The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program provides temporary support to help people and families afford food. But SNAP benefits are often under fire. After Trump-era efforts to curb SNAP benefits and the recent expiration of COVID-era SNAP increases, some lawmakers are pushing to add more work requirements to qualify for eligibility. Under the House’s proposed expansion of work requirements to parents and caregivers, as many as four million children could go hungry. “Millions of low-income households, people of color, and their families rely on basic supports to access health care, feed themselves, afford childcare, and survive financial and health insecurity,” according to a UnidosUs blog. “Cuts to these programs, or additional ...
Play deserts are common among the Deep South and Southwest areas of the United States, according to a recent study from the University of Georgia (UGA). You may have heard of food deserts and how healthy eating options are limited or hard to access in many racial/ethnic and low-income neighborhoods. Play deserts are defined as “areas where parks and other spots to run around and play are nonexistent, hard to access or in less safe locations that make parents second-guess taking their children to play there.” The UGA study shows that play deserts cover about 7% of the US, but the rates are even higher in the Southern parts of the nation. “Even if you have the park near where you live, if the environment is not safe or it’s difficult to access, then people ...
We have updated our Salud America! Health Equity Report Card to cover your county’s child opportunity score, environmental justice score, location affordability, and transit access. The Health Equity Report Card, first launched in 2017, auto-generates Latino-focused and local data with interactive maps and comparative gauges, which can help you visualize and explore local inequities in housing, transit, poverty, health care, food, education, and more. You will see how your county stacks up in these health equity issues — now including child opportunity, location affordability, and transit access — compared to your state and the nation. Then you can share the Report Card with your local leaders to shift from individualist thinking to advocating for systemic community change ...
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sought public comments on its proposal to limit and regulate several types of “forever chemicals” called perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS have been around since the 1940s and are known for their resistance to environmental degradation – hence their nickname, “forever chemicals.” EPA’s proposed changes are in response to recent research that PFAS harm human health, with negative impacts from fetal growth to cancer risk. June 2023 Update: 832 Salud America! members submitted a model comment to support the regulation of PFAS in drinking water and the environment to protect the health of Latino and all communities. 121,969 people submitted comments overall. Comment period ended May 30, ...
Kendra Richardson worried if her neighbors in Fort Worth, Texas, would have enough food as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened nutrition security, healthcare, and housing. Richardson saw an opportunity to help – with a community fridge. Richardson launched FunkyTown Fridge in September of 2020 with the purpose of feeding the community and giving neighborhood families access to healthy food, making it the first and only community fridge in Fort Worth at the time. “We place refrigerators and pantries in food apartheid neighborhoods around Fort Worth, and then allow them to be accessible and open 24/7,” Richardson said. “So, it's free food, community-based on a give what you can, take what you need basis.” Let’s explore how has Richardson’s FunkyTown Fridge ...
Data can drive action for healthy change. But what if we don’t have enough data? Or the right data? Or equitable data? Unfortunately, even with more health reports and more health dashboards than ever before, we still face inconsistent and incomplete data. We are lacking sufficient data – especially data disaggregated by race/ethnicity – on social determinants of health, firearm violence, traffic crashes, and adverse childhood experiences. Insufficient data happens for many reasons. Limited funding, limited staff, uncertain methods, logistical challenges, entrenched practices, inadequate analysis, and inadequate or non-uniform reporting after data collection are occurring at the local, state, and federal levels. Let’s explore the most critical missing data and how ...
On April 22, let’s celebrate Earth Day! Earth Day honors the achievements of the environmental movement and urges for protection of our planet’s natural resources for future generations. The observance began on April 22, 1970, thanks to Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson and Harvard University graduate student Denis Hayes. Since then, it has promoted advocacy, education, and conservation around environmental issues like climate change and pollution. As this year’s celebration approaches, Salud America! is sharing five ways you can get involved to preserve and improve the environment.
1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
What is the most effective way to reduce waste? Don’t create it in the first place. “Making a new product emits greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change ...
For too long, the blame for our nation’s high traffic fatality rate has fallen on individual drivers and factors, rather than on environmental and systemic traffic safety factors. One of the contributors to and consequences of this approach is insufficient crash data. Insufficient crash data hinders efforts to define and monitor the problem and identify risk and protective factors, and thwarts strategies to prevent these unnatural and gruesome deaths. Now is your opportunity to urge federal leaders to collect better crash data to guide traffic safety. Public comments are wanted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on revisions to the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC), a voluntary guideline of standardized crash data variables for state and ...
The USDA has sought comments on a proposed rule to increase the number of high-poverty schools that can offer free school meals for all students. The proposal would expand the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) by lowering the minimum identified student percentage participation threshold from 40% to 25%. That means more schools and districts can opt into the CEP, which can: Increase school meal participation.
Reduce stigma.
maximize federal reimbursements.
eliminate unpaid meal charges.
reduce paperwork for school staff and families. “Many schools and even some entire states have successfully provided free meals to all their students,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “We applaud their leadership in nourishing children and hope this proposed ...
