Children’s advocates want universal free school lunches to continue
Originally posted on The Boston Herald. Advocates are calling on state lawmakers to extend free meals at schools, a program that came into place during the pandemic and is even […]
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Treatment Plan for Hunger: SNAP, WIC, and the Community Eligibility Provision
About the What If? Series Through the What If Project, Children’s HealthWatch is providing real and specific models of better policy futures, working toward our vision of a future where all […]
Real Cost of a Healthy Diet: 2011
In new research conducted at the Philadelphia site of Children’s HealthWatch, we replicated the 2008 study, Coming Up Short: High Food Costs Outstrip Food Stamp Benefits, examining the affordability and accessibility […]
Coming Up Short: High food costs outstrip food stamp benefits (The Real Cost of a Healthy Diet: 2008)
The Real Cost of a Healthy Diet Project investigated the availability and affordability of healthy food in two cities. This project, based at the Boston Medical Center and Drexel University’s School of Public Health, examined whether low-income residents in Boston and Philadelphia could buy food for a healthy diet using the maximum food stamp benefit in their neighborhood food stores. The study found that even families receiving the maximum food stamp benefit would have to spend an additional $2,520 in Boston and $3,165 in Philadelphia annually to purchase the Thrifty Food Plan.
Coming Up Short: High food costs outstrip food stamp benefits (The Real Cost of a Healthy Diet: Boston, 2008)
Results are based on data collected in four stores in each of four Boston neighborhoods (16 stores total). The average monthly cost of the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) was $752, […]
Coming Up Short: High food costs outstrip food stamp benefits (The Real Cost of a Healthy Diet: Philadelphia, 2008)
Results are based on data collected in four stores in each of four Philadelphia neighborhoods (16 stores total). The average monthly cost of the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) was $805, 49% […]
The Real Cost of a Healthy Diet: Healthful Foods Are Out of Reach for Low-Income Families in Boston, Massachusetts (2005)
A report from a research team from the Boston Medical Center Department of Pediatrics revealing that, on average, the monthly cost of the Thrifty Food Plan (upon which Food Stamp Program benefits are based) is $27 more than the maximum monthly food stamp benefit allowance. A low-cost healthier diet based on the most recent nutrition guidelines exceeded the maximum monthly food stamp benefit by $148 — an annual differential of $1,776. This is an unrealistic budgetary stretch for most families who qualify for nutrition assistance.