food and nutrition

THE PROBLEM

Thousands of District of Columbia residents have problems providing enough nutritious food for their families, and the recession has added to their struggles:

• More than two in five DC households with children reported that they did not have enough money to buy food at some point during 2008 and 2009.⁶
• Fewer than half of eligible working poor families participate in the District’s Food Stamp Program, which provides low-income families with a monthly benefit to purchase food.⁷ This is primarily due to administrative obstacles that make signing up for food stamps difficult.
• Only 49 percent of low-income children who receive free or reduced price lunches take advantage of free breakfast.
• Many low-income communities in DC lack easy access to grocery stores and fresh produce. Out of the District’s 30 large chain supermarkets, only two are located in Ward 4, two are located in Ward 7, and one is located in Ward 8. By contrast, Ward 3 – DC’s highest-income ward – is home to eight chain stores.⁸
• Lack of access to nutritious food contributes to negative health outcomes for low-income DC residents. Wards 7 and 8, which suffer from the highest poverty rates in the District, also have the city’s highest obesity rates.⁹

WHAT IS BEING DONE NOW

The District government is working to expand access to the food stamp program to more low-income working families. Currently, if a family of three makes more than $23,800 a year or has modest savings or assets over $3,000, they cannot receive any benefits from DC’s food stamp program. In March 2010, the District will implement an option that will allow families with gross incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level and modest savings to benefit from food stamps.

DC Public Schools provides free lunch to all eligible students and free breakfast to students in 77 schools. The majority of DC charter schools provide free or reduced-price meals to low-income students. DC recently became one of 14 states approved to provide free dinners to students participating in school and community-based after school programs. When school lets out for the summer, children and teens can access meals at D.C. Free Summer Meal sites throughout the city.

LEARN MORE

• Standard Homeless Shelter/Utility Deduction: Providing Food Stamps to District Families Most in Need, D.C. Hunger Solutions, February 2010.
• Easy Choices in Tough Times: Food Stamp Policy Options to Help Working Families, Maximize Federal Funding, and Stimulate the District’s Economy, D.C. Hunger Solutions, January 2010.
• Afterschool Nutrition in Washington, D.C.: An Overview of the District’s Accomplishments and Opportunities for Growth, D.C. Hunger Solutions, July 2009.
• Bridging the Gaps in DC: Strategies to Support Low-Income Working Families, DC Fiscal Policy Institute, November 2008.
• Food Stamps Accepted Here: Attracting Low-Income Consumers to Farmers Markets, D.C. Hunger Solutions, August 2007.

[6] Food Resource and Action Center, “Food Hardship: A Closer Look at Hunger,” January 2010.

[7] USDA, “Reaching Those In Need: State Food Stamp Participation in 2006,” November 2008.

[8] DC Hunger Solutions, “Facts on Hunger in D.C.,” http://www.dchunger.org/about/facts.html.

[9] DC Hunger Solutions, “Facts on Hunger in D.C.,” http://www.dchunger.org/about/facts.html.

Poverty Impacts Us All.