nutrition

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s Mountain Plains Region is in year three of a collaborative partnership with the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to facilitate The Food and Mood Project.

WIC is a powerful public health program, serving nearly half of all babies born in the country. To help keep program costs manageable, Congress requires WIC state agencies to contract with an infant formula manufacturer to provide discounted formula for purchase with WIC benefits. The state agencies solicit bids from manufacturers and award a contract to the one that offers the most cost-effective bid. This process helps save taxpayers an estimated $1.7 billion per year on formula provided through WIC and allow the program to continue to make WIC benefits available to all eligible mothers, infants, and young children.

Top Box Foods is not a grocery store, farmers market, or food bank. Top Box Foods is a community-driven non-profit, founded in Chicago in 2012, that creates access to healthy and affordable food for the communities they serve. Customers place orders online or via phone for nutritious food which is offered at prices up to 40% lower than grocery stores. Prior to March 2020, Top Box Foods shoppers would pick up their orders at community distribution sites such as churches. However, when the pandemic hit, Top Box Foods replaced the pick-up model with their free home delivery program. Top Box Foods accepts SNAP benefits as payment for orders, making it an essential resource for households looking to make the most of their SNAP dollars to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and more.

When you recognize the food on your plate, you recall memories of sharing meals with loved ones.

It was a sunny fall day in mid-October when I had the honor of visiting the Omaha Nation WIC program. Upon meeting WIC Director Jessika Free-Bass, I visited the Tribe's WIC garden, which they use to grow produce for client nutrition education. For the Omaha Tribe, nutrition education is a community effort.

Oklahoma Tribal Engagement Partners, or OKTEP, collaborates with sovereign tribal nations and tribal organizations throughout Oklahoma to tailor SNAP-Ed programming to meet the needs of Native families. Over time, focus groups have expressed what matters to Natives: the need to be “real.” As organizations look to develop culturally relevant programming, we must step back and listen to what matters to families. We are in an era of change, an era where we are openly called to address inequities in our programming and practices. The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health called nutrition and health professionals to prioritize the role of nutrition and food security in overall health and ensure programs address the nutrition needs of all people.

Weeks ago, partners gathered at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health to forge a future without hunger, diet-related diseases, and health disparities. Building on the momentum, USDA recently hosted Come to the Table: USDA’s National Nutrition Security and Healthcare Summit. More than 200 healthcare, federal, and community leaders came together to advance the conference goals of ensuring all Americans have the resources necessary to eat nutritious foods that support good health.

October is more than a time for crisp temperatures and vibrant autumn leaves. It’s also Farm to School Month, when USDA joins schools, farms, and community organizations across the country to celebrate the role of farm to school programs in getting healthy, locally grown foods onto children’s trays through child nutrition programs, including school breakfast and lunch.

With a desire to create healthy relationships between American children and food, a group of chefs created Pilot Light in 2010. This program partners with Pre K–12 teachers to make food education a part of everyday classroom lessons. Through holistic food education, students learn about the cultivation and preparation of food and the connection to our culture, relationships, history, and the environment.

School lunch sometimes gets a bad rap. But I am here to tell you that school lunch is amazing and looks a lot different than what you may remember if you’re a kid of the 90s, like me.