Child Nutrition 3Peace Dividend 4Soda Tax to Fight Obesity 5CSA in NYC 6Health Care Reform 9Faith and Hunger Network 10, 13ES2 Lobby Day 14

Hunger Action Network of New York State275 State Street, Albany NY 12210 - (518) 434-7371; Fax 434-7390

64 Fulton Street, rm 801, NY NY 10038 - (212) 741-8192; Fax 741-7236www.hungeractionnys.org - email info@hungeractionnys.org

RASSROOTSThe Newsletter of the Hunger Action Network of New York State April 2010

etting to the Root of the Problem

Faces of Hunger Action Network

In This Issue of Grassroots..

Bill DiFazio is a long time Board member of the Hunger Action Net-work. He has also been active with St. John's Bread and Life, a soup kitchen in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn where more than a thousand people line up for breakfast and lunch five days a week. His work there for more than a decade formed the basis of Ordinary Poverty: A Little Food and Cold Storage, Bill’s biting chronicle of the life of the working poor in the wake of welfare reform.

Ordinary Poverty concludes with a call for a universal guarantee to a liv-ing wage as a crucial way to end pov-erty. Bill says that a true poor people's movement would link the interests of all social movements with the inter-ests of ending poverty. The book was nominated for the Harry Chapin Me-dia Award for outstanding coverage on hunger and poverty.

“It’s a disgrace that in the richest coun-

try in the world we officially have more than 37 million poor people. And it’s a disgrace that we don’t want to deal with,” write Bill, who points out that the official poverty figures are a sham. Poverty, he argues, should be a term applied to all individuals who struggle

to make ends meet. A poor person, therefore, isn’t just the man who is sleeping in shelters and begging on the street; it is the man with a family who has difficulty making basic payments like health insurance costs, housing bills and college tuitions.

“Poverty’s about resources and jobs and being stigmatized,” says DiFazio, who thinks the U.S. government should re-tax the rich and stop relying on charity. “Most poor people in New York City work very hard for very low wages,” he adds, and most of the nation’s poor don’t receive welfare benefits. During the civil rights movements

Continued on page 8

GState Budget Fight 2010:

Jobs or Cuts?This year’s budget drama unfolds against the backdrop of a terrible recession. We have tried to keep two numbers in mind: currently there are over 850,000 New Yorkers out of work, and unemployment among the lowest ten percent of incomes has reached levels even beyond those of the Great Depression: according to the Center for Labor Market Studies, 30.8% of this group tried and failed to find work in the last quarter of 2009.

The budget fight has proven that even when Albany leaders do the right thing, they can still go back and try to undo it. One of our greatest victories in recent years was the hard won increase in the basic welfare grant. Having hailed Gov. Paterson and legislative leaders for this long overdue step, we were shocked to learn that the Governor was actually proposing a postponement of the increase, reducing it this year and three subsequent years to incremental increases of 5% rather than 10% this year and next. He also slashed theTANF jobs budget. We had learned just prior to this

Continued on page 8

2 • April 2010 Hunger Action Network of New York State

Grassroots is published four times a year by the Hunger Action Network of New York State.

Mark A. Dunlea, Esq.Executive Director

DOWNSTATE OFFICE64 Fulton St, Rm 801 New York, NY 10038

(212) 741-8192Fax (212) 741-7236

Liz Gilbert,Downstate Organizer

Veda MyersDownstate Organizer

UPSTATE OFFICE275 State Street, Albany NY 12210

(518) 434-7371Fax (518) 434-7390

Deb CatozziAdministrative Director

Andreas KriefallUpstate Director

HAMILTON HILL FOOD PROCESSORS920 Albany St., Schenectady NY 12307

(518) 688-2054 Fax (518) 688-2055

Vincent RossProject Director

Arial PalterFarmers Market Sales

NOTES FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The President’s goal of ending childhood hunger in 2015 doesn’t seem very real at the moment.

While we are starving for funds to feed hungry children, the Pres-ident proposed the largest military budget in history – equal to what the rest of the world combined is spending. Yet the President called for a freeze on spending for all domestic programs – while exempting the military from any cuts. Meanwhile, 2600 New York City residents lost the Section 8 housing vouchers they were promised – and another 10,000 households may have their existing vouchers eliminated. This is the legacy of the housing budget cuts made 30 years ago by President Reagan.

A year before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered while standing in support of the striking sanitation workers in Mem-phis, he spoke out at Riverside Church in NYC against the war in Vietnam. “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death,” a courageous position that angered the Democrats and most of the media. King also reminded us that the March on Washington five years earlier had not been for civil rights alone, but “a campaign for jobs and income, because we felt that the economic question was the most crucial issue that black people and poor people, generally, were confronting.”

While we are in the midst of the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression, the poor have felt its impact much more than the rest of society; the poorest 10% of Americans are currently experiencing unemployment rates in excess of 30 percent. Every-one is talking about the need for job creation – but somehow our elected officials aren’t coming up with the money.

We can’t end poverty without changing the political system. We need campaign finance reform so special interests can’t buy politi-cians. We need a free media. Come to Albany on May 5th for good government day.

