Food & Nutrition [Volume 14, Number 3]

              July 1984 Volume 14 Number 3
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Wo~nenand
Food Help
A look at how women
are benefitting from ...
and contributing to
food assistance efforts
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Depository
Assistant Secretary Mary Jarratt Talks
I About the Food Programs
The national inquiry into hunger
in America has put the spotlight of
national attention on the sophisti­cated
network of fede~l programs
that exist in this country to ensure
that less fortunate people get the
food help they need.
This network includes more than a
dozen specialized programs, from
food stamps to school lunch. In
fiscal y~ar 1983, the federal govern­ment
spent more than $19 billion to
subsidize 95 million meals a day.
The food programs are uniquely
crafted to support farm programs
and use agricultural surpluses at the
same time they feed the needy.
Women benefit
in many ways
Women are integrally involved in
the network. In fact, women and
children are the primary beneficiaries
of the food programs. For example,
in the Food Stamp Program, the
largest of the federal food programs
with an annual budget of about
$12 billion, 7 million of the 22 mil­lion
people getting food stamps
each month are adult women.
Another 11 million are children.
The National School Lunch Pro­gram
serves more than 23 million
children each day, and the Special
Supplemental Food Program for
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
serves nearly 3 million mothers and
children under age 5.
Women not only benefit from the
food programs-they also
contribute to them. Across the
nation, women are involved in
managing and working with the food
programs at all levels. Women
serve as national, state, and local
food program directors. They are
WIC nutritionists, food stamp
caseworkers, school food service
professionals, food bank co­ordinators,
computer management
specialists .. . the list goes on and on.
In the Food and Nutrition Service,
the agency at USDA that administers
the programs, about 1,300 em­ployees-
over half the work force­are
women. Of these, more than 100
are managers or supervisors .
And, there is a woman at the top
2
in Washington, D.C., administering
these diverse and complicated pro­grams.
That woman is Mary Jarratt,
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture
for Food and Consumer Services.
A demanding but
rewarding job
Since May 1981 Jarratt has over­seen
USDA's food programs as well
as the nutritional research and sur­vey
activities under the Human Nu­trition
Information Service and the
Office of the Consumer Advisor.
She brought to the job a wealth of
experience from 14 years on Capitol
Hill, where she was the first woman
to be named to the House Agricul­ture
Committee's professional staff
in its 130-year history .
While working for the committee,
she developed an expertise in con­sumer
nutrition issues and the Food
Stamp Program, and helped staff
the special House Committee on
Welfare Reform in the 95th Con­gress.
Before working for the com­mittee,
Jarratt had been a staffer for
her Gong ressional representative
from Virginia, the Honorable Richard
H. Poff.
Her Congressional experience
gave Jarratt a familiarity with the
people and processes involved in
reaching legislative goals. Perhaps
most important, she says, it gave her
a "sense of compassion for the
programs."
"I think a lot of the programs are
misunderstood," Jarratt says. "I've
also developed persistence, because
policy development is a complex
and lengthy process."
Managers have a
dual responsibility
Jarratt feels federal food program
managers have a dual responsibility
-to help those who need food assis­tance,
and at the same time to see
that the job is done as efficiently
and effectively as possible.
"We have a federal responsibility
for helping people who can't help
themselves," she explains. "I think
that all of our citizens sympathize
with people who can't fend for them­selves,
but they still want to make
sure that the benefits they are gen­erously
funding are going to people
who are legitimately entitled."
Jarratt cites the change of pro­rating
food stamp benefits as the
kind of improvement she has
worked for in the programs. Food
stamp applicants now receive bene­fits
from the date they apply at the
welfare office rather than for the
entire month. This accommodates
the concern about responsible
federal spending, yet does not deny
needy people benefits to which they
are entitled.
This dual responsibility has at
times been frustrating for Jarratt. "I
think we have had a dramatic impact
on the way the programs are orient­ed,
in that we are trying to serve
more people at the lower income
range, at 130 percent of the poverty
line and below," she says.
"There's been a lot of misunder­standing
that the Administration
doesn't want to fund programs for
low-income people, and that's not
the case at all.
"We've submitted requests for
supplemental appropriations early
because we needed increased fund­ing
to feed more children free
lunches, or because we were short
of food stamp funds when unemploy­ment
was higher than had been pre­dicted.
At times Congress acted late
on these supplemental requests, but
the Administration hasn't been re­luctant
to fund the benefits."
Several special
projects underway
Being an Assistant Secretary "is
pretty hectic some days," Jarratt
laughs. "Almost every week there's
some kind of Congressional activity,
either testimony or meetings with
members of Congress. In addition,
hardly a day goes by that I don't
spend some time considering a regu­lation
USDA is developing. With a
lot of media interest now in our pro­grams,
I also have a lot of inquiries
from the press."
Jarratt also works with national
groups like the March of Dimes on
special projects such as the Healthy
Mothers, Healthy Babies campaign.
Food and Nutrition
"This private sector initiative with
the March of Dimes is a very
important compliment to our food
assistance programs," she says.
''There's no reason why low­income
people should be in need of
food with our array of assistance,
but sometimes the more vulnerable
don't avail themselves of help. For
example, pregnant teenagers are
more likely to have low-birthweight
infants, but for a number of reasons
don't seek help."
An important objective of the
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies
campaign is to encourage pregnant
teenagers to seek prenatal care.
"We're working with the March of
Dimes to try to make teenagers
more aware of the importance of
early health care both for the mother
and her developing baby," Jarratt
says.
Jarratt has emphasized nutrition
education as a means to help food
stamp recipients stretch their food
dollars. Last year USDA launched a
series of workshops across the
nation called "Making Food Dollars
Count" to offer advice on food
buying and preparation and to
provide low-cost, nutritious recipes.
"We had regional workshops
for state and local nutrition pro­fessionals
who returned to their
communities and repeated those
same workshops for food stamp
recipients and other low-income
people," Jarratt explains. These
activities are still going on in many
communities.
USDA is following up this effort
this year by distributing short infor­mational
materials with nutrition
messages to local food stamp
offices. These materials will be
handed out or mailed to recipients.
Jarratt sees this as especially
important. "It's hard to get a nutri­tion
education message across in
the Food Stamp Program," she says.
"Eligibility is determined in the
hurried environment of a welfare
office, and a nutritionist is rarely, if
ever, present. People take the bene­fits
and make the best food choices
they can."
Above: During a visit to food program sites in
Miami , Assistant Secretary Jarratt meets with offi­cers
of the Latin Chamber of Commerce. Among
the group's members are many merchants who
participate as authorized grocers in WIC and the
Food Stamp Program. Right: At a Miami WIC
clinic, she holds a young WIC participant and
talks with Dade County nutrition coordinator
Denise West.
July1984 3
How the programs help * * * * * * * * *
"All the programs we administer
have a role to play for women,"
Jarratt says. None is more important
than the Food Stamp Program. More
than 40 percent of the families head­ed
by women liye on incomes below
the poverty line. These households
comprise one-third of the nation's
poor, and for them food stamps are
crucial.
Three-fourths of the 8 million
households participating in the
Food Stamp Program are headed by
women. They range from elderly
women living on fixed incomes to
working mothers. A special provi­sion
makes food stamps available to
battered women with families living
in shelters.
The program helps these and
other low-income households pur­chase
the varied foods they need for
good health. Food stamps supple­ment
a family's food budget-the
less income an eligible family
has, the more food stamps they
qualify for.
