Business Leaders, Legislators, Advocates keep kids fed

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself without a job, your kids were no longer allowed to go to school in person, and you had to start skipping meals because you were running out of food? This is the reality that many Americans are now facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

San Diego Hunger Coalition knows that many families don’t know where to turn, how to find food assistance, or what tomorrow holds for their prospects for a stable and healthy household. That’s why we work with our over 150 partners to ensure that everyone has access to safe, dignified, and reliable food assistance when they need it. Especially our children. Working with government, business leaders, nonprofits, and school districts, we have been advocating on behalf of families to ensure that all children ages 18 and under will receive free school meals until the current public crisis passes.

Schools fight hunger, too!

When schools were closed for safety at the beginning of the pandemic, school nutrition service departments mobilized to ensure that kids would continue to receive school meals even if classes were canceled. As unemployment rates skyrocketed, it quickly became clear just how important these meals are to struggling families. The United States Department of Agriculture (UDSA), under direction from Congress, started making exceptions that allowed schools to serve free meals to every child 18 and under.

In July, the USDA announced that this would stop.

The result was a 90% drop in school meal participation. Schools faced a financial cliff and would be forced to stop serving meals in as little as two months. Food producers experienced a precipitous drop in business and faced the certainty of hundreds of layoffs. Families struggled with the sudden loss of as many as 10 meals per week for their kids. During historic unemployment and a global pandemic, the loss of this vital food assistance resource would be devastating.

Advocating for Our Kids

San Diego Hunger Coalition played a critical role in local advocacy to reverse the USDA’s decision to limit schools’ ability to serve students meals. We mobilized and engaged local education, hunger relief, and business communities while working with legislators to gain support and momentum in Washington. Three letters supporting the continuation of free school meals for every student were sent to the USDA signed by U.S. representatives and California legislators. The Hunger Coalition also partnered with Representative Ilhan Omar (MN) to gather more support in the House.

The Hunger Coalition knows that food insecurity affects entire communities, which is why we invited local businesses to the table. We learned from local food producers that the USDA’s policy preventing free school meals during COVID-19 would result in major cutbacks and layoffs. We added their voice to the call for action by the USDA and sent a letter signed by 20 food producers and distributors, including major corporations such as Tyson Foods, Hollandia Dairy, and Sysco San Diego. It was the only letter of its kind demonstrating the far-reaching impact that losing school meals would have.

What Happened?

All of this advocacy was successful! We worked with state and national partners to put pressure on the USDA from business leaders, school districts, nonprofits, and legislators across the country. On August 31st, they announced that they were re-extending flexibilities for schools to allow all children ages 18 & under to receive free meals at school through December 31, 2020. This is a big win for hunger relief during Coronavirus, but it’s not the end of our work.

The USDA has given no indication that these flexibilities will be extended through the end of the school year, even should the restrictive safety measures necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic continue. This has led school districts, legislators, business leaders, and advocates to ask what happens on January 1st when flexibilities allowing schools to serve free meals to all of their students end?

San Diego Hunger Coalition will work with our partners to keep the pressure on the USDA to ensure that all of our kids are getting enough to eat to keep them healthy, happy, and strong.

Help Us Spread the Word: Accessing School Meals is Easy!

Want to know more about meals being offered in your neighborhood? We’ve got you covered!

• Children 18 and under are eligible for free breakfast and lunch at schools.

• Most districts have set up drive-thru and walk-up pick-ups.

• Students do not need to be present to receive meals. Parents, please check with your district for requirements.

• More information is available at sdhunger.org/meals-for-kids.

Through December 31, 2020, parents may pick up free meals for all students ages 18 & under at any school location. Please check with your school district for requirements and mealtimes: sdcoe.net/studentmeals.

Looking to the future: Feeding more kids after COVID-19

Once the global pandemic ends and everything goes back to normal, what happens to families that have been relying on the free school meals for their kids that were provided as part of the COVID-19 response?

Before the pandemic even started, San Diego Hunger Coalition teamed up with California Food Policy Advocates and Open San Diego to develop technology that would allow school districts to leverage an existing but underutilized child nutrition program that allows schools to serve Universal Free Meals to all of their students, the Community Eligibility Provision. Working together, the three organizations developed an online tool that helped school districts optimize their applications for the program and increase their likelihood of approval.

