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President Joe Biden last week unveiled a plan to end hunger in the United States and increase healthy eating and physical activity by 2030.
44 pages National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health Identifying what White House officials have called “big, achievable goals,” the administration will focus on five pillars: improving food availability and affordability, integrating nutrition and health, empowering all consumers to make and access healthy choices, supporting physical activity for all, and increasing nutrition and food security. Warranty research.
The strategy document was released September 27 In combination with White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health Held on September 28 in Washington, DC
Biden said in his remarks that the conference was the first in five decades. “Richard Nixon convened the first White House Nutrition Conference, which led to a transformational change that helped millions of Americans live healthier lives for generations,” Biden said.
“Since then, advances in research and medicine have taught us a great deal about nutrition and health,” the president said, adding that he called the conference because he believed the advances would make America a stronger and healthier nation.
Republicans pointed to an ongoing external review of the Food and Drug Administration’s food safety inspection practices, and earlier this year the agency’s chief was asked to respond to criticism of the oversight, saying the conference should have been more bipartisan.
“At a time when food prices continue to rise due to high inflation and the ongoing external review of FDA’s Food Safety Centers—at the behest of FDA Commissioner Khalif himself—this process will engage all relevant policymakers and stakeholders. Any policy goals that come out of Congress,” top Republicans said in a Sept. 21 letter to the White House.
Key principles focus on access
The White House’s strategy is based on three key principles: helping Americans find foods that feed and keep their families healthy, providing options and information to make healthy eating choices, and helping more Americans exercise, Biden explained.
According to the plan, nearly 40 million Americans don’t have a nearby grocery store with affordable and healthy food options and lack transportation to get there. Often, it’s low-income people and people of color who have limited access to affordable, nutritious food.
In the year In 2021, one in 10 households experienced food insecurity, meaning access to food was limited by a lack of money or other resources. About 4% of households experienced very low food security, meaning they were regularly skipping meals or cutting back on how much they ate because they couldn’t afford extra food.
According to the strategy, diet-related diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in the US. The findings show that 19 states and two states have obesity rates of 35% or more, double the number of states in 2018. One in 10 Americans has diabetes, one in three will develop cancer in their lifetime, and more than four in 10 have high blood pressure, which is linked to heart disease and stroke.
Children in low-income families are less likely to be physically active because they have safer streets and playgrounds.
Hunger and nutrition-related diseases are not evenly distributed. “These challenges impact communities of color, people living in rural areas, people living in states, people with disabilities, seniors, LGBTQI+ people, military families and veterans,” according to the plan.
Biden said the plan “recognizes the critical role nutrition plays in our health and our health care system, and recognizes that we must give families the tools to stay healthy.”
The proposed actions Under the plan Five pillars Increasing access to school meals and snacks for more children during the summer with hunger and nutrition-related illnesses, updating nutrition labels, fruit and vegetable incentives for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, recipients, and increasing access to outdoor activities. , and providing more funding for research on nutrition and food security policy, particularly on issues of equity and access.
To help Americans learn to make healthy food choices, the plan provides funding for public education campaigns, nutrition education and support for Medicare recipients, expanding nutrition education for children and seniors, providing nutrition assistance programs for low-income housing residents, and supporting regular updates. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
More than 100 different organizations and businesses have committed more than $8 billion to meet the plan’s goals, Biden said.
$2.5 billion in investments in start-up companies that address hunger and food insecurity, and more than $4 billion in philanthropic work to improve nutrition, encourage healthy choices and increase physical activity, he said. Management text.
Among the organizations that perform Seafood Nutrition Partnership. The charity is focused on raising awareness of the health and nutritional benefits of seafood, saying it will invest at least $280,000 over the next eight years to improve public knowledge of the important nutrient, which has been shown to improve mental health. The partnership plans an “Eating for Brain Health” program to educate pregnant individuals on the nutrients needed to reduce the risk of premature birth and promote healthy early brain development. The team is conducting research to measure and map omega-3 fatty acid deficiencies across the country in order to prioritize education programs in areas of greatest need.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation is committed to launching a two-year, $3.5 million effort to promote healthy eating and the “food is medicine” movement in the state. He said the foundation will fund and collaborate between health providers and community-based organizations to provide everything from food vouchers to medically tailored meals.