In Peace and Unity,Mark Dunlea

GRASSROOTS April 2010 • 3

Board of Directors

Minister Derrick BoykinBread for the World

William DiFazioSt. Johns University, NYC

Ron DeutschNew Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness

Rev. Ozzie Edwards Harlem Community Employment Orientation Program

Dennis HanrattyMount Vernon United Tenants

Bob IngramEMPOWER, Rochester

Rev. Debra JamesonFOCUS Churches, Albany

Kelly Ann KowalskiFood For All, Buffalo

Bill PeltzNYS Labor/Religion Coalition

Diane PicardThe Mass. Ave Project, Buffalo

Brian RiddellDutchess Outreach, Poughkeepsie

Robert SchwartzInterfaith Voices Against Hunger Terri ScofieldUniversal Living Wage Campaign

Heidi SiegfriedNOW, Albany Chapter

David Van ArsdaleOnondaga Community College

At long last, Congress has taken up reau-thorization of the various child nutrition programs such as WIC (Women, Infants and Children), summer meals and school meals. The federal government classi-fies nearly 17 million children as “food insecure,” meaning they lack the income to regularly purchase food.

The biggest struggle is funding. Provide enough funding and the policy changes being promoted can be done. Restrict funding and changes become discarded or are transformed into pilot programs or studies.

Anti-hunger advocates have been seek-ing an additional $4 billion a year (over the ten-year reauthorization period) to invest in improving nutritional stan-dards, expand eligibility and reduce administrative barriers.

The Senate Agriculture Committee, of which NY Sen. Gillibrand is a member, began the Congressional process by proposing only an additional $450 mil-lion a year in new funding. This was well below the $1 billion a year increase proposed by President Obama and the $4 billion figure championed by Sen. Gil-librand. Much of the Senate’s proposed new funding would go to increase reim-bursement for existing services rather than to increase the number of children being fed.

Anti-hunger groups are urging Sen. Schumer, a member of the Senate Fi-nance Committee, to help increase the funding when the committee reviews the bill. In the House, the bill will first go through the Education and Labor Committee; NY members include Cong. Bishop, Clarke, McCarthy and Tonko. Letters and calls in support of the $4 bil-lion are needed to all our congressional members and especially these four.

Particularly disappointing for NY is

Child Nutrition Needs $4 Billionthat the Senate proposal fails to reduce the eligibility criteria needed to qualify for an open site under the summer meal program. If a site is “open”, then every child in the community is eligible to participate regardless of their income. Many communities in NYS presently fall slightly above the 40% , making them ineligible under the current rules set at 50%. .NYS also ranks low in the number of children participating in the school breakfast program. Advocates are seeking increased funding for grants to support the start-up and expansion of universal and in-classroom school breakfast programs in low-income schools.

The Senate bill does include author-ity for USDA to improve nutritional standards for school meals, including banning the sale of junk food, and al-lows for children already receiving food stamps (SNAP) and Medicaid to be directly certified to receive school meals. The bill would allow schools in high-poverty areas to offer free meals to all students without collecting paper applications. The bill does provide $25 million to expand Farm to School pro-grams, half of what advocates are seek-ing.

A major problem with respect to fund-ing is the Congressional “pay as you go” requirement for domestic pro-grams; military spending however is exempted from such requirements. This means that additional funds for child nutrition have to be paid for by cuts in other parts of the agriculture budget. Rather than cutting the corporate agri-culture subsidies, the Senate Agricul-ture Committee wants to cut nutrition outreach and environmental protection programs instead. Hunger Action has long advocated that our huge military budget should be cut to help feed the hungry and house the homeless.

4 • April 2010 Hunger Action Network of New York State

A Peace Dividend to Feed the Hungry

Peace, faith, labor and human service organizations throughout NYS are call-ing upon elected officials to advocate for a major cut in the federal military budget. Such cuts would help resolve the fiscal crisis facing the state and lo-cal governments without the need for massive cuts in spending for housing, education, welfare and health programs, while creating more jobs and more security for Americans than continued military outlays.

President Obama, rather than exempting military spending from his recent call to control federal spending, should in-stead make the ever-expanding military budget the focus of his efforts to cut the federal budget deficit and to revive the economy.

At a news conference at the State Capitol in February, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace, Hunger Action Network of NYS, Veterans for Peace and Women Against War called upon NY’s Congressional delegation to propose significant cuts in the $708 billion military budget pro-posed by President Obama. New York City Council member Letitia James has introduced a similar resolution. “A half century ago, President Eisen-hower warned the American people about the social and budget dangers posed by the military industrial complex. Eisenhower’s warnings unfortunately have gone unheeded by Presidents and Congress alike as they have transformed our military budget into huge slush fund for corporate war profiteers and their campaign contributions,” stated Mark Dunlea, Executive Director of Hunger Action Network.

As part of the effort to end childhood hunger, Hunger Action Network is seeking to increase annual spending

on federal child nutrition programs by $4 billion. Any such increase, under current federal rules, would have to be accompanied either by similar spending cuts in other domestic programs or tax hikes.

“It is long past time for politicians to admit that our massive military budget is not in the interest of the American public. It is time to reject the bipartisan collusion to exempt the military budget from any cuts. It is obscene that any efforts to provide more federal funding to protect our children, seniors and the environment has to be accompanied by cuts in other programs while the pay-ments to the military industrial complex is exempted from such rules,” said Joe Lombardo of Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace. “We spend far more than any other coun-try in the world on the military which is the main reason our national deficit is also the highest on earth,” said Doug Bullock, an Albany County Legislator. “This huge expansion of debt coupled with out of control speculation has led us into the current great recession and continuing economic stagnation. Ac-cording to the Labor Dept., last year we lost over 700,000 union jobs with the rate of union membership stagnating at 12.3% of the workforce.” added Bull-ock, First Vice President of the Albany Central Federation of Labor. “Let us ask this question: are we pre-pared to let children starve both at home and abroad while a bloated military bud-get grows fatter and fatter? The choice has become that stark: we cannot fix the economy, feed the world, and combat global warming while the U.S. military gobbles up resources and hopelessly distorts our budget priorities,” said Dan Wilcox of Veterans for Peace.