Subsidized school lunches are
available to virtually all public
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school students in the U.S. and to
many students in private schools as
well. More than 89,000 schools offer
the National School Lunch Program,
and 23 million children take part
every school day.
"Knowing her child is getting a
nutritious, well-balanced meal at
school means peace of mind for the
working mother. This is increasingly
important since twice as many
women are working today as were
two decades ago," Jarratt points
out.
School lunches provide approxi­mately
one-third of a child's
Recommended Dietary Allowance
for key nutrients. They cost "paying"
children less than a dollar on the
average. And, for children whose
families meet income eligibility
guidelines-close to half of those
who participate-lunches are served
free or at a reduced price because of
federal subsidy. Schools get both
cash support and free commodities
from USDA to help them cover the
cost of producing the lunches.
About 3 million children take part
in the School Breakfast Program,
which gives them a nutritious boost
before the school day begins. Nearly
90 percent of school breakfasts are
served free or at a reduced price.
The Child Care Food Program sub­sidizes
meals served to nearly 1 mil­lion
children in child care centers or
day care homes, another help to the
working parent. The Summer Food
Service Program provides meals free
to approximately 1.4 million children
in low-income neighborhoods
during the months when school is
out. The Special Milk Program pro­vides
low-cost or free milk to about
1 million children in schools that do
not have federally subsidized meal
programs.
The Special Supplemental Food
Program for Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC) is of particular im­portance
to mothers with young chil­dren
living on low incomes. The pro­gram
targets food aid to the special
needs of pregnant women, mothers
who have recently given birth, in­fants,
and children up to age 5.
WIG is operated by local health
clinics and other authorized health
facilities. To qualify, mothers and
children must be certified as "at
nutritional risk" because of dietary
need and inadequate income.
Participants get food supplements
tailored especially for their needs,
either packages of foods or
vouchers that can be exchanged for
specific items at authorized grocery
stores. They also get nutrition edu­cation
to emphasize the relationship
between nutrition and health for
themselves and their children. Since
the program is handled through
local health clinics, mothers and
children are given early exposure to
the health and medical community.
The newest program is the Tem­porary
Emergency Food Assistance
Program, which provides surplus
foods such as cheese, butter, dry
milk, and honey for use by needy
households. These products are
bought under price support legis­lation
which helps to keep America's
farm economy stable. They are dis­tributed
by community groups
through local food banks. Millions of
low-income people have found the
products a useful supplement to
their diets.
Food and Nutrition
Education in nutrition, marketing,
and food preparation gives recip­ients
the knowledge and shopping
skills they need to make their federal
food assistance dollars go farther
for themselves and their families.
"Providing this message adequately
to a constantly changing caseload is
a difficult task, but one we need to
keep working on," Jarratt stresses.
Visiting local
sites a priority
Visiting program sites-school
lunchrooms, WIC clinics, and welfare
offices-is another important part of
Jarratt's job. "I don't think you can
effectively administer these pro­grams
unless you have an under­standing
of how the programs work
at the local level. The strength of a
good manager is to have had first
hand experience with the programs.
"It gives you real insight, for ex­ample,
to go out to a food stamp
office and see what a recipient goes
through to get that benefit. It makes
you more aware of the complexity of
the program, and of the need to
simplify it," she says.
Jarratt, who loves children, es­pecially
enjoys visiting schools and
WIC clinics. Knowing that her
position influences the health and
nutritional well-being of many chil­dren
has made her job especially
meaningful for her.
"While you don't see the children
every day as Assistant Secretary,
you have a lot of impact on them.
For example, millions of children eat
lunch at school every day, and for
many, it's the most nourishing meal
they get.
"And since we have the price
support and surplus removal pro­grams
at USDA, I think it's very
important that commodities be
utilized in a constructive way. And
what could be more constructive
than feeding children?"
Goals for
the future
Studies have shown that food
programs help close the nutrition
gap between the poor and families
of higher income, and assure better
nutrition for children during their
formative years.
While the programs are working
very well, Jarratt feels strongly that
they need to be continually reas­sessed.
"We need to focus the
limited federal resources on those
who need help the most," she says.
"Our budget reality is going to
July 1984
force us to confront overlapping
needs. We'll have to take a close
look at programs that do the same
kinds of things and evaluate which
are the most important federal
responsibility.
"The form of delivery is impor­tant,"
she adds, "but it isn't sacred.
In fact, it probably needs to be
changed from time to time. The
commitment at the federal level, as
well as at state and local levels, is
the important thing.
"Here in Washington we tend to
forget what contributions are being
made at other levels, especially in
the emergency feeding operations.
Those programs represent a good
blending of private and public
money by administering officials.
There's a role for both.
"I think the delivery of program
benefits is always best handled with
as much local decisionmaking as
possible."
Will work for
more improvement
USDA will continue to tighten
management of the food programs.
"I think we still need to improve our
management, try to make better
benefit determinations, reduce the
error rates and so forth in order to
secure the public's confidence in
programs like food stamps," Jarratt
says. "We've reduced the food
stamp error rate 14 percent in
2 years, but we must do better."
She plans to continue empha­sizing
federal technical assistance
and new technology as ways to help
states and localities run better
programs. Many state and local
agencies have made huge strides re­cently
by making needed manage­ment
changes and computerizing
food program operations.
While growing up in the small
town of Floyd in southwestern Vir­ginia,
Jarratt never imagined she
would become a government execu­tive,
"or that I would ever come to
Washington, D.C., for that matter,"
she says. Her early aspiration was to
become a doctor specializing in
children's problems. But after
coming to Washington to work for
her Congressman, she was hooked
on the legislative process.
Her job leaves her little time for
the pastimes she enjoys-art, needle­work,
cooking, and horseback
riding. But, she says, her job has
given her "the sense of satisfaction
that comes with accomplishing
some of the things I wanted to do."
Her job has also brought her
recognition from the President of
the United States. In a speech given
in the Rose Garden in September
1983 at an observance of the anni­versary
of Executive Women in
Government, President Reagan
singled her out from among the
105 women he has named to senior
management positions, and among
more than 1 ,400 women he has
placed in top government jobs.
"How many other citizens are
aware, for example, of the tough job
Mary Jarratt is doing as Assistant
Secretary of Agriculture for Food
and Consumer Services? She has re­sponsibility
for programs totalling
$19 billion," President Reagan said.
The biggest satisfaction of the job
for Jarratt is her personal knowl­edge
that the federal food programs
provide a great deal of assistance to
needy people in this country, many
of them women.
Under her leadership, the food pro­grams
are reaching more women
and their families than ever before,
and taxpayers can feel increasingly
assured that their dollars are being
spent to provide as much help as
possible to those who need it.
article by Jane Mattern Vachon
The following articles
illustrate in more detail
the kinds of help women
are getting through the
food programs, and the
kinds of contributions
they are making as food
program managers. The
women featured live in
different parts of the
country and work in dif­ferent
capacities. WhUe
some have positions
that offer more visibility
and recognition than
others, all play vital
roles in getting food
help to the people who
need it.
5
Working in the community ...
Two of the many people who play
a key role in the operation of
USDA's food programs are Cynthia
Neal and Pamela Hunter, who work
as food program specialists in the
Food and Nutrition Service's Colum­bus,
Ohio, field office. As food pro­gram
specialists, they provide a vital
link between the agency and people
in the community.
