Food Stamp Outreach Coalition Minutes

Inaugural Meeting 
December 11, 2003 
  
Present: 

Ed Cooney, Congressional Hunger Center
Kristin Anderson, Congressional Hunger Center
Kay Bengston, Lutheran Office of Governmental Affairs
Ellen Vollinger, FRAC
Lucreda Cobbs, Catholic Charities
Julie Paradis, America’s Second HarvestLarry Goolsby, APHSA
Desmond Brown, APHSA
Sarah Borron, Community Food Security Coalition
Alan Gold, RESULTS
Adey Fisseha, National Immigration Law Center
Fran Brenneman, Tax-Aide, AARP
Janice Magill, Center for Workforce Preparation, US Chamber of Commerce
Rosemary Lahasky, Center for Workforce Preparation, US Chamber of Commerce

 From FNS and USDA:

Kate Coler
Art Foley
Juliet McCarthy
Courtenay McCormick
Kathie Klass
Barbara Hallman
David Heller
Dawn Washington
Pat Seward
Suanne Buggy
Mandy Briggs

Discussion: 

Kate Coler, Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, opened the meeting. She thanked all members for their concern about food stamp outreach, and their interest in the coalition. Ms. Coler also noted that, although more than $20 billion is given out in food stamps annually, some $7 billion in additional funding was lost in FY 2002 because not all eligible people used food stamps. She added that the mission of the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service is to “increase food security and reduce hunger in partnership with cooperating organizations.” 

Roberto Salazar, the Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service, then spoke on the significance of the Food Stamp Program in “growing healthy Americans.” He suggested that, if food stamps are viewed as a business product to be marketed, they face the challenge of reaching a very broad market (the entire American low-income population) even as they are only available in one place (local welfare offices). Salazar said FNS and concerned anti-hunger groups need to use innovative strategies to increase the “market penetration” of food stamps from the current figure of about 60%, given that this “product” is both free of charge and has no real competitors. 

Kay Bengston asked Mr. Salazar if he would be interested in contacting lawmakers to urge them to promote food stamps in their regions of the country. Salazar responded that he would. 

Art Foley, the acting Deputy Administrator for the Food Stamp Program, then outlined where FNS currently envisions this coalition could go. He noted that FNS has long sought feedback from many anti-hunger groups, but is eager to institutionalize these partnerships and collaborations. FNS is especially interested in broadening the group it partners with, and to include faith-based organizations in particular. It also aims to more effectively reach groups that undertake food stamp outreach at the local level. 

David Heller, food stamp outreach specialist, then gave an overview of FNS’ current outreach efforts. FNS has a website to pre-screen its users for food stamp eligibility, and estimate the benefits they can get. FNS is also launching a national food stamp media campaign, producing food stamp posters and flyers in 34 languages, and offering a 24 hour toll free food stamp information hotline. It is aiming especially to reach seniors, immigrants, and working low-income people with these initiatives, as they tend to be least likely to use food stamps. Because many immigrants are newly eligible for food stamps this year thanks to recent legislative changes, FNS is trying especially to publicize this fact. 

Art Foley then opened the meeting’s discussion phase, asking coalition members which networks they have worked with in the past. 

Ellen Vollinger responded that, at a recent meeting she’d attended in Chicago, she found growing interest in food stamp outreach from groups throughout the anti-hunger community. She said FNS ought to stress that one need not be an expert to do food stamp outreach, because many groups unfamiliar with the concept are interested in outreach. 

Kay Bengston noted that the religious community has long been interested in food stamp outreach, and in working to fight hunger in general. She said that churches across the country have food pantries, but unfortunately these projects often amount to a stopgap effort; their coordinators aren’t often aware than food stamps and other federal programs can have a more lasting impact in fighting hunger, and need to be trained on how to do food stamp outreach. Ms. Bengston noted that a Hunger Fellow at the Lutheran Office of Governmental Affairs produced a comprehensive food stamp resource guide. 

Julie Paradis said that FNS’ work on food stamp outreach has been impressive, and that she has seen FNS officials’ efforts to connect with grassroots organizations. Ms. Paradis noted that state-level groups need to be integrally involved in this coalition, and that the APHSA, and Larry Goolsby, are valued and crucial partners in outreach efforts. 

Kay Bengston added that she’d observed that Oregon food stamp outreach officials were discontented because of difficulties with program entitlement. 

Janice Magill remarked that food stamps not only provide food for the hungry, but bring federal dollars into local communities, and in turn into the businesses where food stamp recipients spend their benefits. 

Kathie Klass added that food stamps address a broader need than hunger alone, because people who lack the money to purchase adequate nutritious foods don’t do as well in school or at their work, or can have difficulty finding jobs. Food stamps therefore also help spur the economy in this sense, and promote health. 

Fran Brenneman said she remained unclear as to why exactly she was invited to this coalition meeting, as she works to form partnerships on behalf of the AARP. Ms. Brenneman said she has been to many coalition meetings on various topics, though, and found that coalitions are often most effective when they involve large and broad groups of people. 

Roberto Salazar reiterated his earlier point that food stamps face the challenge of a very large target market, the entire American low-income population, yet they are available at only one place, and that place may not always be the best or most attractive way to reach them: the local “welfare” office. 

Janice Magill noted that businesses can aid in dispelling food stamps’ stigma. 

