Hunger and Nutrition Partnership

Updated December 2005

The Hunger and Nutrition Partnership is a new initiative of the National Conference of State Legislatures, supported by The UPS Foundation. This initiative, launched in December 2004, engages state lawmakers in efforts to reduce hunger and improve nutrition by creating partnerships with experts in the hunger and nutrition fields, and transferring knowledge of efficient and cost-effective practices for leveraging public and private resources to support sustainable change.

Current efforts to reduce hunger and improve nutrition are complex. They are fragmented across disciplines – WIC in the health care department, food stamps in the human services agency, child nutrition programs in education authorities (both statewide and local school boards) – and in the private and non-profit sectors through food banks and community kitchens. The Hunger and Nutrition Partnership helps legislators understand how they, in their various roles, fit into this fragmented system and can make a difference in bridging sectors and programs.

Project Accomplishments

In its first year, The Hunger and Nutrition Partnership convened a focus group of state legislators, legislative staff, and hunger and nutrition experts to identify priorities and innovative and effective ways to respond to hunger and nutrition challenges. The project convened a “working” site visit at D.C. Central Kitchen to learn about their job training program and volunteer for their food recovery/meal preparation programs.

In August 2005, the project published a comprehensive toolkit for legislators: Addressing Hunger and Nutrition: A Tool Kit for Positive Results. This series of briefs on federal programs (school lunch, food stamps, WIC, etc.) describes eligibility, funding, some challenges, and promising practices.

Board of Advisors

The Hunger and Nutrition Partnership is guided by a 20-member board of advisors that includes legislators; federal, state, and local government representatives; nonprofit organizations that focus on hunger and on families; and nutrition experts. The board of advisors acts as a resource to the partnership, reviews project publications, and suggests best practices and site visit opportunities.

Publications

Federal Nutrition Programs Chart. This two-page chart provides an overview of the major federal nutrition programs (Food Stamps, National School Lunch Program, National School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, WIC Program, The Emergency Food Assistance Program, and the Commodity Supplemental Food Assistance Program). For each program, there is a brief description, information about the state administering agency, eligibility requirements, and FY03 federal spending data. (December 2004)

Glossary of Hunger and Nutrition Terms. This nine-page glossary identifies and defines terms and programs, providing an overview of the anti-hunger system as it currently exists. (April 2005)

State Issues in Child Nutrition: Direct Certification and Local Wellness Policies. The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, P.L. 108-265, reauthorized all child nutrition programs for five years, expanded program eligibility and made a number of changes intended to improve program access and streamline program administration. These changes include: excluding the military housing allowance when calculating household income for children from military families; and making runaway, homeless and migrant youth categorically eligible for free breakfasts and lunches. The brief focuses on two new areas offering state actions and models for direct certification and school wellness. (April 2005)

Addressing Hunger and Nutrition: A Tool Kit for Positive Results. This Tool Kit is designed to be a resource for state policymakers as they navigate the many federal and state government, private sector and nonprofit initiatives that address hunger and nutrition. The Tool Kit is comprised of 12, two-page issue briefs that address the following topics: Food Stamps, National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, WIC, Elderly Nutrition, Farmers’ Markets Programs, Farm to Cafeteria, The Emergency Food Assistance Program, Commodity Supplemental Food Program and Nutrition Education. (August 2005)

Additional publications on hunger and nutrition can be accessed in the Publications Archive.

Coming Soon

The Hunger and Nutrition Partnership is collecting examples of promising practices and model programs for compilation in a promising practices guide to be published in the summer of 2006. Project staff welcome your ideas and suggestions. Future activities will also include site visits and a roundtable discussion of Project findings at NCSL’s Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.

Additional Resources

Federal Resources

Related NCSL Programs

Program Staff

Ann Morse, Program Director

Ms. Morse has directed the Immigrant Policy Project at NCSL since its inception in 1992, conducting policy analysis on refugee and immigrant resettlement and integration at the state and local level. She is a nationally recognized expert on immigration and recently has focused extensively on collaborative efforts to integrate refugees and immigrants into their adopted communities. Ms. Morse has authored articles and issue papers on immigrants and TANF, SCHIP, food stamps, public charge, language access and citizenship. In addition to the hunger and nutrition partnership, current projects include: strengthening immigrant families through economic opportunity, health and social services; immigrant integration; and civic engagement. Ms. Morse is a graduate of The George Washington University, receiving a Master of Arts in Science, Technology, and Public Policy, and a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies, with a concentration in Chinese.

Katherine Gigliotti, Policy Associate

Ms. Gigliotti joined the NCSL staff as a Policy Associate in November 2004. She conducts research and writes on a range of policy issues including hunger, nutrition, and issues affecting immigrants in the United States. Katherine came to NCSL in March 2004 as a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow, a program of the Congressional Hunger Center. Prior to NCSL, she had been placed at the Hunger Task Force, a food bank and state advocacy organization in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There, she researched and authored The Child and Adult Care Food Program in Milwaukee County, a county-wide assessment of the program that included recommendations for improving program implementation. She received her BA in political science from Boston College.

Contact Information

Hunger and Nutrition Partnership
National Conference of State Legislatures
444 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 515
Washington, DC 20001

Phone: 202-624-5400
Fax: 202-737-1069

Email:
Ann Morse, Program Director
Katherine Gigliotti, Policy Associate

Hunger and Nutrition Partnership Listserv

Please click here for instructions on how to join the Hunger and Nutrition Partnership listserv.