NUTRITION AND FOOD SYSTEMS

A new report takes a food systems approach to recommendations for reducing the double burden of malnutrition—obesity in the presence of widespread hunger and its consequences.  A food system gathers all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructures, institutions, etc.) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution, preparation and consumption of food, and the outputs of these activities, including socio-economic and environmental outcomes. The report pays specific attention to nutrition and health outcomes of food systems. First, it emphasizes the role of diets as a key link between food systems and their health and nutrition outcomes. Second, it highlights the central role of the food environment in facilitating healthy and sustainable consumer food choices. Third, it takes into account the impacts of agriculture and food systems on sustainability in its three dimensions (economic, social and environmental).

Source: Food Politics, 10/6/17, Nutrition & Food Systems

WHAT WILL SONNY DECIDE ABOUT SNAP CHOICE?

In February, Maine again asked USDA to approve its request to block state residents from using their SNAP benefits to purchase sugar-sweetened beverages and candy. The fate of that request will ultimately be up to Sonny Perdue, President Trump’s nominee for Agriculture secretary— and it’s anyone’s guess where he’ll land on the issue. Republicans tend to favor giving states more flexibility in lieu of federal mandates, but some in the party are very leery of letting Uncle Sam define what’s healthy and what’s not. Blocking Mountain Dew is one thing, but what about Gatorade? Sunny Delight? Iced tea? Some USDA watchers are quick to point out that Perdue is from Coca-Cola country and may be less likely to consider such a move, but it’s still a decision that will be closely watched.

Source: Politico, 4/13/17, SNAP Choice

In Defense of Food

It was great to have 40 people join the Potsdam Food Co-op and GardenShare for a viewing of "In Defense of Food," Michael Pollan's documentary, yesterday.

"In Defense of Food" tackles a question more and more people around the world have been asking: What should I eat to be healthy? Michael Pollan distilled a career's worth of reporting into a prescription for reversing the damage being done to people's health by today's industrially driven Western diet. "In Defense of Food" debunked the daily media barrage of conflicting claims about nutrition. Traveling the globe and exploring the supermarket aisles to illustrate the principles of his bestselling "eater's manifesto," Pollan explored in the movie how the modern diet has been making us sick and what we can do to change it.

Some of his advice had the ring of common sense.  My favorite was, "If your great grandmother would not recognize it as food, don't eat it."  And as we debriefed about it this morning at GardenShare, the moms on our team were astounded to learn that, in many cases, a container of yogurt has as much sugar as a bottle of soda!

Did you attend?  What did you come away with?

Gloria

Nutrition for young children

March is National Nutrition Month and a good time to talk about nutrition for all, especially young children.

Last week, Congresswoman Elise Steganik introduced the Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act. This bipartisan bill would expand access to nutritious meals for young children by reducing paperwork, streamlining eligibility requirements, and promoting clearer guidelines for providers so that we can increase program participation. Additionally, the bill authorizes reimbursements for a third meal in a day for programs that offer nutritious late-afternoon meals to children who are in care for more than eight hours. Read more about the Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act here.  

If you have young children or work with them, you may find these rousources useful.  Nutrition and Wellness Tips for Young Children is a collection of tip sheets on nutrition, active play and screen time for children ages 2 to 5 years.  Supplements D and E were recently added to this publication, Create a Positive Meal Environment and Support Family Style Meals. Take a look today!

RESTRICTING SNAP FOOD PURCHASES WON’T FIX NUTRITION ISSUE

The Agriculture House Committee recently held a public hearing on the pros and cons of restricting how SNAP benefits can be used. This hearing is the latest discussion over the news that people use food stamps to buy junk food, which some see as a flagrant abuse of a government program.  But two sociology professors from North Carolina State University write that trying to restrict what poor people eat ignores the heart of the problem: that many poor families don’t have adequate resources and support. For the past 5 years, they have been studying 124 low-income women, even going to the market with some of them. They found that the women in the study consumed about the same amount of “empty calories” as other women. Where they fell short was for healthy but relatively expensive foods, such as seafood, fresh fruit, and vegetables. This  pattern follows national dietary patterns--although both rich and poor Americans generally have cut down on sugary drinks and are eating more whole grains, poor people fall behind with pricy foods like fresh fruits and nuts.

