Vilsack on Nutrition & Walden Move Bill

Vilsack on Nutrition & Walden Move Bill

Vilsack on Nutrition & Walden Move Bill Forward plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

A new study by the USDA has found that more people utilizing SNAP benefits purchase fresh fruits and vegetables with incentives. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.

VILSACK: What we found from this 2-year, very data driven study focusing on 4000 SNAP households was that an incentive of less than 15 cents a day may in fact increase fruit and vegetable consumption by adults by up to 25%. Nearly two-thirds of those who participated indeed earned more benefits through the purchase of targeted fruits and vegetables.

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden’s Central Oregon Jobs and Water Security Act took an important step forward yesterday. The House Natural Resources Committee unanimously approved the bill, H.R. 2640, sending it to the full House for consideration. The bill would fix a boundary line error at Bowman Dam, paving the way for construction of a small scale hydropower facility at the base of the dam. It would also provide job-creating water for the city of Prineville to attract additional projects like Facebook and Apple, and give life to important water conservation projects in the region.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.

Do Americans consume too much sugar? Probably a large percentage of us do. But should sugar be compared with the likes of cocaine and heroine and therefore outlawed, or at the very least taxed beyond all sensibility? Probably not. While the food police continue to push that sugar is akin to drug addiction, science just doesn’t seem to back this line of thought up. In fact, Cambridge University researchers have investigated and evaluated the sugar addiction theory and argue that “Criteria for substance dependence translate poorly to food-related behaviors.” But even well established publications like National Geographic don’t seem to be listening when it comes to science over conjecture. The latest issue has an article on sugar - focusing slightly on its history and a lot on the belief that “sugar is a poison”. Yes, too much sugar in anyone’s diet is a bad thing; just like too much of pretty much anything can be a bad thing. Even excessive exercise can cause severe health issues. And yes there are people that are considered “exercise addicts”. Bottom line, do we really want to start regulating and taxing everything that is known to light up the pleasure centers of the brain? We just might end up a nation of tax poor law breakers.

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network. 

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