Neal and Hunter, who have more
than 4 years experience at the field
office level, work in virtually all food
program areas-from food stamps
to food distribution. In a single day,
they may authorize retailers for par­ticipation
in the Food Stamp Pro­gram,
investigate possible com­pliance
problems, conduct quality
control reviews to ensure that the
state is operating within USDA
guidelines, and perform warehouse
6
reviews to check inventories of
USDA-donated foods and state
records.
They agree that the diversity of
their job creates special challenges,
such as keeping abreast of changing
program regulations and juggling
their work to complete their various
assignments.
But, the diversity and special chal­lenges
they encounter make their
work even more appealing. "It's a lot
more interesting than doing the
same old thing every day," says Pam
Hunter. "I like being able to get out
and work with the various programs
and people. I don't think I would
enjoy just working at a desk. We
actually see and meet with the
people who are benefitting from the
programs."
Reaching
Women and
I Children
throughWIC
Women have played a major role
in the Special Supplemental Food
Program for Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC) since its beginning
in 1974. In addition to serving
women, the program also has a larger
proportion of women in administra­tive
and operational positions than
any other FNS program.
The fact that the WIC program is
one of the most successful food
assistance programs today attests to
the skill and dedication of its staff
from the federal to the state and
local levels.
Earlier this year, as WIC cele­brated
its tenth anniversary, out­standing
WIC managers throughout
the country were honored with
awards for their contributions. One
of them was Denise West, who won
the WIC tenth anniversary award for
program administration in Florida.
As nutrition coordinator for the
Dade County Public Health Unit,
West manages the largest WIC pro­gram
in the state. Operating out of
public health clinics and neighbor­hood
i1ealth centers throughout the
county, her program provides
supplemental foods and nutrition
education to an average of 12,500
women, infants, and children every
month.
Staff has faced
special challenges
Managing a large WIC program is
a tough job anywhere, but West and
her staff have faced some special
challenges. In recent years, large
groups of Cubans, Haitians, and
other refugees have come to the
Miami area. Currently, more than a
fourth of the Dade County case­load-
approximately 3,000 partici­pants-
are Haitian refugees, and
about 2,500 are Hispanic.
"On any given day in our clinics,"
West says, "you can hear three
different languages being spoken as
Food and Nutrition
WIC staff interview clients-English,
Spanish, and Haitian Creole."
Haitian Creole is a mixture of
English, Spanish, and "broken
French." No accurate written form of
the language exists because a large
percentage of the population does
not read or write.
Not surprisingly, says West ,
language was her staff's biggest
barrier in serving the Haitian refugees
until they were able to hire four
direct service aides to work with this
special group.
" One of our major problems was
at the end of 1980 when we were
switching to computerized checks
(vouchers) for WIC foods ," she says.
" It became harder to teach the
Haitians what to buy because the
new checks didn't have pictures of
the food items on them like the old
ones had. We had to teach them
verbally and use sample food items.
" In addition, many Haitians
couldn't read or add , so they had
problems with situations like buying
36 ounces of cereal by combining
different box sizes. Many could not
sign their names, so the clerks
taught them how to do this as well.
"Now many can sign their names
on the checks . It takes them a while,
but I really admire them because
they work so hard to learn, " she
says .
The WIC staff make a big effort to
make their clients' visits pleasant
and to give them as much informa­tion
in as many ways as possible.
Clinics are decorated with posters in
all three languages on everything
from prenatal care and child develop­ment
to good shopping habits and
use of WIC vouchers. Photographs
of clients' babies are displayed in
offices. The staff is proud of the
clinics' healthy infants, the result of
good prenatal care and nutrition
counseling .
Clients make
positive changes
The staff has noticed changes and
trends lately which they feel are due
to nutrition education. "Nutrition
education is changing customs for
the better," says West. " For example,
mothers are delaying giving their
infants solid foods and whole milk .
This has cut the amount of anemia
seen in the younger clients . "
West and her staff have also
noticed a slow but steady increase
in breastfeeding among the women
they serve. "We counsel all women
July 1984
As nutrition coordinator for Dade
County, Denise West (right)
oversees the largest WIC pro­gram
in Florida. At one of the
county's clinics (below), a blood
sample is taken from a baby as
part of certification for WIC.
7
on breastfeeding and ask the health
care professionals with whom the
clients come in contact to encour­age
it," she says. "We talk about
the how-to's of breastfeeding, the
problems, and how to communicate.
Our teen maternity classes always
have a session on breastfeeding."
One clinic had a birthday party for
a mother who had breastfed her
baby for a whole year. The staff
invited all the interested mothers
and had a movie on breastfeeding
and a speaker from the LaLeche
League.
"We try to use positive reinforce­ments,"
West says. "We talk to the
hospital staff, and the nurse­educator
asks her staff to spend
more time with mothers who want to
breastfeed."
Problems given
close attention
Nutritionists on West's staff work
closely with their clients and spend
as much time as they can with each
one. Lenora Gomez-Rojas, the nutri­tionist
supervising and coordinating
the downtown clinic, says this is
crucial to the success of the
program .
8
Left: A Dade County doctor examines a young WIC
participant as his mother looks on. Right: Nutritionist
Lenora Gomez-Rojas gives a nutrition education les­son
to mothers in the waiting room of the downtown
clinic.
When babies on the program fail
to thrive or are continually ill,
Gomez-Rojas does some detective
work. She works with the Extension
Service staff, who sometimes
conduct home visits, and she
studies notes on clients' medical
records to determine the cause of
the problem. Often it is a matter of
improper feeding.
She stresses to mothers that they
should follow her instructions and
watch the results. The proof of
recovery is very convincing, she
says. She and the rest of the WIG
staff encourage clients to call if they
have any questions or want help or
advice. "I tell them, 'Call me any
time.' And they do!
"We had one baby who was
receiving special formula for milk
intolerance but was constantly sick.
We discovered that the mother
didn't understand the baby was
allergic to regular milk and was
giving the baby milk in addition to
the formula," says Gomez-Rojas.
"That's why, no matter how much
time I spend talking to the mothers, I
always want more. Only by commun­icating
can we find out everything
we need to know to give clients the
help they need."
She is glad clients pass nutrition
information from the clinic on to
their families and friends. The WIG
staff also help clients make contact
with community agencies such as
churches, the food stamp office,
emergency feeding programs, and
EFNEP, USDA's Expanded Food
and Nutrition Education Program.
EFNEP staff have given workshops
in WIG clinics which were quite
successful.
Gomez-Rojas considers her work
with expectant mothers, especially
with the first baby, the most im­portant
part of her job. "Of course
we encourage breastfeeding for the
first year, and we give clients in­formation
on breastfeeding at their
initial appointment," she says.
She and the rest of the staff give
counseling on diet, infant care,
plans for working mothers, the need
for medical appointments, and other
valuable help.
Participants get
prescribed foods
Each WIG participant in Dade
County gets vouchers for specific
food items. The particular WIG foods
Food and Nutrition
participants get depend on their nu­tritional
needs. WIC foods include
milk, eggs, cheese, cereal, iron­fortified
formula, juice, and peanut
butter or dried peas.
Prescribing the correct foods for
each participant is an important part
of a WIC agency's job. So is edu­cating
and monitoring authorized
grocers to make sure they do not
overcharge WIC customers or
accept WIC vouchers for the wrong
food items.
"WIC works because people are
getting specific items," West says.
"If vendors don't cooperate, then
you're not meeting the needs of the
clients or the interest of the program.
