Article
Susan Rice
Everyday millions of Americans face barriers to accessing food, housing, and other supports–––making the impossible decision of whether to put food on the table or cover other essential needs. Food insecurity and diet-related diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes, affect people of all ages and in all communities. It was for this reason that the Biden-Harris Administration hosted the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022. As the President said at the Conference, “No child should go to bed hungry. No parent should die of a disease that can be prevented.” It will require all of us to take these challenges head on in the coming years. This special issue of the Journal of Food Law & Policy extends the critical conversation conducted at the Conference to reduce diet-related diseases and make hunger a thing of the past.
Article
Christine Going
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is uniquely positioned as the nation’s largest integrated health care system, serving 9 million enrolled Veterans each year, to successfully embrace the power of an interdisciplinary team designed to meet the needs of Veterans challenged by food insecurity. In collaboration with the whole of government approach to ending hunger, VA is addressing food and nutrition security. The Food Security Office within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) was established and has representation from nutrition, social work, and nursing focusing on the causes of food insecurity among Veterans. VA’s Food Security Office and the Nutrition and Food Services Office lead efforts aligned with the White House’s strategic initiatives shared at the White House Conference on Hunger, Health and Nutrition. The Food Security Office is built on three pillars: partnerships, data management and research and education.
Article
Thomas J. Vilsack
The first Conference held more than 50 years ago by President Nixon in 1969 had significant impacts on our Department and the prevalence of food insecurity in our country. Nost notably, the Conference sparked significant expansions to Food Stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), from 2 million in 1968 to 11 million by 1971. The Conference also increased the reach of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which served 2.9 million low-income children at the time of the Conference and expanded to serving nearly 8 million low-income children by 1971. Permanent authorization of the School Breakfast Program occurred in 1975, which was also inspired by The Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast for School Children Program, started in 1969. In addition, Congress authorized the pilot for the Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in 1972, laying the foundation for WIC which now serves about half of all infants in the US.
Article
Rachel Fischer, Katrina L. Piercy, Janet M. de Jesus, Paul Reed, Rachel L. Levine
The United States is facing a crisis of widespread food insecurity and exceedingly high rates of diet-related diseases like diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. To address this challenge and set a course for improved nutrition and food access nationwide, the Biden-Harris Administration hosted the first White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in over 50 years on September 28, 2022. In the National Strategy, released in conjunction with the Conference, the Administration identified a set of actions that the federal government will take to help achieve its goal of ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and physical activity by 2030, so that fewer Americans experience diet-related diseases. Underpinning many of these actions is the Dietary Guidelines for Americans ("Dietary Guidelines"), which provides scientific advice on nutrition intake to meet nutrient needs, promote health, and prevent disease and serves as the cornerstone of federal food and nutrition programs. This manuscript details how expanded implementation of the Dietary Guidelines can help advance actions in the National Strategy and achieve the goals of the Administration.
Article
Susan A. Schneider
Much of the focus of current climate change policy is on ways to reduce our impact. Public-private partnerships, incentives, regulations, and other policy tools are critical to our efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and mitigate the harm caused to our ecosystem. This article supports these vital initiatives but does not address them. Rather, it explores the impact of the changes to the climate that are already in motion and argues that there is an immediate need to prepare for the impact, even as we attempt to reduce further harm.
Article
Heather Latino
In September 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration convened a White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health (“conference”). Among the specific strategies outlined by the Administration is a directive that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) “increase access to neighborhood markets, grocery stores, farmers’ markets, urban gardens, food incubators, and/or the conversion of vacant buildings into food hubs. . . .” While some may celebrate the Administration’s commitment to investing in low-income and underserved communities, others fear that these forms of intervention and reinvestment may worsen current disparities. Incentives for renovating or constructing local grocery stores have been criticized for inviting “gentrifying forces such as real estate developers and corporate chains” into lower-income Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. Gentrification is generally understood as the process by which low-income communities are physically and culturally displaced from their homes and communities, typically as a result of increased real estate values, as higher-income populations move into areas undergoing revitalization. Part II of this article will explore the ways in which housing and food security are interrelated. Then Part III introduces the White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, which promises to leverage housing programs to increase food access. Part IV discusses gentrification as related to food access investments, laying the foundation for understanding why food access initiatives implemented in disinvested communities must include affordable housing safeguards. Part V provides a framework for evaluating food access initiatives to address concerns that food access investments invite gentrification, displacing the same populations who were supposed to benefit from such programs. Part V also offers examples of food access initiatives in public housing and HUD-assisted housing developments that can serve as models, inspiration, or offer lessons learned for future projects in disinvested communities.