Produce Nutrition News

The Produce Aisle’s Secret Satiety Hack: The Inulin Effect

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:24:16 GMT

Editor’s note: This column is part of an ongoing series , The 30 Different Plants Per Week Challenge, Retail Edition.

When I first started the 30 Different Plants Per Week Challenge, I thought I was just doing it for the diversity and benefits to my gut health. But a few weeks in, I noticed that while I was hitting my fruit and vegetable goals, I was also experiencing more satiety and fullness with meals. After diving into the nutritional science, I realized I hadn’t just changed my fiber intake; I had inadvertently been biohacking my GLP-1 levels.

The Science: Beyond Just ‘Roughage’

We’ve all heard of GLP-1 thanks to the rise of metabolic medications, but your body actually manufactures this hormone naturally in your gut’s L-cells. The secret to triggering it? Fermentable prebiotic fibers, specifically inulin and oligofructose.

Recent clinical reviews show that when our gut bacteria ferment these specific fibers, they produce metabolites that act as a direct green light for our bodies to release GLP-1 naturally.

When you eat plants rich in these fibers, they pass through your stomach undigested and land in the colon. There, your gut microbes have a feast. As they ferment these fibers, they produce short-chain fatty acids. These SCFAs act like a finger pressing a start button on your L-cells, signaling them to release GLP-1 into your bloodstream. This slows down gastric emptying and tells your brain, “Hey, we’re actually full.”

For a closer look at how these specific plant compounds — like intact grains and greens — interact with our gut’s ileal brake, check out this breakdown by NutritionFacts.org . It effectively illustrates how feeding your microbiome is the most direct way to signal the brain that you’re genuinely satisfied.

To maximize this natural hormone hit, consumers can look for these items on their next grocery run:

Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) — These are the undisputed kings of inulin. Roasted, they taste like a nutty potato, but they pack a massive prebiotic punch.
Chicory and radicchio — That bitter crunch in a salad mix is doing more than adding color. Chicory root is one of the most concentrated sources of GLP-1-triggering fiber.
Asparagus — A fantastic source of fructooligosaccharides. Aim for the tender green spears to keep your gut bacteria happy.
Underripe bananas — Bananas with a slightly greenish peel contain resistant starch, which functions similarly to inulin in the fermentation process.

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Death of the Center Store? Lessons From the Food Pyramid Flip

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 20:02:59 GMT

Editor’s note: This column is part of an ongoing series , The 30 Different Plants Per Week Challenge, Retail Edition.

For nearly a century, the American grocery store was built on a stable foundation of the center store, packed with refined grains, cereals and shelf-stable goods, which was the high-margin engine that subsidized the “risky” perishables on the edges.

But as of 2026, the federal government has shaken up the food pyramid. By placing fresh produce and whole proteins at the base and relegating processed grains to the “use sparingly” tip at the bottom of the inverted pyramid, it has potentially changed how Americans eat, along with the traditional retail economic model.

It is an economic earthquake with a $130 billion epicenter. According to the March 2026 Numerator “ Food Pyramid Flip ” report, the federal transition from a grain-based foundation to a produce-and-protein-heavy base carries a price tag of $1,012 per household per year. For a retail industry built on the thin margins of shelf-stable goods, this 32% increase in per-person monthly spending represents the largest reallocation of consumer capital in the modern era.

While the new pyramid mandates a diet where fresh produce and whole proteins occupy the largest share of the plate, middle-income households — the traditional engine of grocery volume — currently maintain the lowest share of perimeter spending. This creates a massive disconnect between federal policy and household liquidity.

Currently, the center store (packaged and refined goods) still commands 49% of total grocery sales, while the fresh perimeter sits at 42%. However, the report indicates that low-trust consumers — those least likely to follow government mandates — are actually leading the migration, already allocating 48% of their dollars to fresh categories.

Logistics of an Inverted Inventory

The old food pyramid allowed for a retail model predicated on slow logistics. Refined grains and ultraprocessed snacks provided a buffer of shelf stability that subsidized the volatility of the produce department. The new food pyramid removes that buffer.

Velocity shift: As fresh produce moves from a 12% basket share to a projected 28%, the inventory turn rate for the entire store must accelerate. The “Food Pyramid Flip” report highlights that whole-form vegetables and fruits are now the primary utility of the shopping trip, requiring a total recalibration of the cold chain to handle 2.5 times the previous volume.
“Real food” premium: The $1,012 annual cost increase identified by Numerator isn’t evenly distributed. The report finds that for the bottom 40% of earners, the cost of adhering to the new pyramid consumes an additional 4.5% of their total disposable income, making “freshness at scale” the most significant hurdle for retail expansion in 2026.

