SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY

LENGTH: 721 words

COMMITTEE: SENATE AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION AND FORESTRY

HEADLINE: 2002 FARM BILL

TESTIMONY-BY: MS. KAREN FORD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

AFFILIATION: FOOD BANK OF IOWA DES MOINES, IA

BODY:
July 19,2001

Testimony of

Ms. Karen Ford Executive Director, Food Bank of Iowa Des Moines, Ia

Hearing to elicit suggestions for the nutrition title of the new federal farm bill United States Senate

Good morning Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Lugar and distinguished committee members. My name is Karen Ford and I'm the Executive Director of the Food Bank of Iowa, an America's Second Harvest affiliate.

The Food Bank of Iowa is housed in a 53,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Des Moines. Last year 4,200,000 lbs. of grocery product was distributed to 240 member agencies and food banks. 19% of the product distributed was TEFAP and bonus commodities. The Food Bank has a 42 county service area, covering 30,000 sq. miles, populated by 1,000,000 Iowans living in small cities, towns and on farms. As a foodbanker I am requesting the full funding of (administration) storage, transportation and distribution of bonus commodities as well as TEFAP.

Prior to the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) the Food Bank's advocacy efforts were targeted on federal food programs. After PRWORA the emphasis shifted to the state's implementation of welfare reform. In April of 2000 Governor Tom Vilsack created and appointed me to the Iowa Food Policy Council, a forum to study and make recommendations on food security and other food policy issues.

We were pleased to learn about one positive on the food stamp front. Iowa has benefited from the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Plan opportunities. We found it is an excellent way to have local communities provide nutrition education to food stamp eligible families. The Iowa plan has grown to a 1.7 million budget. Most of the 50% match of funds comes from local groups wanting to make a difference.

One of our first issues of concern was the Food Stamp Program participation levels. From 1996 to 2001 Food Stamp participation in Iowa dropped 28.9 % while demand on food pantries and feeding programs increased. Why aren't more people using the Food Stamp program? America's Second Harvest "The Red Tape Divide" State-by- State Review of Food Stamp Applications gave some clues. The application is an overwhelming 10 pages, but even more disturbing is it's written at a 12th grade reading level. At a meeting with Iowa State University faculty their recommendation was the application should be short, user friendly and written at a 6th grade level.

A Food Bank board member recently said, "tell me again why we should care about food stamps". I explained that no matter how much donated food and commodities we could channel to member agencies we will never be a substitute for the food stamp safety net.

Based on my experience in Iowa I have the following suggestions to improve the program:

- Maintain the Food Stamp Program's benefit entitlement structure, so that all who may qualify based on need can receive necessary nutrition assistance;

- Simplify the Food Stamp Program, by simplifying food stamp eligibility requirements, application processing, change reporting and recertification;

- Revise dramatically the current quality control (QC) system that requires USDA to calculate penalties for states that perform below the national average and to pay extra administrative funding to states with very low error rates. Too often a state's QC error rate is the only measure of performance in administering the program that receives any attention. (Iowa was recently recognized by USDA for it's error rate decline) The program needs a positive measure of success that encourages states to remain accountable while expanding their efforts;

- Increase the minimum benefit level to $25;

- Change the Food Stamp Program's name and implement EBT.

The Food Stamp administrators in Iowa are in a difficult position. With strict adherence to the QC system and the current financial crisis, Food Stamp Reauthorization offers the best opportunity to make needed program changes.

As ideologies come full circle, it is once again time for the federal government to take the lead. Please make the Nutrition Title of the new federal Farm Bill strong and well funded so no child whether in Iowa or anyone of the fifty states will go to bed hungry.

Thank you for your time and consideration.



LOAD-DATE: July 23, 2001