Act now to preserve the Food Stamp Program. The Budget Reconciliation process is slated for mid-September and there are rumors that much of the $3 billion in Agriculture cuts will come from the Food Stamp Program.

Make a call or send an e-mail to your Congressional Representative or Senator. Tell your elected offiicials about your emergency feeding site and/or other services you provide to the hungry and how cuts to the Food Stamp Program will only raise record levels of demand.

Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-225-3121 to reach your Congressperson.

• E-mail Senator Dodd...
• E-mail Senator Lieberman..
• E-mail Representative DeLauro...
• E-mail Representative Johnson...
• E- mail Representative Larson...
• E-mail Representative Simmons..
• E-mail Representative Shays...

A new pilot program in Hartford, Brideport and New Haven will allow kith (friends) and kin (family) daycare providers to receive Child and Adult Care Food Program funding. As long as kith and kin providers in these three cities have at least one child receiving the Care4Kids subsidy then they are eligible to partcipate.

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) can provide up to $75 per child, each month, for food that is served to children while in daycare. Call Sally Mancini at (860) 560-2100 ext. 17 for more information about this expansion.

What's So Important About School Nutrition? Join End Hunger CT! members to make the connections between school nutrition policies and hungry children and families. We hope to examine the Child Nutrition Programs and how we can create community links to better nutrition for our kids. We'll also honor legislators and individuals that have worked closely with the organization over the past year. Look for more information soon!

The American Beverage Association (the trade association for the soda industry) announced last week that it will recommend to its members the following policy for stocking vending machines in schools:

1. Elementary Schools with only water and 100 percent juice.
2. Middle Schools with only nutritious and/or lower calorie beverages, such as water, 100 percent juice, sports drinks, no-calorie soft drinks, and low-calorie juice drinks. No full-calorie soft drinks or full-calorie juice drinks with five percent or less juice until after school; and
3. High Schools with a variety of beverage choices, such as bottled water, 100 percent juice, sports drinks, and juice drinks. No more than 50 percent of the vending selections will be soft drinks.

While supportive that the industry is taking parental and legislative concerns to heart there is also concern that the industry is using this policy solely as a public relations campaign. Since the sale of most sodas are in high schools this policy does little to combat the growing health issues that have been shown to have connection with increased sugary drinks and soda intake. Sports drinks are not a nutritional or significantly lower calorie choice and should not be condsidered such by school officials. Many students believe, if it is sold in schools the choices have a stamp of approval. For many this is an inadequate response to a major public health epidemic.

End Hunger Connecticut! will be addressing these issues throughout the fall and into the school year. If you would like more information please contact Lucy Nolan at lucynolan@endhungerct.org.

email: lnolan@endhungerct.org

web: http://www.endhungerct.org