By Paul Tuthill
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-959140.mp3
Springfield, MA – An experimental program in Western Massachusetts will see if people who receive help from the government to buy food can be persuaded to eat healthier diets. The U-S Department of Agriculture is spending 20 million dollars on the program, which a top USDA official says will be closely watched .WAMC"s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports
A pilot program that will launch later this year in the greater Springfield area will offer cash incentives to 65 hundred randomly chosen recipients of SNAP benefits what used to be known as the Food Stamp Program..to encourage a healthy diet. For ever dollar spent on fruits and vegetables, thirty cents will be added to their benefit balance. USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, Kevin Concannon says the program will be rigorously evaluated
Concannon. on Wednesday, visited with staff and others who will be running the pilot program at the Springfield office of the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance.
The program will begin later this year, and is scheduled to last 15 months. Half the 20 million dollars allocated for the experiment will go to a Massachusetts based company to collect the data, analyze it and prepare a final report.. Concannon says it is hoped the report will go to Congress in time for the next reauthorization of the Farm Bill, which contains the SNAP programs appropriations .
People, irrespective of income, don't eat healthy diets, and that has implications for national healthcare costs.. Concannon says just two percent of the population adheres to the USDA guidelines that recommend fresh fruits and vegetables, and discourage food heavy with sugars, salts and fat..
And the greater Springfield area Hampden County..was chosen for the pilot program because it's a microcosm, with a mix of urban, suburban and rural SNAP benefit recipients Also, the region has pioneered efforts to encourage farmers' markets to accept SNAP benefits, according to the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance Commissioner, Julia Kehoe
Kehoe says another program that will launch this summer will offer people who receive cash benefits from the state opportunities to work at farmers' markets.
The Obama administration is asking Congress to approve four million dollars to enable farmers' markets nationwide to access the technology to process the SNAP Electronic Benefit Transfer cards..