Source: The Hill, 2/17/17, Restricting SNAP Purchases; USA Today, 2/16/17, Junk Food on SNAP

INCENTIVES HELP SNAP PARTICIPANTS EAT HEALTHIER

Financial incentives can help SNAP families eat healthier foods. According to a randomized controlled trial, a 30% rebate on fruits and vegetables increased their daily consumption by 26%. The trial evaluated USDA's Healthy Incentives Pilot program, which offered a 30% rebate for 1 year on certain fruits and vegetables purchased at participating retailers using SNAP benefits. The rebate was offered for fresh, canned, frozen, and dried fruits and vegetables without added sugars, fats, oils, or salt. White potatoes, dried beans and peas, and 100% fruit juice were not eligible for the rebates.

Source: MedPage Today, 6/28/16, SNAP Incentives Work

HIGHER SNAP BENEFITS MEANS MORE FOOD, BETTER NUTRITION

Boosting SNAP benefits raises not only the amount that low-income households spend on groceries but also its nutritional quality, according to a new study. The study’s main findings include:

• Low-income families report that to meet their food needs, they would need to spend an additional $4-$9 per person weekly on food.  “Food-insecure” families, who are more likely to be poorer, report needing to spend an additional $12-$20 per person weekly.
• If households received an additional $30 per month per person in SNAP benefits (which would be about a 20% increase in the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan, the basis for SNAP benefits), their food spending would go up by about $19 per person, based on the food spending patterns of households with somewhat more resources.
• That increase in food spending, in turn, would raise consumption of more nutritious foods--households would consume more tomatoes and vegetables and less fast food.

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 6/14/16,  More SNAP, Better Nutrition

FDA UPDATES NUTRITION LABELS

The Food and Drug Administration finalized a rule last week to update Nutritional Fact Labels on food products. The updates include a new design for the label that highlights  calories and serving sizes, as well as new serving sizes that more closely reflect the amount of food people actually eat. The update will include two columns that list both “per serving” and “per package” calorie and nutrition information for certain products consumed in one or multiple sittings like a pint of ice cream or 3-ounce bag of chips. The rule also includes a provision that forces food producers to list the grams and a percent daily value for added sugar, that is ingredients like high fructose corn syrup they add to a product’s natural sugars. Other changes to the label include a requirement for products like a 20 ounce soda that’s consumed in one sitting to be labeled as one serving and removing from labels “calories from fat,” but “Total Fat,” “Saturated Fat” and “Trans Fat” will remain. Food groups up in arms over the new requirement have accused the Food and Drug Administration of pushing forward without the proper science to back it up.

Source: The Hill, 5/20/16, Food Label Update

LOW-INCOME FAMILIES BENEFIT FROM COOKING PROGRAMS

A new study shows that a six-week cooking, shopping and nutrition course for low-income families has a powerful and sustained effect. Families report shopping smarter, eating healthier, and preparing more meals at home even six months after completing the course. What's more, they no longer regularly worry that their food might run out each month. The study found families have more confidence in the kitchen; are eating healthier, putting them at lower risk for diet-related diseases; and are more confident that they'll be able to afford enough food. Before taking the course, families sometimes worried that food might run out each month. Six months later, participants reported they rarely worry. Seventeen percent said they were more confident in stretching food dollars due to strategies they learned, like planning meals, shopping with a list and comparing unit prices.

