Policy Update: Setting the Table: A Blueprint for a Hunger-Free PA

By Rachael Solomon

The Wolf administration unveiled their new food security plan for PA, Setting the Table: A Blueprint for a Hunger-Free PA, at the end of September. With this plan the state government is planning to address hunger issues among Pennsylvanians, especially among children up to age 5. An executive order was signed by Governor Tom Wolf initiating the Governor’s Food Security Partnership. The Partnership is responsible for promoting coordination, communication and joint planning between government programs, private leaders and nonprofit sectors in providing nutrition and food assistance to Pennsylvanians. Currently, there are more than 1.7 million Pennsylvanians living with food insecurity on a daily basis.¹

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Secretary Russell Redding said that his department is going to connect low-income Pennsylvanians in need of food assistance with healthy nutrition products from the more than 59,000 local farms. This strategy will be put into place by using such programs as Pennsylvania agricultural surplus systems, farmer’s market nutrition programs and farm-to-school programs.¹

The overall goal for “Setting the Table: a Blueprint for a Hunger- Free PA” is to improve access to healthy, nutritious food by the year 2020.² Below is an excerpt from the plan that lists the other goals the Governor has established related to hunger.

• “Every country/region in Pennsylvania will have a local food alliance to combat hunger in their local communities.
• SNAP participation rate will increase from 90% to 98% or higher.
• The number of children benefiting from free and reduced price meals during the school year will increase from 20% to 30%.
• Sixty percent of students benefiting from free and reduced priced school meals will participate in school breakfast, compared to only 47% in 2014.
• The Women, Infants and Children Farmers Market Nutrition Program (WIC FMNP) redemption rate will increase from 308,000 to 340,000 checks annually.
• Double SNAP bucks will be available at all highly accessible, high-need farmers’ markets, and additional SNAP recipients will have access to SNAP employment and training and SNAP education.
• Pennsylvanians will have streamlined access to food security information and benefits.
• The average number of people participating in WIC programs will increase from over 245,000 to 260,000.”¹

Sources

1 Wolf Administration Addressing Food Security in the Commonwealth
2 Setting the Table: Blueprint for a Hunger-Free PA