Other organizations that have pledged are AARP and the AARP Foundation to expand research on SNAP access for seniors and use the research to improve SNAP enrollment rates for seniors, and the Wave Foundation for Equity and Climate Marketplace to empower underrepresented food producers—people of color and women—with large-scale food service nationwide. and retail outlets.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called the national strategy a critical moment.
“It puts us on the path to ending hunger, improving nutrition and improving health outcomes in this country. This strategy compiles recommendations from dozens of listening sessions held over the summer,” he said in a statement.
Matthew Marsom, senior vice president for programs, public policy and government relations at the Public Health Institute, said the plan is sustainable and effective, research-based, equity-focused and addressing the gender-based causes of hunger, malnutrition and diet-related chronic diseases. . .
“The White House’s agenda addresses the immediate issues that contribute to food security, particularly access and affordability. Addressing poverty by raising the minimum wage, fully funding the Child Care Tax Credit and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit is needed,” Marsom said. It highlights the role of accessibility, including investing in a visible nutrition workforce and coming from the communities it serves.”
The Alliance also praised the plan to end hunger.
Eric Mitchell, executive director of the Alliance to End Hunger, said in a statement: “This strategy is a beacon that shines a light on the path we must take now. “We look forward to discussing these ideas and recommendations with the White House and Congress to promote greater equity, improve access to nutritious foods, and ultimately ensure that every American has food on the table every day.”
Developing recommendations
The Hunger, Nutrition and Health Task Force, a nongovernmental, nonpartisan group, worked over the summer to develop recommendations for the plan. “Briefing for White House Conference: Potential, Actionable Recommendations for Improving Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in the United States” was released Aug. 23 and presented to the White House ahead of the conference.
While the task force’s recommendations were not formally requested or endorsed by the White House, organizers praised Biden’s leadership and national strategy, the task force said in a press release.
“The work to fix these issues cannot be done in a day, but with this national strategy and the nonpartisan spirit of the conference – supported by congressional leaders from both parties – it can and will happen,” the organizers said. “We stand ready to support policymakers, industry, academia, advocacy organizations, and the people who are deeply invested in solving these crises to bring this vision to life. The next phase of our work to ensure continued energy and focus on these critical issues and implement this national systemic change strategy begins now.”
Bipartisan appeal
In introducing his plan, Biden emphasized the importance of a bipartisan approach to achieving his goals. Republicans said they would make sure the result was the right policy, but criticized the process.
Top Republicans He wrote on September 21 “The conference, which began with a promise to engage stakeholders on a bipartisan basis, has devolved into an acrimonious meeting that lacks the direction and clarity needed to bring about significant and lasting change,” said Susan Rice, director of the Domestic Policy Council.
For the conference’s policy recommendations to be considered bipartisan, Republicans wrote, the White House had to meaningfully engage a variety of stakeholders at all levels, including congressional colleagues from both parties.
The letter was signed by Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., who sits on the Agriculture Committee; Virginia Foxx, R.N.C., who sits on the Education and Labor Committee. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers, R-Wash., from the Energy and Commerce Committee; Oversight and Reform Committee James Comer, R-K; and Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., from the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.
The Republicans pledged to play an active monitoring role with our seats on committees regarding the recommendations that may come from the conference, ways to move forward to ensure that Congress and the administration are supporting the goals of ending hunger and improving nutrition, and ways to help all Americans get the right policies.
This is the first in a series exploring the role and sustainability of seafood in a healthy diet and is published in collaboration with North Carolina Health News. Next in the series: What does “sustainable seafood” mean?
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