain venues, though accessible and affordable, is often heavily processed to maintain shelf stability and may be high in sodium, sugar and other preservatives.

The proliferation of discount food sales comes on the heels of grocery store closures across the city, and follows a particularly bad year for city bodegas, which have recently been targeted by the city as points of sale for healthier food products like fresh produce and low-fat milk. The trend towards discount food purchases suggests that outreach may need to extend beyond traditional food outlets, to include those businesses that cater specifically to low-income and fixed-budget shoppers.

	Seniors Left Unserved as NYCHA Meals Programs Close
	Dozens of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) senior centers are slated to close following a series of funding cuts and budgetary delays, leaving thousands of seniors without the food services they need. NYCHA buildings are home to over 60,000 seniors, many of whom rely on NYCHA senior centers for meals and health-related services. According to recent data from the Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City, seniors living in NYCHA buildings are also likely to be underserved by supermarkets, making meals programs the primary source of food for seniors who lack the physical and economic means to purchase groceries. Despite a 2003 agreement between the Department for the Aging and NYCHA meant to bolster community service programs offered out of NYCHA buildings, the programs have suffered from a nearly $70 million budget deficit. In the wake of this budgetary distress, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has called on NYCHA to sell off unused property to private developers in order to avoid further program cuts. For more information about low-income seniors and food access, see the Council of Senior Centers and Services’ report: Hunger Hurts: A Study of Hunger Among the Elderly of New York City.
	Enough is Enough: Calling for an End to Child Hunger
	1 in 5 children in New York City live in food-insecure homes and every day more children in the United States are learning what it means to go hungry. Considering the likely impact of the economic downturn, it is critical that the government act now to create a strong federal safety net for children. The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act, which will be considered by the next Administration and Congress, gives the nation the opportunity to end child hunger once and for all. The legislation includes future funding for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, the Summer Food Services Program (SFSP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). NYCCAH is calling on legislators to end food insecurity among U.S. children by 2014 by ensuring that free school lunches and breakfasts are available to all children and by increasing federal reimbursements to organizations that sponsor child nutrition programs. Join the movement to end child hunger! Interfaith Voices Against Hunger (IVAH)/Feed the Solution is currently collecting signatures for a petition to the next President of the United States and NY State Senators. Please review and sign the petition at the following link: http://citizenspeak.org/node/1356. Tell our President and legislators, when it comes to child hunger, enough is enough.
	Healthy Standards Reveal Growing Need for Direct Food Access
	An executive order issued on September 19 made New York the first City in the nation to establish healthy standards for all meals served at city agencies, and highlighted the need for better food access among low-income populations across the city. “This effort is another critical tool in our fight against the public health crisis caused by obesity and diabetes, said Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs. The standards set by the City’s Food Policy Task Force require agencies to offer at least two servings of fruit and vegetables in lunches and dinners, limit sodium levels in all meals and snacks, and phase out deep frying. While the measure marks a substantial improvement in the quality of the 225 million meals served by City agencies each year, more effort is needed to increase direct access to fresh, healthy food among low income populations by expanding food stamp acceptance at farmer’s markets and CSAs, bringing grocery stores into underserved neighborhoods and ending the wasteful practice of finger-imaging food stamp applicants.

		Whose Crisis? Bailout Bypasses Hungry Americans
		As politicians begin to applaud temporary gains following the federal bailout of financial firms, 35.5 Americans still struggle to feed themselves and their families. Soup kitchens and food programs continue to operate on the insufficient funds that national and state governments have appropriated to address hunger. In New York state, soup kitchens and food pantries are further suffering from Gov. Paterson’s decision to cut funding for emergency food (in the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program, HPNAP) twice in the past six months. This chronic lack of funding contrasts sharply with the sudden availability of $700 billion to prop up banks and lending firms. “Just as it is unthinkable for the country to allow financial giants to go belly up, it should be unthinkable to look the other way as tens of millions of low-income Americans (the types of people who clean the offices of AIG and Fannie Mae at night) go without food or shelter. It's time to get our priorities in order,” said NYCCAH Executive Director Joel Berg in a recent letter to the Washington Post. Berg called on legislators to rescind tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, and instead use these funds to end the pervasive crisis of poverty and hunger among American families by establishing a living wage, working towards the creation of new jobs, and making it easier for struggling families to access nutrition programs like food stamps and WIC.
		Discount and Dollar Stores Attracting More Food Shoppers
		As food prices continue to soar, discount and dollar stores are attracting more shoppers with deep discounts on packaged food. National discount chain Family Dollar has begun dedicating a substantial portion of its retail stores to food items and authorizing nearly a third of its stores to accept food stamps in the coming year. Food sold through bargain venues, though accessible and affordable, is often heavily processed to maintain shelf stability and may be high in sodium, sugar and other preservatives. The proliferation of discount food sales comes on the heels of grocery store closures across the city, and follows a particularly bad year for city bodegas, which have recently been targeted by the city as points of sale for healthier food products like fresh produce and low-fat milk. The trend towards discount food purchases suggests that outreach may need to extend beyond traditional food outlets, to include those businesses that cater specifically to low-income and fixed-budget shoppers.