1. NANASP Webinar 2012 Farm Bill Lisa Davis, Vice President of Public Policy, Feeding America www.feedingamerica.org www.feedingamerica.org Mary Pat Raimondi, Vice President, Strategic Policy and Partnerships, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics www.eatright.orgwww.eatright.org

2. What is the Farm Bill? 15 titles including support for commodity crops, horticulture, and livestock, conservation, nutrition, trade and food aid, agriculture research, farm credit, rural development, energy, forestry, other related programs. Title IV is Nutrition

3. American Agriculture Has been the 2nd most productive sector of our Nation’s economy It accounts for 1 in 12 American jobs Provides American consumers with 86% of the food we consume Ensures a smaller portion of paychecks spent at the grocery store

4. The Farm Bill…How It Is Divided

5. Five Broad Categories 1.Farm policy 2.Food policy 3.Energy policy 4.Natural resources and the environment 5.Rural development

6. Nutrition Priorities for the 2012 Farm Bill Historical partnership with over 90 organizations breaking down silos of antihunger, health and agriculture NANASP led the way to bring on other aging network partners including MOWAA and NCOA Recognized by Senator Stabenow, Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee for the efforts

7. Three Areas of Focus 1.Hunger 2.Health 3.Communities

8. Protect Against Hunger Protect SNAP Ensure commodities are available through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) Maintain Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and focus program on improving nutrition for low-income seniors Provide a tax credit to farmers for produce to food banks

9. Millions of Americans Continue to Struggle with Food Insecurity 9 49 million Americans are food insecure 1 in 6 Americans 1 in 5 children The poverty rate is the highest since 1993, rising to 15% in 2010 Since 2006 demand has increased 46% across the Feeding America network; 37 million fed in 2010 Seniors are disproportionately represented as frequent or recurrent food pantry users – 1 in 3 recurrent Feeding America clients are age 60 or older. Among the elderly, more than half (56%) are long term recurrent pantry users. Unemployment is still over 8% nationwide, higher in many regions; “99’ers” exhaust unemployment insurance benefits

10. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Farm Bill SNAP Priorities Protect SNAP access and benefit adequacy by opposing proposals to cap or reduce funding, restrict eligibility, reduce benefits, or block grant. Restore the cut to the SNAP ARRA temporary benefit boost used to pay for the 2010 child nutrition bill and phase out the boost in a way that protects families from a cliff in benefit levels. Encourage better nutrition by maintaining SNAP nutrition education, incentivizing the purchase of healthy foods, and updating retailer standards to balance adequate access to stores with access to a range of healthy foods and moderate prices. Build on SNAP’s strong record of integrity and payment accuracy by issuing guidance to states on the eligibility of lottery winners and college students and upgrading resources and technology for trafficking prevention. 10

11. The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) Provides nutritious food at no cost to qualified, low-income Americans. Distributed through orgs. like food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens. Provides an avg. of 25% of all food moved through Feeding America.  In many food banks, TEFAP is 40-60% of total food distributed. Provides a high return on government investment. Farm Bill TEFAP Priorities Increase mandatory funding for TEFAP Commodities during times of high need by providing a trigger tied to unemployment rates. Provide USDA with expanded authority to make bonus commodity purchases in times of high need in addition to times of low commodity prices 11

12. Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) Provides food packages to more than 599K people per year in 39 states and DC Nearly 97% of participants are seniors with incomes of less than 130% of Poverty Line (approx. $14,000 ) Food package designed to supplement needed nutrients and combat the health consequences of senior hunger $20 cost to USDA = monthly food package with avg. retail value of $50 Farm Bill CSFP Priority Make CSFP a seniors only program by phasing out eligibility of women/children, grandfathering in current participants 12

13. The Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Act Challenges with current tax incentives for food donations: – Increases in business efficiencies mean less food to donate. – With tight margins many chose to sell food to the secondary retail market instead of donating all excess product. – Logistics around food donation remain challenging. Expands and improves federal tax incentives for donated food – would help shift decision from landfill to donate for businesses and help food banks capture millions of pounds of additional food Broad support for expanding food donation tax deduction from the farm, restaurant, and food industry Support the Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Act -S. 166 & H.R. 3729 13

14. Improve Nutrition And Health Outcomes Maintain current funding for SNAP-ED Maintain current funding for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Provide grants for SNAP incentives Strengthen SNAP national vendor standards. Maintain funding for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture for vital

15. Community-based Nutrition Initiatives Ensure funding for existing farmers’ market, community food, and agriculture marketing and food hub Increase mandatory funding for Community Food Projects Provide SNAP EBT point of sale

16. A Bit More About Food Hubs A facility for producers, regionally Has a business management structure that facilitates the aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, or marketing of locally or regionally produced food products Not decentralized markets, where producers and consumers are directly

17. Looking at SNAP Participants 49% are children (17 or younger), and 49% of them live in single-parent households 15% are elderly 20% are disabled people Average gross monthly income is $731 Average net income is $336 35% are White 22% Black 10% Hispanic- Average time spent on SNAP is 9 months lifted 5.2 million Americans over the poverty line

18. SNAP Benefits

19. Dispelling Myths Do Farm Subsidies Cause Obesity? No evidence Overproduction is due to deregulations Benefit food companies more Overproduction floods the market, cheap prices

20. Dispelling Myths Is SNAP is an inefficient with high administrative costs? About 92 percent of federal spending on SNAP reaches the program’s beneficiaries, with the remaining 8 percent covering administrative costs The rate of a errors in SNAP has reached a historical low of 3.81 percent

21. Dispelling Myths Is there widespread abuse and fraud in SNAP? SNAP benefits are sold for cash has decreased from 3.8 cents per dollar of benefits in 1993 to about 1 cent per dollar of benefits

22. Key Nutrition Programs Targeting Older Adults Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—formerly, the food stamps program – Serves 46 million people each month. – Different names for program throughout the country Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) – Serves about 599,000 low-income people each month – Supplements diets with a monthly package of food Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) – Provides low-income seniors with coupons that can be exchanged for foods at farmers’ markets.

23. The Senior Farmers' Market Low-income seniors for eligible foods at farmers' markets, roadside stands, and community supported agriculture programs Not be less than $20 per year or more than $50 per year $20.6 million through FY 2012

24. Prospects for Reauthorization Much of current law expires in 2012 Law undergoes review and renewal about every five years Senate-Senate Agriculture Committee released their Farm Bill mark-Passed the Committee House is watching the Senate-hot issue pits commodities regionally

25. To Add To The Confusion… FY13 Agriculture Appropriations CSFP: is funded at $187 million. did not provide the $5 million for the 6 states with plans (CT, HI, ID, MD, MA, & RI) to begin in FY2013. TEFAP Commodities: Mandatory funding at $269.5 million. Senior's Farmers' Markets: is funded at $20.6 million.

26. Summing Up How can NANASP members help older adults utilize programs in the Farm Bill? How can NANASP members advocate on behalf of these programs in the 2012 Farm Bill?

27. Questions???