Details For HFHP Survey 1-35 Items
Details For HFHP Survey 1-35 Items
Details For HFHP Survey 1-35 Items
Food Security and Nutrition 1. Support a national pilot program to provide incentives for SNAP recipients to purchase fruits and vegetables: Studies have shown that financial incentives help increase healthy food purchases. An expanded pilot program would investigate the impact of purchasing incentives for fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins among SNAP participants. 2. Protect funding for federal nutrition assistance programs, including SNAP: Nutrition assistance programs, including SNAP (formerly known as the Food Stamp Program), play a vital role in protecting vulnerable populations from hunger and from the health consequences of poor nutrition. The federal nutrition assistance programs also create market opportunities for farmers via increased purchasing power for food among low-income individuals 3. Protect funding for SNAP-Education: SNAP Nutrition Education, or SNAP-Ed is an important program for improving the health of SNAP participants while helping to stretch benefits to the end of the month to purchase healthy foods, and supporting Americas farmers through education that encourages the purchase of the healthy foods they grow. SNAP-Ed is an effective program for ensuring low-income Americans have the knowledge and skills to make healthy food choices, increase fruit and vegetable consumption, improve diets, and reduce their risk of chronic disease and obesity. 4. Promote the use of SNAP benefits at farmers markets, CSAs, and other farm-fresh outlets: Serving over 45 million Americans, the SNAP program can be a major economic driver. Enabling SNAP participants to purchase directly from farmers would have significant impact on participants access to fresh food, and farmers incomes. Currently, many non-brick and mortar food outlets do not have wireless EBT devices to enable SNAP participants to purchase food. Under this priority, USDA would support wireless EBT point of sale devices to farmers markets, CSAs, and other farm-fresh outlets. Enable and encourage smartphone SNAP EBT technology in this effort. 5. Allow third-party organizations to accept EBT on behalf of farmers and farmers markets with administrative or technological barriers to establishing an EBT system on their own. For example, one NGO could serve as the hub for various farmers to make their products available to SNAP participants without each farmer having to be provided individual EBT capabilities. Healthy Farms, Healthy People Coalition Priority Setting Survey 1 of 3 Details For more information about the coalition, please see hfhpcoalition.org
6.
Strengthen
SNAP
retailer
food
stocking
standards:
SNAP
plays
a
vital
role
in
supporting
food
security
for
over
45
million
Americans,
many
of
whom
do
not
have
easy
access
to
stores
carrying
fresh,
healthy
food.
SNAP
national
vendor
standards
should
be
strengthened
to
increase
the
availability
of
fresh,
healthy
food
across
retail
outlets
that
accept
SNAP
benefits.
7.
Maintain
and
expand
funding
for
Community
Food
Projects:
Programs
that
enhance
community
food
security,
such
as
Community
Food
Projects,
encourage
job
creation
and
economic
growth.
They
also
support
farmers
through
the
purchase
of
their
products,
as
well
as
communities
food
security
through
access
to
these
foods.
8.
Provide
federal
guidance
to
local
governments
on
how
best
to
support
access
to
healthy
food:
Just
as
CDC
has
developed
guidance
on
the
role
of
local
government
in
preventing
obesity,
USDA
could
lead
the
charge
with
other
federal
agencies
to
explore
how
local
zoning
and
land-use
regulations
relate
to
food
access.
A
report
and
database
highlighting
positive
examples
and
best
practices
would
be
invaluable
resources.
9.
Provide
a
tax
credit
to
farmers
for
food
donations
to
food
banks:
There
are
times
that
farmers
are
not
able
to
sell
all
that
they
grow
before
the
food
spoils,
yet
donating
these
items
requires
time
and
resources
which
most
farmers
cannot
afford.
To
support
the
food
security
of
vulnerable
Americans
as
well
as
farmers
incomes,
the
government
could
provide
a
tax
credit
to
farmers
to
incentivize
donation
earlier
in
the
growing
season
of
high
quality
produce
to
food
banks
for
distribution
through
the
charitable
food
system.
10.
Increase
support
for
the
Healthy
Food
Financing
Initiative
(HFFI):
The
HFFI
supports
the
development
of
stores
that
carry
fresh,
healthy
food
in
previously
underserved
areas.
Supporting
healthy
food
financing
would
enable
more
healthy,
fresh
food
retailers
to
develop
and
thrive
in
communities
that
currently
lack
in
these
new
markets.
11.
Protect
funding
for
Hunger-Free
Community
Grants/State
Childhood
Hunger
Challenge
Grants.
