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Feds May Use Food Stamps to Improve Nutrition

Food stamp and school lunch programs could be revamped to encourage nutrition

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted Dec 24, 2008 1:57 PM CST

(Newser) – The Obama White House may move to revamp food aid so it encourages healthy eating, reports the Washington Post. One idea gaining favor: Double the value of food stamps if they're used to buy fruits and vegetables. While anti-hunger advocates have long objected to such government meddling, opposition is softening because of a growing body of evidence that links the seemingly opposite notions of hunger and obesity.

The problem is that people on food stamps understandably go for cheap food, but that food is often high in calories and low on nutritional value. Punishing people for such purchases is a no-go because many low-income neighborhoods don't have a full-service supermarket and produce aisle. The idea, instead, is to create incentives to buy wisely. Such programs are already in place at farmers markets in Connecticut, California, and Massachusetts.

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In a Sept. 4, 2007, file photo Trevor Nouvel and Ali Parker go through the serving line in the cafeteria at Sharon Elementary School in Suwanee, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore/file)

Shoppers check out after midnight at One Stop Food & Liquors in Chicago in May. The doors open at midnight at the beginning of the month to let people to shop as soon as they have food stamps. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

President-elect Barack Obama looks on at left as Agriculture Secretary-designate, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, speaks at a news conference in Chicago, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008. (AP Photo)

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, looks at the receding floodwaters on Normandy Drive while taking a tour of the damage with President Bush, Thursday, June 19, 2008 in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Matthew Holst, Pool)

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If there are areas in cities where there isn't an apple for sale within a mile radius, restricting food stamps goes beyond paternalism to a form of abuse. - Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center

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Feds May Use Food Stamps to Improve Nutrition