On November 2nd, the U.S. Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research hosted a hearing on the “State of Nutrition in America 2021.” During the event, Chairman Booker and Ranking Member Braun recommended moving forward with a bipartisan, bicameral bill that would convene a second national White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, Hunger, and Health.
The last such conference, which was convened in 1969 by President Richard Nixon, led to significant changes in federal nutrition policy, including the eventual creation of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children. It also developed a formalized federal approach to the nutrition of the nation’s school lunches.
During the subcommittee hearing, witnesses outlined possible solutions to improve nutrition in America, including coordinating federal food policies, leveraging “food is medicine” initiatives, decreasing the marketing of processed foods, subsidizing healthy foods, and strengthening federal nutrition programs.