Just Harvest News

Just Harvest organized 15 WIC users and supporters—including a pediatrician and nutritionists-- to testify at the Allegheny County Council meeting on National Hunger Awareness Day, June 7. They asked Council to urge the County Health Department to re-open the McKees Rocks WIC office.

WIC closed the office due to damages from last September's 2004 floods, and budget cuts from Washington.

Fr. Rege Ryan of the Focus on Renewal in McKees Rocks said, at the meeting, that once the flood damage was repaired WIC could use the space again for free. Repairs should be finished in October or November. About 1,300 WIC users were displaced from the closing of this office.

In recognition of Hunger Awareness Day, Just Harvest also submitted a Proclamation praising WIC, which Council passed unanimously.

WIC (Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children) is a federally-funded program run by the County Health Department. It provides nutritious foods, nutrition education, breast-feeding information, medical information, and fresh fruits and vegetables during the summer months. These resources for low-income families help children have a healthy start at life.

Since the Council meeting, Council members Doug Price, Brenda Frazier and several others have been working hard to make sure the office re-opens.

ACTION: Contact your County Council member at 412-350-6490 and Dr. Bruce Dixon, Director of the County Health Department, 412-578-8005. Tell them WIC is very important for women and children and the McKeesRocks office must be re-opened.

McKees Rocks WIC recipient Kellie Donahue speaks at the County Council meeting about her experiences with the program.

One half of all U.S. infants and ¼ of all young children in the US, aged 1-5, receive benefits from the WIC Program. WIC in The States: Thirty-One Years of Building a Healthier America by Food Research and Action Center

Truth in Politics – Is there such a thing?

Find out on Thursday, October 27 as Just Harvest welcomes acclaimed author and media critic Eric Alterman as guest speaker at our 17th Annual Harvest Celebration Dinner.

"It’s true, as I show in my book When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and Its Consequences, that many presidents have demonstrated an almost allergic reaction to accuracy. Still, the Bush Administration manages to set a new standard here as well, reducing reality to a series of inconvenient obstacles to be ignored in favor of ideological prejudices and political imperatives—and it has done so virtually across the entire executive branch."

“I’ve never read a better explanation of why presidents lie...”

Call 412-431-8960 today for tickets to the Harvest Celebration Dinner.
$40 per person, $350 for a table of ten.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently spent $2.5 million tax dollars to have their Food Pyramid redesigned, and many public health advocates and nutritionists are up-in-arms about the end result.

Supporters of the new food pyramid graphic, website, and accompanying 70-page document of health guidelines, call the plan an “interactive food guidance system” and praise it for including an exercise component and providing customized dietary recommendations based on age, sex and level of activity.

But critics of www.MyPyramid.gov balk at the unspecific nature of the guidelines, the perceived suggestion that exercise can make up for unhealthy behaviors, its failure to account for special dietary needs, and more. Here is some of what is being said:

“The government has made [nutrition] advice more complicated than it needs to be. There are simple key principles about healthy eating that truly do work for all Americans, and those could have been represented in one symbol [that] would have made it immediately clear that we should be eating more fruits and vegetables; low-fat and fat-free dairy products…; chicken and lean meats… ; whole grains… ; and… less soda and less salt. USDA seems to have bent over backward to avoid upsetting any particular commodity group or food company.”

“…Emphasis on physical activity [at MyPyramid.gov] plays right into the hands of the food industry. The main way that the industry deflects blame for incessantly promoting unhealthy products is to point to the nation’s couch potato tendencies. Exercise is important, but so are other healthy behaviors...”

But perhaps the most scathing criticism comes from a spoof of MyPyramid.gov hosted at www.MyPyramid.org. It looks and works much like the government’s site, but returns satirical results. Here is a sample:

Your results are based on a 2200 calorie pattern*.
GRAINS – 7 ounces
Make half your grains highly refined (or "processed"). Highly refined grains ease the digestion process by by-passing the pesky nutrient and fiber absorption step.

VEGETABLES – 3 cups
Individually packaged vegetable items from exotic places around the globe are cleaner, more convenient, and keep our friends in the petroleum and petrochemical industries chugging along.

FRUITS – 2 cups
While fruits may be eaten whole, buying canned, frozen or otherwise packaged fruit helps ensure the sterility of the fruit. Some fruits can be rather tart or tangy, so a smart way to make these more appealing to children is to select products with added sweeteners.

