Nutrition groups prepare for battle again in 2013
January 24, 2013 | 10:17 AM
Key anti-hunger groups have praised the Taxpayer Relief legislation that included an extension of the farm bill through September 30, noting that it reauthorized the bill with no cuts to food stamps.
But they also signaled that when Congress begins work on a five-year farm bill, they will fight again to stop any cuts in food stamps, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, and to promote healthier eating among low-income people.
Jim Weill
“The president and his allies did a really good job of protecting low-income supports, not just food stamps but the refundable tax credits but extended unemployment insurance,” FRAC President Jim Weill told The Hagstrom Report in an interview.
When members of Congress start work on the farm bill, Weill said, “They should start fresh and have no food stamp cuts in it.”
“It is a new Congress and we have learned from the past year there is a lot of opposition to food stamp cuts,” he said. “The president doesn’t want to cut the program and they should produce a bill that doesn’t have food stamp cuts in it.”
Weill noted that the extension did cut the SNAP education program, which is designed to help SNAP beneficiaries learn how to achieve healthy eating.
“From a low-income point of view and hunger, it is one serious flaw in an otherwise pretty bright picture,” Weill said.
David Beckmann
David Beckmann, president of the charity, said it was “thankful that the deal minimizes the negative impact on poor and hungry people.”
“This compromise isn’t perfect, but it is a good deal that will prevent major economic damage that would have affected hungry and poor people the most,” he said.
Beckmann noted that the bill included a five-year extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) and extended emergency unemployment benefits for one year. He also noted that food stamps are exempt from the sequester that the bill postponed until March.
But he also noted that the sequester could also result “in hundreds of thousands of low-income women and young children losing WIC benefits here in the United States”— a reference to the special nutrition program for women, infants and children.
“Like many Americans we are disappointed that Congress could not pass a farm bill in 2012, and was forced to partially extend the 2008 farm bill for nine months through the 11th hour back-room deal on the fiscal cliff,” Wholesome Wave said in a statement.
The group works to encourage low-income people to eat more fruits and vegetables, particularly those produced locally.
“The temporary measure has left out many critical programs designed to support small farmers and rural communities,” the statement said. “We are relieved, of course, to see SNAP funding maintained at the current level ensuring that millions of Americans will not going hungry in the new year.”
“Looking down the road, we encourage the new Congress to follow the U.S. Senate’s bipartisan lead and maintain the innovative provisions that were hammered out last year in their version of the farm bill,” the group said.
“These initiatives, left out of the last-minute deal, contain critical funding for key specialty crop programs, including those that improve the affordability of fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables for SNAP consumers struggling to put fresh food on the family table.”
Wholesome Wave’s leaders include Michel Nishan, a Connecticut-based chef, and Gus Schumacher, an Agriculture undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services in the Clinton administration and a former Massachusetts agriculture commissioner and World Bank official.
Abby Leibman
“We are certainly relieved that the last-minute deal negotiated by Congress and the administration included an extension of programs in the farm bill — including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — through September 2013,” said Abby J. Leibman, president and CEO of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a Los Angeles-based group that lobbies on hunger issues.
“Our relief, however, is tempered by the aggressive targeting of SNAP for substantial cuts by some members of Congress,” Leibman said. “We are deeply concerned that this highly effective program will continue to be vulnerable as our legislators try to achieve deficit reduction during negotiations on the debt ceiling, budget, and the farm bill in the weeks and months ahead.”
She called SNAP “a vital and efficient program” that has “successfully realized its purpose: to prevent Americans from going hungry during this extended time of economic downturn.”
“Still, many legislators seem to be blinded by the large price tag, which they then use as justification for slashing the program,” Leibman said. “Rather than attempting to solve our nation’s financial problems with a sledgehammer, we urge our legislators in Washington to take a more discriminating approach and engage in a thoughtful conversation about where they might find efficiencies in governmental spending.
“Surely our leaders can find more appropriate ways to improve our collective financial woes than by making Draconian cuts that will tragically increase hunger and food insecurity.”
“The last-minute political maneuvering by Congress to avoid the ‘fiscal cliff’ has undercut a critical nutrition program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed),” said The Public Health Institute, a group of health care professionals who focus on the relationship between health and eating.
“The Public Health Institute is extremely disappointed and concerned about the health impacts of this rushed decision on our most vulnerable population, recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps,” the group said.
“SNAP-Ed, a federal/state partnership that supports nutrition education for persons eligible for food stamps, was slashed by one-third for 2013,” the group said. “Earlier versions of the farm bill had never included or considered cuts to SNAP-Ed, and this last minute cut was never vetted or approved by the Agriculture committees.”