Retailer Insights: Mapping the Displaced Dollar

The Numerator findings suggest that the death of the center store is being driven by a combination of regulatory pressure and shifting consumer trust profiles.

Square footage reallocation: With 250,000 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-authorized retailers now facing new mandates to double their stocking of healthy staples, the physical footprint of the store is changing. Retailers are moving away from the 50/50 split between dry and refrigerated space, with new store formats favoring a 65/35 perimeter-to-center ratio.
Private-label pivot: The Numerator report found that 22% of shoppers cite a lack of clear on-package guidance as a primary barrier to following the new pyramid. This has opened a massive door for “clean-label” private brands. Instead of generic snacks, top-performing retailers are launching private-label produce kits — pre-washed, pre-cut and explicitly labeled to meet the new nutrient-density standards. This allows them to capture the convenience-seeking shopper who is fleeing the center aisles but remains wary of the high cost and prep time of the fresh perimeter.
Trust factor: Interestingly, the 48% perimeter spend among low-trust households suggests that the move toward fresh produce is being viewed as a “self-reliance” or “clean-living” movement rather than a response to government nudging. This segment of the market is less responsive to traditional health claims and more focused on transparency and whole-form integrity.

Economic Reality of 2026

The “Food Pyramid Flip” has created a vacuum. As refined grains and sugars drop to less than 10% of the recommended basket, the $130 billion previously spent in those aisles is looking for a home. The Numerator data makes one thing clear: Money is flowing directly into the refrigerated racks. The challenge for the industry isn’t just stocking more spinach; it is managing the transition from a shelf-stable economy to a fresh-velocity economy where the produce department is the new anchor of the American grocery store.

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How The Foundation for Fresh Produce is Reframing Fruits and Vegetables as Preventive Medicine

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 03:51:29 GMT

The Foundation for Fresh Produce’s newly released 2025 Impact Report emphasizes repositioning produce as preventive medicine rather than just healthy eating. It’s a shift the foundation says was inspired by the growing disconnect between what health care systems spend on treating disease and how little is invested in prevention.

The report cites “eye-opening” findings on a global scale, including the rise of diet-related, noncommunicable disease in emerging middle-class nations. Even more surprising, only 1% to 2% of health investments globally are directed toward noncommunicable disease prevention, according to the report.

“By reframing produce as preventive medicine, we’re meeting decision‑makers where they are — in health care, policy and research — while staying true to what the produce industry has always stood for: growing and delivering foods that help people live healthier lives,” says Katie Calligaro, director of marketing and communications for The Foundation for Fresh Produce. “This isn’t a departure from nutrition education; it’s an evolution that elevates fruits and vegetables to their rightful role in global health.”

Katie Calligaro talks reframing fresh produce as food is medicine.

(Photo courtesy of The Foundation for Fresh Produce)

Closing the gap between what health care systems spend on treating disease and what is invested in prevention is an important goal for the organization.

“The foundation is focused on elevating fruits and vegetables within global health conversations where they’ve historically been underrepresented,” Calligaro says. “By sharing data that highlights the rise of diet-related noncommunicable diseases — particularly in emerging middle‑class nations — we’re making the case that prevention must start with access to and consumption of produce.”

Calligaro says the foundation is also convening cross-sector leaders, supporting research and advocating for greater alignment between food systems and health systems, always with the goal of channeling more attention and resources toward prevention.

“Nutrition education and practical knowledge — how to eat fruits and vegetables in a cultural context throughout the life stage is the unlock,” says Lauren Scott, president of The Foundation for Fresh Produce.

‘Big Step Forward’ for Produce

The Foundation for Fresh Produce has appointed its first chief medical officer: Jelena Gligorijević has a nutrition specialty with a focus on preventive medicine and global health promotion.

Calligaro calls the new role a “big step forward for the produce industry,” as Gligorijević will help translate decades of produce research into language that resonates with physicians, health systems, insurers and policymakers.

“Appointing our first chief medical officer gives the foundation a credible, clinical voice that can bridge agriculture, nutrition science and health care practice,” Calligaro says. “It also ensures everything we advance is anchored in evidence, reinforcing trust in fruits and vegetables as an essential part of preventive care.”

