By Caree Jackson Cotwright, PhD, RDN, Director of Nutrition Security and Health Equity, USDA Food and Nutrition Service

USDA is proud to celebrate the second anniversary of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s vision to advance food and nutrition security.

This first-of-its-kind, whole-of-department approach uses a four-pillar approach, working across USDA’s eight mission areas. These pillars include:

• Providing nutrition support from pregnancy to birth and beyond;
• Connecting everyone in this country with healthy, safe, affordable foods
• Developing, translating, and enacting nutrition science through partnership; and
• Prioritizing equity every step of the way.

Leveraging the momentum of the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, we are also doing our part to implement the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. This whole-of-society strategy was designed to end hunger, improve nutrition and physical activity, and reduce diet-related diseases and disparities.

And the Biden-Harris Administration remains focused on the Strategy. At a recent White House event, partners pledged nearly $1.7 billion in new commitments cultivated through the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities.

Our efforts to advance food and nutrition security also integrates the Secretary’s goal to make MyPlate a household name. As I explain in this video, MyPlate has been our national symbol for healthy eating for more than a decade. MyPlate.gov provides the guidance, tools, and resources that translate the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines into actionable steps anyone can use.

We are making our MyPlate materials more culturally, contextually, and linguistically responsive. And we work with more than 141 National Strategic Partners across a variety of sectors to use common messages to communicate to consumers that it’s never too early or too late to start eating healthy. We even launched a MyPlate Instagram, which is loaded with healthy eating tips and recipes.

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Celebrates Progress on Tackling Food and Nutrition Insecurity

As we celebrate the power of nutritious food, we are proud of all we’ve accomplished over the last two years, but we know we can do more and do better, together. Please explore our innovative tools and stay connected. We look forward to working together to help everyone in this country access nutrition education through MyPlate.

Using a four-pillar approach, USDA is working tirelessly to tackle food and nutrition insecurity. Some top accomplishments over the last two years include:

Providing Nutrition support from Pregnancy to Birth and Beyond

• Re-evaluated the Thrifty Food Plan (the basis of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)) as directed by Congress, resulting in $1.19 more in SNAP benefits per person per day beginning in fiscal year 2022.
• Enhancing the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) food package and proposed updated nutrition standards for WIC food packages and school meals based on the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
• Investing approximately $1 billion per year on nutrition education and promotion through our 16 nutrition assistance programs.
• Reaching over 1.8 million individuals of all ages with SNAP Nutrition Education (SNAP-Ed) interventions at 314,000 sites in partnership with 29,000 organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam.

Connecting All Americans with Healthy, Safe, Affordable Food

• Investing $100 million in the Healthy Meals Incentive for Schools initiative, a multipronged approach to K-12 food system transformation designed to increase utilization, and thereby demand, for nutritious agricultural commodities, such as whole grains, vegetables, legumes, and fruits as well as food products that reflect various cultures.
• Awarding $100 million in The Emergency Food Assistance Program Reach and Resiliency grants each tailored to the specific needs of the requesting state/territory and using a variety of approaches including but not limited to studies of program reach, cultural competency training for relevant staff, expanding mobile distribution infrastructure, investing in critical freezing and cooling options in rural areas, and developing and implementing targeted outreach within tribal areas.
• Investing $59.4 million to support the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program’s (GusNIP) Produce Prescription and Nutrition Incentive programs to encourage people to eat more healthfully by increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Increasing the WIC monthly cash-value benefit for fruits and vegetables that are substantially higher than the previous amounts made available through the program.
• Inspiring healthful eating with the redesigned SNAP-Ed Connection’s Recipes and Menus webpages that feature healthy, thrifty holiday menus in addition to hundreds of tasty, low-cost recipes by SNAP-Ed partners and MyPlate Kitchen.

Enhancing Nutrition Science Through Partnership

• Hosting our first National Nutrition Security and Healthcare Summit which drew more than 200 healthcare, federal, and community leaders.
• Working with ProMedica Healthcare System and The Root Cause Coalition on seven regional nutrition security and healthcare summits and releasing a synthesis of findings and themes in summer 2024.
• Growing our MyPlate National Strategic partnership to more than 140 partners.
• Releasing the Healthy Eating Index-2020, in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services, which included the first ever Healthy Eating Index-Toddlers-2020, to help researchers and programs assess alignment with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025.

Prioritizing Equity Every Step of the Way

• Offering “to go” or delivery options for rural summer meal service in areas where onsite service is a barrier to access - this could serve up to 8 million children.
• Standing up a new Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer Program that can reach up to 30 million children and provide more than $3.5 billion in benefits each year.
• Expanding the diversity of online shopping retailers with SNAP benefits, now available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a critical component to providing better access to healthy, safe, affordable foods across our country.
• Empowering tribal nations through a $10 million dollar investment in the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations Self-Determination Demonstration Projects that supports the selection and purchase of foods and, in doing so, integrates tribal dietary preferences, supports tribal agricultural producers, and acknowledges tribal sovereignty.
• Launching USDA’s first Nutrition Hub at Southern University, a historically black, 1890 Land-grant University in Louisiana, and USDA-funded 1890 Center of Excellence for Nutrition, Health, Wellness and Quality of Life which was informed by community conversations and is designed as an engine for providing science-based, nutrition-related information at the community level, particularly in underserved communities disproportionately impacted by diet-related chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.

Stay tuned as we dive deeper on our progress to date, showcasing ways to engage with us, as we go further, faster, and better, together.

By Caree Jackson Cotwright, PhD, RDN, Director of Nutrition Security and Health Equity, USDA Food and Nutrition Service

Every February, the United States honors and celebrates the rich, cultural heritage of African Americans, including their triumphs and adversities that are integral to our nation’s history and success. To pay tribute to those who came before me and cultivate a better future for my three daughters, I share some of my journey to advance nutrition security and health equity through public service and highlight ways I hope each of you can join me in these efforts.

My late father Ernest C. Jackson, Sr. served as the director of community empowerment for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change. As a child, I benefitted from the achievements of the Civil Rights era. I attended school in Buckhead, an affluent neighborhood, home to the governor’s mansion. Every school day, I got on the bus in my modest Adamsville neighborhood where there weren’t many restaurants serving healthy meals, destined for a picturesque neighborhood featuring abundant food options. Though Adamsville didn’t have posh restaurants, we had each other. My mother ensured our meals were rich with vegetables from our garden, the nearby supermarket, or Mr. Bell’s neighborhood produce truck. I was so lucky to grow up in a neighborhood where neighbors and friends looked out for and cared for one another. As I explained in this nutrition security video, at the time I didn’t truly understand how differences in access to healthy retail food outlets affected our quality of health – really, our quality of life.

Now, with nutrition security as my focus, I am honored to continue my parents and neighbors’ legacy by working to ensure everyone in this country has consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable foods. In my role at USDA, it’s such a pleasure to remember my roots and blossom in my ability to engage people from all demographics and life stages. So please join me in partnership to advance food and nutrition security. Everyone can put on their imaginary backpacks and “get on the bus” so we can collectively ensure that no child ever wonders why their neighborhood lacks healthy food choices. USDA’s suite of 16 federal nutrition assistance programs already reaches 1 in 4 Americans. And with your help, we can reach even more and prevent ZIP codes from defining life expectancy. We have the collective power to ensure everyone in this country is set up to thrive.