Vendors need to understand the
reason behind the selection of the
foods."
WIC coordinator Marion Gaines,
who Denise West calls her "right
hand," has developed an active ven­dor
monitoring system. Gaines
worked 8 years for the state before
coming to work for the WIC pro­gram.
She trains the staff monthly
on vendor monitoring.
There are 151 WIG-authorized
vendors in Dade County, and the
number is growing fast. Someone
from the WIC staff visits each grocer
at least four times a year, and
Marion Gaines makes additional
spot visits from time to time. She
feels it is important for grocers to
learn about WIC through direct con­tact
with her and other staff
members.
"Vendor problems are cut in half
once the vendors get to know the nu­tritionist
in their area," Gaines says .
When they understand the reason
for particular food choices, they can
help the clients get the things they
need as specified on the vouchers.
The WIC office has a file on each
vendor in the Dade County area,
which includes 19 municipalities.
Gaines receives a computer "report
card" for each vendor each month.
She studies the number of vouchers
received by the store, the dollar
amount, and any problems noted.
If necessary, she asks an area nu-
Lenora Gomez-Rojas and another staff member
hold two of their favorite clients . The babies and
their sister (not pictured) are triplets. At birth, they
weighed 5 pounds or less, but are now thriving. In
all, the Dade County WIC program serves an
average of 12, 500 women, infants, and children
each month.
July1984
tritionist to visit the vendor to ensure
that he or she understands the pro­gram's
operation. The nutritionist's
report is sent to the vendor, the
county WIC office, and the state
WIC office in Tallahasee. The state
can then send a warning letter to the
vendor and, if appropriate, ask the
vendor for a refund.
Many times the problem is a mis­understanding
between the vendor
and the WIC client. Gaines deter­mines
whether the problem resulted
from vendor error, client error, or a
mistake by the WIC office, and what
corrective action should be taken.
According to West, good commun­ication
with vendors, with clients,
and with local health professionals
is essential.
"Keeping the lines of communica­tion
open is our biggest challenge,"
she says. "It's 40 miles between here
and some of the clinics, and we're
working with three different lan­guages,
different levels of admini­stration,
and more than 150
vendors."
But, says West, the effort pays off.
"When people are kept informed on
what's happening with the program,
they can do a better job, they're
more enthusiastic, and they can see
the product of their work."
Working for
lasting changes
Winning recognition for her out­standing
work is not a new exper­ience
for West. She was selected
Florida's Recognized Young Dieti­tian
in 1979 and in 1981 was the
Greater Miami Dietitian of the Year.
She served one term as president of
the Miami Dietetic Association, has
participated in WIC and nutrition
task forces at the state level, and is
active in such groups as the
American Dietetic Association and
the Society for Nutrition Education.
West insists her highly competent
staff is the reason for Dade County's
successful WIC program. "Each
clinic practically runs itself," she
says. "A good, dedicated staff is
essential, and we have a really good
staff. Everyone has a critical role."
It's not surprising that mothers
like coming to the Dade County WIC
clinics. Nor is it surprising that WIC
is making a difference in their lives.
"We hope for lasting changes in
people-food changes ~for the better
-and we're seeing that," says West.
"The changes may be gradual, but
education takes time."
article by Catherine Rogers
photos by Larry Rana
!women and Food Stamps
...
Of the multitude of social pro­grams
provided by federal, state,
and local governments, the Food
Stamp Program is perhaps the most
accessible to the general populace.
The program is available to everyone
in need of assistance-men, women,
and children alike-but because of
social and economic factors, more
women than men seek food stamp
help.
The reasons women must apply
for food stamps vary, including
unemployment, illness, and the loss
of a spouse. For elderly women,
applying for food stamps often be­comes
a necessity when their fixed
incomes don't cover their rising
expenses. Vera Sides, a 78-year-old
widow from Prattville, Alabama,
knows what that's like.
Employed most of her adult life,
Sides was forced to retire because
of health problems. When she was
younger, she worked in a factory in
Montgomery. Then, for 12 years prior
to her retirement, she helped care
for children enrolled in nursery
schools at two local churches.
Today she spends her days alone
in a sunny apartment in Prattville's
newly constructed subsidized
housing for the elderly and disabled.
A broken knee, which caused her
retirement, makes standing and
walking difficult for her.
"My children want me to break up
housekeeping," Sides explains, "but
I like to be independent." Her three
daughters and one son respect her
wishes, but they check on her daily
and help her as they can .
Has benefitted
from food help
Sides first applied for food stamps
in January 1979. During much of the
time she has participated in the
program, she has received only the
minimum $10 allotment.
"Even that little bit helped," she
says. "It bought my milk and bread."
Late last year, she had an eye
operation to remove cataracts and
shortly afterwards she suffered a
stroke. Her medical expenses en­titled
her to take a medical deduc­tion
on her food stamp application,
raising her allotment to its present
level of $72 just when she needed
food stamps the most. Buying the
10
five kinds of medicine she must take
daily continues to strain her budget,
but she doesn't complain .
"I do the best I can. I don't waste
anything," she says proudly.
Because of her health problems,
Sides' doctor has advised her to do
only light cooking. She prepares
simple meals-toast and eggs,
cereal or a sandwich. One daughter
cooks her lunch every Sunday and
cleans the apartment. Her other
children take turns cooking hot
meals for her several times a week.
They also shop for her or take her
to the grocery store if she feels well
enough to go. She buys food care­fully,
keeping cost and her dietary
restrictions in mind. If she pur­chases
any large portions of meat,
she has them cut into individual
servings and freezes them to use as
needed.
Twice a week, women from the
Autauga County Aging Program's
Meals on Wheels deliver her hot
lunches. She enjoys their visits as
well as the meals , which consi st of a
meat, bread , two vegetables, milk ,
juice, and a dessert. In addition to
the meal delivery service, the
County Aging Program provides con­gregate
dining for the elderly daily,
but Vera Sides cannot take advantage
of that program.
Ever cheerful, she counts her
blessings-good children, a place of
her own, and enough food to eat
thanks to the Food Stamp Program
and the Nutrition Program for the
Elderly.
Many elderly
women served
According to Deborah Cherry,
food stamp supervisor for Autauga
County, Alabama, persons over
60 years old comprise the second
largest age group of participants in
the county's Food Stamp Program,
exceeded only by participants under
18 years of age . The majority of
these elderly participants are
women .
Unlike today's generation of
women , many of whom work outside
the home, most elderly women were
housewives who stayed at home to
raise their children . "Very few of the
female elderly here have had a work
history," Cherry says. "Consequently,
their only income is whatever they
receive from their husbands'
accounts."
Overall, 58 percent of the food
stamp households in Autauga
County are headed by women.
When hard times come, the Food
Stamp Program is the first place
local women turn for help.
Explains Cherry, " There is no
general assistance program in
Alabama, so our office is usually a
person's first contact with a social
services agency. Many women
whose husbands have left them
suddenly through separation or
divorce come in and are very panic
stricken. They don't know what re­sources
are available to them. We
try to guide them to other local
agencies that can also assist them ."
In Wake County , North Carolina,
Phyllis Sealey , food stamp branch
coordinator, says her office also
helps a lot of women, many of whom
are their family's sole breadwinner.
"Women come in here with all
Food and Nutrition
kinds of problems," she says. "In
many instances, the father or hus­band
is no longer in the home. The
women find it very difficult to
manage financially as well as
emotionally."
