Mathew Swinburne

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased food insecurity across the country and Native American communities are acutely impacted because of poverty and loss of traditional food systems and practices (hunting, gathering, and cultivating culturally relevant and locally available foods). The scope of Native American food insecurity prior to COVID-19, while difficult to quantify, is an important baseline for understanding the challenge facing this community, the resources that are needed and whether current governmental programs are adequately meeting those needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased food insecurity across the country and Native American communities are acutely impacted because of poverty and loss of traditional food systems and practices (hunting, gathering, and cultivating culturally relevant and locally available foods). The scope of Native American food insecurity prior to COVID-19, while difficult to quantify, is an important baseline for understanding the challenge facing this community, the resources that are needed and whether current governmental programs are adequately meeting those needs.

A number of states have passed laws permitting the cultivation, sale, and use of cannabis. Many also allow cannabis-infused edibles to be manufactured, sold, and consumed. Cannabis edibles present a unique set of public health challenges including risk of ingestion by children and risk of acute intoxication due to delayed onset of the effects of cannabis when consumed as an edible. To address the public health challenges of dosing, attractiveness to children, and food safety, this survey examines eight pertinent variables.

This webinar focused on how child nutrition programs, specifically the Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option, could be used to support students during the pandemic.

The devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in over 26 million Americans filing unemployment claims. This rising level of unemployment will push America further into a food security crisis. The USDA’s most recent food security report, published in September of 2019, indicated that 37.2 million Americans were food insecure. Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic will force an additional 17.1 million Americans into food insecurity.

With schools closing across the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of children are attempting to continue their education from home. However, there is a serious barrier that threatens to widen educational inequities—the homework gap.

This fact sheet highlights key provisions of FFCRA and USDA actions that impact the Child Nutrition Programs, SNAP, and WIC.

As more states legalize medical and recreational marijuana use, they are being confronted with a broad spectrum of policy issues. One of the emerging issues is whether to allow the legal cannabis industry to deliver marijuana directly to customers. Advocates see it as an issue of access, especially for medical marijuana patients. Opponents argue that delivery will make it easier for kids to get marijuana and that the delivery vehicles will be targeted by criminals.

Approximately 37 million Americans lack dependable access to enough food to live healthy lives. The health effects of food insecurity are particularly pronounced for children, putting them at increased risk for mental health disorders, chronic disease and impaired cognitive development. Current proposed changes to the Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides qualifying households with funds to purchase food, would put millions of children at risk of experiencing ongoing food insecurity.

Education has emerged as a social determinant of health in its own right. More highly educated individuals are healthier and tend to live longer; they also are at less risk of smoking, drug abuse, accidents and chronic diseases. Despite federal laws that guarantee all children a free appropriate public education, major inequities exist.

Many states allow for license suspension for non-payment of fees and fines for traffic offenses. These suspensions often have significant health impacts, some of which seem obvious—people need transportation to access medical care. But a closer look reveals a plethora of other negative consequences that impact public health.

In the U.S., only half the students who eat school lunch also start their day with a healthy school breakfast. This resource examines the framework of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, the school breakfast gap and its subsequent public health impacts, and the most prevalent state interventions to bridge the breakfast gap.