The educational program aims to help low-income Americans make healthy choices on a limited budget, to reduce their risk of chronic disease and obesity, and to optimize the economic and nutritional value of SNAP benefits, the group said.
“SNAP-Ed programming has proven that investment in nutrition education can enable SNAP to effectively address the dual challenges of improving nutrition and food security among low-income populations. This funding cut to the program undermines and weakens a critical component of our nationwide efforts to promote healthy eating and prevent chronic disease just as investments to prevent obesity and promote healthy eating are beginning to show results.”
The institute said that the farm bill being negotiated last year was “imperfect,” but “reflected the input of farmers and rural America, anti-hunger advocates and the public health community.”
“As the new Congress faces a reauthorization of the farm bill in September, political pressure and time constraints must not trump common sense and evidence: SNAP-Ed must have full funding restored and protected, ensuring that all Americans, particularly those who are most vulnerable, can make the healthiest decisions when feeding their families.”
“The SNAP-Ed cuts result in a sizable hit for cooperative extension in several states. It is critical for recipients to understand how to get the most nutrition from their food dollar,” said Daryl Buchholz, chairman of the APLU Extension Committee on Organization and Policy, and associate director for extension and applied research at Kansas State University.
Feeding America, the nation’s largest network of food banks, said it was disappointed that Congress slashed funding for nutrition education when it voted to extend the farm bill. Nutrition education, the group noted, helps low-income households maximize their SNAP benefits.
“SNAP benefits average less than $1.50 per person per meal, making it difficult for participating households to afford the most nutritious foods that are also often higher in price,” Feeding America said in a statement. “SNAP nutrition education provides families with the tools they need to shop on a limited budget and prepare foods that are both low in cost and high in nutrition.
Noting its network of more than 200 food banks serves 37 million people, The group said the cut to nutrition education was short-sighted and will undermine the efficacy of the SNAP benefit in promoting health.
"Furthermore, the size and timing of the cut will make it even more disruptive to the important work that is happening around the country. The cut amounts to a 25 percent reduction in SNAP nutrition education funding for fiscal year 2013. Because the cut was enacted when we are already three months in to the fiscal year, the savings must be achieved solely in the second half of the year and will result in sharper program reductions.”
Feeding America also urged Congress ”to protect all nutrition programs from cuts and harmful policy changes as the reauthorization process moves forward.”
But they also signaled that when Congress begins work on a five-year farm bill, they will fight again to stop any cuts in food stamps, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, and to promote healthier eating among low-income people.
Food Research and Action Center
“The president and his allies did a really good job of protecting low-income supports, not just food stamps but the refundable tax credits but extended unemployment insurance,” FRAC President Jim Weill told The Hagstrom Report in an interview.
When members of Congress start work on the farm bill, Weill said, “They should start fresh and have no food stamp cuts in it.”
“It is a new Congress and we have learned from the past year there is a lot of opposition to food stamp cuts,” he said. “The president doesn’t want to cut the program and they should produce a bill that doesn’t have food stamp cuts in it.”
Weill noted that the extension did cut the SNAP education program, which is designed to help SNAP beneficiaries learn how to achieve healthy eating.
“From a low-income point of view and hunger, it is one serious flaw in an otherwise pretty bright picture,” Weill said.
Bread for the World
David Beckmann, president of the charity, said it was “thankful that the deal minimizes the negative impact on poor and hungry people.”
“This compromise isn’t perfect, but it is a good deal that will prevent major economic damage that would have affected hungry and poor people the most,” he said.
Beckmann noted that the bill included a five-year extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) and extended emergency unemployment benefits for one year. He also noted that food stamps are exempt from the sequester that the bill postponed until March.
But he also noted that the sequester could also result “in hundreds of thousands of low-income women and young children losing WIC benefits here in the United States”— a reference to the special nutrition program for women, infants and children.
Wholesome Wave
“Like many Americans we are disappointed that Congress could not pass a farm bill in 2012, and was forced to partially extend the 2008 farm bill for nine months through the 11th hour back-room deal on the fiscal cliff,” Wholesome Wave said in a statement.
The group works to encourage low-income people to eat more fruits and vegetables, particularly those produced locally.
“The temporary measure has left out many critical programs designed to support small farmers and rural communities,” the statement said. “We are relieved, of course, to see SNAP funding maintained at the current level ensuring that millions of Americans will not going hungry in the new year.”
“Looking down the road, we encourage the new Congress to follow the U.S. Senate’s bipartisan lead and maintain the innovative provisions that were hammered out last year in their version of the farm bill,” the group said.
