public nutrition programs
Pelosi backs higher SNAP benefits for next coronavirus bill
Rebuffed in negotiations on the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that she will try again to raise SNAP benefits when Congress writes its next coronavirus bill. The House was scheduled to vote on the $2 trillion bill today. "I anticipate, I am certain, we will have a strong bipartisan vote," said Pelosi. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
As promised, administration proposes stricter enforcement of SNAP time limit
Delayed for weeks by the partial federal shutdown, the Trump administration published its proposal to restrict states from allowing able-bodied adults to collect SNAP benefits for more than 90 days if they are not working at least 20 hours a week. The Federal Register notice ignited a campaign to block the proposal, which opponents said is contrary to the 2018 food and farm law.
Federal nutrition assistance at risk in a long-running shutdown
Two of the major public nutrition programs, SNAP and WIC, could run out of money if the partial government shutdown persists into February and beyond, affecting millions of people. While the USDA says funding is assured for this month, it is not as clear about what to expect in the future.
USDA wins food safety, loses SNAP in Trump reorganization
On Thursday, budget director Mick Mulvaney unveiled the federal reorganization plan that President Trump set in motion in his second month in office. Under the proposal, SNAP and WIC would be moved from the USDA to a new agency, the Department of Health and Public Welfare.
Report: Federal reorganization would move SNAP to ‘welfare’ department
A Trump administration plan to reorganize the federal government would include consolidating food stamps, now run by the USDA, and other social safety net programs at the Department of Health and Human Services, said Politico.
‘America’s Harvest Box’ is stamped ‘Return to sender’
In a quiet subcommittee vote, Congress declined on Wednesday to take delivery of “America’s Harvest Box,” the Trump administration’s headline-grabbing idea of sending a monthly box of nonperishable foods to SNAP recipients.
Navigating SNAP presents special challenges for the mentally ill
In the third installment of a five-part investigation into SNAP, Harvest Public Media explores how work requirements, the recertification process, and shame can prevent people with mental illness from accessing crucial nutrition services.
Will Mike Conaway out-do Trump on work requirements for food stamps?
Along with the much-criticized Harvest Box of nonperishable food for low-income Americans, President Trump proposed in his budget more stringent limits on food stamps for people who work less than 20 hours a week. House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway may go beyond Trump in his proposals to restrict eligibility and to channel millions of food-stamp recipients into workfare and job-training programs.
Economists pan Trump’s Harvest Box plan
A survey of economists by the University of Chicago business school found overwhelming disapproval of the Trump administration’s Harvest Box proposal, said the Los Angeles Times.
Wisconsin toughens its time limit for food stamp recipients
According to Gov. Scott Walker, “Wisconsin continues to lead the way on welfare reform,” including legislation that requires more of its residents to work more hours per week, or spend more time in job training, to receive food stamps for more than 90 days.
Harvest Box may be a Pandora’s box of logistical troubles
The Trump administration proposal to replace half of food stamp benefits with a monthly box of food for program participants “would put families’ basic food security at risk,” says the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
‘Harvest Box’ proposal makes a policy point, say officials
Two administration officials “who worked on the idea” say the White House proposal of a monthly “Harvest Box” of preselected food for poor Americans “was intended to lay down a marker that the administration is serious” about revamping the food stamp program, said the New York Times.
White House plan: Cut food stamp eligibility, give people a box of food
President Trump would slash food stamp spending by 30 percent over the next decade by cutting enrollment 6 percent and giving recipients half of their benefits in a monthly box of U.S.-grown food. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the "America's Harvest Box" was "a bold, innovative approach to providing nutritious food" that would cost far less than the current system of letting food stamp participants buy food on their own.
Trump orders overhaul of federal agencies and their duties
It will take more than a year to write, but President Trump ordered a top-to-bottom reorganization of the federal government, to streamline its operation and discard unneeded programs. The project, under the control of the White House budget office, could provide an opening for calls to create a single food-safety agency, to centralize federal oversight of genetically engineered plants and animals, or to combine public nutrition programs that sprawl across several agencies.
Celebrity chef sounds the call: ‘Food is politics’
José Andrés, co-owner of a dozen U.S. restaurants, urged foodies to stand up to painful food and immigration policies that he expects to see from the Trump administration. Speaking at the Food Tank Summit, Andrés told the overflow crowd "Food is politics," reported Quartz.
Trump, a supporter of ethanol, less farm regulation
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned as a supporter of corn ethanol and said he would protect farmers from over-regulation. His senior advisor, Sam Clovis, said the New York businessman does not support the idea, popular among conservative House Republicans, of splitting food stamps from the rest of the farm bill.
Aggies may try to split farm subsidies and public nutrition
House Agriculture chairman Mike Conaway says his committee will consider whether farm subsidies and public nutrition programs, headlined by food stamps, should be handled separately by lawmakers, says Agri-Pulse.
Five top themes of 2014 and for the new year
The year-end holidays are a traditional time for summing up and for trying to forecast the future. Here is the Ag Insider list of five salient issues in food and agriculture policy likely to lead the headlines in the new year, as they did in the year now waning. The issues...
Administration calls for full WIC funding in 2024
Congress should provide an additional $1 billion for the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program in January when it votes on funding for the USDA and several other federal departments, said Biden administration officials on Wednesday.