Posts Tagged ‘farm bill’
Posted on Monday, July 9th, 2012 by Michele Simon
As expected, the House version of the 2012 farm bill contains deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps). With its $16 billion proposed cut in this critical safety net, the House leadership is about three times as cruel as the Senate, which already approved a $4.5 billion reduction over 10 years. If the House gets its way, two-three million Americans could go hungry. In addition, 280,000 kids could get kicked off the school meal program because their families’ eligibility is tied to SNAP. And speaking of kids, almost half of all SNAP participants are children.
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Posted in Child Nutrition | Tagged: farm bill, J.P. Morgan Chase, SNAP | View/Add Comments (5) |
Posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 by Michele Simon
Last Tuesday, I released a report, Food Stamps, Follow the Money: Are Corporations Profiting From Hungry Americans? I am grateful to each of these media outlets for their coverage.
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Posted in Big Food | Tagged: Big Food, Eat Drink Politics, farm bill, food stamps, SNAP, USDA, Walmart | View/Add Comments (0) |
Posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2012 by Michele Simon
On Tuesday, I published a report about how food companies and banks benefit from the $72 billion food stamp program. For those intimidated by 20 pages (it’s a good read), here is the visual short cut.
Posted in Big Food | Tagged: Big Food, Congress, Eat Drink Politics, farm bill, food stamps, J.P. Morgan Chase, SNAP, USDA, Walmart | View/Add Comments (2) |
Posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 by Michele Simon
As Congress proposes cuts to hungry families, my new report raises questions about how much food makers, retailers, and big banks profit from food stamps.
With the debate over the 2012 Farm Bill currently underway in the Senate, most of the media’s attention has been focused on how direct payments—subsidies doled out regardless of actual farming—are being replaced with crop insurance, in a classic shell game that Big Ag’s powerful lobby is likely to pull off.
Meanwhile, the Senate may hurt the less powerful by cutting $4.5 billion from the largest piece of the farm bill pie: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps). Reducing this lifeline for 46 million struggling Americans (more than 1 in 7—nearly half of them children) has become a sideshow in the farm bill circus, even though SNAP spending grew to $78 billion in 2011, and is projected to go higher if the economy does not improve.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Big Food, Eat Drink Politics, farm bill, food stamps, J.P. Morgan Chase, SNAP, USDA, Walmart | View/Add Comments (22) |
Posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 by Michele Simon
Contact: Haven Bourque 415.505.3473 haven@havenbmedia.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
As 2012 Farm Bill debate rages in Congress, a new report demands SNAP program transparency
Oakland, CA, June 12, 2012 — Are food stamps lining the pockets of the nation’s wealthiest corporations instead of closing the hunger gap in the United States? Why does Walmart benefit from more than $200 million in annual food stamp purchases in Oklahoma alone? Why does one bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, hold exclusive contracts in 24 states to administer public benefits?
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Eat Drink Politics, farm bill, food stamps, J.P. Morgan Chase, SNAP, Walmart | View/Add Comments (4) |
Posted on Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 by Michele Simon
In my work as a consultant for various organizations, I’ve had the pleasure to write the following fact sheets. Please share far and wide. You can learn more about my consulting services at EatDrinkPolitics.com
Center for Food Safety:
Foodborne Illness
Nutrition, Obesity, and Processed Food
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy: Part of What’s at Stake series on the 2012 Farm Bill
Enough to Eat: Food Assistance and the Farm Bill
Posted in Big Food, Child Nutrition, Public Health | Tagged: farm bill, food safety, obesity, processed food, SNAP | View/Add Comments (0) |
Posted on Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 by Michele Simon
As Enrollment Increases, USDA Should Require Purchase Data from
Food Stamp Retailers to Better Evaluate Nutrition Intake
This week Congress begins hearings on the 2012 farm bill, the massive piece of legislation that gets updated about every five years and undergirds America’s entire food supply, but that few mortals can even understand. As nutrition professor Marion Nestle recently lamented, “no one has any idea what the farm bill is about. It’s too complicated for any mind to grasp.”
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Posted in Big Food, Public Health | Tagged: Big Food, farm bill, SNAP, USDA | View/Add Comments (5) |
Posted on Friday, January 7th, 2011 by Michele Simon
This time of year, it’s customary to look back and capture the most important historical moments. And all things considered, 2010 was a pretty good year. So in that spirit, here are my top 5 gains in food policy. (They are in no particular order.)
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Posted in Child Nutrition, Marketing to Kids | Tagged: farm bill, FDA, Marin Institute, McDonald's, San Francisco | View/Add Comments (5) |
