Latest news with #SupplementalNutritionAssistanceProgramme
Economist
24-07-2025
- Business
- Economist
Cuts to food stamps are about to hit in America
United States | Coupon clipping Photograph: Erin Schaff/The New York Times/Redux/Eyevine Jul 24th 2025 | SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO | 4 min read B Y DAYBREAK in Santa Fe, the line of cars already snakes down the street. Families in sedans, builders in trucks and one off-duty taxi queue up to get frozen chicken, a sack of potatoes and a gallon of milk. Everyone in line at the Food Depot, a food bank, gets served, but one couple in their 50s arrived at 5:20am just to be sure. They receive money for food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme ( SNAP ), a federal welfare programme. It lasts them five days. The Epstein uproar has revealed an unexpected danger—for the president—of a Justice Department that seems partisan Fed up with the traditional joints, these businesswomen are shooting their shot What happens when a president sues a press baron? The cost of replacing ageing ICBMs is soaring as a new arms race looms A vast right-wing conspiracy comes for the president The college drop-out fighting to preserve Donald Trump's youth vote
Time of India
27-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Supplemental nutrition supply programme needs boost: ZP CEO
Mangaluru: Upon reviewing the progress of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme, it was found that compared to other districts, the progress in Dakshina Kannada is significantly lower. ZP CEO Dr Anandh K instructed child development project officers to focus more on swift progress in the nutrition supply program. He was speaking at a district-level coordination committee meeting of the department of women and child development held on Thursday. There are 20 children with severe malnutrition in the district, and they should be admitted to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) for better care, and emphasised the need to make DK, a malnutrition-free district. He directed the officials to expedite the maintenance of anganwadi centres under the Anganwadi Building Maintenance Scheme. Child development project officers were advised to regularly inspect the Anganwadi building work. Referring to two cases of child marriage registered in the district from July to December 2024, the CEO instructed that necessary actions should be taken regarding cases of child marriage and teenage pregnancies found in the district. Mandatory ward committee meetings should be held within the gram panchayat jurisdiction to discuss and take appropriate measures to prevent child marriages and teenage pregnancies, he said. If child marriage is found, complaints should be made to the 1098 helpline. Awareness workshops should be conducted to prevent child marriage and teenage pregnancies, he said. A total of 13 dowry cases have been registered in the district, with 11 cases currently under investigation, he said, adding that awareness programs about the dowry prohibition act should be organised regularly. Senior civil judge & member secretary, district legal service authority Zaibunnisa, deputy director of women and child development department, Usman A, Prajna Counselling Centre director Hilda Rayappan and others were present.
Straits Times
21-05-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
In approving soda ban for food stamps, US govt reverses decades of policy
The American Heart Association said it 'unequivocally' supported reducing the consumption of sugary drinks as a means to combat heart disease. PHOTO: AFP In approving soda ban for food stamps, US govt reverses decades of policy WASHINGTON – For two decades, the federal government has rejected states' efforts to ban purchases of sugary drinks using food stamps, hesitant, in part, to cross an unusual coalition of corporate interests and anti-poverty groups. Now, the Trump administration has waded in, approving a first-of-its-kind waiver on May 19 for Nebraska to ban purchases of soda and energy drinks through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP), known as food stamps. It is likely to pave the way for more state waivers, signaling a sharp shift in nutrition policy. Under the proposal, Nebraska will establish a programme, beginning in January 2026 and affecting some 150,000 food stamp recipients in the state. Nebraska, in its waiver application, said it would regularly survey participants in the state to evaluate changes in their spending habits and examine retailer data to assess reductions in purchases of soda and energy drinks. A spokesperson for the state's department of Health and Human Services said that Nebraska would also provide technical assistance to help retailers make the transition. In a statement on May 19 , Mrs Brooke L. Rollins, the agriculture secretary, called the approval 'a historic step to Make America Healthy Again'. Nebraska governor Jim Pillen also welcomed the step, saying, 'There's absolutely zero reason for taxpayers to be subsidising purchases of soda and energy drinks'. The prohibition adds to the limits recipients face in using the programme. Already, their benefits do not apply to hot foods, non-food items, alcohol and tobacco products. In recent months, Nebraska and other states, largely led by Republican governors, have sought waivers to extend those restrictions to unhealthy purchases. A spokesperson for the Agriculture Department said on May 20 that the agency was reviewing and working with Iowa, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, West Virginia, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah on similar waivers. A wave of approvals would come after decades of Agriculture Department denials under both Democratic and Republican administrations, including President Donald Trump's first. In letters explaining its rejections over more than a decade and in a 2007 policy paper, the Agriculture Department expressed concerns over the rationale, feasibility and effectiveness of such bans: Which, out of hundreds of thousands of products, should be banned? How would grocery stores, especially smaller shops not using advanced checkout systems, enforce such bans? And how would a state or city study the effect of these bans? Asked about such bans during a congressional hearing in 2017, Mr Sonny Perdue, Mr Trump's first agriculture secretary, questioned whether enforcing such restrictions was unduly interfering in people's lives. 