The Federal stimulus bill currently being considered by the senate contains approximately $21 billion for nutrition assistance programs. $20 billion for food stamps (now called supplemental nutrition assistance programs) SNAP, with the remaining billion for the after school feeding program, seniors nutrition programs, emergency food assistance, and WIC management information systems. These are badly needed investments that will help low income Americans avoid hunger and food insecurity; and, because poorer people are more likely to spend dollars they receive (or avoid having to spend out of pocket on food), it can have a positive economic boost as well.
Which raises the question. Can we identify other stimulus you can eat?
The Economic Research Service of USDA recently published a paper entitled Fruit and Vegetable Consumption by Low-Income Americans: Would a Price Reduction Make a Difference? They calculated that a 10 or 20 percent reduction in the price of vegetables and fruits would lead to a 2.5 to 10 percent increase in consumption of those healthy foods by people with low incomes (who currently eat approximately only 55 percent of recommended daily servings of fruits/vegetables). The cost of a ten percent government subsidy to encourage greater consumption would be between $500 and $600 million.
Sounds like a decent investment because the health impacts of diet are so significant - and costly! From the ERS study:
Diet-related, premature deaths from coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes accounted for 5.3 percent of all deaths in the United States, costing the U.S. Government $71 billion in 1995 (Frazao, 1999).
So what about an 80 or 100 percent subsidy? Free or near free fruits and vegetables for people who have a hard time affording healthy diets. $5 billion would bring consumption up closer to 80 percent of recommended levels. And, since many of the same families have a hard time accessing fresh foods, increase in demand would hopefully result in an increase in grocery stores, in corner stores stocking healthier foods, in more farmers markets in low income areas- while also providing a boost to farmers who grow fruits/vegetables. (If local produce was prioritized, so much the better).
Won’t happen in this bill, but worth considering for the future.
edit: GayIthican pointed me to their cool recent diary on creating a supplemental benefit card that food stamp recipients could spend just on fruits/ vegetables.
Along these lines, later this year, WIC only stores (that exist in California and some other states) will soon be able (and required) to start selling fresh fruits and vegetables and mothers will get vouchers to purchase f/v.