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- Obesity
- Farm Bill
- Farm to School
- Food Retail
- Conservation
- Health and Agriculture Policies
- SNAP
- Sustainable and Organic Farming
- Food Industry
From the Institute of Medicine
Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention:
Solving the Weight of the Nation
Two-thirds of adults and one-third of children are overweight or obese. Left unchecked, obesity’s effects on health, health care costs, and our productivity as a nation could become catastrophic.
The staggering human toll of obesity-related chronic disease and disability, and an annual cost of $190.2 billion for treating obesity-related illness, underscore the urgent need to strengthen prevention efforts in the United States. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation asked the IOM to identify catalysts that could speed progress in obesity prevention.
Click here to download the report.
From Food and Water Watch & the Public Health Institute
Do Farm Subsidies Cause Obesity?
Dispelling Common Myths About Public Health and the Farm Bill
It is commonly argued that farm subsidies have led to the overproduction of commodity crops, such as corn, driving down the price of “junk food” made with commodity ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and partially hydrogenated soybean oil relative to healthier alternatives. This cycle, it is suggested, has led to increasing rates of obesity. Removing subsidies, the argument goes, would help combat obesity by discouraging overproduction of crops that are the base ingredients of unhealthy food. This seems like a logical argument, yet few if any of those making these arguments reference academic findings and economic analysis to support their claims.
From the American Public Health Association (APHA)
The Farm Bill and Public Health:
A Primer for Public Health Professionals
The Farm Bill impacts public health through a variety of nutrition, agriculture and conservation policies and programs. This primer provides a summary of the major components of the existing Farm Bill and their connections to public health; it is an essential foundation for all public health professionals.
Click here to read the report.
From The Food Trust
Greater Philadelphia and the Farm Bill
With the reauthorization of the next federal Farm Bill underway, The Food Trust has connected with national and local partners to identify the opportunities through which this critical legislation can and will benefit our
regional food network for years to come. Our region has a wealth of resources to build a vibrant food system, including some of the nation’s richest agricultural land, a diversified farming sector, nationally recognized nonprofit and for-profit stakeholders, and renowned leaders in academia. By combining the power of these assets with the influence of farmers, grocers, environmentalists, public health advocates, and hunger relief providers, we
can create a transformational Farm Bill.
Click here to download the full report.
From ChangeLab Solutions
Growing Change
A Farm Bill Primer for Communities
The Farm Bill is a major piece of agriculture and nutrition legislation that has a profound impact on public health. It not only affects farming and food production – it also ultimately determines the types of food we eat and how much it costs.
Community leaders across the country can play an important role in ensuring that Farm Bill spending helps promote health. This guide is designed to show the links between their work and federal policy, and to help identify ways to get involved in the Farm Bill reauthorization process.
Click here to download the report.
From Johns Hopkins Bloomburg School of Public Health
Protecting Environmental Compliance Programs
The Farm Bill is the primary piece of legislation addressing food and agriculture in the United States.1 By shaping the production and conservation practices on U.S. farms, including the types of crops grown
and where they are planted, the Farm Bill exerts a powerful influence on our environment and the kind of food available for consumption, and therefore influences public health. While the Farm Bill contains several conservation programs that directly incentivize healthier and more sustainable production
practices, in many ways its most far-reaching conservation incentive is the
attachment of conservation requirements to Direct Payments, a form of “farm subsidies,” that require farmers to implement certain environmental measures in order to be eligible for payments.2 As legislators prepare to phase out Direct Payments and grow the crop insurance subsidy programs in the 2012 Farm Bill, these measures are at risk. These environmental conservation measures—and public health—could be protected, however, by linking them to other programs expected to persist, particularly federal crop insurance subsidies. Crop insurance subsidies are government payments to cover a percentage of farmers’ crop insurance premiums.
Farm to School:
A Tool for Success with the New Nutrition Standards
Starting in 2012, new nutrition standards for school meals (changed for the first time since 1995) are being implemented across the country. The new guidelines reflect the most current scientific knowledge and analysis in support of children’s wellbeing and are based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine.
Farm to School activities inherently complement the new nutrition standards by helping increase student interest in new foods and fostering a deeper understanding of the origin of food and the importance of good nutrition, all of which can increase participation in school meal programs. This resource highlights Farm to School activities and resources that can help ease the transition to the new standards and foster support for school meal programs.
From ChangeLab Solutions
Green for Greens
Finding Public Financing for Healthy Food Retail
Bringing healthy food to “food deserts” requires tenacity, ingenuity, and a significant investment of capital. The good news is that there’s a substantial amount of public financing available for projects that make healthy food more available to low-income people. Federal, state, and local governments offer a range of funding programs that support economic development in these communities.
This guide provides a general overview of economic development and ideas for how to approach economic development agencies with healthy food retail proposals. It also provides a comprehensive overview of local, state, and federal economic development programs that have been or could be used for healthy food retail projects.
