December 20, 2010

Poverty is inextricably linked to hunger, and this year's staggering increase in the nation's poverty population and, within it, the number of children living in poverty, is the backdrop for a detailed examination of how childhood hunger currently is being approached in four major U.S. cities.

As part of a long-running partnership between The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Sodexo, the examination of the four cities- anti-hunger efforts targeting children, released in Washington on November 30, is designed to give mayors and others responsible for alleviating childhood hunger in cities across the nation a set of case studies with which to compare their own local efforts. Each case study describes overall citywide anti-hunger efforts, but each also focuses on particular features or approaches that are central to those efforts.

• In Boston, the mayor's long-term commitment to combating childhood hunger and nutrition problems continues to drive the city's approach to anti-hunger policy and programming.

• In New Haven (CT), more students are being served more nourishing and appealing meals following the city's decision to centralize school food service under the leadership of an experienced chef.

• In San Francisco, an ordinance has created a task force through which the major public and private anti-hunger agencies in the city communicate with one another on food security strategies.

• In Washington (DC), a recently passed ordinance has resulted in an ambitious system-wide expansion and improvement of food service for all students in the public schools.

In addition to offering models of mayoral, city council, school system, and agency leadership, the case studies in the report, as a group, reflect a number of widely-held views on how childhood hunger should be addressed, and on how food provided should be obtained and prepared. Officials across the case study cities believe, for example, that:

• Childhood hunger must be considered both a public health and public education issue.

• Childhood hunger can be decreased if both the nutritional value and the appeal of food served to children in public programs can be increased.

• The movement to more nutritious and appealing food presents an opportunity to support local producers of fruit, vegetables, and other items, and so expand the local food economy.

• Families with little to spend on food often make choices based more on quantities and calories than on nutritional value, but financial incentives provided by cities can motivate these families to purchase fresher, healthier food.

In all of the case study cities, efforts have been mounted to increase the amount of fresh, locally grown food that is being served in school meal programs and made available to low-income families through food banks and an increasing number of farmers- markets. And increasingly, experienced chefs are being engaged to administer public food programs, develop more appealing and nourishing meals, and provide low income families with recipes and training in how to prepare nourishing, affordable meals.

The report notes that, "despite the current economic downturn and federal budget constraints, federal funds are still available to connect people in need, especially children, to nutritious food, and the flow of those funds into cities contributes to their local economy." Each of the case studies describes school and agency reliance on the range of federal food assistance programs available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and their efforts to increase participation in federal food assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, that benefit families with children.

Across the four case study cities, however, there is consensus among officials that the current reimbursement rates for the child nutrition programs are far too low to permit local agencies and programs to purchase, prepare, and serve the kinds and quantities of the foods children should be eating.

On December 2, just two days after the publication of the USCM/Sodexo report, the House of Representatives passed the "Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010," designed to improve and expand child nutrition programs in schools and the community. The Senate had passed the bill in August. While supporting the passage of a much needed, improved child nutrition bill, anti-hunger advocates continue to criticize the shifting of SNAP funds to other programs contained in the new act. The administration has pledged to restore the SNAP cuts through administration action. (For more detail on the legislation, see article by Crystal Swann on page 11).

The case study report, "Strategies to Combat Childhood Hunger in Four U.S. Cities," is available on the Conference of Mayors Web site at http://www.usmayors.org/pressreleases/uploads/2010 USCMChildhoodHungerReportComplete.pdf.