US navigates food policy and spending choices as high prices persist
Before the Cutting Board: February 6, 2023
Hey there,
It’s Week Two of being back at it. In case you missed the last roundup on the egg chaos, I’m back (yay!) once every other week on Mondays. Hopefully this will give you more time to get through the articles, and it will definitely give me more time to get these prepared. Win-win.
Welcome back to Before the Cutting Board, your bi-weekly roundup of food + supply chain hot topics to help keep you up to speed on what’s going down with your food.
Let’s dig in.
-This Week-
Putting the F back in FDA (?)
The FDA announced plans to restructure the agency’s food and nutrition division. The move comes after a nonpartisan Congressional Research Service released a report citing “constant turmoil” and lack of clear leadership in the food division as major obstacles to the agency’s responsibilities to protect public health and monitor the US food supply. A few days prior to the announcement, Frank Yiannis, the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response, resigned from his position. In a recent Food Fix update, Helena Bottemiller Evich breaks down how Yiannis’ lack of oversight power in such a high ranking position illustrates the broader dysfunction within the FDA.
SNAP Emergency Allotments Terminated
Food banks across 32 states and Washington D.C. are preparing for increased demand as pandemic emergency allotments for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients reach an expiration date. Over the last 3 years, the emergency allotment provided SNAP recipients with an extra $95 per month for food purchases. For the 13% of Americans (43 million people) participating in SNAP, the emergency boost brought the monthly benefits average up to $214 from $129. The emergency allotments were terminated as part of a new spending bill that redirects those funds toward a new permanent summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program for public school students who typically benefit from free or reduced-price meals during the school year. However, the tradeoff has raised questions about why the summer EBT program could only be made possible at the expense of the emergency benefits amid persistently high grocery prices.
What else I’m reading:
>From CNN Business: McDonald’s, In-N-Out, and Chipotle are spending millions to block raises for their workers
>From the Washington Post: How New Zealand plans to tackle climate change: Taxing cow burps
That’s it for this week. If you enjoyed reading this, please forward to a friend. Even if you didn’t enjoy reading it, still tell your friends - misery loves company :)