washington update - how the farm bill would affect our seniors
DESCRIPTION
Washington Update to Meals On Wheels Association of America Members describing the impact of the Farm Bill on Senior Hunger and their programs. Primary Author. Released February 1st, 2014.TRANSCRIPT
Farm Bill Passes House, Moves on to SenateBill Provides Increased Opportunities to Reach Hungry Seniors
After more than two years of debate, House and Senate negotiators produced a bipartisan bill toreauthorize key national agriculture and nutrition programs. This legislation, H.R. 2642, theAgriculture Act of 2014 – most commonly referred to as the “Farm Bill” – passed the House ofRepresentatives this week by a vote of 251-166. The Senate is scheduled to consider this billearly next week.
If enacted, this Farm Bill would set the agricultural and nutrition policy for the next five years –including policies impacting America’s hungry seniors. While H.R. 2642 makes significant cuts toour nation’s largest nutrition safety net program, the Association remains optimistic about otherelements of the bill that could enable Senior Nutrition Programs and partners to reach moreseniors in need.
Deep Cuts to SNAP
This Farm Bill would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $8.6 billionover 10 years. This is more than the Senate’s earlier proposal of $4.1 billion in cuts, butdramatically less than the House’s version of nearly $40 billion. While the Association does notsupport these harmful cuts, we do believe it represents the best compromise achievablecompared with the earlier options offered. The impact these cuts could have on some of ournation’s most vulnerable remains to be seen; however, some estimates suggest that the averagehousehold will lose $90 a month in benefits. Given that the average SNAP benefit for a seniorliving alone is already less than $122 a month, a cut of any size would be devastating.
Bipartisan Provision to Reach Homebound
On the upside, a bipartisan provision spearheaded by Senator Al Franken (D-MN) and SenatorRoy Blunt (R-MO) in the Senate, and Congressman Erik Paulsen (R-MN) in the House, wouldbenefit low-income individuals who are homebound and currently unable to easily utilize SNAP.The language included in the bill would allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) toestablish pilot programs to deliver groceries to homebound seniors and disabled individualsparticipating in SNAP.
While some Senior Nutrition Programs across the country have implemented similar programs,having this provision in the Farm Bill allows this to be scaled-up nationally. We believe thisprovision will allow our Members and partner organizations to reach more hungry seniors, andwe look forward to working together to implement these pilots to have greater impact.
Other USDA Programs
From: Meals On Wheels Association <[email protected]>Subject: Washington Update - How the Farm Bill Would Affect Our Seniors
Date: 1 February, 2014 11:00:23 AM ESTTo: Will Thomas <[email protected]>
Reply-To: <[email protected]>
The two other programs that affect seniors most are the Commodity Supplemental FoodProgram and Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program.
The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), which currently delivers nutritious foodboxes to low-income seniors, women and children, would have the authorization to expandservices in six additional states (CT, HI, ID, MD, MA, RI), bringing the total to 45. Given that 97%of program participants are seniors, the Farm Bill clarifies that the program be only for seniorsover the age of 60, while allowing all others households to remain on the program for as long asthey meet current eligibility requirements.
No modifications have been made to the Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP),which provides benefits to be used specifically at farmers markets for seniors. According to thelatest data from USDA, SFMNP distributed $22.2 million in vouchers to over 885,000 seniors inthe 2012 fiscal year. This translated into more sales for over 19,000 farmers markets, over 3,000roadside stands and 154 community-supported agriculture (CSA) operations, as well as healthierfood for America’s seniors.
This Farm Bill also increases the authorization of funding for The Emergency Food AssistanceProgram (TEFAP) by $205 million over the next ten years. It encourages the Secretary ofAgriculture to find ways to deliver bonus commodities to emergency feeding organizations, someof whom also provide Meals on Wheels and congregate meals more efficiently, and to explorehow to eliminate the regulatory and administrative barriers to accessing these programs.
In the weeks ahead, we will continue to review, analyze and report back on how thiscomprehensive bill could potentially affect your program and the seniors in your community.
Have Questions or Want More?
For frequent advocacy updates and legislative news, be sure to follow Chief Advocacy OfficerErika Kelly on Twitter @NoSeniorHungry, and/or sign up to become a Grassroots Advocate bycontacting Public Policy & Research Associate Will Thomas at [email protected]. Should youhave any questions, please do not hesitate to contact either Erika ([email protected] / 571-339-1604), or Will ([email protected] / 571-339-1613).
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