Avoiding a nutrient deficit while
staying on a budget
Although getting all the necessary
vitamins and minerals can be a chal-
lenge on a limited food budget, in many
cases, it is still doable.
Commonly found in red meat, dark
poultry and fresh, dark leafy vegetables,
iron can also be found in several less-
expensive but still nutrient-rich foods:
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Canned tuna or salmon
Dried fruits and raisins
Dried peas and beans
Another nutrient commonly found
in fresh produce, fiber is necessary to
ensure colon health. It is also shown to
reduce the risk for diabetes, cardiovas-
cular health and obesity, in part because
it triggers a full feeling in the stomach
faster, thus minimizing the chances of
overeating.
Also found in whole wheat pasta
and bread, high amounts of fiber can
be found in several low-cost alternatives,
including:
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Brown rice
Dried beans
from rural areas and those living within
185 percent of the poverty line.
Among the 17.5 million American
households considered food insecure are
21 percent of all children nationwide.
The USDA’s most recent report on
food security among Native households,
presented to Congress in January 2012,
placed the food insecurity rate at about
23 percent. That figure was based on data
collected between 2006 and 2008, before
the Great Recession.
The newest report on household food
insecurity available through the USDA
does not include Native American, Alaska
Native or Native Hawaiian families in its
racial/ethnic breakdown.
Separately published data, including
Native families’ eligibility and participa-
tion rates in WIC, SNAP, FDPIR and the
free and reduced school meal program,
suggest that food insecurity in Indian
Country has not dropped since the con-
gressional study’s initial presentation.
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Dried lentils
Oatmeal
One of the B vitamins, folic acid,
also known as folate, is necessary for
cellular and tissue growth. It has also
shown to prevent certain birth defects,
including spina bifida, and lower the
risk of miscarriage among pregnant
women.
A water-soluble vitamin, folic acid
is found primarily in spinach and other
green, leafy vegetables. Other thrifty,
shelf stable sources include:
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Black-eyed peas
Peanuts
Enriched cereal
Vitamin A, a key component for
eye development, night vision and
blindness prevention, is a fat soluble
vitamin found primarily in dark green,
red, orange and yellow produce, as well
as in liver, fresh fish and dairy products.
However, a single cup of frozen mixed
vegetables can also help meet that
micronutrient need.
More nutritionally effective
assistance
In recent years, changes have been
made to place a greater nutritional empha-
sis on food provided through government-
funded nutrition programs.
Along with more whole grains and
reduced sodium content, school cafeterias
are now required to offer fruit options
other than juice at lunch and a variety of
vegetables through the course of a week.
A member of the Lumbee Tribe of
North Carolina, Lauren Ashley Locklear
participated in the free and reduced lunch
program growing up in rural Robeson
County, N.C. Her son, Brennan, started
school in August and like most of his
pre-kindergarten classmates, qualified for
the program.
The changes on her son’s cafeteria tray
compared to the ones from her childhood
caught her attention pretty quickly, but for
a good reason.
“Some (parents) find
that as a downfall because
the food has declined in
taste, but it works and it
ensures that every child
gets the food that they need
throughout the day,” she
said. “Brennan’s not a big
fan of some of it, but he
doesn’t really complain.”
Courtesy photo by Lauren Ashley Locklear
Federal regulations over the school
lunch program have changed in recent
years, requiring cafeterias to serve
Brennan Hunt and other students more
produce and whole grains.
For many SNAP and WIC recipients,
increased access to nutritious food has
come from a source close to home – the
local farmers’ market.
Provisions have been in place since
the mid 1990s to allow farmers’ markets to
accept SNAP benefits. As of fall 2015, more
than 8,500 farmers’ markets nationwide now
accept SNAP benefits, an increase of more
than 75 percent over the last two decades.
In 2014, the most recent year for which
data is available, 362,477 households
nationwide made at least one purchase at
a farmers’ market using SNAP benefits.
A similar program, albeit on a smaller
scale, is also offered for WIC participants
in 36 states, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands
and through six Tribes in Oklahoma, New
Mexico and Mississippi.