When Coronavirus hit, the partners stayed the course and completed the project. Now, San Diego Hunger Coalition provides technical assistance to school districts, paired with the new online tool, to help schools get the most out of their application. Already, San Diego County schools have seen great success.

With our help, 4 districts, or 68 schools, expanded their Universal Free Meals. That means that an addition 27,000 students will receive free meals once we’re on the other side of the pandemic.

It may seem redundant to continue advocating for this program while all students receive free meals during the pandemic. However, the policies and flexibilities that allow schools to feed every student during COVID-19 expire on December 31, 2020. These schools that have been approved through the Community Eligibility Program will be allowed to continue providing free meals for every child for the next four years!

If you know a school or school district that you would like to see approved to serve Universal Free Meals, let us know!

Meet Our Newest Board Members

San Diego Hunger Coalition welcomes three community leaders to its Board of Directors who will complement and enhance the phenomenal talent that governs our organization. Joining the San Diego Hunger Coalition Board are Blanca Meléndrez, Executive Director of the U.C. San Diego School of Medicine Center for Community Health; Gary Petill, Director of Food and Nutrition Services for San Diego Unified School District; and Julie Rice, Owner and Principal of local nonprofit consultancy, Managed Giving.

The addition of these incredible professionals is perfectly timed as San Diego Hunger Coalition’s initiatives and social innovations gather steam in 2020. Learn more about the new board members below.

---

Blanca Meléndrez, MA is a nonprofit leader with 20 years of local, regional, and national experience in the non-profit and government sectors. She currently serves as Executive Director of the U.C. San Diego School of Medicine Center for Community Health (CCH) where she fosters local, state, and nationwide-wide efforts to improve health outcomes for California’s low-income residents and underserved neighborhoods by applying a racial equity lens. Her eye towards equity, diversity, and social justice will support the Hunger Coalition’s dedication to an effective and equitable food assistance system. Ms. Meléndrez is a member of the Hunger Free San Diego Advisory Board.

Gary Petill is the Director of Food and Nutrition Services for San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD). He has been in his current position with SDUSD since 2002 and has 23 years of prior experience in hospitality management. Gary currently oversees 300 schools and maintains a $62 million budget for the school district. Under his leadership, SDUSD has received awards for excellence in youth meal programs from the California School Board Association, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the California Endowment. He brings to the Hunger Coalition a wealth of knowledge about child nutrition and school meal programs. Mr. Petill is a member of the Hunger Free San Diego Advisory Board and an advisor to the Hunger Free Kids program.

Julie Rice, Owner and Principal of Managed Giving, is a talented communications and development professional with experience in both the public and private sectors. She served as an aid to U.S. Senator Al Gore, a press officer for the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, and on the 1992 Clinton-Gore and 2000 Gore-Lieberman presidential campaigns. She has developed community partnerships between nonprofits and major corporations such as Nike, Kellogg, and Wrigley. Julie specializes in strategic plan creation and implementation, materials evaluation and development, grant writing, and community partnerships and outreach. Ms. Rice comes to the Hunger Coalition with a successful track record of expanding and enhancing relationships in the nonprofit and hunger relief communities.

---

Join us at the 1st Annual State of Hunger Luncheon on November 15th for your chance to say hello to these incredible community leaders in addition to the other phenomenal talent on our Board of Directors!

San Diego Hunger Coalition & Partners Make Headlines Together

San Diego’s hunger relief sector has a unique, collaborative spirit that makes it possible for San Diego Hunger Coalition and its many partners to create a new way to think about hunger relief and create innovative, long-term solutions.

Our work, victories, and expertise have been the subject of plentiful media attention in 2019:

2019

MEDIA COVERAGE

• Oside News - San Diego Hunger Coalition Receives National Child Nutrition Foundation for Excellence in Collaboration Award - April 30, 2019 

• KUSI News - San Diego Hunger Advocacy Network hosts Annual Legislative Breakfast - March 22, 2019 

• KUSI Good Morning San Diego - San Diego Hunger Advocacy Network hosts Annual Legislative Breakfast - March 22, 2019 

• ABC/10 News- More shutdown fallout: Some retailers now unable to accept food stamps - January 22, 2019 

• KUSI News - Shutdown impacts Americans who receive help from federal food stamps - January 18, 2019 

• ABC\10 News - Government report says millions of college students going hungry - January 9, 2019 

• NBC\7 News - Food Stamps Threatened Amid Partial Government Shutdown - January 7, 2019 

