December 5, 2019 — Just in time for Christmas, the Trump administration has new rules for food assistance. They’ll tighten work requirements for single adults getting food stamps. The effect? Most likely, says USDA, they’ll be cutting SNAP benefits for 688,000 adults. According to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, however, this is not about cutting benefits. Rather, it’s about promoting […]
November 16, 2018 — The last few days at ObesityWeek brought us some fascinating insights relating to poverty, stress, and access to obesity care. Presentations here remind us that obesity has a complex relationship with social status. Food security plays a role. Veterans live with a higher risk. And yet, access to effective care is nothing short of bizarre […]
June 10, 2018 — Yesterday’s opening session of Nutrition 2018, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, tackled the long-enduring debate about restricting choice in SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps). Many arguments exist for – and just as many against – restricting choice for SNAP participants to healthy foods and beverages. […]
February 17, 2018 — It’s hard to know what to think about this week’s proposal for sweeping changes in SNAP from the White House. Once known as food stamps, SNAP is the cornerstone program for fighting food insecurity. Under this proposal, a Harvest Box of processed food would replace half of the food that SNAP recipients can presently choose […]
January 24, 2017 — SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is the backbone of government efforts to fight hunger. So, naturally, everybody has ideas about ways to make it work smarter. And in a large supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, a diverse group of nutrition activists put forward their ideas and analyses. The central idea is […]
