2018 Farm Bill Strengthens SNAP-Education, Lacks Focus on Diet Quality

Washington, D.C. - December 12, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- The following is a statement on the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill by the Bipartisan Policy Center’s SNAP Task Force co-chairs former secretaries of agriculture Dan Glickman and Ann Veneman and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D.:

“The 2018 Farm Bill passed by Congress contains major wins for SNAP-Education, healthy food incentives, and innovative nutrition pilots. These are important issues that are consistent with recommendations by the Bipartisan Policy Center’s SNAP Task Force released earlier this year. However, we believe more needs to be done in the 116th Congress to make diet quality a priority in the program.

“This legislation directs USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service to provide key technical assistance to support states in implementing and evaluating SNAP-Education. Given adequate appropriations, these changes will be a major step towards strengthening the nation’s largest and most important federal nutrition education and obesity prevention program.

“Also commendable in the bipartisan legislation is the funding increase for the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Program (FINI). FINI’s funds increase from $100 million to $250 million over five years. With these additional funds, FINI will be able to support more projects that incentivize fruits and vegetables to SNAP participants. Equally encouraging is the $4 million per year for the new Harvesting Health pilot project to prescribe fruits and vegetables to low-income individuals that suffer from or are at-risk of developing a diet-related health condition. Innovative pilots like this are key to mitigating the costs of the diet-related disease crisis currently threatening our health care system, economy, and national security.

“Among these successes, there were also missed opportunities. Although this new Farm Bill supports fruit and vegetables incentives, research has shown that positive incentives combined with targeted disincentives for foods devoid of nutritional value, like sugar-sweetened beverages, are the most effective way of consistently improving diets. Exploring combined incentives and disincentives can still be done through robust pilots and research.

“Furthermore, we wish the 2018 Farm Bill had made diet-quality an explicit SNAP priority. SNAP’s current core objectives—fiscal integrity and food security—are critically important, but the primary focus of the program should be on nutrition. Luckily, this can still be done through voluntary internal policy change at the USDA, which we would wholeheartedly support.

“Despite these shortcomings, we applaud the committees’ bipartisan work and encourage the 116th Congress to create more bipartisan legislation that improves nutrition, promotes better health outcomes, and reduces healthcare costs while continuing to effectively meet the needs of America’s most vulnerable citizens.”

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Bread for the World Applauds Passage of the Farm Bill

Defeating Terrorists, Not Terrorism

Source: The Bipartisan Policy Center

In the 16 years since the 9/11 attacks, U.S. counterterrorism efforts have succeeded in preventing another mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil. But despite that success at home, the terrorist threat continues to spread. Too often, U.S. counterterrorism efforts have focused on military operations against a specific group, while doing too little to prevent new generations from replenishing their ranks.

Washington, D.C. - September 7, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- A new Bipartisan Policy Center task force led by former Gov. Tom Kean and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, who led the 9/11 Commission, is examining why the terrorist threat remains so potent and developing a long-term strategy to defeat jihadist ideology.

The Task Force on Terrorism and Ideology today issued its first paper, Defeating Terrorists, Not Terrorism: Assessing U.S. Counterterrorism Policy from 9/11 to ISIS, which offers an in-depth look at why, despite the many successes of U.S. actions against terrorism, new groups have continued to emerge.

“Even as the military defeat of the Islamic State appears imminent, American policymakers must avoid the temptation of confusing the defeat of one brutal terrorist organization with victory against terrorism,” Hamilton said. “As long as jihadists can replenish their ranks as fast as we can take them off the battlefield, the threat will persist.”

“The generational struggle against Islamist terrorism will come to an end only when the ambitions that motivate groups such as al Qaeda and the Islamic State no longer inspire new recruits to violence,” Kean said. “We can, and must, do better to defeat terrorists’ ideas.”

The task force of top national security, diplomatic, and intelligence experts will release recommendations in the future.

BPC is holding an event on Sept. 8 to discuss these issues. Speakers include key congressional and executive branch officials and notable experts.