• ABC\10 News - San Diegans relying on food stamps await word of programs future under shutdown - January 7, 2019 

• NBC/7 News - Rx for Food Security - October 1, 2019

• Fox/5 News - Report finds on-third of 5th-, 7th-, 9th-grade students overweight or obese - September 9, 2019

• Times of San Diego - Initiative Aims to Improve Diet, Increase Activity As County Children Face Obesity Crisis - September 9, 2019

• ABC/10 News - High obesity rates reported among San Diego kids - September 9, 2019 

• KUSI - Families encouraged to use free and reduced lunch programs despite charge - September 3, 2019 

• Pacific Standard - Only one in seven eligible kids get free lunch in the summer. What’s going wrong? - July 3, 2019 

• NBC/7 San Diego - Free Summer Meals Offered to Kids in Need - June 14, 2019 

• KUSI News - On-air interview with Paloma Perez Betrand, Hunger Free Kids Director - June 13, 2019 

• ABC/10 News - CalFresh Program Expands to SSI Recipients - May 13, 2019 

• ABC/10 News - CalFresh Challenge Encourages San Diegans to Eat on a Tight Budget - May 13, 2019 

---

We are proud of our accomplishments in 2019. With your support we’ll continue to gain momentum in 2020.

Do you support a Hunger Free San Diego?

Snapshot of Hunger in San Diego County

Every year, San Diego Hunger Coalition prepares an in-depth analysis of data from UCLA’s California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), which goes beyond the stats that are publicly available. Our annual San Diego County Food Insecurity Data Release includes a white paper and now, for the first time, a two-page summary that provides a glimpse into what hunger looks like in San Diego County. The report reveals that food assistance continues to be a critical need for working families, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities in our region.

Here is just a little of what our research found:

Based on 2015, 2016, and 2017 data from the California Health Interview Survey administered by the University of California, Los Angeles Center for Health Policy Research.

---

So, why isn’t food insecurity improving?

From 2016 to 2017, San Diego County’s food insecurity rate improved very slightly, dropping from 15% to 14%. While any improvement is good, the needle hasn’t really moved when 1 in 7 San Diegans still experience food insecurity.

The reality for many San Diegans since the 2008 recession is that their wages have not kept pace with rising costs of living. Today, more than half (55%) of adults experiencing food insecurity are employed, but 32% of working San Diegans make less than $14.35/hour. This is not enough to make ends meet in San Diego, where a family of four needs approximately $83,000/year to meet their basic needs.

Unless wages catch up to the cost of living in San Diego County, people will continue to need food assistance. That’s why programs such as CalFresh, Free and Reduced-Price School Meals, WIC, and food distributions are so important.

---

There are three ways that you can support hunger relief in San Diego County:

1)  Support San Diego Hunger Coalition’s hunger relief programs.

2)  Learn: Download the latest food insecurity data and share this information.

3)  Share: Become a Hunger Free Activist and get others involved in the fight to end hunger.

---

Hunger relief policies that work

It’s true that CalFresh/SNAP benefits come from taxes paid by working individuals. But, did you know:

• 55% of food insecure individuals are employed, meaning they are paying into our safety net programs.

• Red tape and an unnecessarily long application process make the program more expensive.

San Diego Hunger Coalition works with its partners to address barriers to accessing food assistance by streamlining programs like CalFresh. Our most recent victory was the passing of Assembly Bill 494 which eases the requirements for CalFresh applicants to verify their housing costs.

In San Diego, the cost of housing is one of the highest in the nation. The high cost of rent results in some low-income families entering non-traditional rental agreements. When they apply for CalFresh and are told they need to verify their cost of housing, many are scared to ask their landlords for a rent receipt or a signed letter. They worry that they may jeopardize their living arrangements if they draw attention to their need for public assistance. What results is a lengthy application process where people in need get either no CalFresh benefits, or a reduced amount.

When Governor Newsome signed AB 494 into law, he made it so that thousands of Californians would have enough to eat without putting their living arrangements in danger. Now Californians can verify their housing expenses by simply entering it on their signed application. County officials will only require more documentation if something seems amiss, ensuring that people will not be able to take advantage of the new system.

The new law went into effect on September 1st and promises to reduce hunger throughout San Diego County and all of California. Congratulations to all of the incredible Hunger Free Activists and the members of the San Diego County Hunger Advocacy Network who worked with our state representatives to make this bill a law.