'On what level do we want to become a nanny state of directing how, and what, people feed their families?' he said then. The second Trump administration has struck a different tone. Mrs Rollins and Mr Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, have written that their agencies had 'a duty to fix' the obesity and chronic disease epidemics, encouraging steering 'taxpayer dollars to go toward wholesome foods' using waivers. Past bipartisan resistance to food stamp restrictions on unhealthy foods stems from the messy politics of the issue and the strange bedfellows it has united both in support and in opposition. The American Heart Association said it 'unequivocally' supported reducing the consumption of sugary drinks as a means to combat heart disease. Right-leaning groups like the American Enterprise Institute and some conservative members of Congress have asserted that the bans would incentivise healthier purchases and return SNAP to its original purpose of helping poor people afford nutritious food. Conversely, trade groups representing grocery stores and beverage companies argue that bans would be difficult and costly to enact at the cash register and unfairly single out soda as a cause for obesity. Anti-hunger and anti-poverty organisations fear such bans may lead to broader cuts to food stamps and state that such restrictions are paternalistic. Dr Thomas A. Farley, who was New York City's health commissioner at the time it requested a waiver in 2011, said in an interview that he had been 'hopeful' about approval given numerous meetings, discussions and phone calls with federal officials, only to be met with disappointment. The reasons cited by the Agriculture Department in denying New York's request in 2011 – the feasibility and large-scale nature of a citywide ban – felt like 'a smoke screen', Dr Farley said. He added that he believed interests from farm states that produce corn, used in the high-fructose corn syrup in soda, were the real forces behind the denial. Those forces are still in play today. But Dr Farley marvelled at how 'the Trump movement has scrambled a lot in politics'. After the American Beverage Association issued a rebuke of Arkansas' waiver request in April, Mrs Rollins wrote on social media that the trade group's leadership was 'in direct conflict with this administration's priorities for American health, well-being and taxpayer protection'. Dr Marion Nestle , a nutritionist at New York University and author of a book on soda bans, said that the current momentum reflected both opponents' fears and supporters' wishes. 'Some of this comes from the belief that taxpayers should not be subsidising unhealthy diets,' she said, noting that sodas were the natural start given the ingredients and low nutritional value. 'Some of it reflects condescending attitudes that poor people don't know what's good for them. And I'm guessing some of it is a cover for efforts to cut SNAP.' NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
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Business Standard
01-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
USDA funding cuts may worsen hunger crisis as reliance on food banks grows
Food banks typically see the most need during periods of high unemployment and yet the US is facing down a hunger crisis during a relatively resilient labour market AP New York The Campaign Against Hunger was already struggling to feed thousands of families a week when the Trump administration pulled more than $1.3 million in grants. Demand has only increased at the New York nonprofit since the city emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic and the related economic insecurity. In a first for the pantry, however, it isn't just the jobless lining up for its fresh produce and meats. It's working people, too. Food banks typically see the most need during periods of high unemployment and yet the US is facing down a hunger crisis during a relatively resilient labour market. The latest US Department of Agriculture research showed there were one million more food insecure households in 2023 than 2022. Now, income stagnation and rising living costs are sending wage earners to food banks across the country all as the federal government shuts off funding streams that provide millions with healthier, harder-to-get groceries. The squeeze comes as Republicans discuss budget plans that hunger relief groups fear will deepen the crisis by slashing food stamp spending. We were already in a bad state. But now we have been plunged head down into a crisis that should never have been, said Melony Samuels, executive director of The Campaign Against Hunger. If major cuts like these continue, I would imagine that our doors will close. Higher food costs mean longer lines Funding cuts began threatening food availability in March. The USDA halted $500 million of expected food deliveries and cut another $1 billion for hunger relief programs supporting local producers. The Department of Homeland Security also rescinded Federal Emergency Management Agency grants for local governments and nonprofits including The Campaign Against Hunger to shelter and feed newly arrived noncitizen migrants after their release. Secretary Noem has directed FEMA to implement additional controls to ensure that all grant money going out is consistent with law and does not go to fraud, waste or abuse, as in the past, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Samuels said her nonprofit is limiting normally bimonthly food distributions to once a month due to the lost funds, which are being withheld amid what she called baseless allegations" from DHS that the nonprofit might have broken laws against transporting undocumented migrants. That means fewer nutritious options for the dozens of people some holding babies, many pushing carts who recently waited to shop inside The Campaign Against Hunger's Brooklyn mock-store on an overcast weekday in April. Longtime Brooklyn resident Kim Dennis has noticed the uptick in need. On top of her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme benefits, the 65-year-old retiree visits The Campaign