This report is a census of women, infants, and children who were participating in the WIC program in April, 2012. The report includes information on participant income and nutrition risk characteristics, and estimates breastfeeding initiation rates for WIC infants.

The Healthy Incentive Pilot (HIP) is being evaluated using a rigorous research design. The overall goal of the evaluation is to assess the impact of HIP on participants’ intake of fruits and vegetables. 

This study describes how farmers markets and direct marketing farmers operate and their perceived benefits and barriers to accepting SNAP.

The in-depth interviews discussed in this report consist of detailed discussions with 90 SNAP households with children in 6 states (California, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Texas) about their financial situations, their use of SNAP, and their overall food security.

The purpose of this study was to examine how to define “adequacy” of SNAP allotments objectively in the context of program goals to reduce hunger and improve access to a healthy diet, existing data sources that could inform an assessment of the adequacy of existing and potential alternative SNAP allotments, and new data requirements to strengthen the evidence-base and allow for further rigorous analyses. 

This report, required under the 2008 Farm Bill, reviews the nutritional quality of the food package provided through USDA’s Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, comparing its content to scientific standards including the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the Dietary Reference Intakes, the Thrifty Food Plan nutrient standards and the Healthy Eating Index-2005. 

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1999-2004) provide a comprehensive picture of the nutrient intakes, diet quality, and food choices of Food Stamp Program participants. Data are presented for FSP participants, income-eligible nonparticipants, and higher income non-participants, broken out by age and gender. 

This report summarizes the actions and initiatives implemented since 2002 to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among participants in the nutrition assistance programs. The following areas addressed are policy, guidance, and initiatives, programs, nutrition education and promotion, collaboration and coordination, grants, reports, and emerging initiatives and resources.

In 2001, the Food and Nutrition Service awarded $3.7 million in grants to 14 organizations in 11 states to improve Food Stamp Program access through partnerships and new technology. These projects generally aimed to improve access among the elderly, immigrants, the working poor, and other hard-to-reach groups. The projects used a variety of approaches, including targeted advertising campaigns through community media outlets, informational web sites, computer-assisted pre-screening for eligibility, and direct application assistance.

This analysis explores patterns of permanent benefit removal in Texas, Arizona, and Wisconsin, three states where EBT is the primary method of benefit distribution, but where there are low percentages of elderly. The findings suggest that a relatively small number of food stamp participants do not access their benefits for extended periods.