The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a well-established safety net against hunger and need. SNAP offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible low-income Americans by helping these individuals meet their monthly budgetary requirements for nutritious food. Access to food-related programs like SNAP is vital to the overall well being and independence of many families. However, there are many strategies for leveraging SNAP as a public health program and redesigning it to meet 21st century nutrition challenges.
A nutritional policy change in SNAP must occur to improve nutritional health and prevent obesity in SNAP participants. Recently, the conditions of poverty, hunger and food insecurity have been associated with obesity and chronic disease. A dramatic rise in obesity rates is linked to changes in the food environment and increased caloric intake. Foods high in sugar, fat and refined starches are more widely available and affordable than that of organic, nutrient-rich foods. The nutrition education and research component of SNAP must receive more funding in order to improve the
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Therefore, it is recommended to increase public support for programs that incentivize the purchase of nutrient-dense foods in grocery stores. Many participants do not choose fruits and whole grains because it is not calorie-dense and energetically sustainable for a full workday. During my experience as a SNAP participant, I shopped at Whole Foods, an American supermarket that campaigns for the health and wellness of its shoppers. However, many of the organic, gluten free and GMO free products leaped in price compared to that of the products at Safeway. I opted to buy food that was calorie-dense, with the brands tagged at the lowest pricing. Eating organic on a food stamps budget was