MILK – 3 cups
Drink milk for healthy bones and teeth! Some "scientific studies" have claimed milk has no connection to healthy bone development. These studies, however, ignore the most obvious correlation - bones, teeth and milk are all white.

MEAT and beans – 6 ounces
Liver and other organ meats are high in cholesterol. Just so you know. But who eats those creepy parts anyways, right?

* We actually expect the average American to eat about 50-100% more [calories] than we suggest, to help create demand for the 1500 calories per person per day excess of food currently being produced by Agribusiness corporations.

Dawn Wallhausen, Just Harvest Administrative Assistant, has studied the topic of nutrition for many years.

Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) and Representative Jo Ann Emerson(R-MO) have taken a lead in the campaign to end hunger in America by establishing a bipartisan Hunger Caucus in each of their branches of the U.S. Congress.

On last year’s Hunger Awareness Day Senator Dole told her fellow Senators, “The battle to end hunger in our country is a campaign that cannot be won in months, or even a few years – but it is a victory within reach. What we need is to help our fellow Americans understand the terrible reality of hunger…and how to put a stop to it.”

The functions of the caucuses include building awareness, supporting legislation, discussing long-term solutions and serving as a vehicle for anti-hunger nonprofits to communicate with Congress.

Both congresswomen are inviting fellow legislators to join the caucuses to make ending hunger a priority for this nation.

ACTION: Ask Senator Specter and your US Representative to join the Hunger Caucus.

Just Harvest Co-Director Joni Rabinowitz shared a plenary panel with Undersecretary of Food and Nutrition Services Eric Bost at the “One Table, Many Voices” Gathering in Washington, D.C. on June 6. Mr. Bost gave the “party line” about how well the federal nutrition programs are helping hungry people. Rabinowitz, and numerous experienced and articulate members of the audience, vocally challenged the notion that hunger and poverty are decreasing in this nation. Bread for the World and Call to Renewal sponsored the Gathering, which drew several thousand from the US and other countries.

Congress passed a Budget Resolution April 28, but that is only the first part of the budget process.... a process which goes on forever, it seems.

For the first time since 1997, the resolution instructed committees with jurisdiction over mandatory or “entitlement” programs, like Medicaid, Medicare, Food Stamps, TANF(welfare) and school meals programs to “reconcile” budget cuts with existing programs. These instructions mandated major cuts to many human services programs.

Now the committees with jurisdiction for these programs must produce bills with the specific recommended cuts. For instance, the Agriculture Committee (of which Sen. Santorum is a member) has jurisdiction over food stamps and school meals. The Senate Finance Committee, which Santorum also belongs to, is responsible for TANF, and Earned Income Tax Credits.

The budget resolution also includes cuts to “discretionary” programs – those which must be appropriated every year. Spending on domestic discretionary programs will be cut by 6%. The decisions about these cuts in discretionary programs are made by the Appropriations Committees which have many subcommittees. Sen. Specter is a key member of the Appropriations Committee. Housing Programs, Child Care and WIC could face cuts through the appropriations process.

The Budget Resolution also includes $100 billion in tax cuts over the next 5 years, targeted primarily for the very wealthy.

Welfare (TANF) Reauthorization is also being debated simultaneously with this budget process. Despite numerous extensions over the past several years, the full Senate has not yet passed a bill. Many observers are skeptical that Congress will reauthorize TANF this year – opting, instead, for settling funding details through the budget/reconciliation process.

Volunteer Jean Bartholomew and others from Student Hunger Action at Allderdice High School visited Santorum's staff, Jay French, in Pittsburgh to ask him not to cut food stamps. Jay reported to them that Santorum would prefer to make cuts in crop subsidies than in food stamps.

ACTION: It’s not too late to contact your Congressperson and Senators (Specter and Santorum). Tell them to not cut important human service programs and to maintain funding and structure of the Food Stamp program.

At the time of this writing, state legislators are still debating the 2005- 2006 budget which begins July 1. Despite a requirement to pass the budget by June 30th, controversy over the Medicaid budget shortfall has slowed down progress.

Governor Rendell proposed a budget with drastic cuts in Medicaid services including caps on hospital stays and prescriptions, and sliding scale fees. Medicaid recipients and their allies, as well as the health care industry which would have to absorb costs from care no longer covered by Medicaid, have launched an intense fight against these cuts.

