Meal Programs

Irene Christie is 93. She can no longer drive, stand for long, or cook, not even to bake the pies that were once her specialty. But when the San Dimas woman signed up for home-delivered meals, she had to wait nearly six months for the first one. Like thousands of seniors in Southern California who would benefit from meals delivered to their homes, she struggled to get by. A friend and her children sometimes brought her food, but she didn't like to ask for it.

Fewer than 1 in 5 of the children who relied on free or reduced-price lunches during the 2009-2010 school year in California received subsidized meals last July, according to a new report. That represents a 15% drop in participation in summer meals programs from the year before at a time when enrollment in other federal nutrition programs is increasing because of the lingering effects of the recession. The report by California Food Policy Advocates blamed cuts to the state's education budget, which caused many school districts to eliminate summer learning and enrichment programs.

ANAHEIM-Last summer Shirley Cohen, 71, mortgaged her home; last month Muriel Nelson, 68, cashed in part of her life savings. Now they have no money left to give to the federally funded social service program they lovingly administer, which feeds 3,000 senior citizens throughout Orange County.

When María Elena García rushes off to work at a Mexican restaurant, she takes comfort in knowing that her two children, ages 12 and 16, will get a healthy lunch at school. But now that school is out, she worries about what they will eat. "I know it is nothing good," said the MacArthur Park mother. "We don't have good food at home." The summer months can be some of the most difficult for families that rely on federally subsidized school meals to provide an important part of their nutritional needs.

A Palos Verdes couple were sentenced to federal prison terms Friday for defrauding a government meals program. Wan Hee Moon, a state employee who oversaw the program in Southern California, was sentenced to three years, and her husband, Kyung Ho Moon, was sentenced to two years, said David Dickson, special agent in the inspector general's office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, the Moons, who were sentenced in U.S.

County officials are seeking comments from the public on an Orange County Grand Jury report that questioned the way funding is distributed for senior citizens' meal programs. The Area Agency on Aging, which administers the program, released a draft response this week defending the way meal funds are distributed. But officials said the public is welcomed to review both documents and make comments.

Hoping to boost membership in the clean-plate club on their campuses, the San Fernando Valley's two charter schools have asked the school district for freedom to run their own breakfast and lunch programs.

About 4,000 Westminster School District students may be eligible for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs, spokeswoman Audrey Brown said. Information and applications for the program, which begins Sept. 8, will be sent home with students this fall. Guidelines and application forms are also available at school offices and may be completed and returned any time during the school year, she said.

More seniors will be able to participate in the city's weekday meal program now that it will cost the city less to operate. The Orange County Transportation Authority has decided to reduce the fee it charges the city to transport homebound senior citizens to Los Alamitos' Senior Meal Program and return them to their residences. Under a contract the City Council is expected to approve Monday, the city would pay OCTA $1.18 instead of $1.54 per trip for each participating senior.

Depending on their household's size and income, Westminster School District students may be eligible for free or discounted meals. As part of the National School Lunch and National School Breakfast programs, the district expects to provide about 4,000 students daily with free or reduced-price meals after school begins, spokeswoman Audrey Brown said. Students will receive program information and applications.

More than 1 million low-income California children who receive free or reduced-price school lunches don't get breakfast at school even though they would qualify, and about a fifth of the schools in the state don't even offer breakfast, according to two reports from the Food Research and Action Center. California ranked 33rd in low-income student participation in the School Breakfast Program for 2008-09, the same ranking it received a year earlier. In terms of the number of schools that offer breakfast, California's ranking fell from 35th to 40th, the Washington, D.C.-based group said.

The plates were foam, the gravy in plastic pitchers and the disposable tablecloths brightly colored. The scorching sun beat down, and live gospel music blared from the makeshift stage. Sikhs passed out bags of fresh produce alongside Lutherans giving out hand-knit wool caps and wooden crosses. So went Thanksgiving on skid row, where more than 2,000 people -- homeless, jobless or just down on their luck -- lined up at the Fred Jordan Mission in downtown Los Angeles for a free feast of turkey legs, sweet potatoes, rolls, cranberry sauce and pie. Across Southern California, from a Hollywood comedy club to a hockey arena in Orange County, thousands turned up for free Thanksgiving meals.

Peanut butter potentially contaminated with salmonella bacteria was included in school lunch programs and emergency meal kits sent to Kentucky after last week's ice storm, officials said Thursday. Nearly 168,000 emergency meal kits sent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the state had been recalled more than two weeks earlier because some contained peanut butter that could have been contaminated, federal officials told the Associated Press.

California may run out of money again this year to supplement school meals, in part because more struggling families are taking part in the free or reduced-price school lunch programs, the state's superintendent of public instruction said Tuesday.

It's tough sending little Bobby or Suzy back to school. Parents may worry what kinds of teachers their children will encounter, whether they'll be as smart as their classmates and whether bullies will steal their lunch money. But technology is helping eliminate some of the guesswork about what happens after kids climb onto the bus. Increasingly common Web programs let parents track lunch-money spending, schoolwork habits and tardiness. "There's this black box -- a child goes away and comes home, what happened during this time?"

Two years ago, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver expressed horror at the Turkey Twizzlers being served in Britain's school cafeterias and equated many school lunches with a four-letter word for the ultimate byproduct of all meals. He vowed to help lead students down the road to healthful eating. The Pied Piper, it turns out, he was not.

Simi Valley's Meals on Wheels program, which delivers hot lunches to 45 homebound senior citizens and handicapped residents, will probably have to pay 25 cents more for each meal it purchases beginning in September, a city official said Tuesday. Ventura County, which provides the meals to the Simi Valley group, recently announced the probable price increase, said Kathryn O. Andersen, the city's senior services coordinator.

Despite opposition by two city council members, the city will seek grant money to pay for a service that would drive senior citizens to a meals program in Cypress. Four residents now use a county-run program, which the council voted to join last month. Earlier this week, the council in a 3-2 vote decided to seek $22,000 in Community Development Block Grants to continue the van program next year. Council members Paul F.

Arlene Ciolino started the day with 75 minutes of aerobics, followed by 1 1/2 hours of yoga. So by noon she was hungry. She stowed her blue exercise mat, doffed her white sweatshirt and bellied up to the salad bar. First came a layer of crisp romaine lettuce, then a scoop of chicken salad, a drizzle of Caesar dressing, a few croutons and a dusting of parmesan. A whole-wheat roll rounded out the meal. It was light and health-conscious, just like Ciolino, a slender 67-year-old retired bookkeeper.

ON Sept. 16, 1912, the very first issue of USC's Daily Southern Californian (now known as the Daily Trojan) declared on page 3: "Cafeteria Improved." The primary advancement was "shiny new devises for keeping eatables hot," and the article was unsigned, possibly to save the writer from a big razzing by classmates. Students, after all, have always complained about food. They griped in the Middle Ages and they griped in Colonial days.