MD pilots innovative anti-child hunger program

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Last month Maryland was selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pilot the Community Eligibility Option (CEO) in the 2013-2014 school year. CEO provides free meals to all students in schools with high percentages of low-income students. The Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute was one of several organizations involved in advocacy efforts to bring this new tool to Maryland, and we are please that Maryland's application was approved.

Three education agencies will take part in the pilot: Baltimore City Public Schools, select schools in Washington County, and the SEED School of Maryland. CEO means that every student in these schools will be provided with free school breakfast and school lunch. By providing for all students, CEO eliminates the negative stigma often associated with eating school meals. Additionally, CEO reduces paperwork for families who no longer have to qualify individually, and administrative costs for the school system related to processing individual applications. CEO is already operating in over 400 local education agencies in 7 states and the District of Columbia with great success.

Implementing CEO in Maryland places us on the leading edge of improving access to – and the quality of – school meals for children. This is an important step forward as the Free State works to achieve the Governor’s goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015.

Hunger solutions in Annapolis and Washington

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On Thursday, March 21, Maryland Hunger Solutions hosted a legislative breakfast to discuss food policy in Maryland. In addition to eating breakfast, there are other things we should do to fight hunger.

In spite of Maryland's overall wealth, hunger, homelessness and poverty remain problems here. One in 10 people are poor. Based on official USDA statistics, one in 8 Maryland households cannot afford adequate food at some point during the year (up from one in 12 just a few years ago). 50,000 Marylanders are homeless at some point each year.

In our budgeting and public policy, Maryland’s leaders have done a lot to improve these things. They have respected the social safety net while implementing a balanced approach to balancing the budget. They expanded Medicaid and moved forward to implement the Affordable Care Act and state health exchange. They are moving forward on a five-year program to provide in-class breakfasts at all eligible schools.

The situation in most other states around the country is actually much worse – both in terms of the rates of hunger, poverty and homelessness, and the commitment of the political leadership. Still, in the wealthiest state in America, we can and should do better.

On the federal level, things have gone haywire. The forces of greed and fear are telling us that people should not feel “entitled” to food, shelter, and medical care. These things ought to be efficiently allocated by market forces on the basis of ability to pay. The savings should be used to reduce taxes on investment earnings and corporate profits, according to some.

Our national leaders DO need to reform the nation’s finances to bring down the long-term budget deficit. We should support a “Grand Bargain” to accomplish these goals. But not everything should be on the table. Cuts to “Domestic Discretionary Expenditures” that affect Food Stamps, WIC, school meals, and other vital safety net food programs must not be negotiable. Cutting food for the hungry should not be part of a partisan political deal.

Our jobs as advocates include:

1. Thank Governor O’Malley and our legislators for preserving and enhancing key food and health efforts here in Maryland.
2. Advocate for structural solutions to hunger and poverty to prevent problems in the future. Things like minimum wage and paid sick day policies really are hunger solutions. Ultimately, so are funding for public schools and promoting access to higher education and job skill training.
3. Tell our representatives in Congress to protect food, housing and healthcare for low-income Americans as they come to a sane agreement to reduce future deficits.

Food stamp challenge: Day 7

Last night I was hungry, but I was worried about running out of bread. I found myself eating peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon - something I have not done before as an adult.
 

Nevertheless, I will successfully complete the Maryland Food Stamp Challenge today (with one cheat for a family event Saturday).

For the past seven days, about 100 of us around Maryland have been eating only what we can buy for $30 for the whole week. That's the  typical benefit, for one person for one week, in the food stamp program (now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP). The Food Stamp Challenge is sponsored by our good friends at Maryland Hunger Solutions.

Breakfast today: Oatmeal. My last banana for my mid-morning snack.

Lunch - PB&J and a hard-boiled egg.

Dinner: Mac and cheese with tuna and green beans.

Emergency snack: peanut butter and brown rice. My idea is if I get hungry between meals, I'll mash up my leftover rice with my leftover peanut butter. It might be better than I think.

So here is the big difference between me and most real food stamp recipients. I know that after my seven days of challenge, I will go back my normal, (overly) ample, (reasonably) nutritious eating habits.

Most food stamp recipients do not know when or if their economic circumstances will improve to the extent that they can buy food that is enough and that provides reasonable nutrition, variety and convenience.

Today, I'm thinking about all the other issues that many real food stamp recipients face and I do not. (Of course, I'm also thinking about what I'll eat tomorrow when I'm off of food stamps).

The most important and urgent is the availability of jobs that allow a worker to support themselves and their children. With more jobs that pay living wages, not so many Marylanders would depend on food stamps. We should increase the minimum wage to catch up with the cost of living. We should require employers to provide some level of  paid sick leave. We should assure that young people and adults have access to the education and training they will need to qualify for the decent paying jobs of the 21st century.

What I missed most in my food stamp challenge week were salads, fresh vegetables, and fruits. Protein was my first priority, and after that carbs were the cheapest items. Fruit and vegetables are expensive. I could only afford two cans of veggies and six bananas.

But, I had access to a good grocery store, where at least I could buy the canned veggies at a reasonable price. What about food stamp recipients stuck in urban "food desserts" without access to reliable transportation. We should promote access to nutritional food choices in low-income areas, and we should increase the SNAP benefit to allow recipients to buy well-balanced selection of foods. We MUST protect federal funding for existing nutrition programs.

Finally, SNAP is part of a network of programs that help with food needs, also including the WIC program and school breakfast and lunch programs. Even with all this help, one of every six Maryland families has problems affording enough food. Families also need housing, healthcare, and transportation. These strands in the safety net are currently very weak as well. We need to strengthen programs to help low-income renters, expand health coverage, promote primary and preventive care, and make public transportation more convenient and reliable.

Eating peanut butter from a spoon is not really a hardship. People who are stuck with low-incomes and inadequate supports have real problems. But they are capable of becoming independent and productive with a little help. We need to get serious about helping.

Letter to the State Superintendent - Kids learn better if they are not hungry

The Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute is one of 24 organizations to sign this letter asking the state Department of Education to embark on a multi-year commitment to provide free breakfast funding for all the schools that qualify.  Also see our "Monday Message" on school breakfast from the 2012 legislative session. The $1.8 million we are requesting for the upcoming budget amounts to 5/1000 of one percent of the state budget.