Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Hannah Mancoll - Research Paper Template - 3071692
Hannah Mancoll - Research Paper Template - 3071692
Abstract
This paper discusses the SNAP program as well as nutritional and physical education for
children from Kindergarten through fifth grade. In this paper there will be an overview of people
leading the way in this effort for better education of nutrition and healthy lifestyle in general. In
addition the paper looks at court cases regarding SNAP redemption records in stores, and other
known as SNAP, there is a lot of work to be done. Good nutrition isn't just about eating right it’s,
about being active and working out as well. The best way to make sure that this is happening in
every household in America is by teaching proper nutrition at a young age and have the adults in
the house continue to enforce these practices. For the families getting assisted by the SNAP
The first effort towards a "food stamp" program was in 1939. This was known as the
Food Stamp Program otherwise known as the FSP. The program only lasted about four years
(U.S. department of agriculture, 2018). The Food Stamp program ended because there wasn't
much of a need for it at the time. After all, the program's causes were no longer there, those
problems being food surpluses, and high unemployment rates. The food stamp pilot program was
brought up in 1961, then again in 1964, President Johnson asked Congress to create legislation to
make this program permanent. Legislation making the food stamp program permanent was
signed into law the following year. From 1971 through 1974 major legislation was passed. The
three bills passed were The Food Stamp Act Amendment of 1970, Agriculture and Consumer
Protection Act of 1973, and Public Law. 93-347. The Food Stamp Act Amendment of 1970
made uniform requirements for the states and the nation to ensure that each state follows
directions and helps each and every citizen. This act also spread its help to territories of the U.S.,
including Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The Agriculture and Consumer Protection
Act of 1973 gave each state one year to let every jurisdiction have the ability to receive stamps in
addition to expanding the program to drug addicts and alcoholics in treatment and rehabilitation
centers. It also created a new category of eligible purchases with SNAP benefits, those being
ACCESS TO GOOD NUTRITION 4
seeds and plants that produce food for human consumption: "P.L. 93-347 authorized the
Department to pay 50 percent of all states' costs for administering the program and established
the requirement for efficient and effective administration by the states(U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 2018)."
SNAP
SNAP credits are used for food, drinks, and purchasing seeds to grow food for a family to
eat. These credits are given to the unemployed, elderly or disabled, low-income, homeless,
people working for low wages or working part-time. Individuals have to apply for a SNAP card,
and the amount that is on the card is dependent on how you rank in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Thrifty Food Plan. The Thrifty Food Plan estimates how much it costs to buy food
to prepare nutritious, low-cost meals for your household. This estimate is changed every year to
keep pace with food prices ("Facts About," 2019). The program has a few different rules that
families and individuals have to follow in addition to just meeting the requirements. One of the
Beginning April 1, every able-bodied adult between the ages of 18-49 who does not have
a dependent will have to work at least 20 hours a week in order to keep their SNAP
benefits; otherwise, those benefits will be capped at three months within a 36-month
period.(Aguilera, 2019)
These new rules are said to impact around 700,000 SNAP recipients Aguilera, 2019.
Before this was put into place there were requirements such as time limits and work
requirements, states get around those rules by applying for waivers showing their unemployment
The coronavirus affected everyone in every walk of life, and an article titled "Most
Americans on food stamps must shop at stores, risking Coronavirus exposure" (Crampton 2020)
goes in-depth on the effect of corona on low-income communities and families around the
United States. During the first few months of the shutdown, it was said to be extremely unsafe to
go out into a store or to go out in public, but for families who use food stamps or the SNAP
program, had to go out and risk their health (2020). The SNAP credits didn’t work for online
ordering service’s at the beginning of the pandemic. After a few weeks, lawmakers got together
in some states to rework how SNAP could be collected online, limiting the need for human
interaction and trying to stop the spread of the virus. Alabama and Nebraska lead the effort in
allowing online purchases with SNAP cards, leading other states to realize that it's possible to
provide this service online with appropriate security measures. Before the pandemic, only six
states allowed that Crampton(2020). Most people using SNAP are those most at risk of getting
COVID-19 such as, the elderly and people with disabilities. During the pandemic, most families
used delivery or pick up services from local or chain stores such as Target, whole foods, etc.
Families using SNAP couldn’t use these services because most online places don't accept these
credits due to the amount of security the website needs to ensure the person using the credit is
Furthermore, delivery costs are not covered by SNAP, and with a monthly average
income of a SNAP recipient being around 250 dollars, they can't pay the delivery fee out of
pocket. COVID also increased the number of people applying for SNAP credits. This increase
was due to how the virus impacted the economy in every aspect, from stocks to a major loss in
jobs (Crampton,2020).
ACCESS TO GOOD NUTRITION 6
Multiple studies have shown that without proper nutrition, students can not thrive in the
(Markowitz,2018).”