A higher than expected budget surplus as well as cost-cutting alternatives offered by several advocates have created opportunities for less drastic cuts. The Medical Assistance program will continue to face this challenge, however, as the federal government even further reduces its funding in years to come.

The State Food Purchase Program (SFPP) is also at risk. Rendell proposed a 14% cut, a loss of $2.4 million, in the program. This cut is unprecedented—in Democratic or Republican administrations -- in the 23-year history of Pennsylvania's support for local food charities. SFPP funds are used by counties to purchase food that is then made available at no cost to food pantries and cupboards. In rural counties this cut will amount to 50% of their food for distribution.

Rep. Jake Wheatley sponsored a successful amendment in the House budget to provide more funding for the SFPP and the Farmers Market Nutrition Program than Rendell’s recommendation. Unfortunately the Senate version of the budget did not follow suit.

A conference committee is now working to reconcile the differences between the two budgets and create one that can be passed in both chambers.

Yvette Jackson, new administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service, speaks at the annual statewide conference, “Strengthening the Food Resource Safety Net,” sponsored by PA Hunger Action, the Nutrition Education Network, and the Food Bank Association. Conference participants appreciated the chance to meet others who work in various areas of the food safety net. The nutrition educators were especially excited about the lobby visits where they got to talk to legislators about the State Food Purchase Program.

Advocates gathered in Harrisburg on June 22 to lobby for an increase in the Pennsylvania minimum wage. Three separate bills have been introduced in the House and Senate that would incrementally raise the wage over three years to at least $7 per hour and Governor Rendell recently unexpectedly changed his position to support raising the minimum wage.

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have state minimum wages higher than the federal minimum of $5.15 per hour. About 528,000 Pennsylvanians earn under $7.15 per hour and could benefit from the increase.

Philadelphia workers got a head start this spring when their City Council unanimously passed a bill to raise the minimum wage for all employees of the city and its contractors to 150% of the federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher.

After a steady rapid climb between 1999 and 2001, purchases of costly and predatory tax Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs) declined in 2002.

RALs are high-interest short-term loans secured by a taxpayer’s expected tax refund. RALs are primarily marketed to low-income workers. Thirty-eight percent of Earned Income Tax Credit recipients purchased them in 2002 compared to only 7.2% of non-EITC filers.

Pittsburgh saw the 7th highest decrease with 43% of EITC claimants purchasing RALs in 2001 and 34.2% in 2002. Just Harvest, ACORN, and other groups nationwide have been working to educate taxpayers and pass legislation to regulate RALs. Several lawsuits have also been filed against H&R Block and other paid preparers for not giving taxpayers accurate or clear information about the costs associated with RALs.

Increased free tax preparation sites, particularly those that can E-file returns for faster refunds, also helps to reduce the number of RALs.

Just Harvest spearheaded a County campaign in the 1980’s which resulted in formation of the County Bureau of Hunger and Housing. The three County Commissioners at the time placed a great priority on a proactive approach to alleviating hunger.

Now, among other tasks, the Bureau sponsors and monitors after- school meals for youth through the federal Child and Adult Care Feeding Program. However, the bureau’s hunger specialist retired in January and the County was not going to replace the position until Just Harvest got on the case again.

With our leadership, advocates convinced the county to hire another hunger staff person to continue the after school meal programs. In fact, the County has hired two people to help them fight hunger. Welcome new County Hunger Bureau employees: Rochelle Price-Ford and Toni Anderson. As time goes by we will report their activities and accomplishments.

Just Harvest kicked off our annual meeting and dinner this year with a mayoral forum that featured Michael Lamb, Bill Peduto, and Doug Shields (representing Bob O’Connor). The event, held on Tuesday, May 3 at First Baptist Church in Oakland, was open to the public and about 75 people participated. The Public Policy Committee of the County Homeless Alliance co-sponsored the forum.

The candidates expounded on their answers to the questions in our Voters’ Guide to the 2005 Mayoral Primary, then took questions from the audience.

Rev. Gary Denning and the youth group at First Baptist prepared and served a delicious meal. Just Harvest’s Board President, Mike Stout emceed the meeting. After discussing our challenges, successes and future goals, Mike introduced new board members Rachel Freund and Daniel Marston who were elected there. Both Rachel and Daniel hope to bring new ideas and energy to the organization. Incumbents re-elected were Mary Elizabeth McCarthy, DeWitt Walton, Mike Stout and Sr. Betty Sundry.