“These initiatives, left out of the last-minute deal, contain critical funding for key specialty crop programs, including those that improve the affordability of fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables for SNAP consumers struggling to put fresh food on the family table.”
Wholesome Wave’s leaders include Michel Nishan, a Connecticut-based chef, and Gus Schumacher, an Agriculture undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services in the Clinton administration and a former Massachusetts agriculture commissioner and World Bank official.
MAZON
“We are certainly relieved that the last-minute deal negotiated by Congress and the administration included an extension of programs in the farm bill — including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — through September 2013,” said Abby J. Leibman, president and CEO of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a Los Angeles-based group that lobbies on hunger issues.
“Our relief, however, is tempered by the aggressive targeting of SNAP for substantial cuts by some members of Congress,” Leibman said. “We are deeply concerned that this highly effective program will continue to be vulnerable as our legislators try to achieve deficit reduction during negotiations on the debt ceiling, budget, and the farm bill in the weeks and months ahead.”
She called SNAP “a vital and efficient program” that has “successfully realized its purpose: to prevent Americans from going hungry during this extended time of economic downturn.”
“Still, many legislators seem to be blinded by the large price tag, which they then use as justification for slashing the program,” Leibman said. “Rather than attempting to solve our nation’s financial problems with a sledgehammer, we urge our legislators in Washington to take a more discriminating approach and engage in a thoughtful conversation about where they might find efficiencies in governmental spending.
“Surely our leaders can find more appropriate ways to improve our collective financial woes than by making Draconian cuts that will tragically increase hunger and food insecurity.”
The Public Health Institute
“The last-minute political maneuvering by Congress to avoid the ‘fiscal cliff’ has undercut a critical nutrition program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed),” said The Public Health Institute, a group of health care professionals who focus on the relationship between health and eating.
“The Public Health Institute is extremely disappointed and concerned about the health impacts of this rushed decision on our most vulnerable population, recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps,” the group said.
“SNAP-Ed, a federal/state partnership that supports nutrition education for persons eligible for food stamps, was slashed by one-third for 2013,” the group said. “Earlier versions of the farm bill had never included or considered cuts to SNAP-Ed, and this last minute cut was never vetted or approved by the Agriculture committees.”
The educational program aims to help low-income Americans make healthy choices on a limited budget, to reduce their risk of chronic disease and obesity, and to optimize the economic and nutritional value of SNAP benefits, the group said.
“SNAP-Ed programming has proven that investment in nutrition education can enable SNAP to effectively address the dual challenges of improving nutrition and food security among low-income populations. This funding cut to the program undermines and weakens a critical component of our nationwide efforts to promote healthy eating and prevent chronic disease just as investments to prevent obesity and promote healthy eating are beginning to show results.”
The institute said that the farm bill being negotiated last year was “imperfect,” but “reflected the input of farmers and rural America, anti-hunger advocates and the public health community.”
“As the new Congress faces a reauthorization of the farm bill in September, political pressure and time constraints must not trump common sense and evidence: SNAP-Ed must have full funding restored and protected, ensuring that all Americans, particularly those who are most vulnerable, can make the healthiest decisions when feeding their families.”
Association of Public and Land Grant Universities
“The SNAP-Ed cuts result in a sizable hit for cooperative extension in several states. It is critical for recipients to understand how to get the most nutrition from their food dollar,” said Daryl Buchholz, chairman of the APLU Extension Committee on Organization and Policy, and associate director for extension and applied research at Kansas State University.
Feeding America
Feeding America, the nation’s largest network of food banks, said it was disappointed that Congress slashed funding for nutrition education when it voted to extend the farm bill. Nutrition education, the group noted, helps low-income households maximize their SNAP benefits.
“SNAP benefits average less than $1.50 per person per meal, making it difficult for participating households to afford the most nutritious foods that are also often higher in price,” Feeding America said in a statement. “SNAP nutrition education provides families with the tools they need to shop on a limited budget and prepare foods that are both low in cost and high in nutrition.
Noting its network of more than 200 food banks serves 37 million people, The group said the cut to nutrition education was short-sighted and will undermine the efficacy of the SNAP benefit in promoting health.
"Furthermore, the size and timing of the cut will make it even more disruptive to the important work that is happening around the country. The cut amounts to a 25 percent reduction in SNAP nutrition education funding for fiscal year 2013. Because the cut was enacted when we are already three months in to the fiscal year, the savings must be achieved solely in the second half of the year and will result in sharper program reductions.”
Feeding America also urged Congress ”to protect all nutrition programs from cuts and harmful policy changes as the reauthorization process moves forward.”