Larry Goolsby remarked that collaborations around food stamp outreach can be highly productive, and he welcomes them, especially if they are systematic, regular and institutionalized. Goolsby noted that it is State offices, not FNS’ federal efforts, that run the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) programs that put food stamps on electronic cards, and have helped to decrease the program’s welfare stigma. Mr. Goolsby noted that in spite of the cards, stigma is still a major reason people don’t participate- and changing the program’s name might be a way to address that. Mr. Goolsby questioned how the possibility of changing the program’s name could affect the upcoming national food stamp media campaign, which is promoting “food stamps” as such. Mr. Goolsby also urged the coalition to expand to include a larger group of people, and suggested the National Council of State Legislatures, among others. 

Ed Cooney then noted that in late March, a Hunger Summit would be held in Washington, involving a foundation interested in making donations to anti-hunger organizations and causes. He noted that funds might therefore be available to fund this coalition as a public-private partnership. Cooney pointed out that from such a summit, advice on how to run this coalition might also be available. 

Sarah Borron noted that her organization, the Community Food Security Coalition, examines food security holistically, and uses a wide range of partners that work on agriculture and environmental issues as well as hunger. She also noted that farmers’ markets could be good sources for food stamp outreach, but the EBT format of food stamp benefits has unfortunately made the use of food stamps at farmers’ markets logistically difficult. 

Julie Paradis added that food retailers and the organizations that represent them should also be a part of this coalition, and could broaden it in a way that would add to its success. 

Art Foley noted that FNS already partners with food retailers and related organizations. 

Juliet McCarthy said the Department of Labor has One-Stop Career Centers that represent an excellent example of successful partnerships between federal agencies and faith-based and community organizations, and has succeeded in involving a large number of people in the cause. Ms. McCarthy added that the involvement of such groups, and retail groups, could also help change the image of the food stamp program. 

Roberto Salazar concurred, but noted that the anti-hunger advocacy community can be somewhat “territorial,” making broad partnerships sometimes difficult. 

Art Foley noted pilot projects like the DOL effort do already exist. 

Alan Gold then asked if the media could be made more involved in the publicity of the coalition, or in expanding its membership or awareness of the issue of food stamps. He said RESULTS could provide advice and strategies on that matter. 

Roberto Salazar replied that Under Secretary Bost had made a few efforts at publicizing food stamp outreach, but they didn’t generate as much media attention as we would have liked. 

Desmond Brown said it seems people don’t view organizations outside FNS as very involved in outreach for food stamps. Brown suggested that trying to target outreach more specifically to the populations that use food stamps least, such as immigrants and the elderly, might help to mobilize more outside groups. 

Julie Paradis suggested that two specific future actions for coalition members could be to work to get more potential partners to the table, and to work with FNS to implement the food stamp media campaign. 

Art Foley seconded the idea that coalition members could aid the media campaign, and encouraged them to aggressively do so. 

Larry Goolsby said that a flexible format would be key to the coalition’s success, and could allow for other creative actions in the future. 

Juliet McCarthy then said that, in her view, outreach grants to local organizations were not always an effective outreach strategy, because they don’t always mobilize other groups beyond the grantees to act. McCarthy added that the food stamp outreach website ought to contain better contact information for those interested in collaborating with FNS on outreach, or for those seeking assistance, in addition to the hotline phone number currently available. 

Larry Goolsby suggested a link to APHSA’s site might be such a possibility. 

Adey Fisseha said the coalition ought to consider the “Covering Kids” campaign as an example to emulate. Ms. Fisseha also noted that a simplified food stamp application, and efforts to improve the simplicity of language, and broaden the number of languages, in food stamp applications and flyers, could be productive. 

Julie Paradis noted that the Internet could also provide an effective communication tool, and could reach more groups interested in participating in coalition meetings. It could help guide the organization’s structure and focus, and leverage the energy of interested groups. David Heller said that such networks, including listservs, could be an effective way of enabling a large amount of additional outreach to happen at a very low cost, by getting groups that are already interested to do outreach to use the pre-existing outreach tools of FNS and others. 

Art Foley seconded the idea of using listservs to communicate outreach messages to large groups of people. 

Janice Magill said business partnerships, such as the Society for Human Resource Managers, could play an important role. 

Julie Paradis, in a follow up to a point made by Ms. Coler earlier, noted that millions of dollars in federal aid money are lost yearly by states due to under-use of the food stamp program and its benefits. She suggested that if such numbers were precisely calculated for each State, and advertised, they might awaken State leaders to the huge economic benefit of food stamp outreach. 

Art Foley said such numbers aren’t currently available, but could be extrapolated on the basis of participation percentages and benefit amounts given out in each State. He noted that at least one study indicates that the degree of economic stimulation caused by food stamp benefits in a local community is roughly 1.8 times the dollar amount of benefits the community receives. Larry Goolsby added that a catalog of States’ efforts at food stamp outreach would also be helpful. Art Foley also noted that the Economic Research Service has produced studies of the practices of local food stamp offices, which could be helpful. 

Art Foley then concluded the meeting by noting that the next meeting would be scheduled for early February. In the interim, FNS would be continuing to determine the target locations and strategy of the national food stamp outreach media campaign, and perhaps announce a number of grant opportunities. Foley also welcomed the input of all coalition members on how best to expand membership, including to groups such as the National Conference of Mayors. 

For more information, please contact Elizabeth Whelan at (703)         or elizabeth.whelan@fns.usda.gov , or Laura Griffin at (703) 605-4399 or laura.griffin@fns.usda.gov . 

Back to the Top