June 10th, 2016 by Neha Anand
The USDA recently published the Healthy Corner Stores Guide to improve access to healthy foods for residents of low-income neighborhoods, including SNAP recipients. Corner stores, also known as convenience stores or bodegas, often serve as the main source of food for families that cannot purchase fresh produce and other healthy items nearby. The guide provides information, strategies, and resources for organizations that seek to increase ... more >
Posted in blog, food, food security, food stamps, incentives, nutrition, nutrition standards, obesity, SNAP, snap-importance
January 19th, 2016 by Yingna Wang
On January 7, 2016, the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the eighth edition (2015-2020) of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which provides science-based recommendations on nutrition information for individuals, ages 2 years and older. The guidelines will inform national nutrition policy and influence the diets of millions of individuals and their families. The guidelines ... more >
Posted in blog, food, food access, food stamps, nutrition, nutrition standards, obesity, SNAP
August 14th, 2015 by Nina Russell
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a $76 billion dollar safety net program serving 46 million low income Americans including those who are temporarily unemployed, seniors, the disabled, and the homeless. For the fiscal year 2015, the average monthly SNAP benefit per person was $127.42 and per household was $259.28. With 31 days per month on average, this amounts to $4.11 per person per ... more >
Posted in blog, food, SNAP
July 6th, 2015 by Susan Blumenthal, M.D.
(Written in Collaboration with Cathy Ren)
America has reached a new milestone in the obesity epidemic. In a recently released report, 67.6 million Americans over the age of 25 were obese and 65.2 million were overweight in 2012. This means that for the first time in history, there are more obese than overweight Americans, a very disturbing and health-damaging trend. Overweight individuals have a higher risk ... more >
Posted in blog, farmers markets, food, food access, nutrition, obesity, SNAP
March 1st, 2015 by Greeshma Somashekar
National Nutrition Month® is a nutrition education and information campaign sponsored annually by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is a valuable and credible source of timely, science-based food and nutrition information. Their yearly campaign highlights the importance of "making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits".
The USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion recently posted ... more >
Posted in blog, food, nutrition, nutrition standards
February 28th, 2015 by Greeshma Somashekar
In February 2015, the nation's top health and nutrition experts submitted recommendations for dietary guidelines for Americans to the Secretaries of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The scientific evidence in their report provides the federal government with a foundation for developing national nutrition policy.
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) report focuses on American's "suboptimal" ... more >
Posted in blog, food access, food security, food stamps, hunger, nutrition, nutrition standards, obesity, SNAP
December 21st, 2014 by Emma Lape
The next Farm Bill reauthorization process is shaping up to be as hard-fought as the last. The next Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee has stated that he is already looking ahead to the next Farm Bill, due to be reauthorized in 2019. He plans for the committee to begin drafting the bill by 2017 or 2018 at the latest, and says it will include ... more >
Posted in blog, Farm Bill
November 21st, 2014 by Emma Lape
Only 50% of Americans read nutrition labels when shopping for groceries, and experts say labeling is not as helpful as it could be to inform food purchases for most consumers. New regulations proposed in February, 2014 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are intended to highlight the information that is most important for consumers to limit serving size and make smarter food choices. First, ... more >
Posted in blog, food, nutrition, nutrition standards
November 15th, 2014 by Emma Lape
Food Scores is a brand-new tool developed by the Environmental Working Group that can help consumers understand the health value of the foods they buy—not just basic nutritional information like calories or grams of fiber, but also how heavily processed an item is and what additives it contains. Food Scores is the most comprehensive online food database yet; it brings together information on over 80,000 ... more >
Posted in blog, Uncategorized
August 27th, 2013 by Kristy Blackwood
With so much controversy surrounding reauthorization of the Farm Bill, the future for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—a key component of this legislation—is uncertain. The Farm Bill is the major food and agricultural policy bill supported by the federal government. It has two major components: farm subsidies and SNAP (formally known as food stamps).
In June 2013, the Senate passed its version of the Farm ... more >
Posted in blog, Farm Bill, food
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