DeepSummary
In this episode, Colleen Macdonald interviews Sarah Reinhardt, a registered dietitian and senior analyst for food systems and health at the Union of Concerned Scientists, about the recent update to the Thrifty Food Plan under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Sarah explains that the Thrifty Food Plan estimates the minimum cost for eating a healthy diet and is used to determine SNAP benefit amounts. This first update in 15 years found the cost has increased by 21%, meaning SNAP participants will receive higher monthly benefits.
Sarah discusses the importance of the update better reflecting the dietary needs and cultural preferences of diverse populations across the US, rather than being skewed towards a Eurocentric diet from 1975. She highlights the need for more nutrition research funding, particularly at the intersection of food production, climate change, environment, and nutrition - an area they call 'sustainable nutrition science.'
Sarah emphasizes using systems thinking to acknowledge how issues like nutrition, climate change, and racial justice are interconnected, rather than treating them separately. She advocates for the Biden administration to take a systems approach when setting up the next expert panel for the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The recent update to the USDA's Thrifty Food Plan, the first in 15 years, found the cost of a low-cost healthy diet has increased by 21%, resulting in higher SNAP benefits.
- The updated Thrifty Food Plan aims to better reflect the dietary needs and cultural preferences of diverse populations in the US.
- More federal funding is needed for nutrition research, particularly research that takes a systems approach to studying the intersections between food production, climate change, environment, and nutrition security.
- A systems thinking approach is crucial to addressing interconnected issues like nutrition, climate change, environmental degradation, racial justice, and workers' rights holistically.
- The Biden administration should explicitly direct the next expert panel for the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines to incorporate sustainability and take a systems approach.
- Research funding should prioritize institutions serving marginalized communities disproportionately impacted by climate change and diet-related diseases.
- Robust climate action through legislation like the Build Back Better Act is urgently needed to mitigate the severe consequences of inaction on the climate crisis.
- Individuals should engage with advocacy organizations and the policy process to push for systems-oriented changes in nutrition research and climate action.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “If you don't know anything else about SNAP, just know that it is truly the first line of defense against hunger for people in the United States.“ by Sarah Reinhardt
- “We need to be using systems thinking and research and practice in a way that acknowledges how all these issues are related to each other, rather than treating nutrition and climate and the environment as these separate problems.“ by Sarah Reinhardt
- “Our failure to pass this test doesn't mean failing a class. It means, and this is not hyperbole, an end to the world as you and I know it.“ by Erika Spanger Siegfried
- “There's momentum, there's interest in getting these funding levels up, but we really have to drive that message home that it has to be systems oriented or we're going to be facing an uphill battle.“ by Sarah Reinhardt
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Episode Information
Got Science?
KKFI Community Podcasts
10/19/21