Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the USDA aims to leverage all of its assets to support progress toward healthier eating patterns in an equitable way.
Specifically, he said the agency is working within USDA and across the federal government to elevate and promote nutrition security to “help ensure all Americans have consistent access to the safe, healthy, affordable food essential to optimal health and well-being,” according to a news release.
The USDA also published a six-page report describing the USDA’s actions on nutrition security.
“The COVID-19 pandemic brought food insecurity to the forefront of the national conversation and shined a new light on the devastating toll of chronic disease, with an estimated two-thirds of COVID hospitalizations in the U.S. related to diet-related diseases,” Vilsack said in the release. “Across the department, we recognize that food and health are inherently intertwined, and we’re leaning into our powerful tools to help reduce chronic disease, advance equity and promote overall well-being. We look forward to working with our stakeholders to achieve this vision.”
Vilsack said the agency’s plan for nutrition security outlines USDA’s four-pillar strategic approach to leveraging all its assets to move toward nutrition security for all Americans. These strategies include:
• Meaningful support: Providing nutrition support throughout all stages of life;
• Healthy food: Connecting all Americans with healthy, safe, affordable food sources;
• Collaborative action: Developing, translating and enacting nutrition science through partnership; and
• Equitable systems: Prioritizing equity every step of the way.
The report said an important part of all four pillars is USDA’s nutrition assistance programs.
When compared to the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the average American diet earns a rating of 59 out of 100 points, according to the release. Poor diet, the report says, increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and more.
The report said the USDA is engaged in several efforts to help improve Americans’ diets, including:
• Modernizing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, to reach more eligible mothers and their children and better meet their nutritional needs through updated food packages;
• Building on the success of the school meal programs by issuing transitional nutrition standards while engaging with stakeholders to update the standards in a way that reflects the latest science and works for people on the ground;
• Helping Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, participants make the most of their benefits, which were strengthened by the Thrifty Food Plan re-evaluation to ensure SNAP participants can afford a nutritious, practical diet;
• Focusing on nutrition education efforts across all the USDA's nutrition assistance programs — including SNAP-Ed, WIC breastfeeding support and promotion, and MyPlate — and ensuring they meet the needs of the diverse audiences they serve.
Mollie Van Lieu, vice president of nutrition and health for the International Fresh Produce Association, said the association is pleased that the USDA is continuing to drive conversation and policies through the lens of nutrition security, not simply food security.
“This provides a real shift in how we talk about dietary quality as it relates to federal nutrition programs,” she said in an email. “And we have seen some of that in action recently with the WIC fruit and vegetable boost that will result in more than a billion being spent on produce annually. The announcement didn’t lay out specific new policies, but it certainly sets a framework for which we can advocate around increased access and consumption of fresh produce."