Health & Healthcare
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1 in 10 Americans Unemployed
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90% of Black Children Receiving Food Stamps
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Housing Instability Hurts Kids
Fresh Produce Still Unaffordable
Published October 31, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
Where I live in Boston, farmers' markets abound in the summer and fall. I stopped by the Allston Farmers' Market yesterday, where there were free samples of apple cider, pumpkin painting for the kids*, live music, and t-shirts for sale. So nice!
This farmers' market is at a busy intersection, includes parking, is across the street from an affordable housing complex, and is on 2 bus lines. It runs on Friday afternoons until 7pm, so feasibly working people can stop by on their way home. So many conveniences. Also nice.
I then spent $12.50 on 5 carrots, a pint of grape tomatoes, and 6 apples. Not so nice. $12.50??? Does this seem high to anyone else or is it just me? (Granted, I did not buy the apples in bulk, which might have saved me some $$.)
I like supporting organic farms, local farms, local businesses, all that jazz. It's important to me. And I'm thrilled to see this farmers' market accepts EBT, WIC, etc. But with those prices, why would the average low-income shopper part with their dollars there? Can't I stretch my dollars a lot further at the grocery store, purchasing produce shipped in from CA and Mexico? Can't I get more bang for my buck from canned and frozen foods?
USDA Study Aims to Make Food Aid More Effective
Published October 22, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
For the first time in the agency's history, the USDA will conduct a five-year analysis--the National Household Food Purchase and Acquisition Study (NHFPAS)--to document the food choices and expenditures made by families in the U.S. The study will provide the first hard data on where households purchase food and what factors are involved in making food choices, with the results being used by USDA's Food and Nutrition Services division to make federal food aid programs more effective.
This study is partially in response to a report commissioned by Congress this past summer that measured the extent and consequences of food deserts in the U.S. The authors of the study noted the need for a massive public-education campaign if consumer demand is the driving factor behind the lack of healthy food options available in low-income communities. I'm curious to see--through the results of the NHFPAS--if this assumption of demand is indeed accurate.
Flint: Back to the Land
Published October 19, 2009 @ 06:20AM PT
I thought about calling this post "Flint: Uplifting and Depressing" to quote the competing descriptors given to the city working to stabilize itself sustainably in the face of population decline and a lost economic base. This is one of those articles that often tires me, as its efforts to report on any source of progress during long-term shifts like rebuilding an eviscerated city can leave readers buoyed with false hopes or impatient for more positive outcomes ASAP. But it's a telling story of the highs and lows of fighting poverty - the reality that Flint is still deteriorating in places, even as potential new jobs and land uses come to the fore as officials and residents seek to turn around their hometown.
The main focus of the article is creative uses of land - an abundant resource in Flint - such as turning vacant properties into local gardens. For some Americans, a return to the land, rustic, pioneering movement is an economic necessity or the most viable economic solution. So it goes on one street in Flint.
As we know here at Poverty in America, both small scale and large scale efforts like this are happening all over the country. I praise local governments for allowing residents to exercise some creative control over their neighborhoods alongside government efforts to preserve housing, retain or bring in good jobs, and provide for citizens' economic well-being, safety and health.
(Photo of the Beresford Community Garden in San Mateo, CA by Vicky Moore)
Help Protect Housing Vouchers
Published October 16, 2009 @ 05:05AM PT
This country needs therapy. We've gotten to the point, collectively, when common sense fails us. The breaking point? I'd point to the current mindset that it's OK to cut funding for what little housing we have for limited-income families.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) reports that funding shortfalls for the 2009 Housing Choice Voucher Program could cause state and local housing agencies to terminate vouchers or raise rents to levels beyond the financial reach of many families.
This is why I'm in Massachusetts today, to join with activists calling for continued funding of the Housing Choice vouchers, one of the few resources to keep families housed instead of homeless. And we need your support!
How Environmental Justice Works
Published October 15, 2009 @ 09:03AM PT
Through MIT, I've had the opportunity to provide research and writing for a range of social justice clients, including grassroots groups fighting for environmental justice and green economic development. I've written occasionally about EJ here, but I've never really taken the time to define it. Embracing this frame is imperative as stimulus funds flow and talk of "green jobs" and "green development" abound.
Today, in honor of Blog Action Day 2009, in which Change.org hosts over 8k blogs from 135 countries worldwide to blog about Climate Change to raise awareness of this pressing global problem, I want to provide some important information on environmental justice, racism and equity to inform your climate change activism. To be effective climate change activists, we cannot forget the unequal and unfair impacts borne by low-income communities, often communities of color, often in the US South, on reservations and borderlands, from environmental degradation. Read on to learn more about these critical frames and see how one group in San Diego, the Environmental Health Coalition, is succeeding in pursuing environmental equity for low-income Latin@ communities there.
Students Purchase 400 Calories With $1
Published October 15, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
It's one thing when parents and teachers can monitor what children eat on a daily basis, but it's quite another when kids get to choose what to fill their own stomachs with.
Researchers in Philadelphia have found that when children choose their own before- and after-school snacks, the most popular choices are high-fat products like sugary fruit drinks, Sour Patch Kids and potato chips. The majority of the children studied were from low-income communities.
However, the most surprising part of the study was not how many calories the children purchased, but how cheap they were. With only a little over one dollar in their pockets, children were able to purchase a whopping 356 calories on average per day.
Maine a Medicaid Model?
Published October 12, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
The Commonwealth Fund has released new data demonstrating "shockingly wide" health disparities across the 50 states. This is the third annual survey, and one reflecting data from 2007, so expect the overall state-by-state performance to get much worse in the coming years.
What's interesting about the results is the exceptions to the general correlation between states with higher incomes and lower poverty rates also having better resident health. In particular, Maine is singled out for its position in the Top 5 states with good health despite being a relatively poor place. Some reasons? It offers Medicaid to childless adults, a rarity, and requires stringent information sharing among providers in order to track and respond to issues like repeat hospitalizations.
The Medicaid extension seems key here, as efforts like SCHIP have improved the "medical safety" net for kids, yet ever more adults are losing health insurance and going without necessary care. According to researchers, places like Minnesota or Massachusetts that perform well also show "a greater willingness to use government to improve social conditions." Massachusetts has the fewest uninsured adults, with only 7% lacking coverage.
The moral of the story for thinking about universal health care? Besides that we should maybe be looking to Maine and other states for critical best practices?
"The nation doesn't have one system and one reality, it has at least 50 each with its own economic, social and demographic characteristics."
"States cannot go it alone. Health reform is needed on a national level."
(Photo of Greenville, ME by Lee Coursey)
