White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health – It is almost here!

Sep 06, 2022

It’s official! The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health can be on September 28^th – the primary of its form in over 50 years.

The first convention in 1969 had a pivotal impression on our company. Just just a few months forward of the convention, Food and Nutrition Service, or FNS, was established to manage federal diet help packages. The 1969 convention additionally led to:

• Significant growth of the National School Lunch Program and the Food Stamp Program (recognized at the moment because the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP),
• Permanent authorization of the School Breakfast Program,
• Launch of a pilot program that may later change into the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and
• The first ever Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Over the final 50 years, our federal diet help packages have grown to serve about one in 4 Americans annually. However, tens of thousands and thousands of Americans, together with youngsters, expertise meals insecurity, and thousands and thousands extra endure from diet-related ailments and disparities. These disparities are largely rooted in structural boundaries which – amongst different issues – restrict entry to heathier meals. We should and can do extra.

We will accomplish this by a game-changing concentrate on nutrition security, which suggests sustaining constant and equitable entry to wholesome, protected, and inexpensive meals. FNS already has plenty of thrilling actions underway designed to meaningfully advance diet safety for tens of thousands and thousands of Americans and assist the targets of the White House Conference. For instance, we’re updating the WIC meals bundle with science-informed adjustments and refreshing college meals requirements whereas additionally in search of to assist and incentivize faculties that pursue nutritious enhancements.

These adjustments can have super impacts on the thousands and thousands of households enrolled in our packages. But we gained’t cease there. The White House Conference will name upon all stakeholders, together with FNS, to proceed to take daring motion to handle starvation and enhance diet and diet-related well being. We are dedicated to that work and forging a brand new course to handle hardship and well being.

At FNS, we glance again on 1969 as a transformational 12 months for USDA and for thousands and thousands of Americans dealing with starvation, and we are going to work alongside our unimaginable companions to maximise the 2022 White House Conference in order that future generations will really feel the identical concerning the work we’re doing collectively at the moment.

Thank you to all who’ve engaged to this point by taking part in listening classes and sharing your concepts. We encourage everybody to tune into the convention, host a convention watch occasion, and take into account methods we will work collectively to finish starvation, cut back diet-related ailments, and advance well being fairness. Let’s do that!