In addition to providing food help,
Sealey's staff refers them to other
people who can offer guidance and
assistance. " But, whatever the
problem ," Sealey adds, "the one
thing our staff can always do is
show concern ."
Staff responds
to need for help
Wake County presently has 34
food stamp caseworkers, 31 of
whom are women . The majority of
the area 's food stamp applicants are
also women . Four out of five food
stamp households in Wake County
are headed by women.
One of those women is Ora
Hinton of Raleigh. The slender 34-
year-old mother of four struggles to
meet expenses. Like Vera Sides, she
July 1984
has chronic health problems that
prevent her from working, and she
has the added dilemma of providing
for children who also have multiple
health problems.
Her two sons suffer from asthma
and kidney and stomach ailments.
Charles, who is 17, has had high
blood pressure since he was 13
years old . He and his brother both
need special diets.
The Hinton family presently re­ceives
$177 a month in food stamps .
Ora Hinton did not participate in the
program when the children were
younger, but she's grateful for the
assistance at this particular time in
their lives.
"Two teenage boys eat a lot," she
says repeatedly . " My sons could eat
all night!"
She tries to provide them with the
fruit juices and bland foods their
doctor has prescribed, but it's not
always possible to buy everything
she would like for them.
"To feed all of us I look for bar-
Vera Sides (below) is one of the millions
of elderly women who have been helped
by the Food Stamp Program. Here, in her
home, she talks with Deborah Cherry,
food stamp supervisor for Autauga
County, Alabama. Phyllis Sealey (left) is
food stamp branch coordinator in Wake
County, North Carolina .
gains and sales, " she explains. "I
buy a lot of rice, dry beans , and
greens to stretch my food stamps. I
may not be able to feed my children
right all the time, but with food
stamps at least I can feed them
better. The Food Stamp Program
really helps women raising children
by themselves."
Both Vera Sides and Ora Hinton
can remember when there wasn't a
Food Stamp Program. The two
women grew up in rural areas,
raised by hardworking parents, but
if it hadn't been for their families'
gardens, putting food on the table
could have been a problem at times.
Today Vera Sides, Ora Hinton,
and millions of other American
women can find comfort in knowing
the Food Stamp Program is available
to help them in times of need.
article and photos
by Brenda Schuler ..
11
..
Josephine Martin has been a
leader and innovator in school food
service for more than 30 years. She
has inspired and encouraged others
to make school nutrition programs
part of the education process that
can, as she puts it, help children
"eat for I ife."
Presently, Martin is the director of
the Local Systems Support Division
of the Georgia Department of Educa­tion,
which has responsibility for
several child nutrition programs,
including school lunch, school
breakfast, and the Child Care Food
Program.
Her division also has responsibility
for the Nutrition Education and
Training Program (NET), donated
foods, and a number of nonfood
school programs, such as school
statistical information and the state
textbook programs. Modestly, she
credits the success of these pro­grams
to a strong staff of admini­strators,
consultants, and co­workers
who have helped her along
the way.
Has seen programs
grow and change
12
Martin began her school food serv­ice
career in the early 1950's. She
completed a dietetic internship at
Duke University after graduation
from the University of Georgia.
She had planned to enter hospital
dietetics when the Georgia Depart­ment
of Education offered her a job
working with the school lunch pro­gram.
She found that she "really
preferred working in the wellness
rather than the sickness side of food
service" and committed herself to
helping children develop good food
habits.
When Martin first came to work in
the state, the National School Lunch
Program was the only USDA school
food program. It was the nation's
first official recognition that the
health and well-being of children
was a matter of national concern.
Since then, she has seen the pro­gram
grow in every direction, and
she has been involved in the develop­ment
of companion programs such
as the School Breakfast Program,
the Child Care Food Program, NET,
and the Special Milk Program.
Martin explains that the major dif­ference
in today's school lunch
program from the 1950's is one of
logistics rather than philosophy.
"The philosophy behind the school
lunch program was to establish an
effective nutrition program for
children. Our goal has remained the
same-how we arrive at achieving it
has changed.
"Because of limited funding in the
early years, we could not reach as
many low-income children or pro­vide
the variety of foods we do now.
Josephine Martin:
Many schools had a couple of meat­less
menus a week and there was
more cooking from scratch because
fewer processed or pre-prepared
items were available," Martin says.
Today schools offer ~alad bars,
different entrees, and a nutritious
variety of foods at low cost due to
improved management and effective
procurement methods.
In the 1950's, most state depart­ments
of education conducted com­prehensive
training programs on a
statewide basis. "Today the trend is
to tailor training to meet individual
needs. We are reaching more people
with modern techniques, and food
service professionals are learning to
communicate better with students,
parents, teachers, and co-workers,"
Martin says.
Another big difference in today's
food service programs is the avail­ability
of computers to perform
many food service functions. But
Martin does not feel there was less
accountability with manual record­keeping.
"Our procedures are a lot
more sophisticated now," she says,
"but the Southeast Region of USDA
always advocated complete account­ability
of funds and products."
Was a leader
from the start
After working for the state for
8 years in the 1950's, Martin went to
Food and Nutrition
Leader in Child Nutrition
Columbia University Teachers ' Col­lege
and in 1959 received her mas­ters
degree in home economics
education . She returned to the
school nutrition programs, this time
working for the federal government.
She credits Agri cultural Marketing
Service (AMS) official Martin Garber
for convincing her to stay in school
nutrition. " He had such enthusiasm
for the school nutrition programs
and helped me see what could be
done to solve hunger and social
problems," she says.
Martin worked from 1959 to 1961
as a Southeast area home economist
in the AMS Food Distribution Sec­tion,
a division of USDA that would
eventually become the Food and Nu­trition
Service. She worked with
school nutrition programs i n nine
Southeastern states , assisting in
administrative reviews, developing
training programs, teaching work­shops
for school personnel an d pro­viding
techn ical help to state
agencies. She also conducted many
workshops for private schools.
"The chance to work at USDA gave
me a much broader insight into the
federal role of nutrition and allowed
me to observe programs in other
states," Martin says . At the end of
her first year, she had the highest
travel record of anyone in the region .
In the mid 1960's, Martin saw the
need for more permanent, direct
appropriations and worked with
other Southeastern state directors in
support of the Child Nutrition Act
of 1966.
This act established the Schoo l
Breakfast Program, provided assis­tance
for purchase of food equ i p­ment,
and established state admini­strative
expense reimbursement. It
was later amended to include the
Special Supplemental Food Pro­gram
for Women , Infants, and Chil­dren
(WIG) and the Nutrition Edu­cation
and Training Program (NET) .
Martin is a longtime member and
supporter of the American School
Food Service Association (ASFSA).
She was ASFSA Southeast regional
director in 1956-57 and program
chairman of the 1957 national con­vention
in St. Louis.
This assignment was a major re­sponsibility
for, as Martin puts it,
"some young kid from the South ."
Ju l y1984
She was ASFSA president for 1976-
77 and, among many other achieve­ments,
helped implement nutrition
education requirements in child
nutrition legislation.
Martin has testified on the school
nutrition programs at least 50 times
before Congressional legislators in
drafting or assessing child nutrition
legislation . Even though she won't
take credit for it, she played a major
role i n establishing federal funding
for free and reduced-price lunches,
which were in itially supported by
general food ass istance funds and
local appropriations.
