USDA Tackling Nutrition Insecurity

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking specific actions to improve America’s nutrition security. 

The USDA’s nutrition security efforts build on the work the agency and its partners are doing to improve food security by increasing the Department’s focus on diet-related chronic diseases. Studies show that diet-related diseases are a leading cause of death in the country. 

“COVID-19 brought food insecurity to the forefront of the national conversation and shined a new light on the devastating toll of chronic disease,” Vilsack says. “As many as two-thirds of COVID hospitalizations in the country are related to diet-related diseases.” 

The strategies for improving nutrition security include providing nutrition support through all life stages, connecting all Americans with healthy and affordable food sources, developing and enacting nutrition science through partnerships, and prioritizing equity every step of the way. 

Poor diet increases the risks of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and more. Modernizing the WIC program is among the agency’s first objectives.

(Story Courtesy of NAFB News Service)