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Daniel Marston (left) and Rachel Freund (right), new Just Harvest board members, pose with new board secretary, Mary Elizabeth McCarthy. Other officers elected are: Sr. Barb Finch, President; Sylvia Wilson, Vice President; and Eunice Nelson, Treasurer.

A study by the Center for Housing Policy has found a disturbing increase in the number of working families who spend more than half their income on housing. In just six years, between 1997 and 2003, the number of such families increased from 2.4 million to 4.2 million, or by 76 percent! Working families were defined as low- to moderate-income families that work the equivalent of a full-time job and earn between the minimum wage up to 120 percent of the median income in their area.

One of every eight, or 14.1 million total families, paid more than half of their income for housing or lived in physically dilapidated conditions. Most are working families.

Contrary to popular myths, homeowners are more likely than renters to face such conditions and 42% of all working families with critical housing needs lived in the suburbs in 2003. (Visit www.nhc.org to view the study).

Pittsburgh Public Schools is making very good headway towards providing nutritious foods for children in school. On June 22 the Pittsburgh School Board voted unanimously to ban soda and chips from being sold on school grounds.

Other junk foods may still be sold. But it won’t be long before we see a radical change in the food choices offered at school. The school board, its Wellness Policy Committee, and community advocates such as the Committee to Improve School Meals(CISM) are working hard to eliminate junk foods and replace them with nutritious foods

CISM is working with parents and students of the Pittsburgh Public Schools to improve the quality and nutrition of school meals. Among the committee’s concerns: *limited choices for vegan and vegetarian students * fresh fruits and vegetables are not offered at every school * foods high in sugar and fat are offered instead of low- fat low- sugar alternatives.

To get involved with the Committee call Shauna at 412-431-8960.

There are a lot of folks out there who feel like sanctioning a family on TANF (cash welfare assistance) is just cruel. Sanctioning suspends a family’s cash, food stamps and medical assistance because of failure to comply to a regulation or policy. Few of us probably know that sanctioning puts young children at severe risk.

According to a study conducted by Children’s Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Program (C-SNAP) pediatricians found that the families who experience welfare sanctions show up in hospital clinics and in emergency departments with children who increasingly suffer from hunger and hunger-related illnesses.

Families whose TANF benefits are reduced or terminated due to sanctions are 61% more likely to be food insecure than those families whose benefits have not decreased. Young children in food insecure households are 90% more likely to be reported in fair or poor health.

As Congress decides the future of TANF Reauthorization, congressional members must be made aware of the medical evidence showing the harmful impact on young children’s health of reducing or terminating families’ welfare benefits. (C-SNAP is a national network of pediatricians and public health researchers).

Our Welfare Justice Project’s focus for the last couple of years has been on improving Education & Training opportunities for welfare consumers. We monitor how well the Dept. of Public Welfare(DPW) does at informing consumers about welfare policies and helping consumers exercise their rights to enroll in school or a training program.

As of March 5, 2005 only 144 TANF consumers in Allegheny County were engaged in education.

Clearly DPW is not doing a great job. Tim Cornell, County Executive Director of DPW, has acknowledged this.

Therefore, at our suggestion, we are working with DPW to hold a series of Information Workshops. Participants at the June 23 meeting of the W PA Welfare Coalition were eager to participate in these workshops.

The first workshop – on Education and Training policies, will be on Thursday, August 25 from 10am-12:30 at the State Office Bldg (Note the new date). Contact Rochelle at Just Harvest for more details.

Just Harvest welcomes Elyse Harkema, a senior at Oakland Catholic High School, who is joining us for the summer and going through next school year. She will work on child nutrition as part of her Governor’s School project.

We also welcome Rich Surdyk to our temporary staff. Rich, a longtime friend of Just Harvest, has also been part of our tax preparation team for the past 2 years. He will fill in for Administrative Assistant Dawn Wallhausen while she is on leave. Dawn and her family will be living in St. Martin from July through September.

Farewell to our intern Jennie Roth, who, for a short time, joined our campaign to re-open the McKees Rocks WIC office.

