snap

One ag-educator expressed the feelings of many at the first meeting of the USDA Advisory Committee on Minority Farmers when he concluded, “This meeting is a progressive step in the right direction. USDA should be commended for doing this, and should convene this kind of public forum more often.”

A small farmer from Michigan added her encouragement, saying, “We don’t just want to talk about it anymore - we want it to happen.”

In the U.S., Hispanic households experience hunger at rates that are higher than the national average. According to USDA research, one out of every four Hispanic households in the U.S. is food insecure, compared with a national average of 15 percent. Hispanics also participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly the Food Stamp Program) at rates that are lower than the national average.

To call attention to this need to better reach the Latino population with access to nutrition assistance programs, USDA leadership participated in the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) annual conference in Washington DC from July 23-25. President Obama also gave a keynote speech at the conference, which had about 2,000 attendees.

Last week, community leaders from all over the country visited Washington DC to join the White House for the first Hispanic Policy conference in our nation’s history. The goal was to get a dialogue going between administration officials and community leaders on an array of topics of particular interest to the Hispanic community. Some of the topics included jobs, education, immigration and energy. I had the honor of attending the conference on behalf of USDA.

The two-day event was coordinated and hosted by the White House Office of Public Engagement and the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. 160 Hispanic leaders from 25 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico attended the discussion as well as over 100 administration officials.

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog:

For families in Phoenix, Arizona, buying groceries through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) and putting needed nutrition assistance on the kitchen table just got a little easier. Thanks to Reverend Eve Nuñez, a new SNAP access location opened earlier this spring to assist Phoenix’s Hispanic community apply for SNAP. Through the Help 4 Kidz organization and Love International Church, more than 700 families have already gotten help in putting food on the table.

Every month, more than 44 million people use SNAP to get nutritious food. Most of us probably imagine participants buying items like tomatoes, squash, and apples with their benefits. But did you know that SNAP can also help people grow their own food? With SNAP, participants can buy seeds and edible plants. It’s a great way to get fresh produce right at home! All SNAP retailers, including Farmers’ Markets, can sell seeds and plants to SNAP participants.

Over the last 15 years, the USDA has made great strides in our efforts to reduce fraud and abuse in its programs.  Payment accuracy has never been higher:  in FY 2010, 96.19 percent of all benefits were issued correctly, the fourth consecutive year the program has achieved a historically high rate.  Without this improvement, the cost of improper payments would have been $356 million higher.  Trafficking in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has also declined, from four percent of benefits to its current level of one percent.  While these are positive trends, any trafficking or error is too much, and we will continue to be aggressive in efforts to improve integrity and maintain public confidence that benefits are being used responsibly.  But we know that misinformation and confusion about SNAP exists and so we have highlighted some of the most common misconceptions and presented the facts below.

Saving taxpayer money is an important focal point today, not just here in Washington, but in living rooms all across the country.  At USDA, we’re achieving this by improving the way Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are being delivered to millions of low-income Americans.

Providing nutrition for struggling individuals and families is the primary focus of the program, but the June 16 announcement of SNAP payment accuracy rates documented by states underscores the Obama administration’s ongoing effort to make government more accountable to the American people.

A bout of flooding and tornadoes throughout parts of the Southeast have left thousands of people in need. Several USDA agencies have been working for weeks with state and local officials, as well as individuals, businesses, farmers and ranchers, as they begin the process of helping to get people back on their feet. USDA offers a variety of resources for states and individuals affected by the recent disasters. Just last week, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager and Acting Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse toured several states and met hundreds of folks affected by recent disasters.

It makes me glad that our programs are helping storm victims get back on their feet. I accompanied Donald Arnette, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service’s (FNS) Southeast Regional Administrator, on a recent tour to assure those in need and eligible that they would receive disaster nutrition assistance at any of the following locations: disaster shelters, feeding sites, Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (DSNAP) sites, and food banks. The FNS disaster nutrition assistance available to eligible individuals include: DSNAP; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); and USDA Foods distributed through the Commodity Supplemental Food Programs, which also includes The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

Food Banks across the country help millions of families in need keep their kitchen cabinets from going empty. Much of the food given out comes from donations; however USDA’s Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP, helps food banks stretch their donations by making USDA commodity foods available to local agencies. Those State agencies distribute the food to aid organizations like food banks who serve the public whether directly or via partners like churches.

This is just the dynamic in south San Antonio, Texas where low income families benefit from the strong long term partnership between the San Antonio Food Bank and South San Filadelfia Baptist Church.  The food bank supplies the church’s pantry—an integral part of getting food to families that need it the most.