Learn more about AB494 and our other state legislative priorities HERE.

Rx for Food Security

You are what you eat . . . an apple a day keeps the doctor away . . . breakfast is the most important meal of the day . . .

Everyone has heard these adages at some point in their lives, and we generally don’t think much of them. But there is a lot of truth to these old sayings and healthcare providers are beginning to take them seriously.

Why? Because we’ve learned that when people don’t have enough to eat, can’t afford to buy healthy food, or don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, it can affect their health for the rest of their lives. One of the best ways to ensure healthy living is to make sure everyone has enough to eat, from infancy through old age and every day in between.

We know that a good diet is linked to good health, which is why healthcare providers are beginning to make food insecurity screening and food assistance referrals a part of patient care visits. Recent research shows that not only is a doctor’s visit a good place to screen for food insecurity, but people are more likely to use food assistance if they see it as part of their healthcare regimen.

Unfortunately, very few medical school curriculums incorporate education around nutrition or food insecurity, leaving many doctors, nurses, and healthcare practitioners unsure of where to begin. What is needed is a curriculum to teach medical professionals what to look for, how to talk about it, and what the next steps are for their food insecure patients.

---

This is exactly what San Diego Hunger Coalition and Sharp HealthCare have developed: a 4-part Continuing Medical Education course, available online for free to medical professionals and the general public.

In the course, you can expect to learn: 

1.    What food insecurity looks like and how it is linked to health outcomes.

2.    How to have a sensitive conversation about a person’s basic needs and how to find out if they are food insecure.

3.    What to do to connect someone with food assistance and what resources are available.

4.    How to know if your efforts are successful and how you can advocate for hunger relief.

Module 1

Module 2

Module 3

Module 4

---

It’s not enough to simply make food assistance available, we must make it easy to access. Innovative solutions like this are bringing us closer to our vision of a San Diego County where everyone has enough to eat.

Would you like to support innovative approaches to ending hunger?

Hunger and Obesity: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Have you ever stood in line at a grocery store and saw someone buying food with their EBT (food stamps) card who was either overweight or with kids in tow who were overweight? What was your kneejerk reaction? Maybe you thought, “There’s no way they should be on food stamps! They clearly have enough to eat.”

A little girl in pink and white pajamas looks at her nearly empty cereal bowl.

As a nation, we struggle with the idea that a child can be both overweight and not have enough to eat. But these are two sides of the same coin.

The San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative recently released their 2019 State of Childhood Obesity Report. Their findings show that, in San Diego County, 1 in 3 children (34.1%) is overweight/obese. Children from low-income families are twice as likely to be overweight or obese when compared to their higher-income peers. These findings are important when you consider that, in San Diego County, 1 in 3 households is struggling to make ends meet.

A study by the University of California, Berkeley revealed that 32% of employed San Diegans are considered low-wage earners with an income of less than $14.35/hour. This means that they earn well below the California Family Needs Calculator’s estimated income needed to meet a person’s basic needs. When people have trouble paying their rent and utilities, the food budget is often the first place cuts are made.

According to San Diego Hunger Coalition research, 1 in 5 children in San Diego County don’t always have enough to eat. Facing hunger during a child’s formative years can lead to a lifetime of weight and health problems. Many of these problems result from not getting enough healthy food as they grow and learning the wrong eating habits.

Before you lay the blame at the parents’ feet, there is more to understand about overweight and obesity linked to food insecurity. In many cases, the food assistance that is available to low-income families isn’t enough to see them safely through the month. These families, many employed full-time and hardworking, must sacrifice healthy food in favor of cheaper, highly processed options that will fill bellies and keep their kids fed. High fat, high calorie, and high sugar foods become a staple in many low-income households not by choice, but out of necessity.

For the families buying unhealthy food so that their kids don’t go hungry, food assistance programs are a lifeline. But, the only way to break the cycle of food insecurity and obesity is to make sure they know about and have access to programs like WIC, Free and Reduced-Price school meals, and CalFresh. We know that ending hunger takes a community, and it will take all of these programs working together to make sure kids have enough healthy food to eat to avoid the pitfalls of poor health, overweight, and obesity.

Interested in learning more about how to make all kids in San Diego County Hunger Free Kids? Go to www.sdhunger.org/hunger-free-kids.

---

Get the full 2019 Childhood Obesity Report