As November approaches, with the federal government shutdown now in its third week, suspension of food stamps for the hungry is becoming increasingly likely.
There was sufficient federal funding in the pipeline for the states to pay SNAP benefits to an estimated 42 million Americans in October.
Supplemental Nutrition
Continue Reading States begin warning SNAP beneficiaries that their money to feed their families is being cut off
The 41.7 million people who received monthly SNAP benefits in 2024 have long known they cannot use what were once called food stamps to purchase alcohol, tobacco, personal care products, or even hot and prepared foods.
In 2025, one state after another is adding soda pop to that “verboten” list
Continue Reading MAHA gets states to sign waivers further restricting SNAP purchases
The Argus Leader did not ask for much. It just wanted to know where the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP food stamp spending ended up. That was more than a decade ago when SNAP spending was less than today’s $70 billion.
South Dakota’s largest newspaper has been fighting all
Continue Reading High Court says USDA can keep secrets about $70 billion in SNAP spending
President Donald J. Trump wants to consolidate federal food safety under a single agency housed in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
President Barack Obama also wanted to consolidate food safety, only he preferred housing it in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Food and Drug
Continue Reading Trump wants a single federal food safety agency put under USDA
Before it wrapped up its meetings this week in Washington D.C., the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) agreed to priorities for the 2018 farm bill.
If that seems a little pre-mature, it’s not. Congressional leaders plan to get to work on the 2018 farm bill later this
Continue Reading State ag leaders put food safety on priority list for 2018 farm bill
Food safety in 2017 will be dependent on our “complicated bureaucracies” that exist to get through transitions and times of change. Both USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are sure to be taking many “business as usual” actions in January.
Confucius
Continue Reading Storms and stability ahead for food safety efforts in 2017
This article has been updated to reflect additional information and include a post-publication interview with Edward Cooney, Executive Director of the Congressional Hunger Center. The American Medical Association, along with a coalition of 18 mayors, came out against the eligibility for sugary drinks to be purchased under the Supplemental Nutrition
Continue Reading AMA, Mayors Say Food Stamps Should Not Buy Soft Drinks
As 2012 came to a close, I decided to set what I believed to be an achievable goal for my New Year’s Resolution: to complete one personal “challenge” each month in 2013. For February (yes—the shortest month), I took on the “food stamp challenge,” for two reasons:
The oppotunity to cut from the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program could put the Farm Bill on the agenda of the lame duck Congress, some agricultural interests say. The 2008 Farm Bill expired Oct. 1, and Congress recessed for the elections without agreement on the 2012 update. Congressional leaders need
Continue Reading New Farm Bill Might Help President And Congress Scale The ‘Fiscal Cliff’
Healthy food doesn’t have to be expensive. That’s the message of a new guide to eating well on a budget released by the Environmental Working Group today. The guide – “Good Food on a Tight Budget” – is designed to debunk the popular belief that low-income families can’t
Continue Reading EWG Says Eating Well on a Budget Is Possible, and Here’s How