Thank you to all of our recent supporters for keeping Just Harvest thriving. We are grateful to the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, the Attorneys Against Hunger Campaign, City of Pittsburgh, Community of Reconciliation, First Step Recovery Homes, Felician Sisters, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, PathwaysPA, Pittsburgh Community Services, Inc., Share Our Strength, Sixth Presbyterian Church, Bernard & Joan Bloch, Joel Bloom, David & Betsy Caldwell, Virginia Caretto, Susan Dowd, Sr. Barbara Finch, Rosalia Floria, Sandra Floyd, Bob Foley, Randy Forrester & Jim Huggins, Mary Gilligan, Alex Gruskos, Eva Havlicsek, Anne Hawkins, Henry & Elsie Hillman, Eileen Jardini, Anne Jones, Fred & Patty Just, Lucille Koehler, Debbie Levy McKenney, Joan Luokkala, Louise & Michael Malakoff, Anne McGough, John Oesterle, Nicholas Parrendo, Karen Peterson, F.W. & Margaret Reed, Ross Rosen, Anna Rossi, Lorraine Sauchin, Joyce Schlag, Gerald & Paula Sokolow, Ed & Sylvia Sussna, Lowell & Rachel Swarts, Jean Szoch, Scilla & Paul Wahrhaftig, Gina Wilson, and Phil Wilson. Thank you one and all!

Action: Help us sow the seeds of economic justice. Renew your Just Harvest dues today in the enclosed envelope or donate online at www.justharvest.org!

Hundreds of guests enjoyed some of Pittsburgh’s finest food and beverages at Share Our Strength’s annual Taste of the Nation anti-hunger fundraiser. Thirty-seven restaurants and beverage purveyors set the banquet table with stunning dishes to please every palate. The event, held at the Marriott City Center on June 6, raised more than $25,000, which supports national and local anti-hunger efforts including Just Harvest. Many thanks to our planning committee, all our volunteers, and the participating establishments, as well as national sponsors American Express, Sysco, and Jenn-Air.

The Federal Government funds numerous “nutrition” programs which are designed to help hungry people. Many people—including employed people-- are eligible for these programs but they don’t know it. Eligibility change every year and varies among programs, but is based on income—usually a percentage of the federal poverty line -- and other factors

*FOOD STAMPS- the foundation of the public food security effort. Over 8% of Pennsylvanians are on this program -- 32,250 persons in Allegheny County. Eligibility is based on family size, income, resources and expenses. For instance, a family of 3 must have an income below $1,306 a month. The maximum monthly food stamps for this family is $393.

Food Stamps is administered by the PA Dept. of Welfare. The state pays half the administrative costs. Benefits are delivered on a plastic debit card called ACCESS.

*WIC PROGRAM – began in 1974 in response to medical doctors who said their patients could best be treated with food. A Health Program-- administered by the PA Dept. of Health. Provides vouchers for milk, eggs, cheese, cereal, infant formula and other nutritious foods for income- eligible, medically at-risk pregnant and nursing moms and kids up to age 5. Currently $34,873 for a family of 4 is the income level.

*NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH AND SCHOOL BREAKFAST – The Lunch Program was created in 1947 when the government found nutritional deficiencies in men who were drafted for the army. Breakfast was added later. Each day in Pa, over 1 million children eat lunch in school and 213,000 eat breakfast. Any child is eligible for the meal. Based on income, meals are free for some children and others have to pay a modest amount. Administered by the PA Dept. of Education.

*SUMMER FOOD SERVICE– For children who experience hunger during the summer months when school is out. Local sponsors provide meals, which are administered by the PA Dept. of Education.

*CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM – meals served at child care centers, after school programs and senior centers. Administered by the PA Dept. of Education.

*FARMERS MARKET NUTRITION PROGRAM - $20 vouchers to WIC recipients and seniors who are financially eligible, to spend at local farmers markets in the summer.

* Just Harvest helped with site formation.

Market Square - downtown Pittsburgh
Thursdays, 11am-2pm
June 16-October 27

Oakland
Sennott Street (behind Forbes)
between Meyran and Atwood
Fridays, 3:30-7:30
July 1-November 18
Parking is free and coupon booklets for area businesses are distributed

Union Project Artists and Farmers Market
Negley and Stanton, East Liberty
Thursdays, 4pm-7pm

For other listings check the Thursday Post-Gazette in the Food Section