For decades economists such as Sey-mour Melman at Columbia University, have documented that military spend-

ing creates fewer jobs than any other investment. This was confirmed by a recent UMASS-Amherst study, “The Employment Effects of Downsizing the U.S. Military,” which found that for every $1 billion of spending on military production 8,555 jobs are created. But when that same amount of money is spent on home weatherization 12,804 jobs are created, or when spent on edu-cation 17,687 jobs result. “The little reported truth is that military spending is bad for the economy and creates fewer jobs and less tax revenue for state and local government than do other kinds of investment,” said Dunlea.

From within I see a visionCome walk in my clouds and feel my joyStreets are magically lined with nutri-tious giftsHouses with opened doors to invite one that has no shelterBenches for the sleepy to rest their headsClothing to wearShoes that fitGreetings from others instead of disap-proving looksMoney to provide needs

Lynn Rosen is a member of HANNYS and currently volunteers her time in our NYC office.

From WithinBy Lynn Rosen

GRASSROOTS April 2010 • 5

Soda Tax & ObesityThe Governor is proposing a penny per ounce excise tax on sugar sweetened beverages. The tax will reduce sugar sweetened beverage consumption by 10% or more and subsequently reduce healthcare costs. The tax will raise $465 million this year and $1 billion once it is fully annualized (tax would start in Sept. 2010). The excise tax on beverage syrups and soft drinks would be levied when they are first imported into the State, or produced, refined, bottled, or manufactured; rather than at the retail level. The tax is equivalent to the rate of one cent per ounce on soft drinks that contain more that 10 calories per 8 ounces. These include sweet-ened water, soda, sports drinks, “energy” drinks, colas, sweetened bottled coffee or tea, and sweetened fruit or vegetable drinks containing less than 70% natural fruit or vegetable juice. Milk, milk products, milk substitutes, dietary aids, and infant formula are exempt. This tax will increase the price of sugar-sweetened beverages by an estimated 17% on average.

Hunger Action supports the soda tax as a critical step in the effort to reduce obe-sity, especially among children, and to promote better nutrition. Proceeds from the soda tax should be clearly earmarked to support anti-obesity, nutrition and health care programs. Prior public opinion polls have shown strong support for the soda tax – if it is clearly linked to anti-obesity and children’s health initiatives. We would like to see part of the proceeds use to help low-income New Yorkers purchase more fruits and vegetables, including at local farmers markets and to supplement the food stamp program. We also believe funds should be used to promote a sustainable food policy for NY.

There has been a lot of opposition to the soda tax from the beverage industry. In Westchester, Pepsi has threatened to move its local plant to another state if the tax is enacted, even though moving would have no impact on their tax liability. The soda tax was not included in either the Assembly or Senate budget resolution, but it likely that the issue will remain alive until the end of the budget negotiations since the state really needs to raise revenues.

Why tax sugar-sweetened beverages? Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages is likely to lead to a decrease in consumption, especially among population groups that are most sensitive to price, e.g., children, low income populations, and those with higher intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages. These are the same groups who are most likely to suffer negative health impacts from high sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. A decrease in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is likely to reduce calorie intake and lead to better weight status. Increasing the cost of sugar-sweetened beverages relative to the cost of healthier beverages (such as water and low-fat milk) may lead to an increase in the consumption of the healthi-er beverages. A similar tax on tobacco products has contributed to a significant de-crease in cigarette consumption and smoking rates, particularly among children.

Why tax only sugar-sweetened beverages? Other foods, like Twinkies and Ding Dongs, provide empty calories. There is significant evidence linking sugar-sweetened beverage consumption with obesity and other health problems. Studies that follow people for a long time show that people who consume more sugar-sweetened beverages gain more weight.

6 • April 2010 Hunger Action Network of New York State

Hunger Action Network

Green SpaceCommunity Supported Agriculture in New York City

Hunger Action is happy to announce the beginning of our 4th year working with the West Harlem CSA, and our 2nd with the Flatbush Farm Share. Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA is a program where a local farmer provides share holders with a weekly delivery of fresh vegetables for the growing season. Hunger Action, along with the NYC Coalition Against Hunger and Just Food, created three CSAs in NYC specifically to increase access to fresh local vegetables in low income communities. Our CSAs accept food stamps and have a sliding scale pric-ing system. The project has been a great success. When surveyed, over 70% of members said their membership in the CSA has increased their vegetable consumption year round. We look forward to a bountiful 2010 season. For more information, or to learn about membership, please contact Veda at 212-741-8192 ex. 2#

Individuals from Foodlink, Genesee Valley Organic CSA, Group 14621, Rochester Roots, Gandhi Institute, Project HOPE and others are urging the City of Rochester to proactively re-search, develop policy, provide coordi-nation and incentives for a sustainable community-based food system.

Imagine community gardens where neighbors can grow food together, farmers markets offering delicious, fresh fruits and vegetables to city residents, urban farms and commu-nity supported agriculture projects that bring food production right into the heart of the city.

Unfortunately, on April 8 a prelimi-nary vote by ahe Rochester City Coun-cil subcommittee was 2 to 3 against an urban agriculture feasibility study. The City administration and some City Council members are working to re-verse that decision and will bring it be-

fore the full Council later in April. Community gardeners represent a positive asset to the community. Rochester Roots garden-based edu-cational programs have been rec-ognized nationally and internation-ally and will now be integrated with other local Rochester organizations into the sustainable food system model being developed through the urban agriculture project. A posi-tive vote by City Council would enable Rochester Roots to expand its collaborations and leverage na-tional funding that helps Rochester citizens join in the development of new projects for improved food se-curity.