Building Healthy Habits from the Start

The Foundation for Fresh Produce 2025 Impact Report shines a light on the need to start fruit and vegetable consumption habits from an early age. To address this need, the foundation has launched the Child Nutrition Education Network to increase fresh produce consumption among children around the world.

“The Child Nutrition Education Network is designed to become a global community of practice to connect, elevate and scale organizations working to build nutrition literacy and lifelong healthy eating habits for children,” Calligaro says. “The network brings together practitioners across settings: health care, early childhood, schools, community‑based programs and food systems, as well as the funders who support the work.”

Calligaro says this cross-collaboration is crucial as “nutrition education remains fragmented, underresourced and unevenly integrated across a child’s life course, despite strong evidence that early, consistent exposure to fruits and vegetables improves health, academic and long‑term outcomes.”

By providing shared infrastructure, visibility and coordination, the network creates a more cohesive, scalable ecosystem that can support children from prenatal stages through adolescence and into adulthood, says Calligaro, who adds the Child Nutrition Education Network helps to foster new partnerships between growers, retailers, health care providers and community organizations.

Calligaro says the foundation also plays an important role in informing policy discussions that impact children and their families.

“The insights from the Impact Report help ensure that fruits and vegetables are part of evidence-based conversations around nutrition security, prevention and access,” she says. “By equipping stakeholders with credible research and real‑world examples, we support policies that recognize the role produce plays in public health programs like school meals, SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] and WIC [Women, Infants and Children].”

“Nutrition education and practical knowledge — how to eat fruits and vegetables in a cultural context throughout the life stage is the unlock,” says Lauren Scott, president of The Foundation for Fresh Produce.

(Photo courtesy of The Foundation for Fresh Produce)

Engaging Consumers and Health Professionals

The Foundation’s fruitsandveggies.org site is another platform for engagement, serving as a hub for both professional and consumer information.

It’s also designed to inspire the all-important younger consumer — Gen Z and millennials — to eat more fruits and vegetables.

“Fruitsandveggies.org serves as a trusted, modern hub designed to meet consumers where they are. For Gen Z and millennials, that means approachable language, practical ideas and content that connects food choices to real‑life priorities like energy, mental health and long‑term wellness,” Calligaro says.

She says the foundation drives traffic through paid and organic engagement campaigns across social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn. It also nurtures food, nutrition and health professionals, educators, retail dietitians and other influential stakeholders who connect directly with consumers where they are making decisions about food.

“We take a surround-sound approach to marketing these assets to various audiences and continue to invest in creating new and culturally relevant content that aligns with Google Analytics to ensure that the site remains both credible and relevant to younger audiences,” Calligaro says. “Recipes and curated themed content through blogs like ‘20 Quick & Easy Recipes with 5 Ingredients or Less’ continue to drive the most site traffic.”

Calligaro says demonstrating the value of produce from a cost standpoint is also key to moving the needle on consumption.

Since the creation of the hub, fruitsandveggies.org has seen a 114% surge in health professional file downloads, according to the foundation.

“The surge in health professional downloads signals strong demand for practical, science‑based tools and resources, which we continue to learn through surveying the community throughout the year,” Calligaro says. “Fruitsandveggies.org equips retail dietitians, and other food and nutrition professionals, with ready‑to‑use resources that help translate the food‑is‑medicine message at the point of purchase.

“This empowers retailers to communicate more confidently and consistently with shoppers, providing consistent messaging and inspirational ideas to make produce accessible, achievable and enjoyable, while subtly reinforcing fruits and vegetables as an everyday investment in health and supporting produce sales at the same time,” she continues.

Nutrition education for people with diabetes is another important area where the foundation saw a need and is now helping to fill it.

“Through direct feedback from dietitians and clinicians, we heard that many lacked concise, produce‑forward guidance they could easily use with patients managing or at risk for diabetes,” Calligaro says. “In response, the foundation developed and refined evidence‑based fruit and vegetable resources tailored to this need.”

Calligaro says the feedback has been immediate and practical, with providers reporting greater confidence in counseling patients now that they’re armed with accessible materials that reinforce fruits and vegetables as an actionable solution.

“This kind of targeted approach — listening first, then delivering specific tools — allows us to align and amplify a consistent message across a global network of professionals who already value fruits and vegetables as essential to health,” she says.

Measuring Success of ‘Food is Medicine’

While “food is medicine” is an important initiative, the foundation measures success through the broader lens of its “Theory of Change,” Calligaro says.

