February 16th, 2012 by Vanessa Hoffman MPH, RD
Laura Fox is the co-coordinator for the Baltimore City Health Department’s Virtual Supermarket Project, also known as Baltimarket. She answered some questions from SNAP to Health about how Baltimarket works, how people can use SNAP benefits in the program, and where it’s headed in the future.
What is the Virtual Supermarket Program (Baltimarket)?
Baltimarket, the Virtual Supermarket Program, is a program where residents in Baltimore City, ... more >
Posted in Baltimarket, blog, EBT, food, food access, SNAP
February 15th, 2012 by Michele Simon, JD, MPH
As Enrollment Increases, USDA Should Require Purchase Data from Food Stamp Retailers to Better Evaluate Nutrition Intake
This week Congress begins hearings on the 2012 farm bill, the massive piece of legislation that gets updated about every five years and undergirds America’s entire food supply, but that few mortals can even understand. As nutrition professor Marion Nestle recently lamented, “no one has any idea what the ... more >
Posted in blog, EBT, Farm Bill, food, food stamps, Michele Simon, SNAP
February 15th, 2012 by Jean Guo
At a visit to Parklawn Elementary School in Virginia on January 25th, 2012, First Lady Michelle Obama announced the new nutrition standards set by the USDA for school meals.
"When we send our kids to school, we have a right to expect that they won’t be eating the kind of fatty, salty, sugary foods that we're trying to keep from them when they're at home," Mrs. Obama ... more >
Posted in blog, children, nutrition standards, school lunch
January 24th, 2012 by Oran B. Hesterman
by Dr. Oran B. Hesterman, President & CEO, Fair Food Network
One way to create a healthier food environment for low-income residents of our inner cities and “food deserts” is to increase the amount of SNAP dollars being spent at farmers’ markets – and doing so has the added advantage of also benefitting local farmers and the local economy. This is precisely what our nonprofit Fair Food ... more >
Posted in blog, Detroit, Double Up Food Bucks, EBT, Fair Food Network, farmers markets, food, food security, food stamps, Michigan, SNAP
January 18th, 2012 by Kirstin Krusell
The Farm Bill, despite its important role in shaping the food system in America, is so complex that it is little understood by most people. On December 3, 2011 the first ever Farm Bill Hackathon set out to remedy this situation. Although the term may sound ominous, a “hackathon” is simply an event where programmers gather either in person or online to collaborate on technology-based ... more >
Posted in blog, commodity crops, Farm Bill, food, infographics, specialty crops
January 17th, 2012 by Sarah Dwyer
“Eating well” means eating the healthiest foods that we love to eat most. It does not mean eating foods that we don’t like simply because they are healthy, nor does it mean eating foods we love that don’t provide the nutrition our bodies need. SNAP’s wonderful new initiative to help us “SNAP To Health” makes it easier to purchase foods that are good for us ... more >
Posted in blog, food, heritage, Oldways
January 17th, 2012 by Sejal Patel
In the first case of its kind, on December 14th, 2011, a Cuyahoga County court in Cleveland, Ohio ruled to remove a 200-pound, 8-year-old boy from his mother’s custody. The ruling determined the boy’s obese health status was a form of childhood neglect, stating that the child’s mother was not doing enough to control his weight gain. County workers were first alerted about the boy’s ... more >
Posted in blog, children, obesity
January 10th, 2012 by Kirstin Krusell
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has made it his mission to encourage healthier habits among New Yorkers, and some are crediting the city’s efforts with a 5.5 percent decrease in obesity rates among New York City’s school children since 2006. While this may seem to be a small decrease, it is actually the largest decline recorded in any major city, and according to Mayor Bloomberg, it ... more >
Posted in blog, children, New York City, obesity, school lunch, soda
December 2nd, 2011 by Susan Blumenthal, M.D.
Hunger and food insecurity are major public health problems in America that have escalated dramatically in response to the current economic recession. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food Stamp Program, serves as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s largest food assistance program, and provides a safety net for the nation’s low-income population to meet food and nutrition needs. The program aims to alleviate ... more >
Posted in blog, food security, food stamps, obesity, SNAP
December 2nd, 2011 by Vanessa Hoffman MPH, RD
Yum! Brands Inc, the Louisville, Kentucky based company that owns Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC recently stopped its campaign to encourage state governments to allow people to use food stamps at its fast food restaurants.The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program is under the purview of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) but states decide whether their SNAP beneficiaries ... more >
Posted in blog, EBT, fast food, food stamps, SNAP
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