Local agriculture creates an abundance of food for people in need by planting gardens on unused land while increas-ing cultural diversity, educating youth, adults, seniors and providing sustain-

able system to uplift communities. Community-based agricultural pro-grams create job training, employment, entrepreneurial business opportunities,

neighborhood reinvestment and com-munity empowerment. Urban agricul-ture proposes environmentally respon-sible land use, local food production, waste reduction, & sustainability.

Urban Agriculture Seeks Support in Rochester

GRASSROOTS April 2010 • 7

Start a Seed & Seedling Program in Your Community!Spring is upon us and many of us are looking forward to the fresh vegetables that summer brings. Unfortunately, many New Yorkers will not have access to fresh garden vegetables this summer. The Seeds and Seedling program aims to empower individuals to grow their own food.

Every year truckloads of vegetable seedlings (young vegetable plants) go to waste because commercial greenhouses and home gardeners start to grow more plants than they can use. Hunger Action Network established a Seed and Seedling distri-bution program to enable New Yorkers to grow some of their own nutritious food by connecting them with many of the seedlings that would have gone to waste.

This is why Hunger Action is asking our members to start a seed and seedling program in your community. Here are some basic instructions on starting your own seed to seedling program. For more information and resources, contact Veda at 212-741-8192 ex. 2#

1. Contact nurseries, greenhouses and farms. Conduct a mailing or call your local greenhouses, nurseries and farms to request donations of seeds or seedlings in the spring. Many plant outlets are anxious to clear out their inventory in the early summer and have leftover plants that they are glad to donate, rather than seeing them go to waste. You can find a list of plant outlets in your local yellow pages or contact the NYS Deptartment of Agriculture and Markets at 518-457-2087 or http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/PI/cover.htm. You may also be able to obtain free seeds if you do not have space for seedlings. The America the Beautiful Fund (ABF) gives away free seeds for vegetables and other plants. The application to request seeds is a simple one-page form. You have to pay for the shipping costs of the seeds. Contact ABF at (202) 638-1649 or http://www.america-the-beautiful.org.

2. Outreach and distribution plan. You should develop a method for informing people about your program and the actual distribution of seeds or seedlings. A flyer may be helpful in informing people about planned distributions. You may be able to set up a table for distribution at a street fair. Other good places to distribute vegetable seedlings include food pantries, soup kitchens, urban community gardens, subsidized or supported housing complexes, schools, veteran’s homes, and senior housing.

3. Coordinate pick up of seedlings. Make follow-up phone calls in late May or early June to make arrangements for pick-ing up the donations. You may need a vehicle if you are planning to pick up seedlings from a greenhouse. You may need a place to store the seeds or seedlings if you are distributing them over the course of a few days. 4. Provide basic plant care instructions with the seeds or seedlings. Make gardening instructions available for people who may be growing vegetables for the first time. Hunger Action has a flyer on basic plant care instructions that we can provide to you and your local Cooperative Extension office should have these materials, too.

5. Send letters thanking contributors. You should send thank you letters to groups that donate seeds or seedlings to your projects. Ask them to keep your program in mind for the future.

Westchester Gleaning ProjectDoug DeCandia, a farmer in Brewster, has started a gleaning project in Westchester County. He has offered his farm

for gleaners and is soliciting other farms and orchards in the area to join the project. The food that is collected will be distributed to low income families through the area’s EFPs. They are looking for volunteers to help glean the fields and transport produce to the distribution sites. Anyone who is interested in participating in the project should contact Doug at 914 494-6986 or email him at dougdecandia@gmail.com. If you would like general information about starting a gleaning project contact Hunger Action Network at

(518) 434-7371 ext 3# or email - dcatozzi@hungeractionnys.org.

8 • April 2010 Hunger Action Network of New York StateThe fi gures demonstrate the choices made by the Division of Budget:

State Fiscal Year 2009-2010Actual Expenditures

10% welfare grant increaseCareer Pathways $17.5 millionWage Subsidies $14 millionTransitional Jobs $25 millionHealth Care Jobs $7 millionGreen Jobs Corps $7 millionTOTAL FOR JOBS: $70.5 million

State Fiscal Year 2010-2011Governor’s Budget Proposal

5% welfare grant increaseCareer Pathways $0Wage Subsidies $0Transitional Jobs $10 millionHealth Care Jobs $5 millionGreen Jobs Corps $3 millionTOTAL FOR JOBS: $18 million

How could the state receive so much money specifi cally for the welfare budget and nevertheless propose all of these devastating cuts? After many meetings, we found the answer. The governor’s budget staff found a legal way to divert $261 million from the welfare budget to the general budget for fi scal relief. The money that was left mostly covers the larger caseload and the increase in the welfare grant from last year plus the smaller proposed increase of 5%.

The choices are clear: should NYS respond to this recession with this sort of bud-get cutting on the backs of those suffering most or should we take advantage of federal assistance with new investments in job creation to provide real economic stimulus and relief? Another crucial question here is revenue: why haven’t leaders in Albany considered a surtax on millionaires or a Wall Street stock transfer tax so that the wealthiest New Yorkers pay their fair share? The tax cuts enacted in the 1990s have benefi ted the top earners in New York to the tune of $16 billion, so it wouldn’t unreasonable to take back a portion of this income to help those who need it most. This year’s budget fi ght has revolved around challenging the Governor’s choices: Hunger Action Network and our allies have been steadfast in the call for the full 10% welfare grant increase and $100 million for jobs in the welfare budget. It will be stimulus funding for the poor and job creation that will speed a recovery in New York State, not draconian cuts and state budget shifts.

