Improving Equitable Access to Federal Nutrition Support Programs

Mathematica and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) brought together experts and researchers for a discussion on ways to break down barriers to Federal nutrition support programs.

The discussion kicked off with RWJF’s Jennifer Ng'andu describing the barriers that prevent families from accessing nutrition supports and efforts to ground these programs and policies in equity. Marion Nestle followed up with remarks on the complicated politics surrounding the passage of a Farm Bill and the importance of research for supporting these programs.

"We know that making it easier to access federal food programs and other social programs can improve the economic vitality of families."

Jennifer Ng'andu RWJF

 

“The Farm Bill can't pass without [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)], and farm supports can't pass without SNAP being there, and SNAP can't pass without being coupled to farm supports.”

Marion Nestle New York University

 

Following those insightful opening remarks, the events moderator, Yuka Asada, led the expert panel through an in-depth discussion of barriers to accessing nutrition support programs and innovative strategies to overcome these barriers.

Panelist included:

• Carolyn Barnes, University of Chicago
• Sheila Fleischhacker, United States Department of Agriculture
• Ivan Zacarias, Valle del Sol Community Health

To close out the event researchers in RWJF’s Equity-Focused Policy Research program shared findings from their work building action-oriented evidence to increase equitable access to and participation in nutrition support programs.

Presenters included:

• Shellye Suttles, Indiana University
• Rachel Tolbert Kimbro, Rice University
• Arline Cruz Escobar, Make the Road New York
• Annah Bender, University of Missouri-St. Louis
• David C. Ribar, Georgia State University

For those involved in researching, planning, or implementing nutrition support programs from federal, state, or local governments; academic research institutions; and non-profit organizations and foundations, this event provided a front row to exploration of solutions to a pressing topic.

For more on equitable access to nutrition supports explore this brief with findings from research conducted by the RWJF Equity-Focused Policy Research program grantees.