NEWS

The National Hunger Hotline is a service of the National Hunger Clearinghouse, funded in part by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service and managed by WhyHunger.  This section highlights stories, trends, and other information that we hear from people across the country in need of food assistance.   

A pregnant woman diagnosed with gestational diabetes was given the phone number to the National Hunger Hotline via text4baby, a free mobile information service designed to promote maternal and child health. Gestational diabetes not only affects the health of the mother but the health of the child; an increase in blood sugar can lead to unhealthy birth weights, high blood pressure, or even miscarriage. The woman spent the last few months carefully watching her diet and eating as healthfully as she could. After exhausting her WIC and SNAP benefits, she is unable to provide herself with the same level of nutrition and care. For the past week and a half, she has restricted herself to eating cheaply and often unhealthful foods including fast food items.

The advocate was able to provide the woman with a list of local food pantries to assist her. The advocate also shared the phone number to a local food bank where they host nutrition education classes that may help the mother find alternative ways to eat healthy using pantry and commodity foods. The advocate assisted the woman in locating a Catholic Charities and a St. Vincent de Paul Society, which work to provide not only food assistance, but also financial assistance.

The National Hunger Hotline 1-866-3 HUNGRY and 1-877-8 HAMBRE (1-866-348-6479 and 1-877-842-6273) refers people in need of emergency food assistance to food pantries, government programs, and model grassroots organizations that work to improve access to healthy, nutritious food, and build self-reliance. Help is available on Monday through Friday from 9am-6pm EST. Hablamos español.

In early October, a provision for finger imaging SNAP recipients ended in California. The state has one of the lowest participation rates in the country, and anti-hunger advocates have long criticized the program for being inefficient, discriminatory, and "criminalizing" the poor. Texas repealed a similar provision in September. Only Arizona and New York City remain as locations where finger imaging is required to receive federal nutrition support.

Learn more at the USDA Criticizes Finger Imaging for Food Stamps.

STATE OF AFFAIRS 

The New Caseworker  

by India Rodgers, WhyHunger  

At the Pasco County Library in Florida, the most requested service is not tracking down a particular book nor troubleshooting with a particularly stubborn copy machine, but guidance to complete the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program application (SNAP, formerly food stamps). Librarians are unwittingly becoming the new advocates for SNAP, ironically as they watch their own budgets get slashed.

The difficult economic times coupled with the automated SNAP applications have left many people without the tools necessary to access help. In April 2011, the Harold Light newspaper stated that libraries are becoming less about books and more about technology. Libraries are now servicing a large number of individuals who have limited technological skills, including elderly individuals who are in need of social services but have not adapted to the new methods. Many of these elderly people are living alone or away from their families, if they have any left. Most are without transportation and living on their Social Security Insurance (SSI), just scrapping by. Faced with a world far more technical and less patient, there is a real need for advocates, and librarians have been filling that void.

Frustration can be heard in the voices of the elderly individuals who call the National Hunger Hotline (NHH), a food resource information center that is a core program at WhyHunger. One caller stated: "I keep getting the run-around, no one wants to help me... I have all these numbers and I am not getting anywhere. [The Department of Social Services] told me to do [the SNAP application] online but I don't have a computer." As more social service agencies turn to computers for their work, more seniors are left without assistance. Only one third of eligible seniors have applied for benefits- two out of every three eligible seniors are currently not registered in the program.

The current budget of most libraries does not allow them to increase staff or the number of computers they host. This phenomenon is not just in inner city neighborhoods; the trend is also seen in wealthier areas of the country. For instance, Greenwich, CT, has seen computer usage in one library go from 250,000 uses in a year to nearly 400,000 uses in a year.

The Library Journal said "the evolution of librarian as information provider to caseworker has multiple and profound implications." This not only changes the duties of librarians, but requires them to become fluent in multiple agency programs. A number of librarians have expressed concern and anxiety about this change and the lack of preparation that they feel.

Though there is no consensus as to how to deal with this issue on the state or national level, WhyHunger's National Hunger Clearinghouse has been reaching out to libraries across the country to inform them of our toll-free national hotline that could ease the burden for many librarians. The NHH staff and volunteers have created a list of more than 500 libraries across the nation to call and inform them of the services provided by the Hotline, including live advocates and a database of over 7000 food resources, including government nutrition programs.

RESOURCES

Food Security Learning Center Launches New Topics

The food security movement examines how our food system is connected, how our food grows, what we eat, where it comes from, who goes hungry, and why. WhyHunger's Food Security Learning Center is a web-based clearinghouse, covering topics on community food security, nutrition, federal food programs, race and the food system, climate change and the food system, and more. You'll find research, policy, model program profiles, articles, links, and ways to get involved. We are proud to announce two new topics, Food, Faith and Spirituality and the Food and Farm Bill. We invite you to read the new topics and join the conversation. Let us know what you think!

MiPlato

USDA recently released their new food icon MiPlato, the federal government's Spanish language food icon, to serve as a reminder on how to help Hispanic consumers make healthier food choices before they eat, to build a healthy plate at meal time, and to find information by going to ChooseMyPlate.gov.  MiPlato will complement the MyPlate image as the government's primary food group symbol, an easy-to-understand visual cue to help consumers adopt healthy eating habits consistent with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

FUNDING AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

Community Food Projects (CFP) Competitive Grants Program 

 The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the US Department of Agriculture announce grants to support: (1) the development of Community Food Projects with a one-time infusion of federal dollars to make such projects self-sustaining; (2) Planning Projects to assess the food security needs and plan long-term solutions to help ensure food security in communities; and (3) a project that provides Training and Capacity Building on a nationwide basis to entities interested in developing new Community Food Projects or assisting current grantees and others to effectively operate their food security projects. Applications are due November 17, 2011.

Learn more at Community Food Projects Competitive Grants.   

Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarships 

The Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarships recognize students (kindergarten through graduate school) who are driving awareness and mobilizing youth to be catalysts for innovative models and solutions to eliminate hunger in America. Selected students receive a $5,000 scholarship and a matching $5,000 grant for their hunger-related charity. In addition, each national scholarship recipient is recognized at the annual Sodexo Foundation Dinner in Washington, DC. Applications are due December 5, 2011.

Learn more at the Sodexo Foundation or check out their video.   

Sodexo Foundation & STOP Hunger call for Scholarship Applicants

WIC Mini-Grants Through Cooking Matters 

Communities Take Root 

CONTACT US 

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