In late March, we learned that our argument had gained some traction: the State Senate and Assembly undid much of the damage in their budget resolutions, both of them restoring the welfare grant increase to 10% and fi nding ways to undo most of the cuts to jobs programs. However, those resolutions and those improve-ments will be sorely tested as the budget negotiations enter the fi nal phase and the state struggles to close a $9 billion defi cit. New York State will not be emerging from its recession and high unemployment in 2010. We need to persuade Presi-dent Obama and Congress to extend the stimulus another year: a major federal jobs bill on the scale of $400 billion is an absolutely essential ingredient in help-ing the poorest of our residents survive the recession and begin the recovery.

in the 60s he was active with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and The Student Nonviolent Coordinat-ing Committee (SNCC). DiFazio is co-host of the show City Watch on WBAI 99.5 FM. .Bill is a storyteller, combining his passion for leftist poli-tics with an intimate knowledge of the neighborhoods, restaurants, bakeries and characters of NYC.

Bill has been Professor of Sociology at St. John's University for 26 years. His other books include Longshore-men: Community & Resistance on the Brooklyn Waterfront, The Jobless Future, co-authored with Stanley Aronowitz, and The Game is Rigged: The Middle Classes Divided and Con-quered (forthcoming).

“I like working with Hunger Action Network because it is the one place were you can combine policy work and activism together. They under-stand the need for a broader vision around economic and social justice if we are to end hunger.”

Bill is married to Susanna Heller, a painter. He has one daughter, Liegia DiFazio, an attorney. Bill is recover-ing from a serious illness and we wish him a speedy recovery.

FACES from page 1

anouncement that the state was expect-ing an unprecedented $638 million infl ux of stimulus money specifi cally to bolster the welfare budget and job creation in the current recession, on top of the regular block grant of $2.4 billion for TANF. With those kinds of resources available we thought we might even see improvements in TANF and jobs programs. Hunger Action Network’s “Good Jobs Now!” campaign makes the case for $100 million jobs money in the welfare budget. .ernor found a way to sacrifi ce those gains in the quest to balance the budget.

State Budget from page 1

New York State recently commissioned a study on how the state could best achieve universal health care. Most of the models studied were a variation of the reforms adopted by Congress - minor expansion of existing public programs combined with a insurance mandate. Despite the authors’ clear biases in fa-vor of such a model, they were forced to acknowledge that single payer was a far more cost-effective system, saving New Yorkers an estimated $20 bil-lion annually by 2019 if implemented.

The new health care law represents a step in the wrong direction, accord-ing to Single Payer NY, a statewide coalition pushing for expanded and improved Medicare for All. The coali-tion, to which Hunger Action belongs, vowed to continue their efforts to make health care a right. SPNY will continue to push Congress and the state legislature to adopt a public system to fi nance health care for all.

“The Congressional health care bill may have provided a political victory for President Obama and the Democratic Party but it cheated the American people who expected universal health care. This bill primarily increases the revenues and profi ts of insurance companies through the insurance mandate,” said Dr. Richard Propp, chairperson of the Capital Dis-trict Alliance for Universal Health Care.

“Tens of millions will still be left without health insurance, and far more will be forced to pay for expensive insurance policies that will fail to provide them with the health care services they need. This bill will still leave the US with the worst performing health care system among the industrial countries, while forcing taxpayers, consumers and em-ployers to pay far more for insurance and health care than any other country.”

“The health care needs of the American people have been sacrifi ced to the fi -nancial needs of the insurance industry. The bill doesn’t go into effect until 2014 and that means 45,000 people will continue to die each year from a lack of healthcare. The bill does noth-ing to reign in insurance industry costs, resulting in more deaths and bankrupt-cies. The most vulnerable Americans will be required to divert money they need to pay for housing, food and other necessities to buy expensive, in-adequate health insurance,” said Alice Brody, a retired educator who is chair ofof outreach for Single Payer New York.

Health Care Reform is Bad MedicineMany of the nation’s leaders, including President Obama, have repeatedly ad-mitted that a single payer system would be best for American people -- if the goals are to provide quality health care to all Americans and also lower costs.

The legislation promises to expand insurance coverage. Most of this ex-pansion would result from increasing Medicaid eligibility to include all those whose household incomes fall below 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Lev-el. Yet this federal support for Medicaid comes as many states, facing budget crises, have curtailed Medicaid benefi ts. Those who don’t receive Medicaid or purchase private insurance would pay a fi ne. People eligible for a “hardship waiver” would be exempted from the fi ne and allowed to remain uninsured.

For those with incomes up to 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, hundreds of billions of taxpayer dol-lars would be spent to subsidize unaf-fordable private insurance premiums.

“That means that a family of four with income of $80,000 a year will be forced to purchase health insurance policies that will eat up 9.8 percent of their income -- yet the policy would cover only 70 percent of unafford-able private insurance premiums.

Single payer reform - namely, one program pays all bills though doctors and medical providers continue as present - would eliminate the bewil-dering patchwork of private insurance plans with their exorbitant overhead and profi ts, as well as the costly paper-work burdens they impose on provid-ers. These savings- nearly $400 billion annually–are suffi cient to cover all of the uninsured and to provide fi rst dollar coverage for all Americans. No other approach can provide comparable cov-erage at a cost our nation can afford.

