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FEED THE SOLUTION WEEKLY e-NEWSLETTER:
AUGUST:
August 3- August 9, 2005
JULY:
July 27- August 2, 2005
July 13- July 19 & July 20- July 26, 2005
July 6- July 12, 2005
June 29- July 5, 2005
RECENT POLICY ADVOCACY EFFORTS:
New York State Assembly Food and Nutrition Policy Hearings: Albany, NY- May 16, 2005
"Begun as an emergency, temporary response to widespread hunger in the 1980s, food programs find themselves struggling to keep up with a “temporary emergency” that has lasted for more than two decades, with no end in sight. The Feed the Solution Campaign was initiated in response to the increasing need for food in New York for not only homeless single adults and unemployed persons but now also for working families, as well as children and the elderly. As time passes and the need continues to increase, emergency food programs are realizing that a successful response to hunger requires more than just a meal." Read full text (5 pgs)
"While the Governor's budget proposal contains a few favorable items, such as an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and new incentives for counties to increase food stamps participation, it contains more significant proposals that are negative - such as cutting funding for soup kitchens, food banks, food rescue organizations, and food pantries; taking away public assistance benefits from children to punish the supposed irresponsibility of their parents; and cutting taxes for the wealthy while increasing taxes on low-income working families. If all these proposals were enacted, they would likely have the net effect of increasing hunger and poverty throughout New York State." Read full text (4 pgs)
"Thank you for holding this hearing to provide insight into the need for a coordinated, comprehensive plan that will address State food and nutrition policies as well as request recommendations for the plan’s structure and implementation. FoodChange fully supports the development a State Food Policy Plan that is backed by legislation like Assembly Bill A.2651 and overseen by a Food Policy Council. Increasing rates of food insecurity and poor nutrition coupled with decreasing local farm profits present a significant threat to New York State’s current food system. In tackling these challenges, a cohesive Food Policy Plan has the potential to transform our food system into one that is sustainable with mutual benefits for both consumers and producers." Read full text (4 pgs)
"Hunger Action and its member programs have been working since 1982 to end hunger and its root causes, including poverty, in New York State But even as our allies in this fight have multiplied, the problem of hunger continued to increase. To succeed in overcoming hunger, we must expand the breadth of our work by forging new partnerships at a community level with farmers, community advocates, schools, churches, gardeners, local businesses, food pantries, and lower income consumers, along with many other groups and individuals." Read full text (22 pgs)
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