From Johns Hopkins Bloomburg School of Public Health
Protecting Environmental Compliance Programs
The Farm Bill is the primary piece of legislation addressing food and agriculture in the United States.1 By shaping the production and conservation practices on U.S. farms, including the types of crops grown
and where they are planted, the Farm Bill exerts a powerful influence on our environment and the kind of food available for consumption, and therefore influences public health. While the Farm Bill contains several conservation programs that directly incentivize healthier and more sustainable production
practices, in many ways its most far-reaching conservation incentive is the
attachment of conservation requirements to Direct Payments, a form of “farm subsidies,” that require farmers to implement certain environmental measures in order to be eligible for payments.2 As legislators prepare to phase out Direct Payments and grow the crop insurance subsidy programs in the 2012 Farm Bill, these measures are at risk. These environmental conservation measures—and public health—could be protected, however, by linking them to other programs expected to persist, particularly federal crop insurance subsidies. Crop insurance subsidies are government payments to cover a percentage of farmers’ crop insurance premiums.
Click here to download the full report.
From Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Working Lands Conservation Funding
Farm Bill conservation funding helps farmers adopt, expand, and continue conservation practices, often benefiting their farms’ short and long-term productivity and providing ecosystem services for all. Preserving and expanding conservation funding is an important priority in protecting the public’s health.
From the Center for Mississippi Health Policy
From Field to Fitness
Aligning Farm Policy with Health Policy to Improve Nutrition and Health
An Analysis of the Impact of the Federal Farm Bill on Nutrition and Health
Mississippi has the distinction of having the highest rates in the nation of both obesity and hunger/food insecurity (Trust for America’s Health, 2010 and Food Research and Action Center, 2010b). This apparent paradox can be explained in part by the fact that poor nutrition is an underlying factor for both conditions. Poor nutrition increases risk for early death and disability, where Mississippi again leads the nation.
Ample consumption of fruits and vegetables, which are low in calories and fats while high in vital nutrients, is important for growth and development, as well as prevention of chronic disease. Yet, few Americans eat enough of them to meet nutrition and disease protection needs, and Mississippi adults report the lowest intake of fruits and vegetables (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2009). Increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables is consequently an important component in any attempt to improve the nutritional status and health of Mississippians. This goal is difficult to obtain without addressing the accessibility and affordability of fruits and vegetables in the state, which ultimately leads to an examination of federal farm policies that directly impact the availability of these foods.
Click here to download the report.
From Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
Growing Healthy Food and Farm Policy
The Impact of Farm Bill Policies on Public Health
A Special Report
This report provides an examination and analysis of eighteen selected policies in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 U.S. Farm Bill). For each policy, we provide background information and summaries of lessons learned in coalition building, advocacy, and policy implementation. Our goal is to provide critical information to assist in navigating the 2012/2013 Farm Bill process, both for food system and public health advocates working to preserve and promote Farm Bill policy progress, and for those interested in health and food system policy more generally. The descriptions of program implementation may be particularly useful for Congressional members and staff. While the report offers an analysis of the overall lessons from the policies examined, each policy section is also designed to be able to serve as a standalone document.
Click here to download the report.
From PolicyLink
Growing Urban Agriculture: Equitable Strategies and Policies for Improving Access to Healthy Food and Revitalizing Communities
Based on interviews with urban farmers, advocates, and policymakers, Growing Urban Agriculture touches on the challenges that come with starting an urban farm, while highlighting the strategies for achieving success.
By embracing urban agriculture and its multitude of benefits, such as: increased access to healthy foods, job training, and a more beautiful environment, everyone will thrive. The time is ripe for urban agriculture.
Click here to download the full report.
From California Food Policy Advocates
Health Policy Brief: Nearly Four Million Californians Are Food Insecure
An estimated 3.8 million California adults — particularly those in households with children as well as low-income Latinos — could not afford to put adequate food on the table during the recent recession, according to a new policy brief by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Click here to download the full report.
From AGree
Review of U.S. Nutrition Assistance Policy:
Programs and Issues
Review of U.S. Nutrition Assistance Policy: Programs and Issues: This AGree backgrounder was written by Stephanie Mercier, former chief economist for the Senate Agriculture Committee. It provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of the domestic nutrition programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and National School Lunch Program, that are now the dominant components of U.S. agriculture policy from a budgetary standpoint. In addition to explaining the origins, characteristics, and impacts of the major programs, the backgrounder highlights current policy issues about their funding and operations.
Click here to download the full report.
From the Environmental Working Group
Specialty Crop Grants in California: Getting More Bang for the Buck
The Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) program, one of state’s most important sources of federal funding to expand and promote this $19 billion sector of California agriculture, delivers good value overall, EWG’s analysis found, but it falls short of its potential because grant awards don’t always target projects with the broadest payoff and sometimes don’t align with the state’s top policy priorities.
From USDA Food and Nutrition Service
Building a Healthy America:
A Profile of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
For the last four decades, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has played a critical role in the lives of millions of Americans in the fight against hunger and improved nutrition. In fiscal year 2011, SNAP served nearly 45 million people. This report seeks to provide policymakers and interested citizens with reliable information to assess the program’s strengths and identify opportunities for improvement.