GRASSROOTS April 2010 •9

10 • April 2010 Hunger Action Network of New York State

Albany – Though the weather was bit-ter cold, the political passion burned bright as a spirited crowd of 50 Hunger Action Network members and a dozen or so cameras and reporters gathered on January 5, 2010 on the chilly steps of the Capitol for the annual People’s State of the State rally. We rang in the New Year with a call for cleaner government and more equitable policies for the poor.

“Good Jobs Now!” was the main slogan of the day, as Hunger Action Network launched its budget campaign for a $100 million share of federal stimulus dollars for good jobs for welfare participants. But equally important was the call for an end to what speaker Blair Horner of NYPIRG memorably called “the politi-cal crime wave in Albany.”

“We know,” declared Mark Dunlea over chants of ‘Joe Bruno ethics have got to go!’ “we know that as long as money talks so loudly in Albany, the cries of the poor for justice will never be heard or acted on as strongly or as quickly as they need to be. We need ethics reform so that we can make a serious effort to end hunger and poverty in New York State.

The Faith and Hunger Network (FHN) held its fi rst ever Long Island conference on March 5th at Upper Room Ministries in Dix Hills.

Over 130 faith leaders, advocates, and congregants attended the conference to discuss the important role that the faith community can play in the fi ght to end hunger beyond handing out food. The panel of speakers, including Mark Dunlea of Hunger Action Network, Rev. Derrick Boykin of Bread for the World, and Richard Koubek of MICAH, sought to remind participants of the power of advocacy and urged faith leaders to engage their members around hunger is-sues at the local, state and federal levels.

The conference was held in the wake of the recently released report, Hunger in America 2010: The Local Report for Long Island, which found over 283,000 people—including 110,000 children—relying on emergency food on Long Island. With one in ten Long Islanders at risk of hunger, a 20 percent increase since 2006, the news that Suf-folk County lost $1 million in federal Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) funds was devastating. Restor-ing the EFSP funds became a core theme of the conference, with Suffolk County Department of Social Services Commissioner Greg Blass attending and speaking about the urgent need to restore the funds.

Mark Dunlea spoke about the New York State budget crisis, namely the need to

maintain funding for jobs programs for welfare participants and maintaining the increase in the basic welfare grant, which Governor Paterson has proposed cutting.

Attendees were provided with letters to return to their congregations for let-ter writing campaigns around the state budget, Earned Income Tax Credit, and the need to restore the $1 million in lost federal funding to Suffolk County for emergency food and housing.

Dunlea urged participants to hand de-liver the letters to their senators district offi ces and reminded them of the power their community wields.

Participants were also given a Con-gregational Toolkit containing prayer, refl ection and discussion around hunger and its root causes. The toolkit provided a brief education on how to engage in advocacy particularly so as people of faith. aith leaders were then urged to return to their congregations with the toolkit and begin engaging in a new discussion with their members about how to end hunger in their communities.

The conference was co-hosted by MI-CAH (Moblized Interfaith Coalition Against Hunger), a coalition of over 270 congregations, agencies and organiza-tions across Long Island advocating for the removal of barriers to food security. MICAH is now the Long Island affi liate of the Faith and Hunger Network. For more information on MICAH, please visit www.micahlongisland.org.

Faith and Hunger Network Holds First Ever Long Island Conference

MICAH Becomes Long Island Affi liate of FHN

People’s State of the State Rally

The conference was co-hosted by MI-CAH (Moblized Interfaith Coalition Against Hunger), a coalition of over 270 congregations, agencies and organiza-tions across Long Island advocating for the removal of barriers to food security. MICAH is now the Long Island affi liate of the Faith and Hunger Network. For more information on MICAH, please

GRASSROOTS April 2010 • 11

FoodNYC: a blueprint for a sustainable food system, released by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, is a comprehensive proposal to reform New York City’s policies regarding the production, distribution, consump-tion, and disposal of food. The report, a product of the NYC Food & Climate Summit held in December outlines a package of proposals that will make our food system more sustainable by prioritizing products from New York State, increasing access to healthy food in underserved neighborhoods, and expanding the food economy.

Hunger Action Network plans to work with the Borough President and other NYC groups to help implement the recommendations outlined below. The Mayor’s Office has already initiated a series of food policy reforms and City Council Speaker Quinn has announced her own FoodWorks NY initiative.

URBAN AGRICULTURE – Estab-lish food-producing spaces by 2030, through various legislative and land-use actions. The City should facilitate the development of rooftop gardens, in addition to creating an NYC Urban Agriculture Program to promote com-munity gardening.

FOOD PROCESSING AND DISTRI-BUTION – Increase the sale and con-sumption of regional foods by expand-ing distribution and processing capacity. The city should redevelop the Hunts Point Produce Market to modernize this food delivery hub.

NEW MARKETS – Increase the num-ber and type of retail food outlets that deviate from the traditional groceryspaces for use as “alternative” food markets. By increasing the number and long term viability of farmers markets, the City can give residents both the option and the access to healthy food.

NYC Sustainable Food BlueprintPOCUREMENT OF REGIONALLY PRODUCED FOOD – Incorporate preferences for locally-sourced food into the city’s procurement regulations. Specifically, the City Council should pass legislation that would require 20% of all food purchased by city agencies to come from local producers. Hunger Ac-tion has been promoting a similar state standard as part of the implementation of the Governor’s Executive Order on sustainability.