With more sites now accepting EBT
benefits, the number of SNAP redemp-
tions at farmers’ markets has jumped by
350 percent from 2009.
To further incentivize and facilitate
buying fresh produce with SNAP benefits,
about 500 farmers’ markets nationwide
offer some kind of “double up” program,
providing either a dollar-to-dollar match
up to a certain limit or more along the
lines of “buy $5 worth, get $1 free.”
Darcy Freedman, an associate pro-
fessor of applied social sciences at Case
Western Reserve University’s Prevention
Research Center for Healthy Neighbor-
hoods, has been studying food security for
15 years, including the use of government
EBT cards at farmers’ markets in both
Ohio and South Carolina.
Over the course of her research, she
noticed that SNAP recipients who were
able to stretch their benefits to include
more fresh produce often took advantage
of the opportunity and reaped the physi-
ological benefits.
“People recognize the
value of the healthier food
and want to eat it, but often
just don’t have the money,”
she said. “The economic
barrier is the primary bar-
rier. When it can be removed,
people will take advantage
of resources. It’s not lack of
desire or taste – it really is
a cost issue.”
FDPIR recipients are also seeing
more nutritious foods being offered
at distribution sites. A 2008 report to
Congress notes that the average FDPIR
package meets several of the nutritional
benchmarks, including the recommended
daily allowance for 19 essential nutrients.
More distribution sites have fresh or
frozen produce options instead of canned
only and the program has eliminated
shortening from the list of options avail-
able. Steps are also being taken to make
bison and other traditional foods available
through distribution sites.
Even with the changes in federal
assistance programs, the data over the
years on health conditions related to food
insecurity is hardly shocking to many in
Indian Country.
“Just look at the diminishment of our
ability to feed ourselves in terms of the
health implications, especially diabetes
and obesity,” said Elizabeth Hoover.
A Micmac and Mohawk assistant
professor of American and ethnic studies
at Brown University, Hoover specializes
in food sovereignty, or the right to healthy
and culturally appropriate food produced
through ecologically sound and sustainable
methods, and the right for groups to define
their own food and agriculture systems.
USDA supplemental nutrition
programs
The U.S. Department of Agri-
culture offers several supplemental
nutrition programs. Some of the
more common ones, both among
Native and non-Native families, are
commonly referred via acronyms.
FDPIR: Food Distribution Pro-
gram on Indian Reservations. Also
known as “commods,” FDPIR par-
ticipation is limited to low-income
households with at least one enrolled
citizen of a federally recognized
Tribe that do not have easy access
to a licensed SNAP vendor. Fami-
lies must also live either on or near
a reservation or in certain areas of
Oklahoma.
SNAP: Supplemental Nutri-
tional Assistance Program. Formerly
known as food stamps, SNAP is
supplemental nutrition program
available to low-income individuals
and families. Participants receive
their benefits monthly and can only
use them at licensed vendors.
WIC: Women, Infants and Chil-
dren. A supplemental food program
that also provides nutrition educa-
tion, health care referrals and breast-
feeding resources for pregnant and
nursing women, infants and children
younger than 5 who are found to be
at nutritional risk.
With many Tribes losing access to
traditional food sources over the last two
centuries, the connection between food
insecurity and physical health in Indian
Country comes as no surprise to her.
Look at Tribes’ tradi-
tional relationships to food
and how it shows up in
creation stories or clan
systems,” she said. “Those
were very different relation-
ships than what we see
with the foods we’re cur-
rently eating. It was thought
about differently and cared
for differently.”
Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton’s report-
ing on hunger and food insecurity was
undertaken as a project for the Dennis A.
Hunt Fund for Health Journalism and the
National Health Journalism Fellowship,
programs of the USC Annenberg Center
for Health Journalism.
Siletz Community
Dental Clinic
Contact the Siletz Community
Dental Clinic if you experience dental
pain or a dental emergency. The staff
will do everything it can to see you as
soon as reasonably possible.
Morning check-in time is Monday-
Thursday from 8:30-9 a.m. and Fri-
day from 10-10:30 a.m. Afternoon
check-in time is Monday-Friday from
1-1:30 p.m.
April 2016
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Siletz News
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