43 million Americans utilize SNAP benefits and about 1.7 Million of them live in New York City. In Fiscal Year 2015, the federal government spent about $75 billion on SNAP. The impact of this program is both large in the number of people it reaches and in its purchasing power. A recent USDA study looked [...]
The recent election poses a grave threat to federal nutrition programs and the millions of low income families they serve. This January, Republicans will control the presidency and both houses of Congress. Republican speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, has been pushing to block grant SNAP (formerly food stamps) for several years. Ryan’s proposed changes [...]
Trump’s inauguration, coupled with Republican Congressional control, requires every constituency to analyze the threats to the gains of the last eight years. This is particularly urgent for New Yorkers involved in eliminating food insecurity and hunger, fighting malnutrition and health inequality, and ensuring a sustainable food system with good jobs. Anticipating efforts to undermine food [...]
Dear Readers: It will take us all some time to analyze the full implications of the outcome of the election and to understand the effects on food justice and health equity. As founders of the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute at the CUNY School of Public Health, as public health researchers and advocates, and as [...]
Most observers of the 2016 election would agree that to date food and food policy has not been a front burner issue. But are there other top tier election issues that could provide an opening for food advocates—climate change and energy policy, trade policy, income inequality and minimum wage, the role of government in safety [...]
