1. Public Policy Protect and Strengthen Nutrition Programs
Cindy McCown
Vice President of Community Engagement and Policy
Second Harvest Food Bank
Rachel Tucker
Senior Policy Associate
California Association of Food Banks

2. AGENDA Advocacy & Public Policy Overview
SHFB’s State Public Policy Issues Agenda Topics
2018 Farm Bill
Communicating with Stakeholders & Elected Representatives
Resources
Questions

3. How to Make a Difference
Advocacy is simply speaking up about an issue or concern Policy Advocacy is the process of calling for changes in public policy – the laws, regulations, and institutional practices

4. Public Policy: Bite-Sized
Sign up for good “alerts”
Use the telephone, write, , social media
Help others to take action
Advertise your issue
Talk. Mention key bills, issues, and budget items at every opportunity.
From Nancy Amidei for the Civic Engagement Project

5. Have A Voice Stories Matter! We All
Summer can be a particularly challenging time for many low-income families with kids. They lose access to the FRP meals they rely on during the school year.
Only about 22% of kids who benefit from those school meals participate in the federal Summer Food Service Program.
It’s also estimated that low income kids lose an average 2 months of reading achievement over the summer vs middle income peers.
This past summer we decided to try to kill two birds with one stone
Most of these sites combined educational/enrichment activities for kids with healthy meals – both for kids, and their parents or adult caregivers. The kids’ meals were covered by the federal gov’t; SHFB covered the meal cost for the adults
Doesn’t matter whether families came for the enrichment and got fed, or came for the food and learned…the point is that they were mutually reinforcing and shared
San Mateo County Libraries- Big Lift Inspiring Summer Program, Ravenswood School District, Pediatric Advocacy Program at Stanford School of Medicine, Revolution Foods and the California Summer Meals Coalition

6. Prepare a “60-Second Speech”
Your name, and where you live
“Hi, I’m___, and I live in your district.”
You agency or group
“I’m with SHFB. We advocate for stronger nutrition programs and have over 350 partner organizations we work with to address hunger.”
Say what you want to call to their attention.
“I’m concerned about adequate funding for SNAP/CalFresh. We are at record highs of people getting food from us.”
Say what you would like them to do
“Please vote NO on H.R.2”
Give them something in writing
‘I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have; here’s some basic information about what we do…”
From Nancy Amidei for the Civic Engagement Project

7. 2018 State Public Policy Issues
Budget:
CalFood - State Emergency Food Assistance Program at $20.6M
Food Bank Infrastructure - $25M, 1 Time Investment Supports Hunger & Climate Goals

8. 2018 State Public Policy Issues
Breakfast After The Bell - Grants to schools for expansion of breakfast programs.

9. 2018 State Public Policy Issues
Legislative:
AB 1871 (Bonta) School Meals – Charter Schools
AB 1892 (Jones-Sawyer) Expand CalFresh to a broader group transitioning from public assistance to work
AB 1894 (Weber) Address college hunger
AB 1952 (Mayes,Arambula,Steinorth) Hunger-free CA Workgroup
AB (Berman) Social Services Agency modernization of communications with applicants & participants
AB 2297 (Arambula) Hunger Impact Act of 2018
SB 900 (Wiener,Arambula) Enable CalFresh (electronic benefit transfer system) to integrate benefits for California- grown fruit and vegetables purchases.

10. Strategies to Protect and Strengthen SNAP

11. Why SNAP Matters to California
Over 4M Californians receive SNAP
$6.5B in annual benefits
$11.7B in total economic activity
Supports over 65,000 jobs
19 out of 20 emergency meals come from federal nutrition programs

12. SNAP and the Farm Bill
The legislative driver of SNAP and the food commodity programs
TEFAP
CSFP
FDPIR
Authorized about every five years

13. Current Federal Threats and Opportunities
House Farm Bill
$20B in cuts to SNAP benefits and eligibility
Eliminates Categorical Eligibility
Severs connection between SNAP and LIHEAP aka “Heat and Eat”
Imposes Harsh Time Limits that Fail to Provide Path to Self-Sufficiency

14. Opportunities to Flip the Script
Tell the story of SNAP
Educate your boards, volunteers, community members, partners and elected officials on SNAP’s value
Show SNAP’s Value in Every Community
Show SNAP’s Value During Tough Economic Times and during Natural Disasters
Highlight the Local Impact of Cuts

15. Take Action – Choosing from the Advocacy “Menu”
Appetizers:
Send s, mail and make calls to legislators
Use Facebook, Twitter, and other social media to urge
Support from legislators and promote actions they take in support of your priorities
Send, or sign your organization on to, position letters
Participate in local, state and federal coalitions

16. Take Action – Choosing from the Advocacy “Menu”
Lunch Specials:
Conduct regular visits and communication with legislators and staff.
In-district visits at their office or a nutrition site can be highly effective
Build relationships with legislators/government officials and their staff
Optimize opportunities to meet or host a site visit with legislators/government officials and their staff when they are in the district.

17. Take Action – Choosing from the Advocacy “Menu”
Entrees • Gather stories to use for advocacy. • Engage agencies in policy advocacy. • Involve clients in policy advocacy. • Organize staff, agencies, and clients to participate in hearings or rallies

18. Timing and Legislative Outlook

19. Let’s Call Your Elected Representative Exercise
Dial via Feeding America’s toll free line Sample Script: I am a constituent and I urge a NO vote on the House Farm Bill (H.R.2). This is important to me because……….

20. SNAP Resources and Materials
Visit for tools and resources

21. Other Resources
Alliance for Justice: California Budget & Policy Center: calbudgetcenter.org Food Research Action Center: FRAC.org California Food Policy Advocates: CFPA.net

22. Questions