Source: PR Newswire, 3/29/16, Cooking Skills

Kids Healthy Lunchtime Challenge

The 5th Annual Healthy Lunchtime Challenge is currently underway! Kids 8-12 years old are invited to join a parent or guardian in creating an original MyPlate-inspired recipe that is healthy, creative, affordable and delicious. The recipe should follow MyPlate nutrition guidelines and this year, in celebration of the MyPlate, MyState initiative, it's encouraged that entries include local ingredients grown in your state, territory, and community.

The chef who created it, along with a parent or guardian, could win a trip to Washington, D.C.  to attend the 5th Annual Kids’ “State Dinner” at the White House. Only one recipe from each of the 50 states (plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the 4 U.S. territories) will make the grade, so enter now!

Recipes must be submitted by April 4, 2016!

Learn more about the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge here.  

This would be a great opportunity for all of those North Country Junior Iron Chefs!

USDA Team Nutrition Training Grants Available

USDA's Team Nutrition initiative provides technical assistance, training, and nutrition education resources for schools and child care providers participating in USDA's child nutrition programs. Grants through this program are intended to conduct and evaluate training, nutrition education, and technical assistance activities to support the implementation of USDA nutrition standards for snacks and meals, like school breakfast. These grants can also be used to support farm to school! For example, in 2014 Montana was awarded a Team Nutrition Grant to build statewide support for nutrition education, school wellness policy implementation, and farm to school programs in school and child care environments. Learn more about the grants and apply here. 

USDA Launches Online MyPlate, MyWins Challenge

In honor of National Nutrition Month, the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched the MyPlate, MyWins Challenge which encourages people to make small, easy changes – MyWins – to their eating and activity habits, and to build on their wins over time to achieve a healthier lifestyle. With the MyPlate, MyWins Challenge, people can join or form a team online, then challenge team mates – friends, family, co-workers – to consume two foods from each of the MyPlate food groups a day and be active two times a day for two days. The challenge days are chosen by the team.

The challenge is part of the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion's (CNPP) new MyPlate, MyWins consumer education initiative, grounded in the most recent edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Concurrent with the challenge, CNPP is launching a MyPlate, MyWins video series combining information with inspirational stories from American families, as part of the overall effort to help people find healthy eating solutions and develop a personalized healthy eating style that fits within their overall lifestyle. Throughout the year, CNPP will continue to add more videos to the series.

How the MyPlate, MyWins Challenge Works

The MyPlate, MyWins Challenge is available to the public through CNPP's SuperTracker, a free, interactive food and physical activity tracking tool. There, anyone can create a group and invite others to join. Participants earn points for eating healthy foods and being physically active, and can compare their progress to others in the group. Group leaders can send messages of encouragement, cheer on members to earn more points, and compare progress amongst the participants. They can also choose from other ready-made challenges or design their own custom challenge specifically for their group. Later this month, CNPP nutritionists will host two-day MyPlate, MyWins Challenges for the public.

Find more information about MyPlate, MyWins challenges and videos at http://www.choosemyplate.gov/take-challenge.

March is National Nutrition Month. Throughout the month, USDA will be highlighting results of our efforts to improve access to safe, healthy food for all Americans and supporting the health of our next generation.

March is National Nutrition Month

Have you been trying to promote more nutritious foods or encourage guests to eat healthier? March is the perfect time to start, or keep the momentum going. This year’s theme for National Nutrition Month® is ‘Savor the Flavor of Eating Right’. Eating more nutritious foods is one part of a healthy lifestyle.

Taking time to be mindful to enjoy the flavors, traditions, and social experiences that food brings to our lives is another important part. Healthy food choices nourish and strengthen our bodies but enjoying those foods with friends and family contributes to overall good health. Some tips on ‘Savoring the Flavor of Eating Right’ :

• Eat together as a family. Family meals contribute not only to healthier eating but have also been shown to strengthen family relationships. 
• Turn off the TV and electronics when sitting down for a meal. Take time to focus on your meal and enjoy the food. You may find you eat less. 
• Instead of using salt to add flavor, liven up foods with spices and herbs.