Josephine Martin has also led
efforts to pass constitutional amend­ments
in Georgia so state and county
funds could legally support school
lunch act ivities. In 1982, legislation
was enacted to use state funding to
support a salary base for school
lunch personnel and to establish per­formance
standards. In 1985 , state
appropriations will exceed $18 mil­lion
for the school lunch program .
Feels school meals
play vital role
Josephine Martin has seen a
change in lifestyles over the last few
years that make FNS programs more
important than ever. "With more
single-parent households and more
women in the work force who have
school-age children , school meals
help insure that nutritional needs
are met, " she says.
Martin feels the success of the
school food service programs is a
team effort, with USDA, the ASFSA,
state agencies, state boards of edu­cation,
state and local school super­intendents,
and food service per­sonnel
all working toward common
goals.
"In the 1970's, " she says, "all of us
were dealing with the issue of in­suring
all groups had access to
food. But now, our main efforts
should be directed toward marketing
the delivery of food services to en­sure
that children and the general
population have access to a whole­some
diet. "
How does she feel about recent
studies that have shown the relation­ship
between food intake and chronic
disease?
"It's our challenge to take these
findings and translate them into
effective marketing programs en­couraging
better food habits for our
children. We need to show how we
can use school food programs to
prevent chronic illness," Martin
says.
Schools can set good examples
by using lowfat toppings for salad,
sandwich and potato bars. They can
tell parents about food served at
school (for example, why fruit is a
good dessert item) and communi­cate
with PTA's and other parent­teacher
groups.
She challenges managers to offer
more choices so children will eat
foods that still fit within nutrition
goals and meal pattern requirements.
Managers must develop effective
relationships with students and
involve them in menu planning, food
preference panels, and decisions
affecting purchasing practices.
"The future depends
on ... working together"
For the future, Josephine Martin
would like to see school food serv­ice
personnel move toward better
vocational and academic preparation
that includes professional standards.
She envisions a major community ef­fort
to insure that school food pro­grams
are correctly shaping food
habits. But most important, she
wants to see the continued effort to
make school food programs nutri­tionally
sound.
"The future depends on the com­munity
working together to utilize
the nutrition programs for the health
and well-being of its citizens," she
says. "If we are to maximize the
potential of our citizens, the nutri­tion
leaders need to work and plan
together to see that the recipients of
our programs have access both to
the highest qual ity food and to edu­cation
that will allow them to esta­blish
good food practices,"
The National School Lunch Pro­gram
has thrived under the leader­ship
of people like Josephine Martin.
She challenges us to look to the
future to help our children have life­times
of good nutrition.
...
article and photos
by Kent Taylor
13
Pam Bennett, director of Gleaner's
Food Bank in Indianapolis, Indiana,
is one of thousands of dedicated
people working in the private sector
to help get food assistance to the
needy.
Her desire to help people and
"make things happen" is what
brought Bennett to apply for the job
of executive director 3 years ago. "I
love being able to make a difference,"
she says, "and food banks make a
difference."
Food banks are not-for-profit
clearinghouses that solicit edible
but unsaleable food from corporate
donors, distributors, processors,
and wholesalers. They warehouse it
briefly and redistribute it to char­itable
organizations that provide free
food or meals to needy people.
"Food banking is helpful to
everyone," Bennett says. Business
people can donate products they
have in surplus and get a tax deduc­tion
for them. Charities can feed
more people. And low-income fam­ilies
can have a better variety of food
available to them.
"We get donors' mistakes," says
Bennett, "but those mistakes will
stretch food stamps. They allow
people to have a little bit of some­thing
in their cupboards to put with
something they can afford to buy.
We may have tomato sauce, and
they can buy spaghetti, or we may
have salad dressing, and they can
14
buy lettuce. And really, the salad
dressing is more expensive than the
lettuce."
Donors come
from everywhere
Gleaner's is the central food bank
in the Indiana Affiliate Food Bank
Network. An important part of
Bennett's job is soliciting donors.
"Basically, what we do is go out and
tell the food bank story," she
explains. "We talk to corporate food
manufacturers, growers, whole­salers,
retailers-anybody who
handles food-and explain to them
what a food bank does.
"Our story has a lot of appeal
because people don't want to pay to
store a product that they can't sell­it
costs them money. They also
know they're going to help feed
somebody who is hungry."
As Bennett tells her story, dona­tions
come in. "The first thing we
got, interesting enough, was 2 tons
of taco shells. We had called up a
frozen food warehouse hoping to
get meat, which is hard to come by
sometimes, and the guy said, 'I've
been storing these 2 tons of taco
shells for 6 months. Would you like
them?' We said, 'sure,' having no
idea what we were going to do with
them, of course."
In addition to food they receive on
their own, Gleaner's also receives
food from Second Harvest, the
national food bank network. Gleaner's
distributes the food to its more than
200 member agencies in a nine­county
area in central Indiana, and
to 10 affiliate food banks across the
state. The affiliate banks redistribute
the food to their member agencies.
"So actually," Bennett says, "we
have a responsibility to the whole
state of Indiana."
Any product Gleaner's gets in
large quantity and can't use in their
own area becomes Indiana network
food. Similarly, its affiliates share
food they cannot use.
"With everybody out there looking
for food in their own neighbor­hoods,
there's less food that goes to
waste, there's more variety for the
network, and there's more variety for
member agencies to select from,"
Bennett says. Even with this variety,
however, food banks cannot supply
Pam Bennett:
everything member agencies need,
but they certainly help.
Also receive
USDA foods
Gleaner's was one of seven food
banks across the country selected to
participate in USDA's 2-year food
bank demonstration project which
ended in December 1983. The
project was conducted to test the
feasibility of providing USDA­donated
food to food banks for use
in their emergency food box
programs.
As a participant in the USDA
project, Gleaner's received surplus
cheese, butter, instantized nonfat
dry milk, and honey for distribution
to needy households.
"The project was a good experi­ence
for the community and me,"
says Bennett. "It let us take a look at
the way we were providing food to
the poor and make some judgments
about how it could be done better
and in a more coordinated way.
"And it provided protein foods
that poor people can't always buy
because they're expensive. These
are products you don't find in poor
families' cupboards. We were very
glad to get the quality and variety of
commodities that we did through
the project."
Since the end of the demonstra­tion
project, which will be evaluated
this year, Gleaner's has been
receiving USDA-donated cheese
and butter from the State of Indiana
through USDA's Temporary
Emergency Food Assistance
Program (TEFAP). Other USDA
commodities made available to
states for distribution through
TEFAP include nonfat dry milk, corn
meal, flour, honey, and rice.
Growth has
been dramatic
Gleaner's Food Bank opened and
began distributing food to needy
people in July 1980 from an old,
drafty three-and-a-half car garage.
As the operation expanded, Gleaner's
soon outgrew the garage and moved
into a warehouse that could accom­modate
the increasing supply of
food being donated. It was not long,
however, before that space also
became inadequate.
Food and Nutrition
Food Bank Director
Gleaner's was recently forced to
relocate for a third time, and, ac­cording
to Bennett, "through a
miracle" found the perfect ware­house
with room to expand even
further. The warehouse was pur­chased
through funds from a local
community organization and money
which the food bank received from
the sale of the previous warehouse.
To help defray operating costs of
the food bank, member agencies
pay Gleaner's 12 cents a pound for
the food provided to them. Other
funds come from donations from
private organizations and in­dividuals.