Against Hunger twice each month for groceries like potatoes and pork chops that are more difficult to find at other food banks often filled with canned goods. The lines are getting a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot," Dennis said, partially due to recent immigration waves. Everything is going up and a lot of us cannot afford." Over half of responding food banks told Feeding America they served more neighbors this February than the same month last year. Christiana Santamaria said she visits a local food bank in Alameda, California each week to feed herself, her husband and their daughter. They struggle to cover food costs, internet bills and car payments with a monthly household income of nearly $3,000. I mean, my husband, he works full-time. He has a quote-unquote good job.' But I mean, it's the military. And if even the military can't afford things, that's sad," she said. Food banks face deficits The country's largest hunger-relief network is also feeling the strain. Feeding America consists of more than 200 member food banks. Their assistance is often easier to obtain than government benefits such as SNAP that some advocates say require burdensome applications. Many families put dinner on the table through a combination of the two a strategy food bank leaders say could be upended if Republican lawmakers cut SNAP allotments or expand work requirements. Houston Food Bank CEO Brian Greene expects his organization, which operates the largest distribution among Feeding America partners, to lose somewhere around $4 million this year. The government pullbacks amp up that pressure. If the cuts stay, Greene said, the projected losses include $3 million for food storage and distribution, $7 million supporting local farmers and producers, and 40 tractor trailer loads a month carrying key produce and protein. Greene is trying to make up the difference through donations. But he's realistic. Surveys consistently place American philanthropy around 2% of GDP and social services receive just a sliver of that. Even if charitable contributions spiked, he said, they couldn't replace federal support. That makes SNAP availability even more critical to alleviating hunger. Cutting the program by 11%, he said, would be the equivalent of wiping out every food bank in the United States. Less predictability and variety Food purchases are funded through the Farm Bill. Trump's trade war has also generated more money for USDA to buy food commodities under a 1935 program that dedicates tariff collections toward bonus food purchases. What concerns hunger relief groups, however, is that the suspended purchases are covered by a different funding pot that allows the USDA great discretion when responding to economic disruptions. The first Trump administration put more than $2 billion of those funds toward The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP. However, USDA is now reviewing $500 million allocated last fall for the program. Federal commodities programs provide some of the most reliable supplies of proteins. Vince Hall, who leads government relations for Feeding America, said TEFAP-purchased foods account for more than 20% of everything distributed by the entire network. That number rises in rural communities where the cost of reaching distant populations is higher and donated products are less available. The impact trickles down to smaller pantries that rely on larger food banks. Mother Hubbard's Cupboard is bracing for about 25% food reductions from a Feeding America partner in Bloomington, Indiana. What we're likely to see then would be a dip in what are really the nutritional staples that we expect in the pantry, said Mother Hubbard's Cupboard President Megan Betz. A 2022 study measuring food pantries' value suggests participating families obtain between $600 and $1000 annually from them. That's equivalent to a couple months of food for some low-income households, according to co-author David Just, an applied economics professor at Cornell University. The centers helped cushion families from the pandemic's economic shocks. But food insecurity started rising as the government rolled back its pandemic-era assistance. Need has surpassed the height of COVID-19, according to Alameda County Community Food Bank Executive Director Reggie Young. The weight of the Oakland nonprofit's annual food distributions has doubled its pre-pandemic totals. Food insecurity nationwide is the highest it's been in about a decade, according to Just, making it potentially a really difficult time to start cutting food assistance through the pantries. This could cause some pretty significant pain, he said. "And I don't know that we're delivering something more efficient in the end. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
01-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Funding cuts threaten to deepen hunger crisis as rising costs send more families to food banks
AI Image NEW YORK: The Campaign Against Hunger was already struggling to feed thousands of families a week when the Trump administration pulled more than $1.3 million in grants. Demand has only increased at the New York nonprofit since the city emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic insecurity. In a first for the pantry, however, it isn't just the jobless lining up for its fresh produce and meats. It's working people, too. Food banks typically see the most need during periods of high unemployment and yet the US is facing down a hunger crisis during a relatively resilient labour market. The latest US Department of Agriculture research showed there were one million more food insecure households in 2023 than 2022. Now, income stagnation and rising living costs are sending wage earners to food banks across the country - all as the federal government shuts off funding streams that provide millions with healthier, harder-to-get groceries. The squeeze comes as Republicans discuss budget plans that hunger relief groups fear will deepen the crisis by slashing food stamp spending. "We were already in a bad state. But now we have been plunged head down into a crisis that should never have been," said Melony Samuels, executive director of The Campaign Against Hunger. "If major cuts like these continue, I would imagine that our doors will close." