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.

Resources: Parent Trust for Washington Children

Becca Roy from the Parent Trust for Washington Children stopped by last Monday's Seattle Food Committee meeting to share information about the services they provide that might be helpful for food bank clients with children. Here's what she had to say:

Parent Trust for Washington Children (PTWC) is a locally-based, state-wide family support non-profit. We offer a range of family support services that are free to low-cost, which can all be found on our website: www.parenttrust.org. Two in particular we would like to highlight are the child development screening program and the Family Help Line, which are both FREE.

2011: Seattle Food Banks by the Numbers

Many Seattleites – just like many Americans – struggle to put enough food on their tables during these tough economic times. Seattle food banks help fill that gap and work to ensure families don’t go hungry. But Seattle food banks are also struggling to meet the increased need, coupled with a decrease in funding and donations.

See why in this review of the year 2011 by the numbers:

Seattle Food Banks: 2011

• TOTAL households served by Seattle Food Banks* in 2011: 702,238
• Percent change since 2007: +25%

Van Tour 2011!

Last Monday, nearly 40 leaders in the Seattle emergency food world converged on a number of locations around the City for the Seattle Food Committee’s van tour. The annual event provides food bank directors a chance to step back, check out what other programs are doing, swap best practices, and have a little fun.

Everyone on!

In addition to visiting food banks this year, the group also checked out a meal program and related support services like the Crisis Clinic and WithinReach. Everyone piled into the van and hopefully came away with some helpful hints:

1st Stop: 2-1-1
Staff at King County’s 2-1-1 Community Information Line connects over 6,000 callers a month to a dizzying array of community and government services. Among them? Food assistance programs such as food banks and meal programs!

Michael shows everyone the PMSC kitchen

2nd Stop: Pike Market Senior Center
Michael Montgomery heads up the Senior Center’s meal program which just began serving breakfast in addition to lunch 7 days a week. That’s 14 meals a week!







3rd Stop: Downtown Food Bank
Located in the Public Market Parking Garage, Kevin Futhey and his volunteers have to pallet-jack food deliveries by hand down a steep hill and clients enter through a narrow ramp in the garage. But they make the most out of a challenging location and have even built several raised garden beds into the hillside right outside.

Raised beds outside the Downtown Food Bank

New barn, complete with HUGE walk-in freezer

4th Stop: The Food Bank @ St. Mary’s
Space can be an issue at St. Mary’s, one of the busiest food banks in the City, which served nearly 5,500 households in the month of July. Deep, the Operations Manager at St. Mary’s, has it all worked out with a new, vertically gifted “barn” to store food.







5th Stop: WithinReach
These guys do so much, it’s hard to keep track! The local experts in State benefits and nutrition resources, WithinReach operates 4 statewide hotlines and a fabulous resource website called ParentHelp123.org.

Food Security Manager, Claire Lane, gave everyone some homework:

• Look up your food bank in their resource finder and check to make sure the info is accurate.



The whole group at WithinReach.

• Visit the Professionals section of their website and order FREE materials for clients!

Thank you to everyone who came and a double thank you to everyone who hosted us this year!

Check out more pictures from the tour here or here.

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!

Highlights from the 2010 Mayor's End Hunger Awards

Last month, over 140 representatives from food banks and meal programs across the city gathered together to share a meal and honor those who have made an extraordinary commitment to alleviating hunger in our community. Mayor Michael McGinn presented awards to six community heroes.

We present to you this year's Mayor's End Hunger Award Recipients!



Eliana Madwed, OPERATION: Sack Lunch
Community Volunteer (Meal Program)
Eliana collected donations for OSL instead of presents for her 13th birthday.



Rachael Bigham, Ballard Food Bank
Community Volunteer (Food Bank)
Rachael contributed original works of art to the Ballard Food Bank and North Helpline's new facilities.