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Survey Results From Federal Food Programs (continued)

Senior Nutrition Programs help keep Sacramento seniors fed.

Each year seniors in Sacramento are served over 37,000 meals at congregate dining sites,
and at least 165,000 meals are delivered to their homes.

Nutrition programs for the elderly are designed to provide older Americans with low cost nutritious meals, nutrition education, and an opportunity for social interaction. Anyone 60 years or older may participate. Spouses, regardless of age, are also eligible. Services are supposed to be targeted to two groups, those in "greatest economic" and those in "greatest social need." No one may be denied service on the basis of income alone. In past years the federal funding for these programs has been decreased.

Reductions in the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), the commodity distribution program, will create additional difficulties for emergency food providers and needy individuals in Sacramento.

In 1988, 2,149,272 pounds of commodities, including butter, cornmeal, flour, cheese, rice, honey, and dried milk, were distributed. It is unclear how severe the reduction will be this year.

Federal commodity distribution programs began during the Depression years as a way both to help needy families and to dispose of surplus farm products bought by the government through agricultural support programs. TEF AP is the latest version of this effort, and has come to be associated with the term "cheese lines," since large quantities of this product have been distributed since 1981. Actually, a variety of products including dried milk, flour, butter, and honey have been distributed through this USDA program.

Programs which were established to meet emergency needs have become permanent in order to meet the ongoing food needs of people in the community.

Last year the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, provided $291,272 to Sacramento; with these funds, emergency food programs provided 1,310,962 meals.

FEMA works with private service agencies such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and United Way to allocate available funds for emergency food and shelter to agencies in areas with the most pressing needs. Established in 1983 as a "one time emergency allocation," this program has operated every year since then and was incorporated as an ongoing program as part of recent legislation for the homeless.

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