Studies observing the diets before and during the first few hours of the morning on
preschoolers and kindergartners throughout the country have shown that when breakfast is eaten
before arriving at school or at school, the student's ability to focus and learn is substantially
higher (2018). Food security was one of the significant factors of the study. Food security is the
thought of not having food for each meal or just when they are hungry in general. This worrying
can start as early as preschool and has been shown to decrease preschoolers' attention spans and
efficacy. Markowtiz observes, "The study looked at a nationally representative data set that
measured how often children from low-income households experienced episodes of food
insecurity over several years of early childhood" (2018). They then compared this data to
kindergarteners' abilities like reading, mathematics, curiosity, and self-control. The study's final
result showed that kids with food security are more likely to have better cognitive and social-
emotional skills in kindergarten than students with food insecurity. Some people may think
hunger and food insecurity are the same, but "hunger is a physical experience, while food
between food insecurity and behavior, it is difficult to identify to what extent food security is a
causal factor in specific behaviors. Another study done by the same group investigated schools
selling breakfasts to students and its effects on learning. School breakfasts have been in place for
a long time, but they're all not getting utilized as much as they could be (2018). The government
is trying to get more kids to eat breakfast with a program called Breakfast after the Bell. This
ACCESS TO GOOD NUTRITION 7
program is leading an effort to have breakfast during the beginning of classes for the students
California is implementing laws one by one to try and make the lunchroom a place of
nutritious and delicious foods and beverages. One of those laws is banning sugary drinks on
school grounds. More requirements from this were the inability of school-related adults to sell
sugary products on campus unless they waited 30 minutes after the school day ended or off the
school grounds. This act is a great start, but the areas most affected by subpar nutrition, are
underdeveloped and rural areas, are not in California; it affects California, but the problem areas
getting hit with lousy nutrition from the lack of healthy options aren't there (Byrnes, 2019). It is
cities such as Lubbock, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Cincinnati, Ohio. These places are the
top three cities in America with the lowest median incomes, with an average median household
income of around $47,000-$60,000 per year. To put that into perspective, California's median
household income, where this law is helping, is about $101,493 a year. The difference is stark
and shows that legislation is being put in places where people need it less. If these laws got put
into areas where the average income is $75,000 or less, the effects would be more effective and
useful. It is helping people, which is always a plus; it isn't getting to others that may need it just
as much or even more. These states show that eating decisions have a strong correlation with
money and the availability of healthy food options. The listed places have around a 73 to
100,000 ratio of fast food places to people in surrounding areas. With this statistic, it is not only
saying that these fast-food chains are convenient but also cheap and easy for the whole family
instead of going to the grocery store and cooking a healthier meal (Byrnes, 2019).
ACCESS TO GOOD NUTRITION 8
This case was brought to the Supreme Court with a question of whether outside sources
should be allowed to see store-level data on the redemption of food stamp benefits in their stores.
The public sector believes that data like that shouldn't be allowed to see records the store has on
SNAP redemption. On the other hand, the private sector believes that it is general knowledge
that the people should have as tax-paying citizens. People in the private sector think since the
people are paying tax and almost paying for the SNAP credits, they should know where they are
getting used. After reviewing the case and each side, the Supreme Court reversed a decision
made over 45 years ago saying that outside sources are allowed to obtain records of these SNAP
credits, so this made it so the newspaper and anyone else could not see the data. Whereas before
it was allowed if they could get the information. The Supreme Court made the final decision on
this case, stating that newspapers seeking to access food stamp data are not allowed (Gerstein,
2019).
Under California Education Code Section 51223, “schools must provide 200 minutes of
physical education every ten school days in grades K through 5”(California Department Of
Education, 2020). Parents and lawyers are saying that these requirements provided by the states
are being fulfilled improperly or at all in some cases. There are roughly 37 kindergartens through
eighth-grade schools throughout California that are going to become a part of the implementation
of documenting physical activity. Every year schools get monitored in each class in addition to
their physical education classes, but this is a once or twice a year kind of thing. This new
mandatory documentation would make it so that schools are checked on at random and more
frequently.
