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Sacramento Hunger Commission: September 2003 Minutes

  1. The meeting was called to order by Ernie Brown, Past Chair.
  2. July minutes approved (Judie Wilson/Franklin Anderson)
  3. Reports and announcements
    • Preparations for "EBT" (Electronic Benefit Transfer) for Food Stamps are on track, and all staff will be trained by the end of Sept. All clients will be on EBT by Nov. Two other big changes in the DHA Food Stamp program will take place early in CY 04: quarterly rather than monthly reporting, and 5 months of transitional benefits for clients going off cash aid.
    • The Community Services Planning Council will soon unveil an exciting new consumer-oriented, interactive, self-help website in collaboration with Valley Vision, Caltrans, and SHRA ("Beehive")
    • Head Start's "Day in the Park" is October 3, 10:00 to 2:00
    • Soil Born Farm (an urban agriculture project) will have an autumn equinox celebration fundraiser on Sept. 21, 4:30-8:30, to raise funds to file for nonprofit status
    • California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA) is holding a Food Stamp Forum on Oct. 30 on the Delta King
    • There is a Family Fun Fest on Sept. 27 from 11-3 in Max Baer Park (City Council District 6); the Hunger Commission will have a table.
    • A Nominating Committee is being formed to receive nominations for the 2004 Commission; if interested, Commissioners should contact Peggy Roark or Kevin Bond.
    • The Hope Awards Luncheon will take place on Nov. 20 at KVIE - more information about it will be coming soon.
  4. CROP WALK 2003 -- Nina Nelson and Marijke Fakasiieiki began with a brief skit on CROP WALK. Marijke noted that there are a number of CROP WALKS throughout California this fall. The one in Sacramento is Sunday, September 28, leaving 1:00 from the West Steps of the Capitol for either a 5 or 10 K walk. As in the past, 25% of the proceeds will go to local food closets and food banks; the rest will support international efforts to end hunger. Commissioners were urged to participate, either by walking or supporting a Hunger Commission team. Materials/packets were available at the meeting or from Nina.
  5. Update on Neighborhood-based outreach project --Nina Nelson read the list of Commissioners who had volunteered earlier for a specific neighborhood to verify that they were still available. Because of the amount of information, forthcoming flyers will probably be two-sided. Commissioners will be contacted as the flyer for their neighborhood is completed; there will be a total of 17. Franklin Anderson briefly described his outreach work in Del Paso Heights. Although he had trouble contacting some of the food closets on the list for that neighborhood, he was extremely impressed with one of them: Now Faith Church. He has been there several times and said they seemed to be very involved in the community and had some kind of food program almost every day: breakfast, sandwiches, bags of food, Food Opportunities program etc.
  6. Policy Update - Peggy Roark provided information on three different issues:
    • AB 231 (Darrell Steinberg's food stamp bill) is now on the Governor's desk. Sept. 18 has been designated as a statewide call-in day to urge the Governor to sign it.
    • The California Food and Justice Coalition is requesting that organizations sign on to its Mission Statement, Organizational Platform, and Policy Initiatives. These were passed out to the Commission, and will be an Action Item at the Oct. meeting. Alicia Oldfield represented the Commission at a meeting the Food and Justice Coalition held in Sacramento Sept. 16.
    • A Child Nutrition Action Alert was issued today from FRAC and distributed at the meeting. It includes a link to a short list of FRAC's priorities for Child Nutrition Reathorization; some of these tie into local issues described in Hunger Hits Home. Commission staff will respond to the Alert, and individual Commissioners were urged to do so as well.
  7. Presentation: "Hunger Hits Home 2003"--Since Constance Lestienne, the principal researcher and writer, is back in France, Peggy Roark gave a short Powerpoint presentation that Constance had developed on some of the study's major findings and recommendations. The presentation was interspersed with questions and discussion, and Commissioners were also asked to turn in cards with their input on the most important findings and recommendations, unanswered questions, and other feedback. The full report is almost 140 pages long, but this presentation came from the short version (28 pages) that we are hoping to get funding to publish. A total of 338 people were surveyed by Hunger Commission members, staff and other volunteers at 7 food closets and 5 soup kitchens in June; many of the findings come directly from these surveys:
    • 73% of the working households surveyed are living below the poverty line.
    • 79% of reasons given for not getting needed emergency food assistance are linked to lack of transportation
    • Among the households surveyed that were food insecure with hunger (62%), two out of three had at least one member disabled and/or in poor health

    The study also looked closely at the major federal food assistance programs and found, in Sacramento as elsewhere, they are severely underutilized. The presentation specifically noted that Food Stamps, Summer Food, and School Breakfast programs have participation rates among eligible residents ranging from 28% (Summer Food) to 62% (Food Stamps).

    Finally there were a number of recommendations, ranging from the general (a Sacramento Food Charter and a community action plan to increase food security) to very specific recommendations to increase access to food, to support and expand community gardens, and to increase participation in the federal food programs.

    With regard to a Sacramento Food Charter, this is already in our 2003 Program of Work and several City Councilmembers have also expressed interest. Cindy Nelson has agreed to work on a draft, using the Toronto Food Charter as a model, and other Commissioners were invited to form a small working group to provide initial input and then review drafts.

  8. The meeting was adjourned at 1:05, and was followed by a meeting of all those interested in working on the 2004 Hope Awards.




 

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