These
grants
would
generally
provide
competitive
grant
funding
to
states
to
develop
and
test
innovative
and
collaborative
benefit
delivery
models,
with
state
and
local
governments,
non-profit
organizations,
and
research
institutions
to
improve
low
income
individuals,
particularly
childrens,
access
to
healthy
food
to
promote
year
round
food
security
and
end
hunger.
These
grants
would
offer
an
opportunity
to
improve
access
to
nutritious
food
through
research,
planning
and
implementation
of
hunger-relief
activities
in
a
manner
that
could
develop
an
evidence-based
framework
for
meeting
unmet
nutritional
needs
of
vulnerable
populations,
while
also
benefiting
local
economies
and
promoting
community
development.
Local
and
Regional
Food
12.
Require
food
stores
receiving
HFFI
financing
to
source
some
local/regional
food:
Under
this
policy,
food
stores
created
through
the
HFFI
would
be
required
to
source
a
percentage
of
their
products
locally
or
regionally.
This
policy
change
could
have
significant
impacts
on
supporting
local
and
regional
farm
economies.
Healthy Farms, Healthy People Coalition Priority Setting Survey 1 of 3 Details For more information about the coalition, please see hfhpcoalition.org
13.
Expand
funding
for
the
Farmers
Market
Promotion
Program:
Programs
like
the
Farmers
Market
Promotion
Program
encourage
job
creation
and
economic
growth.
They
also
support
farmers
through
the
purchase
of
their
products.
14.
Increase
funds
for
local
and
regional
food
system
infrastructure
such
as
on-farm
processing
equipment
and
aggregation,
distribution,
and
processing
facilities:
Such
infrastructure
would
strengthen
regional
food
hubs,
Farm
to
School,
value-added
production,
and
other
rural
development
programs.
15.
Establish
mechanism
for
schools
to
use
Department
of
Defense
(DoD)
Fresh
and
USDA
Foods
funds
to
purchase
local
and
regional
product
for
school
food
programs:
Establishing
an
avenue
for
schools
to
use
DoD
Fresh
and
USDA
Foods
funds
to
purchase
and/or
process
local
and
regional
products
would
help
ensure
that
small-
and
mid-size
farmers
can
participate
in
these
programs
and
bring
fresh
products
into
school
meals.
Fruits
and
Vegetables:
16.
Expand
planting
flexibility
pilot
program
to
allow
more
commodity
crop
farmers
to
produce
fruits
and
vegetables
for
institutional
purchasers:
The
2008
Farm
Bill
included
a
provision
allowing
some
commodity
farmers
to
grow
fruits
and
vegetables
(for
processing
only)
and
remain
eligible
for
commodity
payments.
Under
this
priority,
the
flexibility
would
be
modified
and
expanded
to
allow
for
institutional
purchase
contracts,
fruits
and
vegetables
to
be
sold
fresh.
The
program
would
also
be
expanded
beyond
the
pilot
states.
17.
Increase
funding
for
specialty
crop
research:
Many
specialty
crops
are
an
essential
part
of
a
healthy
diet.
Specialty
crops
refer
to
commonly
eaten
food
crops
including
fruits
and
vegetables,
tree
nuts,
dried
fruits,
and
herbs
(both
culinary
and
medicinal),
as
well
horticultural
and
floricultural
crops
(flowers,
trees
etc.)
Specialty
crops
do
not
include
commodity
crops
(wheat,
corn,
soy
etc.).
Via
this
priority,
money
for
research
into
production
techniques,
pest
management
and
diversified
production
of
Specialty
Crops
would
be
increased
as
a
mandatory
authorization.
18.
Collect
data
on
specialty
crop
production
to
create
insurance
and
loan
programs
for
underserved
growers:
Insurance
and
loans
are
important
safety
nets
for
farmers,
yet
farms
growing
fruits
and
vegetables,
those
with
diversified
crop
mixes,
and
those
producing
in
environmentally
sustainable
ways
(such
as
organic)
do
not
always
have
access
to
crop
insurance.
A
key
barrier
is
lack
of
historical
actuarial
data.
To
address
this
problem,
this
priority
would
have
USDA
collect
more
comprehensive
data
on
production
and
prices
for
these
crops
and
production
methods,
in
order
to
better
and
more
fairly
target
crop
insurance
and
disaster
assistance
programs,
ensure
the
reimbursement
rates
for
the
crops
grown
reflect
their
true
value,
and
create
loan
products
based
on
the
value
of
the
crops.
19.
Protect
funding
for
the
Fresh
Fruit
and
Vegetable
Program:
The
USDA
Fresh
Fruit
and
Vegetable
Program
has
been
a
highly
successful,
cost-effective
program,
providing
fruit
and
vegetable
snacks
to
low-income
elementary
school
students,
thus
increasing
their
consumption
and
introducing
many
to
new
foods.
