The Great American Bake Sale is a national campaign where participants host their own bake sale, anywhere in the U.S. from May 19 - August 31, and send their proceeds to Share Our Strength in order to help organizations in their community end childhood hunger. Funds raised are granted to local organizations that help to enroll low-income children into after-school and summer meal programs and to provide nutrition education programs for low-income families in the community. Since 2003, the Great American Bake Sale has raised more than $3 million and engaged more than 1 million volunteers to bake, sell and buy goods.

To participate, register online at http://gabs.strength.org or call 1-800-761-4227. Bake sales may be organized by individuals, companies, restaurants, schools or other community organizations. Participating is fun, easy, and a great way to help fight childhood hunger in your community.

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On July 6, 2007, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced that the USDA would begin donate $50 million worth of surplus food commodities over the next few weeks in order to provide immediate aid for food assistance programs. These surpluses of products such as corn, cotton, soybeans and wheat will be bartered for processed products such as vegetable oil, flour and meat to be distributed primarily to domestic food assistance programs. Approximately 20% of the commodities will go to the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program to promote education, child development and food security to those in need around the world.

The barter will not only provide immediate relief for those who live in hunger and food insecurity but also will save taxpayers money by reducing government costs for storage crops from the 2007 harvest season. Product delivery of the bartered processed goods will begin in the fall.

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The Columbus Public Schools, still coping with a multimillion dollar deficit in their food service fund, may have found a new way to improve their students’ performance, their nutrition and the district’s financial ails. This fall, the schools will be launching an informative campaign to increase enrollment in the breakfast-for-all program.

Last year, 40% of students participated in the breakfast program. This year, the district hopes to increase participation to 75% so that the program can be self-supportive. If this goal is met, students would be fed a nutritious breakfast, they would be more focused in their academic pursuits without the distraction of hunger, and the school would profit from the USDA reimbursement for the meal costs.

olumbus schools spend on average $0.97 for a student breakfast. The USDA reimburses the school $1.56 for students eligible for free breakfast, $1.26 for ones eligible for reduced-price meals and 24 cents for those able to pay the full price. With 74% of Columbus students eligible for free or reduced meals, this reimbursement would generate a small profit for the district.

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With schools as the front line of defense against childhood obesity, healthier menu options were plentiful at the School Nutrition Association Conference held in Chicago in mid-July. The food industry, represented by hundreds of vendors who compete for school lunch menu contracts, have met the challenge of meeting new, higher nutritional standards to ensure that the students they serve are eating right.

Bean dips, no-fry chicken, single-serving hummus, 100% fruit juices and flavored low-fat milk are examples of the bounty laid out for the 7,500 food service directors, cafeteria managers and “lunch ladies” attending to taste, and possibly purchase, for their districts. With an emphasis on whole grains, low calories, and wholesome foods, schools and meal service providers are increasingly paying attention to the nutritional standards for healthy kids that the Institute of Medicine recommends.

Critics, such as those at the Center for Consumer Freedom, fear though that the school’s higher nutritional standards will lead to a “No Child with a Fat Behind” educational law which neglects the real cause of childhood obesity; a lack of physical activity, not overeating.

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The 2007 Farm Bill (H.R. 2419) is currently being debated on the House floor after clearing through the House Agriculture Committee. Amongst its aims regarding farm subsidies, there exist several important amendments to advocate the fight against childhood hunger.

The Farm Bill invests $4 billion over five years to improve the Food Stamp Program (recently renamed the “ Secure Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program”) and increase funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to allow the purchase of additional commodities. The Food Stamp Program and its recipients would benefit by allocating the money to ease eligibility requirements by increasing the standard and child care deductions, raising the minimum monthly benefit, and exempting military combat pay, retirement and education savings accounts.

In addition to the changes made to the Food Stamp Program, HR 2419 also authorizes spending for the Initiative to Address Obesity among Low-Income Americans. As the bill is currently written, USDA would request that both private and public organizations across the country, offering a wide range of services submit proposals for programs to use scientifically-based interventions to develop and test solutions to address obesity among the low-income population and administered in a manner that allows for a rigorous evaluation. The Initiative is currently set to receive $10 million in funding throughout fiscal years 2008-2012.

Additional amendments and entitlements may be sought for the Bill as it heads to the House Floor. These would include provisions for another $1.6 billion in offsets which would allow full funding of nutrition programs as budgeted by the subcommittee and additional funding for the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program.

H.R. 2419 has already faced much debate since its inception though and has had several negative amendments removed or withdrawn. These include amendments which would have eliminated indexing of the EBT standard deduction, asset limits, and TEFAP and a proposal to use funding from the Bill to begin a pilot program to investigate the effects of eliminating the “reduced price” category for school lunch assistance.

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To read more about the debate surrounding H.R. 2419, click here.

Direction Card/Food Stamp benefits can now be used at the Athens Farmers Market for fresh produce.  The Athens Farmers Market is only the third farmers’ market in Ohio to be able to take Electronic Food Stamp benefits.

Using the Direction Card at the Farmers Market will be a little different than in a store.  Customers will stop by the designated table (by the University Mall sign & next to the WIC table) and use their Direction Card to "buy" tokens to use to purchase eligible food from the market vendors.  That is, the customer will swipe his/her card, just like in a store, and receive metal tokens worth $1.00 each for purchases. 

f you have questions, comments or suggestions, please contact Farmers Market representative Sarah Conley at 740-593-7673 or Ann Fugate at 740-696-1301

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