A key legal turning point occurred during a 2009 lawsuit attorney Donald Driscoll filed
against Albany Unified School District When the district argued that the Education Code
ACCESS TO GOOD NUTRITION 9
requirement of 200 minutes of physical education every ten days was a goal and a guideline, not
a mandate, a Sacramento Superior Court judge agreed and dismissed the case. But the California
Third District Court of Appeals overturned that judgment and ruled that physical education
requirements were a mandate, not a suggestion. The appellate court also ruled that a parent could
file suit to force a district to comply with the law. Albany Unified asked the California Supreme
This topic isn't getting neglected because people think physical education isn't essential;
it is getting neglected because budget cuts aren't permitting these types of lessons. This program
will be implemented in an online website/app that teachers can log what they're doing weekly for
physical education; they can add activities like outside time, field trips, ext. Principles will then
need to periodically check throughout the week and write notes on the website of what they
observed. The final decision for this case is that they will start the implementation of this new
monitoring system slowly in schools throughout California. They believe this will help
significantly in lowering the numbers of obesity in the youth in California. With this being a new
rule in California, it could one day be for every state and every school district leading to a
Senate Bill S. 174 is an initiative to expand resources for get kids more active in and
outside of school. They use things like the Free Fruit Act to get kids to eat fruit as snacks more
than maybe chips or unhealthy things. More things there doing in the bill are promoting school
gardens, women breastfeeding in the workplace, and scholarship money to athletic programs that
help kids with disabilities. In addition to these goals that the city can put in different places, it
tries to put the following rules in the workplace. "(1) application of menu labeling requirements
to food establishments and nutritional standards for food provided in such buildings, (2) prompts
ACCESS TO GOOD NUTRITION 10
encouraging individuals to use stairs, and (3) installation of bicycle storage areas expanding
nutritional labeling." This bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate on January 24, 2011, by Senator
There are many people who have made considerable strides in the nutrition programs in
Ellen Haas is chairman and CEO of the FoodFit Co, five-time president of the Consumer
Federation of America, founded Public Voice for Food and Health Policy, and was appointed to
run the federal government's nutrition programs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She
served as undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services for four years by president
Clinton. She has led momentous measures in the world of school lunch nutrition, including
rewriting most parts to make the nation's school lunch programs meet the dietary guidelines for
the first time in 50 years (WebMD, n.d.). With her involvement in our government she has
helped build the nation's school lunch program to be a healthier option to what it was before.
Tom Vilsack has also played an essential role in the nutrition of our nation's public
school nutrition program. He was the 30th secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and
started in the senate as a senator of Iowa. He helped pass and implement the Healthy, Hunger
Free Kids Act and worked with the first lady Michelle Obama in her Let's Move initiative (CNN
All of these strides towards a healthier tomorrow are just the start of what is in the
future. All of the studies on our children's breakfast needs and the amount of fast food places to
population ratio comes to show what else needs to be done in and out of the SNAP program.
Changing school lunch programs is critical in helping to create a healthier tomorrow. Not being
ACCESS TO GOOD NUTRITION 11
able to drink soda and have sugary food in a school-provided lunch will help shape the future of
healthier eating. Kids need better options at hand. Parents also have to be on board with this as
well. Trying to limit fast food intake even though it is cheap, quick, and easy is a horrible health
option and creates bad habits. A lot of the issue is having access to adequate nutrition, which
some people don't, but a massive part of this is wanting to be healthy and making the active
References
Adams, J. M. (2015, February 1). Lawsuit agreement to force schools to provide physical
https://edsource.org/2015/lawsuit-agreement-to-force-schools-to-provide-physical-
education/73544
Aguilera, J. (2019, December 9). How Trump's New Food Stamp Rule Could Impact Nearly
https://time.com/5744647/trump-food-stamps-rule/
Byrnes, H. (2019, April 23). Most of the US cities with the worst diets are in the midwest and
worst-diets-likely-midwest-south-us/39368687/
from https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/fa/sf/peguideelement.asp
CNN Editorial Research. (2020, May 3). Tom Vilsack fast facts. CNN. Retrieved November 23,
Crampton, L. (n.d.). Most americans on food stamps must shop at stores, risking coronavirus
coronavirus-exposure-173248
Facts about SNAP. (2019, October 14). In food and nutrition service. U.S Department of
Gerstein, J. (2019, June 24). Supreme Court rules against newspaper seeking access to food
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/24/supreme-court-newspaper-food-stamp-data-
3472173
Health, nutrition and learning: Are schools responsible for students' health? (2019, October).
Hoxworth, L. (2018, January 4). Brain food UVA researchers are examining from several angles
the links between what kids eat and their performance in the classroom. UVAToday.
exploring-connections-between-nutrition-and-learning
Korfhage, M. (2018, August 31). For the first time in decades, Virginia Beach schools will be
https://www.pilotonline.com/news/education/article_4f4b1c74-ac98-11e8-9878-
4b90b6a9b2d5.html
Korfhage, M. (2018, August 31). For the first time in decades, Virginia beach schools will be
making scratch food. The Virginia Pilot. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from
https://www.pilotonline.com/news/education/article_4f4b1c74-ac98-11e8-9878-
4b90b6a9b2d5.html
preventing childhood obesity (Season N/A, Episode N/A) [Video podcast episode]. (2018,
v=4A9CLWUac_U
U.S. department of agriculture. (2018, September 11). A short history of SNAP. USDA.
US department of agriculture. (2019, March 20). National school lunch program (NSLP) fact
sheet. food and nutrition service. Retrieved October 27, 2020, from
https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/nslp-fact-sheet
WebMD. (n.d.). Ellen Haas. WebMD. Retrieved November 23, 2020, from
https://www.webmd.com/ellen-haas