Click here to download the report.
From Johns Hopkins Bloomburg School of Public Health
Improving Diets of Low Income Americans through SNAP Pricing Incentives
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps more than 45
million Americans meet their caloric needs each month.1 If the program provided incentives to purchase fruit and vegetables (F&V), it would go much further toward addressing nutritional needs, while also potentially reducing health disparities and supporting America’s farmers. Benefits for farmers and farming economies can be maximized by incentive programs geared
toward local and regional produce. Evidence has shown that pricing incentives can increase fruit and vegetable purchasing, benefitting consumers’ health and farmers’ incomes.
Click here to download the full report.
From Johns Hopkins Bloomburg School of Public Health
Reuniting SNAP Participants and Farmer’s Markets by Funding EBT Programs
Farmers markets are increasingly important venues for Americans to purchase locally grown, nutritious food. These markets, however are not as accessible as they should be to low-income consumers. At many markets, participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cannot use their benefits because the markets lack wireless terminals that process Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) sales. The 2008 Farm Bill provided some funding to increase this access, as described in CLF’s report,
Growing Healthy Food and Farm Policy (p.12). As part of the 2012 Farm Bill,
Congress should increase this investment, to improve access to healthy food while at the same time supporting America’s farmers and local economies.
From the National Wildlife Federation
Future Friendly Farming:
Seven Agricultural Practices to Sustain People and the Environment
Today,people are placing increasing demands upon our lands for
more goods and services. As a result, America’s farmers and foresters must obtain the most from our lands while protecting these precious resources to meet the needs of future generations. In order to sustain ourselves and future Americans, farmers and foresters must take a fresh look at how they manage the land.
The innovative future friendly farming practices outlined in this report can help growers gain an economic advantage by reducing their costs while increasing their crop yields, productivity, and revenue.
Click here to download the full report.
From the Organic Farming Research Foundation
Organic Farming for Health and Prosperity
Organic Farming for Health & Prosperity is a review of North American scientific literature concerning organic farming in the United States and Canada. The report examines the multitude of benefits that organic agriculture can provide and identifies the key ways in which agricultural policies in the United States could support organic farmers.
From the USDA Economic Research Service
Assessing the Healthfulness of Consumers’ Grocery Purchases
The nutritional quality of Americans’ diets has increasingly become a focus of economic research due to its effects on health outcomes. Health care and other costs associated with obesity, overweight, diabetes, and other diet-related ailments continue to swell. This study focuses on consumers’ grocery (food-at-home) expenditures to measure the extent to which Americans are conforming to Dietary Guidelines for Americans with the foods they purchase at the supermarket.
Click here to download the report.
From Food and Water Watch
The Economic Cost of Food Monopolies
The agriculture and food sector is unusually concentrated, with just a few companies dominating the market in each link of the food chain. In most sectors of the U.S. economy, the four largest firms control between 40 and 45 percent of the market, and many economists maintain that higher levels of concentration can start to erode competitiveness. Yet according to data compiled by the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2012, in the agriculture and food sector, the four largest companies controlled 82 percent of the beef packing industry, 85 percent of soybean processing, 63 percent of pork packing, and 53 percent of broiler chicken processing.
Read more here.
From Food Chain Workers Alliance
The Hands That Feed Us
Challenges and Opportunities for Workers Along the Food Chain
June 6, 2012 – Today, the Food Chain Workers Alliance releases a new report, The Hands That Feed Us: Challenges and Opportunities for Workers Along the Food Chain, the first of its kind that looks at wages and working conditions of workers across the entire food chain – a sector that employs 20 million people in the U.S., comprising one-sixth of the nation’s workforce.
The Hands That Feed Us is based on nearly 700 surveys and interviews with workers and employers in food production, processing, distribution, retail and service, which collectively sell over $1.8 trillion dollars in goods and services annually, accounting for over 13 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
According to our report, there are some good jobs in the food system (13.5% of workers surveyed earn livable wages), but the vast majority are incredibly low-wage, with little or no access to paid sick days and health benefits, with dire consequences for consumers.More than 86 percent of workers reported earning subminimum, poverty, and low wages, resulting in a sad irony: food workers face higher levels of food insecurity, or the inability to afford to eat, than the rest of the U.S. workforce.
You can download the full report, the executive summary, and the executive summary in Spanish. If you would like a hard copy of any of these, please contact us at info (at) foodchainworkers.org.
From Food and Water Watch
It Pays to Advertise: Junk Food Marketing to Children
Food marketing is pervasive in the lives of children and adolescents. Food and beverage companies spent $1.6 billion in 2006 to reach this important market. On television, online and even in schools, youth are regularly exposed to messages encouraging them to eat unhealthy foods, at a time when they need to establish healthy eating habits. One in three American children and adolescents is overweight or obese, conditions that contribute to poor health over their whole lifetimes. Restricting unhealthy food marketing to youth is one important step addressing this crisis.