The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) is pushing a program it says will provide relief to beleaguered farmers while a the same time providing additional nutritional assistance for families that lack enough protein in their diets.
And the vehicle proposed for providing that assistance is--electronic benefits transfer.
NASDA wants USDA to take excess pork, dairy and poultry inventories off the market through commodity purchases and make the products available to the public through various feeding programs like school lunch and SNAP.
Under the plan SNAP shoppers would receive additional benefits to purchase meat and dairy products through retail food stores, NASDA president Ed Kee tells the Sussex Countian newspaper of Delaware.
Here's the kicker: SNAP shoppers would receive an extra EBT card to cover the additional allotment, says Mr. Kee, who also serves as the First State's secretary of agriculture.
If NASDA's planned "protein supplement" comes to pass it will mark a milestone--the first time EBT technology has been extended to nutrition programs outside of SNAP and WIC.
That will truly mark the beginning of EBT's Next Generation.
For more information on where EBT is headed, attend this year's EBT The Next Generation conference Nov. 8-10 in New Orleans. For the latest agenda news or to register, click here.
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Love the idea of providing additional benefits for meat and dairy products. The news clip only mentions 'retail food stores'. SNAP households should have the option of purchasing these products at any authorized SNAP retailer, including farmers markets. Recently an Iowa farmer reported selling $1,000 in beef to a SNAP shopper. The woman who has several children indicated that this meat will last 9-12 months. Their furture SNAP benefits will be used for produce & other food items. If limited to 'retail food store', we would be discriminating against farmers. Also, without further research and discussion, I'm not convinced that a second EBT card is the most cost effective manner in which to deliver these additional benefits.
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