It
runs
in
selected
low-income
elementary
schools
in
the
50
States,
the
District
of
Columbia,
Guam,
Puerto
Rico,
and
the
Virgin
Islands.
Healthy
Farms,
Healthy
People
Coalition
Priority
Setting
Survey
1
of
3
Details
For
more
information
about
the
coalition,
please
see
hfhpcoalition.org
Production
Methods:
20.
Extend
conservation
compliance
provisions
to
crop
insurance:
Under
Conservation
compliance,
farms
operating
on
environmentally
sensitive
lands
are
required
to
comply
with
conservation
provisions
in
order
to
receive
some
commodity
payments.
Crop
insurance
is
currently
excluded,
and
it
is
believed
that
some
commodity
payment
programs
will
be
eliminated
with
this
farm
bill.
Extending
conservation
compliance
to
crop
insurance
would
help
keep
some
former
commodity-program-enrolled
land
protected.
21.
Maintain
and
increase
funding
for
working
lands
conservation
programs
(such
as,
EQIP
and
Conservation
Stewardship
Program):
Farmers
play
an
extremely
important
role
in
preserving
natural
resources.
Programs
that
encourage
robust
conservation
practices
on
working
lands
benefit
farmers,
environmental
health
and
ultimately,
human
health.
22.
Maintain
and
increase
funding
for
programs
that
promote
organic
production:
Pesticide
exposure
has
been
linked
to
cancer
and
other
health
threats,
such
as
endocrine
disruption.
Organic
production
protects
farmers,
farm
workers
and
consumers
from
pesticide
exposure
and
has
numerous
other
environmental
benefits.
Organic
programs
in
the
farm
bill
include
the
National
Organic
Certification
Cost-share
Program
and
the
EQIP
Organic
Initiative.
Research
23.
Require
USDA
to
submit
a
report
to
Congress
each
year
on
the
impact
of
US
Agriculture
on
Health:
In
order
for
Congress
to
better
understand
these
links
and
act
accordingly
to
protect
public
health,
via
this
priority,
a
written
report
covering
topics
such
as
environmental
health,
antibiotic
resistance,
farm
and
food
worker
health,
and
use
of
chemicals
and
pharmaceuticals
in
agriculture,
would
be
complied
by
USDAin
partnership
with
other
relevant
Agenciesand
submitted
to
Congress
on
an
annual
basis.
24.
Maintain
funding
for
the
National
Institute
of
Food
and
Agriculture
for
programs
that
support
health.
Continued
and
expanded
research
on
a
range
of
topics
could
promote
and
protect
health
while
assisting
farmers
and
others
in
the
food
supply
chain
in
their
businesses.
Such
avenues
include,
small
and
mid-sized
farms,
reducing
the
use
of
toxic
chemicals,
and
food
security.
Caps
within
NIFA
to
ensure
some
smaller
projects
get
funded
would
also
be
useful.
25.
Expand
research
to
advance
adaptation
and
preparedness
of
the
agricultural
sector
in
face
of
climate
change,
water
shortages,
peak
oil
and
other
ecological
threats.
USDA
does
critical
research
on
these
issues.
This
important
work
needs
more
support
and
more
of
a
systems-research
approach,
including
a
focus
on
the
development
of
sustainable
agricultural
methods
that
can
balance
improved
efficiency
and
effectiveness
of
production
with
increasingly
limited
resources
and
a
changing
natural
environment.
26.
Maintain
and
increase
mandatory
funding
for
OREI,
BFRDP
and
SCRI,
three
programs
in
the
Research
Title
that
would
be
eliminated
after
2012
because
they
lack
continued
funding:
The
Organic
Agriculture
Research
and
Extension
Initiative
(OREI),
Specialty
Crop
Research
Initiative
(SCRI),
and
Beginning
Farmer
and
Rancher
Development
Program
(BFRDP)
address
the
lack
of
USDA
research
and
extension
serving
organic,
specialty
crop,
and
beginning
producers,
who
make
up
a
growing
portion
of
Healthy Farms, Healthy People Coalition Priority Setting Survey 1 of 3 Details For more information about the coalition, please see hfhpcoalition.org
the
agricultural
sector.
These
programs
do
not
have
baseline
dollars
after
2012
and
will
expire
unless
specifically
renewed
in
the
next
Farm
Bill.
27.
Add
emphasis
for
sustainable
agriculture
to
the
Specialty
Crop
Research
Initiative:
Under
this
priority,
SCRI
would
either
set
aside
a
portion
of
funds,
or
weigh
proposals
more
heavily,
for
research
on
sustainable
agriculture
practices
addressing
specialty
crop
concerns,
including
pest
management
and
disease,
production
efficiency
and
profitability.