As Bennett explains,
member agencies cannot always
afford to pay the 12 cents a pound
for the food and, instead, frequently
donate volunteer labor or equipment
to the food bank.
Making everything run smoothly is
a challenge. "Food banks are labor
intensive," says Bennett. "Because
we're not for profit and because we
have to operate with the 12-cents-a­pound
charge, we have to operate
on a very small margin. We can't
Two volunteers from a
local community serv­ice
organization look
through boxes of food
at the food bank's
warehouse. The food
will go to needy fami­lies
in the Indianapolis
area.
afford to automate and we have to
work with a lot of volunteers who
have lots of different skill levels.
"And," she continues, "you get
equipment problems. Equipment
breakdowns are planned for in a for­profit
business, but for a not-for­profit
organization, they can be
catastrophic. Somebody usually
wants to help-you just have to find
out who they are and put them with
the problem."
"An old hand"
at food banking
Bennett left a job with private
industry 12 years ago and has worked
with community organizations ever
since. Her first job with a community
organization was as a part-time
secretary.
"I wanted the job because there
were a lot of people who were excited
about trying to improve their neigh­borhood,"
she says . "And, I thought,
I can do some good here because it
was clear that I had some skills they
did not have."
In a short time, Bennett was pro-moted
to director of that organi­zation
and expanded it from as she
puts it, "a $20,000-a-year, every­body's
parttime neighborhood agency
to a statewide $3.75-million-a-year
operation.
"But," she says, "a lot of the fun
was gone because instead of
dealing with ordinary people, I was
busy writing grants and making
pitches, and I didn't like that very
much."
Bennett says she discovered she
outgrew the director's job and de­cided
to look for other employment
but "did not want to leave the neigh­borhood."
That prompted her to
apply for the position of executive
director of Gleaner's Food Bank.
"Food banking is one of the few
areas where I could have been in­volved
for 3 years and be an old
hand," Bennett says. "Last year the
Second Harvest Regional Group of
Food Banks elected me to the
Second Harvest national board so I
have a kind of expert status, which
is funny because I've only been food
banking for 3 years. But it's young,
it's growing, and it's exciting."
article by Mary Beth Pasquale
photos by Larry Rana
As commodi-ty food program di­rector
for the Inter-Tribal Council in
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Harriet
Moran ensures that needy Indians
receive USDA commodities through
USDA's Food Distribution Program
on Indian Reservations. But, as
Moran will tell you , her job does not
end once the food is distributed.
Since the Inter-Tribal Organization
(ITO) began issuing food in April
1982, Moran has been working to
educate program participants about
good nutrition, food preparation ,
and new recipes using USDA
commodities.
"Although a lot of these things are
not required, I do them ," Moran
says. " It helps make the program a
· little bit better and helps the par­ticipants
make better use of the
commodities."
Through the Food Distribution
Program , USDA donates a variety of
foods to Indians living on or near
Part of Moran 's job is making sure
USDA-donated foods are properly stored and
distributed. Here she goes over recent records
with one of the warehouse managers on her
way to a reservation .
16
reservations, and to people who are
not Indians but who live on reser­vations.
Moran supervises food
distribution on four reservations
throughout Michigan.
"Basically my job as director is
making sure that the commodity pro­gram
is running smoothly at the
tri bal level and that there is an
adequate supply of food on the
reservations," Moran explains . "If
there are difficulties, I have to find
out what the problem is ." She says
she is fortunate to have good
workers at the tribal level and
problems are infrequent.
The distance between Moran' s
council office and the warehouse
and reservations complicates her
job as program director. The ware­houses
are 200 to 250 miles from
Sault Ste . Marie, and the four
reservations are scattered through­out
the state. She likes getting out to
Harriet Moran:
the program sites, however, and
usually plans at least one trip per
month, depending on the weather
and the reservations' needs.
Helping familes
use commodities
Moran orders USDA commodities
in bulk for the four reservations on
the basis of the foods participants
request. USDA offers a list of about
50 different foods from which she
can order . They include canned
meats, vegetables, fruits , and juices,
dried beans, peanuts and peanut
butter, egg mix, milk, cheese, pasta,
flour and grains , corn syrup, and
shortening .
"Participants like the program
because of the variety of foods that
Food and Nutrition
Indian Program Manager
are available to them," Moran says.
Each participating household re­ceives
approximately 70 pounds of
food per person per month. Cur­rently
, an average of 800 people in
260 households participate on the
four reservations.
To ensure that participants are
getting foods their families will eat,
Moran periodically conducts food
preference surveys. She also holds
f ood demonstrations to help partici­pants
become familiar with com­modities
they may not feel com­fortable
preparing .
The demonstrations, she feels , are
a good way not only to introduce
new foods, but also to encourage
the men and women to be more crea­tive
in using the commodities and to
prepare more nutritious meals for
their families.
Moran recently held a food demon­stration
in which she prepared
Spanish rice, biscuits, and fruit
punch using commodities. While
she was preparing the food , she
talked with the group about the
recipes and the nutritional value of
the foods. " Nutrition is very im­portant
and we try to stress it during
the food demonstrations," she says.
Cookbook is
in the works
Moran is planning a cookbook
focusing on the commodities. to pro­vide
more recipes for participants.
"We plan to have rec ipes in the four
basic food groups from the women
in our tribal commun i ties," she says.
" I have already broken it down into
the areas we want to cover and put
up posters requesting recipes from
the community."
Moran and the nutritionists with
whom she works will review the
recipes before they are included in
the cookbook. " This is the big proj­ect
of the year, but it will be fun,"
she says.
Moran says she is interested in nu­trition
information from a personal
and professional standpoint. She is
not a nutritionist but gets infor­mation
from nutritioni sts and from
printed materials. She enjoys re­inforcing
the importance of a good
diet in her work with families parti­cipating
in the commodity food
program.
July 1984
Mo ran shares a new recipe with the cook at a
recreation center serving meals to the elderly.
Later, she will show a group of people how to
make the same meal for their families .
Seeing a need to provide nutrition
informati on when the program
began in April 1982, Moran gathered
nutrition information printed by
various governmental and private
organizations for distribution to pro­gram
participants during the
monthly food pickups.
She now produces a pamphlet,
Commodity News, which is available
to participants. The pamphlet, pub­lished
about six times a year, in­c
l udes easy-to-prepare recipes,
general nutrition information, and
facts about the food distribution
program .
A special interest
in helping Indians
Being three-quarters Chippewa
and having always lived near a
reservation, Moran has a special
interest in helping Indians. Before
becoming director of the food dis­tribution
program, Moran worked
with the elderly on the reservations.
" We assisted the elderly by pro­viding
food packages and informa­tion
on keep ing warm in the winter,
and we connected them with
programs that could assist them ,"
she explains.
" I try to help the Indian people in
other areas I know about," she says.
She still makes sure that the elderly
are kept aware of programs from
which they can benefit, and recently
took a course in volunteer income
tax assistance to help the Indians in
completing their. tax forms .
As commodity program director,
Moran uses her talents to help
young and old alike. Managing a
food assistance program is a
challenge, she says, but the reward
i s knowing she's helping hundreds
of families improve their diets.
Tfi ere's no question, it's worth.the
effort.
article by Mary Beth Pasquale
photos by Larry Rana
17
..
