Farm Bill's Food Stamp Savings May Not Happen

Close to 9-billion dollars in much-advertised food stamp savings in the recently enacted farm bill may never happen - as key states find ways to skirt limits. New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania are triggering extra federal food stamp spending by adding state money to a home-heating subsidy tied to more food stamp aid.

 

Senate and House ag leaders sold the farm bill deal largely on its 8.6-billion in savings and reforms. But with just 6-million more in state money - New York alone can trigger another 457-million in federal food stamp aid. American Farm Bureau’s Dale Moore still feels there will be real savings out of the farm-side of the bill - but as for nutrition.

 

Moore: “And I would imagine that there are probably those who would see it as an opportunity, if they happen to support basically taking steps to effectively eliminate the savings. As we saw in the House debate last year in particular, it could make it a hard push next time the nutrition title alone comes up for debate — folks wanting to get more details of how to make sure that everybody is playing by the same set of rules.”

 

Moore says the attention to food stamp savings could again give rise to a fight over splitting nutrition out from farm programs in the farm bill.

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

 

If you’re wondering why your cereal no longer has all the essential vitamins like it used to, such as vitamin A, B2, D, B12 and riboflavin, you should check the box. It’s probably made without GMOs. So now you’re probably wondering what do nutrients have to do with GMOs. Reportedly, there are not enough non-GMO vitamins on the market to be added as supplements. People have been consuming foods with GMO ingredients for years, and that includes their vitamin supplements. But is there really a big difference between non-GMO vitamins and those produced through genetic modifications using micro-organisms such as yeast? According to some experts the answer would be no, but they are quick to add that in general there’s not a lot of peer-reviewed studies analyzing nutritional differences between GMO and non-GMO foods. Bottom line they say is to eat a healthy, balanced diet, rich in fruits and vegetables, regardless of the methods used to produce them, especially since GMOs are more thoroughly tested than any product produced in the history of agriculture.