Fairness,
Competition
and
Prices
28.
Create
mechanisms
to
stabilize
farm
prices,
such
as
buffer
stocks
or
a
grain
reserve:
Protecting
farmers
incomes
and
maintaining
a
fair
price
for
consumers
is
a
key
function
of
agriculture
policy.
Congress
could
create
mechanisms
to
balance
the
highs
and
lows
of
commodity
supplies,
such
as
buffer
stocks
or
a
farmer-owned
grain
reserve.
These
approaches
would
be
a
means
to
achieve
greater
stability
in
the
global
agricultural
marketplace
and
to
provide
assistance
to
the
hungry,
both
at
home
and
abroad.
29.
Ensure
fair
grower
contracts
and
competition
by
strengthening
and
enhancing
GIPSA
provisions
from
the
2008
Farm
Bill,
including
clarifying
unfair
and
discriminatory
practices
and
price
preferences,
and
strengthening
recourse
for
farmers/ranchers
to
make
complaints
about
unfair/deceptive
practices.
Such
actions
would
give
small
livestock
and
poultry
operations
access
to
a
level
playing
field
given
industry
concentration.
30.
Provide
authority
to
the
USDA
to
assure
that
workplace
health
and
safety,
wage
and
hour
and
other
protections
for
farmworkers
are
met
by
all
vendors
who
sell
fresh
fruit
and
vegetables
and
other
food
to
the
USDA.
31.
Include
a
set-aside
for
Socially
Disadvantaged
producers
in
specialty
crop
block
grants
and
fresh
fruit
and
vegetable
purchase
programs.
There
is
a
wide
need
for
more
support
for
specialty
crops
and
fresh
fruit
and
vegetable
purchases
in
order
to
address
the
health
and
safety
concerns
of
American
consumers
and
meet
the
increased
demand
for
fresh
vegetables
and
fruit
for
all
consumers.
As
Congress
seeks
to
enhance
authority
and
funding
to
increase
the
production
and
distribution
of
specialty
crops,
it
is
also
important
and
a
matter
of
fairness
to
ensure
that
socially
disadvantaged
farmers
are
included
in
any
such
expansion
via
a
specific
set-aside.
Rural
Development:
32.
Increase
USDA
intradepartmental
and
federal
agencies
interdepartmental
collaboration
on
urban/rural
linkage
issues:
Create
an
intradepartmental
workforce
within
USDA
responsible
for
urban- rural
linkages
across
existing
programs.
Such
an
initiative
could
foster
collaboration
between
Farm
Service
Agency
and
Extension
staff
to
better
address
urban
and
rural
food
access.
It
would
also
provide
a
structure
for
enhanced
collaboration
with
other
agencies
such
as
EPA,
CDC
and
HUDfor
example
through
formal
USDA
membership
in
the
Presidents
Sustainable
Communities
interagency
workforce.
Healthy
Farms,
Healthy
People
Coalition
Priority
Setting
Survey
1
of
3
Details
For
more
information
about
the
coalition,
please
see
hfhpcoalition.org
USDA
and
other
Agencies:
33.
Improve
farm
and
food
system
worker
health:
Farm
and
food
system
workers
play
a
major
role
in
getting
food
from
field
to
plate.
Many
do
not
have
health
insurance,
face
occupational
health
issues
and
other
health
impacts
of
their
work.
Farmers
and
companies
that
employ
these
workers
also
have
a
need
for
a
healthy
work
force.
34.
Improve
food
safety
while
protecting
small
and
mid-sized
farmers:
A
lack
of
food
safety
clearly
impacts
peoples
health,
but
it
also
affects
farmers
bottom
lines.
The
recent
Food
Safety
Modernization
Act
laid
out
important
changes
for
food
safety.
While
these
changes
should
be
good
for
health,
some
of
the
provisions
may
negatively
impact
small
and
mid-sized
farmers
if
attention
is
not
paid
to
the
details
of
implementing
the
law.
35.
Ensure
farmland
preservation:
Having
enough
land
for
food
production
is
a
national
security
issue,
as
well
as
an
economic
and
health
one.
A
range
of
tactics
to
preserve
farmland
could
be
employed,
such
as
zoning
changes
at
the
local
level
and
tax
incentives
at
the
federal
level
for
farmers
who
will
their
land
to
beginning
farmers.
Healthy Farms, Healthy People Coalition Priority Setting Survey 1 of 3 Details For more information about the coalition, please see hfhpcoalition.org