food and nutrition

Do you know about the resources USDA has to help feed hungry children over the summer? The USDA Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships hosted a webinar as part of their Together We Can Partnership Series about the Summer Food Service Program to help connect individuals and organizations to the program.

Explained in the simplest terms, the Summer Food Service Program is a federally funded, state administered program that provides free nutritious meals to children in low-income areas. The program helps ensure children receive the nutritious food that they need during the summer.  Many children from low-income families rely on school meals during the school year and no longer have access to those meals in the summer.   The program operates when school is not in session, typically from the end of the school year in late May or early June until school resumes, usually late August or early September.

On Monday I accepted the challenge for USDA to donate more than 1.8 million pounds of food this summer through the 4^th annual Feds Feed Families Food Drive (FFF).  Game on!

If each USDA employee donates just two pounds of food per week, we will contribute more than 2 million pounds and help our hardworking neighbors put food on the table during these tough economic times.  FFF began four years ago to help fill a gap during the summer months, when food banks and pantries struggle with an increase in demand from families and individuals, but a decrease in donations.  Each year of the food drive, USDA employees have stepped up to the plate: in 2011, USDA employees organized over 2,000 food drives across the country and collected 1.79 million pounds of fresh and shelf-stable food.

Here at USDA, we’re always looking for great ideas and best practices that improve access to our programs. Access to USDA’s SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly the Food Stamp Program) by Hispanics/Latinos is a special concern because our data show that many low-income Latinos simply don’t apply for SNAP even though they’re eligible. Language and cultural differences, confusion and fear about immigration status of family members are very real roadblocks for many Latinos. That’s why we’re encouraged by a new and exciting social services model in Milwaukee – the Robles Center - that is reducing those barriers and empowering Latino customers. Recently I talked with Sherrie Tussler, executive director of the Hunger Task Force (HTF) in Milwaukee, to learn more.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.

Nothing gives us a better insight into the U.S. farm economy than USDA’s annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). It’s the major source of information on production practices, resource use, and financial conditions among U.S. farms and farm households.

Last summer, my colleague Barbara Lopez and I traveled to South Dakota to document the great work two Native American Tribes were doing to feed their children during the summer months.  Feeding children during the summer is crucial in fighting childhood hunger because children are out of school and are not getting the school breakfast and lunch they normally receive when in school.  The Cheyenne River Sioux and Rosebud Sioux Tribes both have long-running summer feeding programs that have helped many families in these tight-knit communities keep their children well fed and physically active.

We captured video of children swimming at the community pool as part of the Youth Diabetes Program before they went next door to get a nutritious summer lunch that included a salad with bright pink radishes and a juicy plum.  We interviewed a hard-working teenager employed at a summer feeding site through his community's summer youth work program.  By teaching these young people about their culture, giving them work opportunities, and making sure they receive a nutritious meal every day, the Tribes are helping to ensure that the future will be brighter for their people.

Today marks the 2nd annual National Summer Food Service Program Kick Off Week (June 11-15).  During the school year, more than 21 million children receive free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch through the School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs.  But when school is out, many low-income kids relying on these school meals, go hungry.  To close that gap, USDA’s Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) helps children get the nutritious meals they need during the summer months so they’re ready to learn when they return to school in the fall.

This week, we’ll be sharing SFSP information through Twitter, blogs, and a variety of National Summer Food Service Program kick-off events throughout the country.  Our children's continued ability to learn, grow up healthy, and reach their full potential will depend on what we do now to secure their future.

Today I participated in event with Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel to highlight the challenge of increasing access to healthy foods. It’s a conversation that I and others at USDA have had many times before.  From small towns to big cities, people are talking about how to get more fresh, healthy food into their communities.  Everywhere I go, parents ask how and where they can get fresh fruits and vegetables for their children.  Schools ask for advice on sourcing healthier food for school meals. Shoppers ask where they can buy healthy foods in their neighborhoods.

According to the Institute of Medicine, 1 in 3 children and 2 out of 3 adults are overweight or obese. The percentage of obese adults in the United States is expected to reach 42 percent by 2030. More than 20 million Americans have diabetes, and 79 million are pre-diabetic. Our nation’s children may be the first American generation to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents’, due in large part to obesity-related diseases . In addition, the economic costs of obesity and related chronic health issues are staggering at an estimated  $147 billion per year in direct costs, and billions more if indirect costs such as lost productivity are included.

Are you an educator looking for a unique new way to motivate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to eat healthfully and cook more at home?  Or do you just love browsing, collecting, and arranging new recipes? Either way, you’re going to appreciate the latest feature added to SNAP-Ed Connection’s Recipe Finder—the ability to create your own personalized cookbook using our recipes. The process is easy, and the result is a cookbook that meets your needs and inspires healthy eating.

The Recipe Finder includes almost 600 low-cost, healthy recipes to choose from for your cookbook.  Add as many or as few as you’d like.

Hunger is an issue that touches the lives of people all around us. Whether it’s the single mother struggling to feed her family of four while simultaneously making ends meet or a person living in rural America who has to drive 50 miles to the closest grocery store, hunger affects us all.

That is why I am calling upon all community leaders who have committed themselves to ending this struggle to apply to the “White House Champions of Change:  Alleviating Hunger at Home and Abroad” program.  The purpose of this program is to recognize individuals who are using innovative community-based approaches to reduce hunger and ensure that people have access to enough food both in the United States and internationally.

As final school bells ring and students across our nation start summer break, the last thing on a parent’s mind should be how they’re going to provide nutritious meals for a child.

During the school year, USDA plays an integral role in being sure our children have enough to eat. Through the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs, USDA helps families by providing nutritious school meals to 32 million kids each day.

But when school’s out for the summer, low-income families can have trouble providing food for their children.