1983 Index
A·
A Food Service Director from the Corporate World
Talks About Merchandising ................... Jan. 1983
A Massachuetts Community Agency Teaches
Children About Food and Dental Health ....... Jan. 1983
A Minnesota School District Develops a Special
Curriculum for Third and Sixth Grade Students . . Jan. 1983
Alabama
Technical Assistance Gets Results ............ Apr. 1983
Arizona
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
Arkansas
New Computer in Arkansas is a Model for
Other States ............................... Apr. 1983
8-C
California
California Lunch Managers Find Advantages
in Local Processing ........................ Apr. 1983
School Lunch Wins Customers ... And Praise ... Oct. 1983
Careful Buying Keeps Prices Low ................. Oct. 1983
Colorado
Food Stamps Make A Difference ....... . ...... July 1983
School Lunch Wins Customers ... And Praise ... Oct. 1983
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
Connecticut
Connecticut Plans Materials and Projects for
Use Throughout the State .................. Jan. 1983
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
Students Respond to a Winning Idea in
Connecticut ............................... Jan. 1983
D-E
District of Columbia
Technical Assistance Gets Results ............ Apr. 1983
Elderly
Food and Education Go Hand in Hand in
Oklahoma . .. . . . .. .. .. . .. .. . . . . . . .. . .. . . .. . Oct. 1983
Food Help for Charitable Institutions .......... Apr. 1983
Food Stamps Make A Difference .............. July 1983
Special Provisions for the Elderly and
Disabled ................................... July 1983
F
Florida
School Lunch Wins Customers ... And Praise ... Oct. 1983
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
Food and Education Go Hand in Hand
in Oklahoma ................................. Oct. 1983
Food Distribution
California Lunch Managers Find Advantages
in Local Processing ....... .. ............... Apr. 1983
18
Careful Buying Keeps Prices Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oct. 1983
Food and Education Go Hand in Hand
in Oklahoma ............................... Oct. 1983
Food Help for Charitable Institutions .......... Apr. 1983
New Computer in Arkansas is a Model for
Other States ............................... Apr. 1983
New York's Ernie Berger Talks About
Statewide Processing ....................... Apr. 1983
Processing Saves Time and Money ............ Apr. 1983
Technical Assistance Gets Results ............ Apr. 1983
Food Help for Charitable Institutions .............. Apr. 1983
Food Stamp Program
Food and Education Go Hand in Hand
in Oklahoma ............................... Oct. 1983
Food Stamps: First Line Defense Against
Hunger .................................... July 1983
Food Stamps Make A Difference .............. July 1983
Making Food Dollars Count ................... July 1983
Operation Awareness ......................... July 1983
Special Provisions for the Elderly and
Disabled ................................... July 1983
G-H-1
How Texas Works with WIC Vendors .............. Apr. 1983
Income Verification Helps Target Benefits
to Children in Need .......................... Oct. 1983
Index for 1982 ................................... Apr. 1983
J-K-L
Kansas
School Lunch Wins Customers ... And Praise ... Oct. 1983
Legislation
School Lunch Wins Customers ... And Praise ... Oct. 1983
M
Making Food Dollars Count ....................... July 1983
Massachusetts
A Massachusetts Community Agency Teaches
Children About Food and Dental Health ..... Jan. 1983
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
Michigan
Food Stamps Make A Difference .............. July 1983
Minnesota
A Minnesota School District Develops a Special
Curriculum for Third and Sixth Grade
Students ................................... Jan. 1983
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
Mississippi
Careful Buying Keeps Prices Low ............. Oct. 1983
Food Stamps Make A Difference .............. July 1983
Food and Nutrition
N
New Computer in Arkansas is a Model for Other
States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Apr. 1983
New Hampshire
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
New Jersey
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
New Mexico
Income Verification Helps Target Benefits
to Children in Need ........................ Oct. 1983
School Lunch Wins Customers ... And Praise ... Oct. 1983
New York
New York's Ernie Berger Talks About
Statewide Processing ....................... Apr. 1983
Processing Saves Time and Money ............ Apr. 1983
School Lunch Wins Customers ... And Praise ... Oct. 1983
North Carolina
Income Verification Helps Target Benefits
to Children in Need ........................ Oct. 1983
School Lunch Wins Customers ... And Praise ... Oct. 1983
Nutrition Education
A Massachusetts Community Agency Teaches
Children About Food and Dental Health ..... Jan. 1983
A Minnesota School District Develops a Special
Curriculum for Third and Sixth Grade
Students ................................... Jan. 1983
Connecticut Plans Materials and Projects for
Use Throughout the State .................. Jan. 1983
Food and Education Go Hand in Hand
in Oklahoma ............................... Oct. 1983
Making Food Dollars Count ................... July 1983
Oregon Schools Work to Interest Teachers,
Parents, and Business Leaders .............. Jan. 1983
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
Video Teleconference Focuses on Nutrition for
Mothers and Babies ........................ Oct. 1983
0-P
Ohio
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
Operation Awareness ............................. July 1983
Oregon
Oregon Schools Work to Interest Teachers,
Parents. and Business Leaders .............. Jan. 1983
Puerto Rico
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
Q-R-S
School Lunch
A Food Service Director from the Corporate
World Talks About Merchandising ........... Jan. 1983
California Lunch Managers Find Advantages
in Local Processing ........................ Apr. 1983
Careful Buying Keeps Prices Low ............. Oct. 1983
July1984
Income Verification Helps Target Benefits
to Children in Need ........................ Oct. 1983
New York's Ernie Berger Talks About
Statewide Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Apr. 1983
Processing Saves Time and Money ............ Apr. 1983
School Lunch Wins Customers ... And Praise ... Oct. 1983
Teamwork Makes A Difference for
South Carolina School Districts ............. Jan. 1983
Technical Assistance Gets Results ............ Apr. 1983
Tips for School Food Service Managers ........ Jan. 1983
Training Helps Managers Sharpen Their
Financial and Accounting Skills ............. Jan. 1983
School Lunch Wins Customers ... And Praise ....... Oct. 1983
Sharing Ideas, Skills, and Resources .............. Jan. 1983
South Carolina
Teamwork Makes A Difference for
South Carolina School Districts ............. Jan. 1983
Training Helps Managers Sharpen Their
Financial and Accounting Skills ............. Jan. 1983
Special Supplemental Food Program for
Women. Infants, and Children (WIC)
How Texas Works with WIC Vendors Apr. 1983
Video Teleconference Focuses on Nutrition
for Mothers and Babies ................... Oct. 1983
Students Respond to a Winning Idea in
Connecticut ................................. Jan. 1983
T
Teamwork Makes A Difference for South Carolina
School Districts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan. 1983
Technical Assistance Gets Results .... ....... ..... Apr. 1983
Tennessee
School Lunch Wins Customers ... And Praise ... Oct. 1983
How Texas Works with WIC Vendors .......... Apr. 1983
Income Verification Helps Target Benefits
to Children in Need ........................ Oct. 1983
Technical Assistance Gets Results ............ Apr. 1983
Tips for School Food Service Managers ............ Jan. 1983
Training Helps Managers Sharpen Their Financial
and Accounting Skills ........................ Jan. 1983
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
U-V
Video Teleconference Focuses on Nutrition for
Mothers and Babies ................ , ......... Oct. 1983
Virginia
A Food Service Director from the Corporate
World Talks About Merchandising ........... Jan. 1983
W-X-Y-Z
...
Washington
Food Stamps Make A Difference .............. July 1983
Wisconsin
States Share Materials from the Nutrition
Education and Training Program ............ Jan. 1983
19
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