FOOD WASTE – Launch twin com-posting initiatives: (a) support for large-scale composting through cre-ation of a municipal facility; and (b) support for small-scale composting through education, decentralized composting bins, and more pick-up locations.

PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES – Ban the sale of bottled water in all city fa-cilities and on municipal property, and increase the use of water fountains and canteens. Plastic water bottles waste an enormous amount of energy to produce and only a small portion are recycled.

FOOD ECONOMY – Actively develop the local economy’s food sector to create more jobs while elevating labor standards, environmental protections and public health. Moreover, the cre-ation of kitchen incubators in every borough will create entrepreneurial opportunities for many New Yorkers with a talent for food production.

OFFICE OF FOOD AND MAR-KETS – Create an Office of Food and Markets to coordinate and lead sys-temic reform of the city’s food and agricultural policies and programs. In addition, the Mayor should look at amending PlaNYC to include a comprehensive overhaul of the City’s food system, like the one outlined in this report.

12 • April 2010 Hunger Action Network of New York State

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Hunger Action has entered the social networking arena and is now on twit-ter! Follow us at www.twitter.com/HungerActionNYS to keep up with current events, get action alerts and stay informed about the important work that Hunger Action Network is doing on behalf of hungry New Yorkers statewide.

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GRASSROOTS April 2010• 13

In 2010, the Faith & Hunger Network has entered a new phase of growth and action. Started in 1998 as a collabora-tion between the state-based Hunger Action Network and the federal orga-nization Bread for the World, the Faith and Hunger Network aims to get more people of faith in NYS mobilized in the political struggle to end hunger and poverty.

Hunger in the US is a political condi-tion, created by political choices. Over the last 30 years, state and federal gov-ernments have made tax cuts for the wealthy and reductions in social spend-ing for the poor the order of the day, with an expectation that communities of faith and other initiatives of private charity can pick up responsibilities for social welfare while government steps back. As sociologist Jan Poppendieck points out in her important book Sweet Charity?, this is a terrible and totally misleading policy decision, since every congregation in the United States would have to raise its food budget by $170,000 per year to begin to compensate for cuts to government programs like Food Stamps.

And the end results of hunger statistics show that Poppendieck is exactly right. New York State’s emergency food pro-grams have exploded in number, most of them supported largely by faith commu-nities: from a few dozen in 1980 to over 3,000 today. At the same time, the prob-lem of hunger has increased and contin-ues to do so. Taking a purely charitable approach to hunger basically guarantees more and more hunger for the growing ranks of low-income people, including working poor families who don’t earn enough in today’s low-wage positions to pay for food for their children.

In spite of that basic problem, faith com-munities have put so much energy into charity responses to the problem of hun-

ger that the whole concept of economic justice and political witness has often been neglected and sometimes even resented as being “too controversial.” The Faith & Hunger Network exists to remind well-intentioned people of faith that this attitude has to change, and to give them the tools to act in a bold spirit of prophetic witness and compassionate action.

As the largest single organized constitu-ency of people concerned about hunger and poverty, people of faith need to re-engage with the political arena and help to change the values and priorities of lawmakers in Albany and in Washing-ton, DC. To that end, there have already been four conferences around the state in 2010: in Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, and Hauppauge, Long Island.

Those who attended were well connect-ed in the faith and interfaith networks of their region, allowing us to multiply the action impact of each meeting.

Hundreds of letters to Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand have already been written to support the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Nutrition Reauthorization, and in-district meet-ings with state legislators on this year’s budget priorities have taken place to push for jobs and the 10% welfare grant increase.

More events will be scheduled this year, including further action meetings in the Mid-Hudson region, New York City, and Westchester County. Hunger Action Network and Bread for the World will also be reaching out to create a statewide interfaith communication network in collaboration with the executive judi-catories, bishops, boards of rabbis, and denominational structures of different faith groups.

Faith & Hunger Network in Action

14 • April 2010 Hunger Action Network of New York State

Albany – Five buses and several vans from every part of New York State brought over 200 low-income New Yorkers to the capital on Tuesday, March 9, for a joint Empire State Economic Security – Better Choice Budget Campaign – Hunger Action Network Legislative Education and Action Day extravaganza. In the course of the day, this energetic and focused group managed to make over 70 in-person visits with top budget negotiators, legislators and their staff. House of Mercy and the Rochester’s Poor People Coalition also had a very fruitful dialogue with Beth Berlin, Acting Commissioner of the Offi ce of Temporary and Disability Assistance, and her top staff.

The day began with a rally and issue briefi ng in the Westminster Presybterian Church, which is located just across the street from the Capitol and Legislative Offi ce Building. At noon, the group was joined by 100 union activists and together they began a dramatic march around the Capitol chanting “Not on our backs, Wall Street pay the tax!” and reminding the legislature and Governor to keep their promise to raise the welfare grant another 10% this year.

This march climaxed with several speeches delivered from the West steps of the Capitol. Robb Smith of Inter-faith Impact of NYS, Doug Williams of Public Employees Federation, and Hirah Mir from Welfare Rights Initia-tive talked about the need for a deeper sense of community, for the wealthy to pay their fair share of the state’s tax burden, and for a bill allowing education to count as work activity so that young people on welfare could complete their college degrees.

After the march and speeches, Legisla-tive Education and Action Day partici-pants fanned out all through the legisla-

tive offi ces of the capital and pushed the four-part issue agenda of the day:

10% welfare grant increase $100 million for good jobs in the

welfare budget A bill to make college education an

allowable work activity Stock Transfer Tax and Better

Choice progressive revenue options

Many people, including a large group of social welfare students from SUNY Brockport near Rochester, were in Al-bany and meeting lawmakers for the fi rst time. Energy and engagement were high throughout the day of legislative education and advocacy.

