“Can people buy white bread with food stamps?”

A group of 30 people from Harvesters and area food agencies traveled to Jefferson City for Harvesters’ Advocacy Day. The group met up with other food bank workers and agencies from Missouri food banks. We started with a short meeting hearing from Rep. Bob Nance, a Republican author of legislation to increase supplemental food stamp assistance for elderly. Bob Nance encouraged workers in food banks to continue serving a vital community need – providing emergency food aid. Brian Colby with the Missouri Health Advocacy Alliance addressed the food bank group. He emphasized that food banks are on the front line of the economic downturn by focusing on the safety net of food assistance. He noted that food stamps provide an economic benefit to local communities by injecting funds into people’s hands to purchase food. The group heard from Jan with the Ozarks Food Bank and Karen Haren with Harvesters.

After the brief gathering, individuals were invited to visit with legislators. I had four legislators to visit to discuss supporting HB 156 – a house bill written to increase the supplemental food stamp assistance to the elderly -- $30 for an individual or $60 for a couple per month. SB34 is a senate bill calling for an end to the lifelong ban on food stamp applications for people convicted of a drug crime.

Rep. Kate Meiners was eager to learn about the food bank relationships with community organizations, and said she would support HB156. Her interest in food bank work was piqued when I mentioned that Harvesters has a nutrition education program.

The legislative session started at 10:00 that morning when both house and senate members went to their respective floors for roll call. I waited for Rep. Jeff Grisamore after asking a doorkeeper to visit with him. Rep. Grisamore was interested in hearing about HB156 and the house version of SB34 (the House bill equivalent is HB968).

The first thing Sen. Matt Bartle asked was whether a person can purchase white bread, soda, and chips with food stamps. He was concerned that people using food stamps would make unhealthy choices for food items. He reinforced several misconceptions about food assistance by implying that most people that seek assistance do so without seeking jobs or self-sufficiency. He also mentioned how food stamps perpetuate people’s dependency on food aid. When pressed on whether he would support SB34, he said he could not support an end to the ban on food stamp assistance for drug felons who have served their time. He hinted that people convicted of drug crimes were quite able to find jobs.

Focus on International Food Assistance - in Kansas City, April 6, 2009

The International Food Aid Conference took place on April 6, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. This was truly a unique opportunity to attend a conference with 30 countries represented without leaving my hometown. On the first day of the conference, I attended the "United Nations Association Symposium on Food Security." The symposium was organized by the Greater Kansas City United Nations Association and was free and open to the public.

The symposium was organized by the KC chapter of United Nations Organization. It’s an opportunity for advocacy as Jay Sjerven, president of the organization, highlighted the profile of food prices and the impact on poor people. There were four industry experts on the panel.

Tony Hall, former US congressman from Dayton, Ohio, US Ambassador to the UN, and author of Changing the Face of Hunger (http://www.amazon.com/Changing-Face-Hunger-Conservatives-Republicans/dp/0849918693/ref=ed_oe_p), explained how a 1984 trip to Ethiopia transformed his perception about hunger and poverty, especially when he witnessed 25 kids die waiting at a clinic. He focused on hunger and poverty despite his constituents’ perception that the focus was misplaced, neglecting local issues. To turn the perception around he organized a fast with 4000 participants in his district, raising $300,000. He also started a gleaning program, senior feeding program with public-private partnership, which attracted thousands of volunteers over the last 15-20 years.

Hall encouraged people to do a better job of educating people about hunger. A survey found food and humanitarian concern ranked low. He urges people to educate youth, especially as future constituents of an organization. He urges a focus to develop political will, but also requires spiritual will – “it’s a spiritual thing, too,” he added.

Allan Jury with the UN World Food Program noted progress on reducing hunger but recently the reduction has been turned back. The cost of food increased significantly causing an increase in the number of hungry. The UN, with assistance from the World Bank, addressed the problem for urgent action. Security Council created a task force to address short term and long-term measures.

High prices are down but the financial crisis has reduced income through loss of investment, tourism, and other areas of importance to developing nations. Prices in the developing world are still high despite drop in global prices. Financial needs for food assistance are still high – safety net provided by NGOs.

G20 recommended developed nations step up efforts to support developing nations. Suggested innovations – child/school programs, vouchers, but major commodity programs are still needed.

Jeffrey Borns, with Food for Peace, US Agency for International Development (USAID - http://www.usaid.gov/ ), said the US has responded to the crisis in the horn of Africa, Zimbabwe, and Haiti, specifically addressing food security by coordination with the US government.

USAID places an importance on buying local commodities when assisting foreign nations. USAID is attempting to comply with the Bellman Amendment to not conflict with local production.

Food for Peace – using innovative methods like food bars and paste for emergencies; built two distribution centers in Texas and Djibouti, Africa.

Kevin Anderson with Friends of the World Food Program (friendsofwfp.org) presented on overview of the work of this organization.

Anderson mentioned a complex collection of US bureaucracies are handling US food assistance. Given this, Friends for WFP established the “Roadmap to End Global Hunger.” The Roadmap recommends a White House coordinator because of the mess of government bureaucracies and programs, as well as a recommendation to establish a joint congressional committee to keep the focus on hunger. The Roadmap also has a comprehensive approach – use short-term means like emergency aid, mid-term solutions like safety net programs, and long-term solutions such as improving agricultural production. Mid-term options include voucher programs similar to the WIC program in the US, assist people with HIV/AIDS; build nutrition programs.

Reps. James McGovern (Massachusetts) and Jo Ann Emerson (Missouri) are bringing legislation forward that supports the Roadmap. Rep. Cleaver and Rep. Sam Graves, who serves on the Ag committee, would be good candidates to sponsor the legislation. Anderson urged audience members to lobby these congressional reps to sign on.

Max Finberg with Alliance to End Hunger – toured West Africa on a mission trip. He told a story about how Togo overcame guinea worm disease through education or treatment of water. Alliance to End Hunger – Cargill is a partner that focuses on early childhood malnutrition in Honduras.

Q&A time period –

Will we reduce hunger by half by 2015? Hall answered, “No – not without more resources to USAID.” Jury – Some countries are making very positive strides to end hunger, namely Brazil with its “Zero Hunger” program (See Economist, November 19, 2008 - http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12494572&d=2009) and Ghana (See UN report - http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=83553). Individual countries can make national goals by following the four levels to address hunger and poverty.