the Miami Herald reported<\/a>. The most prevalent chronic diseases are high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.<\/p>\nThe cost is being measured in both dollars and longevity.<\/p>\n
Florida\u2019s embrace of Make America Healthy Again \u2014 a movement led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to make America healthier and end chronic disease, reflects a growing recognition that public health and policy are intertwined. This isn\u2019t a political argument. It\u2019s about refusing to subsidize choices that are making Floridians unhealthier.<\/p>\n
But as with any good policy, it must be complete.<\/p>\n
While the intention with the new SNAP restrictions and the MAHA movement is to encourage better food choices, the research into the question of whether restrictions work to change behavior is mixed. In 2023, Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, an economist and professor at Georgetown University, wrote in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that restricting specific food or sugary drinks purchases with SNAP benefits didn\u2019t necessarily translate to better diets.<\/p>\n
If Florida is serious about MAHA \u2014 First Lady Casey DeSantis appears to be \u2014 the next step is to make nutritious foods both more affordable and accessible. At the farmer\u2019s market near my house on Saturdays, the produce stand doubles the SNAP benefits for the purchase of fruits and vegetables. That model should be expanded beyond farmers\u2019 markets and community grocery stores.<\/p>\n
The goal is simple: It should be easier to make the healthier choice, not harder.<\/p>\n
Public assistance should help families move forward, not trap them in a cycle of poor health and poverty. That means investing in nutrition as a public health priority, not treating it as an afterthought.<\/p>\n
There are only two choices: Pay the farmer now or the doctor later. Florida has taken a step in the direction of choosing the farmer by drawing the line on what SNAP funds can be used toward.<\/p>\n
Mary Anna Mancuso is a member of the Miami Herald Editorial Board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You can\u2019t buy alcohol or tobacco with food stamps. So, why should taxpayers subsidize soda, junk food and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244684,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[96879,28,30,29,410,107755,13331],"class_list":["post-244683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-chronic-diseases","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-food-stamps","tag-joel-berg","tag-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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