New research is making the case for an online system to better serve young families who depend on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

Ohio is among just 10 states requiring WIC recipients to mail or present their EBT card at a WIC office every four months to reload benefits.

Hope Lane-Gavin, health equity fellow at the Center for Community Solutions, said Ohio had a tremendous health and human service response to the pandemic, but during the same period, states with offline systems saw a significant decrease in WIC enrollment.

"If you're on WIC, you're either pregnant, postpartum, and you have a toddler or a newborn," Lane-Gavin explained. "And so, you have to load everybody into a car or take the bus just to get the benefit itself, and then you have to go shopping. So that is a whole ordeal and that is reflected in our enrollment numbers."

Data showed WIC participation was 9% lower in offline states relative to online states. Ohio was one of the first states to use EBT cards. And while the decision occurred years ago, Lane-Gavin contended the pandemic exposed it actually runs counter to the program's intentions and goals.

Lane-Gavin pointed out an online EBT program could improve infant mortality rates and maternal health. She used Medicaid as an example, where beneficiaries are inherently eligible for WIC.

"There's about 115,000 births in the state every year, and roughly 50% of those births are on Medicaid," Lane-Gavin noted. "So, hypothetically, if all of those people got on the WIC program and the benefits were remote, it would make a huge difference in infant and maternal health in the state and the takeup of the program. "

The American Rescue Plan Act included WIC modernization funding, so Lane-Gavin emphasized researchers encouraged state officials to use those dollars to bring the system online.

"Families are hurting," Lane-Gavin observed. "And as we face this inevitable COVID-19 cliff where a lot of these programs that were created because of the pandemic are starting to wind down, we know that families still need help."

The Center for Community Solutions has an online series examining ways to improve the WIC program.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.

The Holyoke area is home to many Puerto Rican families who say they will do what they can to help people there as they recover from the latest hurricane.

When they arrived in Holyoke some 30 years ago, migrants longed for a chance to harvest the foods integral to their island's culture. Today, the farm they started, Nuestras Raíces or "Our Roots," is a leader in community-based farming, feeding and providing growing opportunities for low-income communities in western Massachusetts.

Sue Colon, the farm's development coordinator, said her organization has become so much more than a place for neighbors to grow food.

"When they come to the farm for the festivals, that's exactly what they say: They feel like they're back home," Colon observed. "The farm represents that to them."

Along with tomatoes, onions and squash, farmers grow traditional crops like aji dulce, a sweet pepper, or recao, a long-leaf coriander and staple of Puerto Rican cuisine. Colon pointed out the organization is developing a plan to increase its presence back in Puerto Rico and with farmers there, following the devastation from Hurricane Ian.

Funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture has helped to create pop-up markets in the area, where farmers can sell their produce at affordable prices. The mobile markets also deliver to Latino families who might live in so-called food deserts, where fresh produce can be tough to find.

Colon noted the mobile units often visit senior and low-income housing, bringing everything families need to make sofritos, a blend of produce and spices used as a base for many Puerto Rican dishes.

"They're really happy because we basically give them a kit, like a sofrito kit, because we give them all the things they need to make their sofrito, so they like making it from scratch," Colon explained.

She added the farm also helps to create jobs, with more than 40 Latino entrepreneurs starting their own businesses through the use of incubator kitchens.

Groups fighting hunger in California say untold suffering could be avoided if the policies championed at the latest White House conference are put into place.

The event was the first of its kind in 50 years, bringing together government agencies, nonprofits and private companies, with the goal of wiping out hunger in the U.S. by 2030.

Itzúl Gutierrez with the California Association of Food Banks said she was glad to hear President Joe Biden voice support for strategies to reduce poverty and thus, fight hunger.

"We were very excited to see raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and also expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, in addition to the Child Tax Credit," Gutierrez outlined. "And also investments in housing and rental assistance."

The conference also promoted ideas long championed by the California Hunger Action Coalition, including expanding free school meals to all kids, and allowing college students, recent immigrants, and formerly incarcerated people to participate in CalFresh.

Gutierrez pointed out she was disappointed the conference made little mention of food insecurity in undocumented families. Many of the proposals face significant Republican opposition in Congress, based on cost concerns.

Tracy Weatherby, vice president of strategy and advocacy for Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, said 60% of its clients have less than $250 in savings, and the financial squeeze will get worse once the feds declare the public health emergency is over.

When it happens, she stressed, CalFresh benefits are slated to drop an average of 82-dollars a month.

"The White House strategy comes at a crucial time, as nearly all pandemic-era social safety net programs are ending, while food, gas, rent and other prices are rising," Weatherby noted. "And that's really leaving families across the country struggling to cover their basic costs."

Todd Cunningham, organizer for food and wellness for the Los Angeles Community Action Network, said the pandemic proved when there's a will, there's a way.

"Not only did they do the school meals for all during the regular school year, but also when summer came around," Cunningham recounted. "They also came up with solutions for people who couldn't make it to school to pick them up. We've seen that we can actually come up with creative solutions, if we just put our minds to it and then, we have the will to do it."

Statistics show one in five households experiences food insecurity, with deeper disparities for Black and Latino communities.

Education officials in Ohio want state leaders to invest in free school meals for all students.

Pandemic-era federal waivers enabling schools to offer breakfast and lunch at no cost expired in June, meaning families in need of assistance have to income-qualify for federal school meal programs. For a family of four, it's about $51,000 a year for reduced-priced meals and $36,000 for free meals.

Andrea Helton, registered dietitian and director of Nutrition Services for the Wellington Exempted Village School District, worried kids will fall through the cracks.

"I've had some calls from families upset because they missed the cutoff by maybe a couple hundred dollars," Helton recounted. "They've expressed to me that it's upsetting that the applications only include gross income, and do not include a lot of those other factors that go into providing food for children, every single day."

The Ohio State Board of Education is recommending the General Assembly use American Rescue Plan Act funds to offer no-cost breakfast and lunch to all Ohio students through the remainder of the school year.

Katherine Ungar, senior policy associate for the Children's Defense Fund of Ohio, explained Ohio has spent about 65% of it's nearly $5.4 billion federal allocation.

"But that leaves us with almost $2 billion left to be allocated," Ungar pointed out. "We're hopeful that they'll use a very small portion of that to fund school meals for all, for this school year."

Research links school meals to improved attendance, academic achievement and cognitive function. Ungar noted free meals allow students to focus on school instead of hunger.

"But it's also hugely beneficial to nutrition providers who, instead of focusing and worrying about collecting school meal debt, can instead focus their attention on deciding what will be on the menu, making sure it's healthy and nutritious for our students," Ungar contended.

Helton added access to regular, nutritious meals can set children up for future success.

"Children are said to at least consume half of their caloric intake during the school day," Ungar explained. "Which means that this is the perfect opportunity for us to promote lifelong healthy habits, and to give exposure to fresh fruits and vegetables."

One in five Ohio kids is considered food insecure and in a recent survey, 87% of Ohio parents said they support free school meals for all students.