Biden unveils plan to end hunger and diet-related illness: NPR

The Biden administration has proposed putting nutrition labels on the front of food packages instead of the back. It’s part of his strategy to end hunger and diet-related diseases in America within eight years, a nearly 40-page idea to try to make the country healthier.

The White House announced the plan ahead of a conference on hunger, nutrition and health in Washington on Wednesday. This is the first time since 1969, when similar efforts sparked programs like Food Stamps.

This strategy includes expanding nutritional support programs and launching more programs to cover a medically adjusted diet. However, many proposals rely on support from a divided Congress and regulatory changes, so it’s unclear how quickly most ideas will become reality.

At a 1969 conference, most of the new programs were implemented within two years, while proponents say it could take years to implement the plan.

White House wants to expand food programs like school lunches

The administration wants to expand existing food security programs to more people. This includes ideas such as:

• Expansion of school lunches for all students
• Make it easier for more children to get food during the summer when school is closed
• Allow people who were previously incarcerated or attended college to receive food stamps.

These ideas would require legislation to pass Congress.

There are several things governments can do on their own. In the coming weeks, the Departments of Agriculture and Defense will use pandemic relief funds to expand online shopping for groceries in more states and more under the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and Food Stamp Programs. We plan to use many retailers.

And for the first time, a nutritionist is employed to assist the Indian Service and the Indian Education Service in creating Indigenous food hubs in schools and jails.

The administration is keen to treat food as medicine

The White House buys into the idea of ​​using food as medicine. I want Congress to pass legislation for a pilot program covering medically adjusted diets for Medicare subscribers and expand access to nutrition and obesity counseling for Medicare and Medicaid subscribers.

The administration also wants to encourage private health insurance companies to cover medically adjusted diets and more nutritional services.

White House says it’s time to update food labels

The White House hopes the Food and Drug Administration will conduct an investigation and propose new rules for displaying nutrition labels on the front of food packages. There is a need to quickly and easily communicate nutritional information such as star ratings and signaling schemes to promote access and healthier choices, and to encourage the industry to reconfigure products to be healthier. We can encourage it,” he said. with that strategy.

We would also like to propose an updated guideline for companies using the word ‘healthy’ on food labels.