On December 31, 2009, the work of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America came to a close. To stay up-to-date on the latest news and efforts related to health disparities and the social determinants of health, visit rwjf.org

Leveraging Food Policy to Improve America’s Health

Sheila Burke, Commissioner

February 17, 2009

One quarter of all children and 55% of infants receive nutrition benefits from the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.  Every day, the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) serves 30 million lunches and 11 million breakfasts to children across the country.  And each month, 29 million Americans receive help to buy groceries from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps).  These programs, all administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), provide the backbone for nutrition and health in this country, but they’re not traditionally thought of as part of our health infrastructure.

They should be.

This Commission has been charged with finding solutions outside the traditional health care system to improve the health of all Americans.  Nutrition policy is an important place to start.

In the current economic climate, there is no question that demand is growing for the food benefits and nutrition education offered by programs like SNAP, NSLP and WIC.  As part of the Commission’s fact finding, I had the honor of convening some of this country’s top experts on nutrition policy to address how we can use and further develop these powerful levers to improve the health of Americans quickly, directly and sustainably.

The group acknowledged that FNS program policies, such as the composition of school lunches,  should be set based on sound nutrition research.  The good news is that there is a growing consensus about what these nutrition standards should be.  The challenge – for advocates and policymakers at all levels – is addressing the funding constraints that impede these programs from achieving the highest nutritional standards.  It is clear in many cases that these programs are underfunded at a time when demand is increasing.

What struck me most was that everyone around the table – academics, advocates, federal program administrators and others – shared a commitment to finding the best way to manage these programs and get individuals the support they need in these challenging times.  This shared vision is key.  Achieving better health through better nutrition is not just a Federal responsibility—it requires the commitment of school districts, grocery stores, communities, and state and local governments.

I came away from our productive meeting with three priorities to report back to my fellow Commissioners:

  • Adequate Funding: Given the increasing demand for WIC, school meals and SNAP, we need to take a fresh look at funding to ensure that these programs can meet both the increasing demand and important nutrition goals.  Rising food costs make it difficult for programs to achieve the goal of higher quality nutrition within current funding levels.  If we don’t address the cost of food and meal “packages,” program demand and funding simultaneously, we miss an opportunity to leverage these programs to improve Americans’ health during this economic downturn.

  • Program Improvements: We need to look at what is working and what isn’t.  Millions of kids are served by the National School Lunch program, but far fewer participate in the breakfast program because of availability, school schedules, income limits on eligibility, and perceived stigma due to eligibility requirements.  Turning to SNAP, beneficiaries frequently run out of food by the end of the month, spending roughly 50% of their monthly payment in the first few days.  With the appropriate leadership and collaboration, we can implement specific programmatic changes to improve effectiveness.

  • Starting Early: It is essential to educate kids and their parents about nutrition as early as possible.  The school environment is important, but child care and pre-school settings offer additional “teachable moments.”  The FNS Team Nutrition initiative supports the Child Nutrition Programs through nutrition education for children and their caregivers as well as school and community support for healthy eating and physical activity.  By reaching more pregnant women, mothers and infants with WIC, making greater use of Team Nutrition initiatives, and providing nutritious food to kids through school meal programs, we can have an enormous impact on the health and quality of life of America’s children.

The meeting was an important start to the dialogue about the relationship between adequate nutrition and health in America.  I welcome your comments below. 

Comments on "Leveraging Food Policy to Improve America’s Health"

4 comments

  • Colleen Barclay

    June 30, 2009

    Expansion of FNS-administered programs, and changes in their policies, are important steps towards ameliorating the nutrition deficits of many Americans, but don’t address the underlying problems of our nation’s food infrastructure. The oversupply of processed, energy-dense products made from commodity crops – aggressively marketed and sometimes almost the only food available in the convenience stores or corner markets where low-income people may be obliged to shop – is favored by subsidization of large-scale corporate farming. Our agricultural policies, embodied by the U.S. Farm Bill renewed every five years, effectively penalize growers of fruits and vegetables; what writer and food activist Michael Pollan calls the resulting “silence of the yams” is at striking odds with national dietary recommendations. The World Health Organization acknowledged this contradiction in advising member nations to “take healthy nutrition into account in their agricultural policies” in its 2004 global strategy on diet, physical activity and health.

  • Mary Coehlo

    April 2, 2009

    I agree that USDA program improvement is long overdue. There are of course barriers to participation for applicants, but there are plenty of barriers to those who run these programs on a local level. A task as simple as providing nutrition education to SNAP recipients becomes a bureaucratic nightmare. SNAP-ed and other USDA funded nutrition programs are administratively (over) burdensome. We who work in programs spend most of our time filling out reports and accounting for everything imaginable, rather than providing the actual education to SNAP recipients. We are prevented from saying "disparaging" things about any food, even those that have no nutritional value (i.,e. soda). Please re-focus these programs - WIC, CACFP, SNAP, etc. on nutrition and reduce the (over) emphasis on paperwork and accountability.

  • Genoveva Islas-Hooker

    March 4, 2009

    "As part of the Commission’s fact finding, I had the honor of convening some of this country’s top experts on nutrition policy to address how we can use and further develop these powerful levers to improve the health of Americans quickly, directly and sustainably."

    Nutrition policy experts are only half of the equation in informing what needs to change. What about input from the actual community members who use these programs. They are the real experts on how to improve these programs. If you talk to them, you hear what a hardship it is to just apply for programs like SNAP. Every year our region misses out on millions of dollars because our enrollment is so poor. If you were to apply you would understand the trully unwelcomming experience that our communities face. It's mind boggling that we bailout corporate executives how irresponsiblly manage our money but require finger printing of food stamp recipients in order to prevent fraud??? Where is the justice in that? Program improvement require more than figuring out how to stretch dollars, it means simplifying enrollment and making sure that every eligible person is enrolled.

  • Robin Rifkin

    March 3, 2009

    I agree with your conclusions. For food- we need adequate funding for schools to purchase healthy food and kitchens to prepare real food. Too many schools don't have the proper facilities and staff to prepare nutritious food. I also feel as we need to find strategies to help people afford the foods we nutritionists promote, like fruits and vegetables, which are too costly for many to purchase. Thank you for your concern and consideration. I was at the Philly meeting.

DISCLAIMER

Blogging is a way for Commission members to cultivate new ideas and foster innovative thinking. While we encourage blog visitors to comment on and challenge our ideas and strategies, we expect all visitors to do so in the spirit of fairness and intellectual inquiry and to avoid personal attacks, libelous or defamatory posts and lobbying positions that are prohibited under the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's tax-exempt status. All posters are expected to abide by our terms of use.

The content on this blog is posted by Commission members, Foundation staff as well as people unrelated to the Commission or the Foundation. The views expressed on this blog do not necessarily reflect the positions, strategies or opinions of the Commission or the Foundation. The Commission and the Foundation cannot and do not verify or warrant the accuracy or completeness of the content.

YOU AGREE THAT USE OF THIS SERVICE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND THAT THE COMMISSION AND THE FOUNDATION (AND ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, TRUSTEES AND AGENTS) SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND.

For additional information please visit the Commission Blog Terms of Use.