A year ago the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 vote that USDA can keep secrets about its most costly program.
It was last June that the Supreme Court denied the Sioux Falls Argus Leader’s Freedom of Information Act request about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP for
Continue Reading USDA spends $5 million on SNAP fraud investigation SD newspaper would have done for free
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
At least 1.6 million students who previously paid for their own lunches at National School Lunch Program cafeterias have dropped out because they don’t like the new menus or the associated price increases, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a new report. In that report, GAO documents
Continue Reading School Lunch ‘Shrinkage’ Aside, USDA Food and Nutrition Spending Will Grow in 2015
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
Best-selling food author Marion Nestle paid a quick visit to Food Safety News during a stop in Seattle to discuss food politics, the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), and food safety.
Seattle readers may want to know that Nestle will be giving a talk and
Continue Reading Q&A with Author Marion Nestle on Food Politics, SNAP, and Food Safety
The Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday marked up and approved a new farm bill 15-5. While this mega-legislation that sets farm policy for five years is mostly focused on nutrition programs like SNAP and commodity programs like crop insurance and conservation, there are a couple notable food safety mentions in
Continue Reading Senate Agriculture Comittee Clears Farm Bill
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:
