The economic downturn and ongoing under-employment in the U.S. have resulted in a big increase in the number of Americans using food stamps. Once considered a social safety net for only the lowest income Americans, the use of federally funded food stamps has grown dramatically over the last two years.

Rep. Patti Fritz (DFL-Faribault) was at a church service a few months ago when a woman in a neighboring pew tapped her on the shoulder. The woman told Fritz she had worked all her life, but was struggling to feed her children in light of her husband’s job loss. She asked Fritz to do something about it.

Now Fritz sponsors one of two bills targeted at hungry Minnesotans — a growing group.

Either low-income residents must sow a portion of the land or some of the harvest must be given to food shelves. The county has awarded nine mini-grants of $2,000 or less to churches, a school and even the city of Inver Grove Heights.

“People are interested in growing their own food,” said Mary Montagne, supervisor of Dakota County’s Health Promotion Unit. “That influenced us.

The Senate bill reauthorizes several antihunger programs for children, but its biggest impact would be felt in schools that offer free or cut-rate meals. The bill would give the Agriculture Department new powers to set nutritional standards for any food sold on school grounds, particularly junk foods that contribute to obesity.

Senators cleared the path Wednesday for a final vote on legislation to bolster the safety and nutritional value of school lunches, including provisions to improve training for cafe-teria workers and to alert schools more quickly about recalls of contaminated food.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 would commit an additional $4.5 billion to child-nutrition programs over the next 10 years

It appears that many households eligible for the deduction are not claiming it. In addition, those that do claim it could likely qualify for larger deductions.

When blurry-eyed kids traipse through the breakfast line in the early hours of the morning before the start of school at Park Terrace, they are assured of not only healthy food but of a smile.

“I always tell our cooks to smile when kids come through,” said Ann Richly, District 16’s food service operations coordinator.

They’re young, they’re broke, and they pay for organic salmon with government subsidies. Got a problem with that?

Salon

The numbers in Minnesota are even more telling if you go back a few years. There are 10,000 fewer students in Minnesota schools than there were in 2002, yet there are 65,000 more students on free and reduced lunch.

The data also show that increased poverty is universal. Edina, widely considered one of the state’s most affluent communities, has one of the lowest rates of poverty in Minnesota.

Bastions of the middle class, Twin Cities suburbs are seeing financial pain spreading quietly among their residents. They now have more poor people than the core cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

STRIB