One new emphasis this year was the idea of a Part Two to the lobby day efforts of March 9. Sometimes when lawmak-ers see advocates only once or twice in a year, it limits their impact. When however a big legislative education and action day like this one is followed by subsequent contacts with the district of-fi ces or phone calls or letters to legisla-tors, it magnifi es the volume and effect of our demands.

LOBBY DAY 2010 FOCUSES ON JOBS, EDUCATION

The Welfare Rights Initiative has pro-vided a model for this kind of follow-through. After fi lling a bus and making dozens of visits with lawmakers March 9, they returned home and hit the phones to continue to push their issue—the education bill for welfare participants. First they targeted every member of the Senate Finance committee, which is cur-rently working on the legislation, then they made sure to reach out to EVERY ONE of the 62 members of the State Senate with emails and phone calls. One notable success due directly to their efforts has been the winning of several Republican supporters for this welfare reform effort, something that has been relatively rare in years past.

GRASSROOTS April 2010 • 15

WELCOME NEW AND RENEWING HANNYS MEMBERS

CAPITAL DISTRICT: Connie LaPorta; Harold Larkin, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church; James Cochran; Carl & Theresa Swidorski; Deb Jameson, FOCUS Churches; Marilyn Berrigan, SICM- Food Task Force; Bea-trice Kovasznay; Susan DuBois; Michael Keenan; Alice Reed; Andy Chestnut, First Reformed Church Sche-nectady; David Rowell, St. Vincent De Paul; Richard Propp, CDAUH; Susan Lawton; Mary Lou Warren, Shenendehowa Helping Hands; Christopher Weiss; Diane Deacon; Steve Jones; CENTRAL NEW YORK: Sharon Sherman, Greater Syracuse Tenants Network; GENESEE VALLEY: Mona Durgin, Greece Ecumeni-cal Food Shelf; Bill McCoy, Metro Justice; J. Dennis Chasse, United University Professions; Alan Newton, Let Justice Roll; Bob Ingram, EMPOWER; Shirley Munson, Greece Ecumenical Food Shelf; William Brien; Amy Perotta; Mary Henning, St Patrick’s Social Ministry; HUDSON VALLEY: Fred and Alice Bunnell, Diane Ser-ratore, People to People; Stephen Fiore; NORTH COUNTRY: Philip Harnden, GardenShare; NYC: Talbot Katz; Michael Lengyel; Faith Schwartz; Nadine Felton; Peter Dolack; Laura Liben; Robert Johnson; Richard Goldman; Henry Freedman, National Center for Law and Economic Justice; Susan Dooha, Center for Ind. Of Disabled; Vera Burnett, Bethany U.M. Church Hunger Commmittee; Luther & Uta Kriefall; Jenny Hurwitz; Tesa Fitzgerald, Hour Children Inc.; Donna Stein; Derrick Boykin, Bread for the World; Vincent Reilly, St. Vincent de Paul Society; Hans Kriefall; SOUTHERN TIER: Terry Woodnorth; WESTCHESTER: Winston Ross, WESTCOP; Terry Berardi, The Community Food Pantry at St. Mary’s Mohegan Lake; WESTERN NY: Kelly Ann Kowalski, Network of Religious Communities Food Pantries

LOBBY DAY IMPRESSION FROM MEMBER LYNN ROSEN

Albany was not a place I ever visited .Hunger policy and politics were not my forte. I preferred working in soup kitchens or on the front. How did I get into this venture? I will tell you. The Hunger Action Network Of New York(HANNYS) sent me an email about the rally and I felt I should give it a try. I have no regrets.

Now I will tell you about my adventure. Early in the morning we boarded the bus from Union Square. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip. We were dropped off at Westminster Church where 300 activists gathered. We had a meeting and then rallied. I never felt so hyped in my life. We walked around the Capitol, carried signs and listened to speeches. Then the fun began. Everyone was in designated groups. My group saw Assemblyman Amedore, Senator Marcellino and Assemblyman Abbate. We discussed the issues as they smiled vacantly. We knew that most of the words were received by deaf ears but we had the right to say them. I thought we did so effectively.

The words “ One Right, One People” kept coming into my mind. Why should some people have an abundance of food while others can barely make ends meet? This truly shows that we are not equal. While some people are dining in fine restaurants others are searching through garbage bins for a morsel.

This poem describes my feelings about Albany:

My first hunger rally with HANNYSInspired a fire in me that dayThe energy, the spark and the people so motivatedInstilling a need in me to be more dedicatedto join the networkand fight the fightTo finally do what is right

Hunger Begone!!!! I sayTime to fight and not delayWe must devote ourselves and not give up and feel blueEliminating hunger will be a dream come trueSo HANNYS thank you for inspiring meWorking with you is where I want to be

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Hunger Action Network’s March mad-ness “Renewing our Strength” member-ship drive was a great success. Many supporters joined or renewed their memberships (see the list on page 15). For those who helped make the drive a success, THANK YOU

In addition to soliciting membership

dues, we polled members to determine in what ways they would like to take action. - From meeting with legislators to volunteering in one of our offices, our active members are our true strength.

If the membership drive passed you by, please take advantage of the above membership coupon or you can visit

our website www.hungeractionnys.org to sign up today. Remember, you may volunteer for 5 hours in lieu of member-ship dues. We are always glad for extra hands.

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE A SUCCESS