Why the food fight over the Farm Bill matters to you

Anna Goren, AmeriCorps VISTA at SFC Member Jewish Family Service Food Bank, reflects on the Farm Bill. 

The Farm Bill is a classic democratic-process-headache: a 1,000 page piece of legislation that takes on all things food and agriculture related.

It covers everything from food stamps to farmland conservation to nutrition programs to farm subsidies.

Past versions have mostly benefited big farmers of soy, corn, and other commodity crops, along with large corporations who control most of the food industry (see infographic at right for more).

With the interests of nutrition experts, anti-hunger groups, small and large farmers, agri-business, and politicians vying for their once-in-every-five-year shot at staking claims in the Farm Bill, it comes as no surprise that it stirred up a bipartisan food fight in the House of Representatives last week.

Democrats and Republicans are still battling between saving food stamps and nutrition programs and cutting the federal budget, so passage of the bill may be delayed until after the Presidential election in November.

Children's Alliance: Kids' nutrition at risk in House Farm Bill

Original post from the Children's Alliance blog:
http://www.childrensalliance.org/no-kidding-blog

One million people in Washington use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to feed their families. Two out of every 3 households receiving assistance includes a child. Washington’s children are at great risk of hunger – an experience no child should go through.

Congress has been considering some dangerous changes to federal policy governing SNAP. And as bad as the Senate version of the Farm Bill would be for Washington’s children, the version passed out of the House Agriculture Committee last week is worse.

The starting point for the House bill is the Senate’s harmful limitation on state “heat and eat” options that allow more families to receive larger utility deductions and higher benefits. Here in Washington, this will cut the monthly food budgets of nearly a quarter million families by 37 percent. And the House version makes two additional harmful changes.

First, it eliminates the state’s flexibility to change food stamp qualifications that help the recently unemployed. This change will force jobseekers to get rid of items they’ll need to get back on their feet, like the family car. It will also throw more than 80,000 Washington families completely off the program.

Join us for Hunger Action Day, February 25 in Olympia

Hunger Action Day is only a week away!
Register now

During each legislative session, the Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition hosts Hunger Action Day in Olympia to advocate for hungry families in Washington. The Seattle Food Committee is represented on the steering committee of the Coalition and helps coordinate Hunger Action Day, so we are encouraging our supporters to join us in Olympia on February 25 to engage our legislators in the fight to end hunger in Washington.

This year’s Hunger Action Day is especially important as the state’s budget crisis will result in the elimination or significant reductions of critical services that help struggling families meet their basic needs, like keeping food on the table. One in seven households in Washington struggled to provide enough food for their family in 2010. Washington now ranks as the thirteenth hungriest state in the nation, and the problem of hunger in our communities will continue to grow unless we speak out.

Register today and join us in Olympia on February 25th—the success of our efforts in Olympia rely on your voices and the voices of those we serve being heard! Help us spread the word! Tell your friends, family and co-workers.

For more information on HAD2011, click here for the event info packet.

See you in Olympia!

Spotlight on Providence Regina House Food Bank in South Park!

The Providence Regina House Food Bank is an amazing program helping to meet the needs of the South Park Community, and recently they have been receiving lots of press!

Food Bank Manager Paige Collins has been selected as a finalist for the Brotherton Community Champion Award. If she wins the award Paige will receive $5,000 to help her to better serve families in need. Please take a moment to vote for Paige and the Providence Regina House Food Bank, and also watch the fabulous short film about her.
Click here to vote.

Also, a volunteer and client of Providence Regina House has graciously shared the story of his struggle and how it has led him to rely on the food bank. You can find it featured on the Feeding America Blog. It's an eye-opening read and a testament to the fact that there are many faces of hunger, as well as to the vital importance of our local food banks.

Food Stamp Use Soars!

According to this New York Times article, the Food Stamps are currently helping to feed an astonishing 1 in 8 Americans and 1 in 4 children!

Click on the link below to read the full article:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/us/29foodstamps.html?_r=1&hp