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like My Stepdad Demands I Pay Him Rent On My 18th Birthday. He Doesn't Know I Own The House So I Did This Beach Raider Undo Higher food costs mean longer lines Funding cuts began threatening food availability in March. The USDA halted $500 million of expected food deliveries and cut another $1 billion for hunger relief programs supporting local producers. The Department of Homeland Security also rescinded Federal Emergency Management Agency grants for local governments and nonprofits - including The Campaign Against Hunger - to shelter and feed newly arrived noncitizen migrants after their release. "Secretary Noem has directed FEMA to implement additional controls to ensure that all grant money going out is consistent with law and does not go to fraud, waste or abuse, as in the past," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Samuels said her nonprofit is limiting normally bimonthly food distributions to once a month due to the lost funds, which are being withheld amid what she called "baseless allegations" from DHS that the nonprofit might have broken laws against transporting undocumented migrants. That means fewer nutritious options for the dozens of people - some holding babies, many pushing carts - who recently waited to shop inside The Campaign Against Hunger's Brooklyn mock-store on an overcast weekday in April. Longtime Brooklyn resident Kim Dennis has noticed the uptick in need. On top of her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme benefits, the 65-year-old retiree visits The Campaign Against Hunger twice each month for groceries like potatoes and pork chops that are more difficult to find at other food banks often filled with canned goods. "The lines are getting a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot," Dennis said, partially due to recent immigration waves. "Everything is going up and a lot of us cannot afford." Over half of responding food banks told Feeding America they served more neighbors this February than the same month last year. Christiana Santamaria said she visits a local food bank in Alameda, California each week to feed herself, her husband and their daughter. They struggle to cover food costs, internet bills and car payments with a monthly household income of nearly $3,000. "I mean, my husband, he works full-time. He has a quote-unquote good job.' But I mean, it's the military. And if even the military can't afford things, that's sad," she said. Food banks face deficits The country's largest hunger-relief network is also feeling the strain. Feeding America consists of more than 200 member food banks. Their assistance is often easier to obtain than government benefits such as SNAP that some advocates say require burdensome applications. Many families put dinner on the table through a combination of the two - a strategy food bank leaders say could be upended if Republican lawmakers cut SNAP allotments or expand work requirements. Houston Food Bank CEO Brian Greene expects his organization, which operates the largest distribution among Feeding America partners, to lose somewhere around $4 million this year. The government pullbacks amp up that pressure. If the cuts stay, Greene said, the projected losses include $3 million for food storage and distribution, $7 million supporting local farmers and producers, and 40 tractor trailer loads a month carrying key produce and protein. Greene is trying to make up the difference through donations. But he's realistic. Surveys consistently place American philanthropy around 2% of GDP and social services receive just a sliver of that. Even if charitable contributions spiked, he said, they couldn't replace federal support. That makes SNAP availability even more critical to alleviating hunger. Cutting the program by 11%, he said, would be the equivalent of wiping out every food bank in the United States. Less predictability and variety Food purchases are funded through the Farm Bill. Trump's trade war has also generated more money for USDA to buy food commodities under a 1935 program that dedicates tariff collections toward "bonus" food purchases. What concerns hunger relief groups, however, is that the suspended purchases are covered by a different funding pot that allows the USDA great discretion when responding to economic disruptions. The first Trump administration put more than $2 billion of those funds toward The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP. However, USDA is now reviewing $500 million allocated last fall for the program. Federal commodities programs provide some of the most reliable supplies of proteins. Vince Hall, who leads government relations for Feeding America, said TEFAP-purchased foods account for more than 20% of everything distributed by the entire network. That number rises in rural communities - where the cost of reaching distant populations is higher and donated products are less available. The impact trickles down to smaller pantries that rely on larger food banks. Mother Hubbard's Cupboard is bracing for about 25% food reductions from a Feeding America partner in Bloomington, Indiana. "What we're likely to see then would be a dip in what are really the nutritional staples that we expect in the pantry," said Mother Hubbard's Cupboard President Megan Betz. A 2022 study measuring food pantries' value suggests participating families obtain between $600 and $1000 annually from them. That's equivalent to a couple months of food for some low-income households, according to co-author David Just, an applied economics professor at Cornell University. The centers helped cushion families from the pandemic's economic shocks. But food insecurity started rising as the government rolled back its pandemic-era assistance. Need has surpassed the height of COVID-19, according to Alameda County Community Food Bank Executive Director Reggie Young. The weight of the Oakland nonprofit's annual food distributions has doubled its pre-pandemic totals. Food insecurity nationwide is the highest it's been in about a decade, according to Just, making it "potentially a really difficult time to start cutting food assistance through the pantries." "This could cause some pretty significant pain," he said. "And I don't know that we're delivering something more efficient in the end."
