Growth of Senior Poverty in California

The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that between 2012 and 2050 the number of people over age 65 will nearly double from 43 million to 83 million. An unfortunate trend accompanying the growth in the senior population is food insecurity and poverty among seniors.

The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research has released new data that suggests currently more than 1 in 5 adults over age 65 in California are unable to afford their basic needs, despite having incomes above the official poverty line. More than 750,000 seniors in California have incomes above the poverty line, but below the Elder Index. The Elder Index was developed in 2009 to address the failure of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL), which is used as the baseline to determine eligibility for safety net programs like SNAP (CalFresh), to adjust to the actual cost of living in California. The research revealed that seniors with incomes at 200% of the FPL still cannot make ends meet in California and have to choose between food and rent or food and medicine consistently.

Possible solutions to this growing problem include raising the eligibility guidelines for assistance programs, increasing the benefits levels for safety net programs like CalFresh and Supplemental Security Income, and investment in affordable housing..

Childhood Nutrition Reauthorization

This summer, advocates for childhood nutrition have had their eyes fixed on Washington D.C. as the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 is due for reauthorization by September 30, 2015. This is a big deal for our nation’s children and families- especially those struggling to make ends meet. The Childhood Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization (CNR) will review, and potentially alter, the regulations and funding for the National School Lunch, School Breakfast, After-School Snack, Child and Adult Care Food (CACFP), and Women Infants and Children (WIC) Programs. All will be reviewed by Congress. These programs play a critical role in ensuring that low-income children have access to the nutritious foods they need to grow and to learn.

In addition to reauthorizing the existing programs, the CNR is also a time when Congressional representatives can introduce new bills to further fill in the gaps that keep our nation’s youth from getting adequate nutrition. The most promising bill to be introduced this year is a bipartisan
effort to help families who utilize free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch during when school is in session get through the summers with enough food to feed their children: [The Stop Summer Hunger Act of 2015
(http://frac.org/pdf/murray_bill_one_pager.pdf). This bipartisan bill would provide $30 per month, per child, to spend on food during the summer months. These benefits will be loaded onto an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, similar to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, CalFresh in California) benefits. Advocates are pushing hard for the passage of this bill, as this will offer families a flexible and dignified solution to the summer meal gap.

Another bill introduced, The Summer Meals Act of 2015, proposes changes to the Summer Lunch Program. Summer Lunch Programs offer free lunch to children ages 18 and under at qualifying locations. Currently, a community-based organization like Food for People qualifies as a summer lunch provider if 49% of children in the surrounding community qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The Summer Meals Act will lower the community qualification standard to 40%, thus giving communities the opportunity to expand this service. The meals must be consumed on site, which creates a barrier for busy families who might benefit from being able to pick up a sack lunch to go. According to the Food Research and Action Center, only 1 in 6 children who eat school lunch are eating summer meals. The California Food Policy Advocates’ Humboldt County Nutrition Profile states that only 18% of local children who receive free meals when school is in session are accessing Summer Lunch. Unfortunately, the Summer Meals Act of 2015 does not remove the barrier of having to eat the meal on site. The Summer Meals Act of 2015 does propose a change that Food for People welcomes: an increase in the reimbursement rate for rural communities that serve summer meals. Food for People coordinates Summer Lunch for 21 sites throughout Humboldt County. The federal reimbursement rate for these meals is the same whether the sites are 1 or 200 miles away from the distribution hub - meaning organizations
like Food for People are responsible for transportation costs. Thanks to the generosity of UPS and Humboldt Transit Authority, Food for People has been able to piggyback coolers of lunches to our meal sites on their established routes. If not for their kindness, the food bank would have to fund this expense. The acknowledgement of the burden of transportation within the CNR is welcome.

A third bill that was introduced, the Access to Healthy Food for Young Children Act of 2015, will give preschools and daycare providers the chance to offer more meals and healthier foods to toddlers and preschoolers through increased reimbursement rates and streamlined paperwork. Access to healthy foods can make a lifetime of difference for children of this age group, as it directly affects cognitive development at this stage.
Of concern for childhood nutrition advocates in the CNR is the protection of school meal nutrition standards introduced in 2012. These new standards increased the amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables served, reduced trans-fats and sodium levels, and replaced refined grains with whole grains. In 2012, more than one-third of U.S children were overweight or obese, which prompted these needed changes in school nutrition. However some in Congress are fighting back against these standards for a variety of reasons, including that schools can’t keep up with these standards and the misconception that kids simply won’t eat the healthier foods. The new standards have already been rolled back by Congressional amendments, and advocates are prepared to defend what remains of them during the CNR.