“Our work is grounded in the belief that increasing fruit and vegetable consumption at scale requires more than any single program; it requires alignment across awareness, access, education and influence over the full lifespan,” she says. “Success for the foundation and the fresh produce industry means measurable progress toward a shared set of outcomes: increased visibility of fruits and vegetables as essential to health; stronger and more consistent nutrition education across health care, schools and communities; greater confidence among health and nutrition professionals to recommend produce as a first‑line solution; and, ultimately, sustained increases in fruit and vegetable consumption.”

Your next read: How Hy-Vee Dietitians Guide Shoppers Toward Plant Variety

No Pulled Punches: Mike Tyson, Federal Leaders Target Processed Food in New Dietary Guidelines

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 22:42:22 GMT

At a Feb. 11 press conference about the implementation of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins framed the new guidance around a simple directive: Eat real food.

With speakers ranging from physicians and chefs to military leaders, prison officials and former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, the event positions fresh, minimally processed foods — including fruits, vegetables, seafood and whole proteins — as central to reversing what Kennedy calls “the defining health crisis of our time.”

A Shift Toward Whole Foods

Calley Means, a senior adviser to Kennedy, opened the event by criticizing decades of federal policy that he says steered dollars toward highly processed foods through programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and school meals.

“We must get to whole food,” he says, arguing that chronic disease and rising health care costs are tied to the modern American diet.

Joe Gebbia, U.S. chief design officer, says the new food pyramid flips the script, placing “high-quality protein, dairy, healthy fats, vibrant vegetables and fruits” at the forefront, with whole grains as the foundation and “highly processed junk” clearly identified.

That message was echoed repeatedly: Nutrient-dense, minimally processed foods, such as fresh produce, are no longer peripheral recommendations but rather are central to federal guidance.

Pictured is American Medical Association President Bobby Mukkamala.

(Screenshot via Dietary Guidelines for Americans press conference)

‘Food Is Medicine’

American Medical Association President Bobby Mukkamala connects the new guidelines directly to prevention.

“Choosing protein-rich whole foods while limiting heavily processed foods that are high in sodium and added sugar can help slow or reverse our nation’s growing chronic disease burden,” he says.

He calls the guidelines “a conversation starter and a call to action” and emphasizes the growing movement within medicine to recognize that “food is medicine.”

For the produce industry, the remarks reinforce an expanding role for fruits and vegetables not just in dietary advice but also in clinical conversations, public health strategy and federal procurement.

Pictured is chef Andrew Gruel.

(Screenshot via Dietary Guidelines for Americans press conference)

Chefs Champion Accessibility and American Agriculture

Chef Andrew Gruel underscored that real food is not only healthier but also affordable and widely available. He described a full day of meals built around eggs, fruit, vegetables, seafood and whole cuts of meat that he says could be prepared for $15 to $20 per day.

“Real food is wholesome food. Food is nutritious food. It’s also sustainable food,” he says, adding that the U.S. food supply chain — including produce, ranching and seafood — is “the best of any other country in the world.”

His comments place farmers, ranchers and produce providers at the center of the health conversation.

Mike Tyson speaks at the Dietary Guidelines for Americans press conference.

(Screenshot via Dietary Guidelines for Americans press conference)

Boxing Legend’s Personal Testimony

Tyson provided one of the event’s most emotional moments, speaking candidly about his past struggles with obesity and self-image.

“I was so fat and nasty, I would eat anything. I was like 345 pounds — a quart of ice cream every hour. I had so much self-hate when I was like that, I just wanted to kill myself,” he says.

Tyson connects his transformation to dietary change and sharply criticizes the role of processed foods in the U.S. food system.

“We’re the most powerful country in the world, and we have the most obese, fudgy people,” he says. “Something has to be done about processed food in this country.”

Tyson’s appearance, along with a campaign that aired during the Super Bowl , “Processed food kills. Eat Real Food,” was positioned as a cultural push to normalize fresh, whole ingredients over packaged, ultraprocessed products.

Federal Procurement as a Market Driver

Rollins emphasizes that USDA’s scale gives it leverage to shift demand.

“Every day, the U.S. Department of Agriculture spends almost $400 million on our 16 nutrition programs,” she says, calling that spending “a market mover.”

She points to 18 approved state SNAP waivers removing soda and junk food from eligibility and says updated stocking standards will require retailers accepting SNAP benefits to expand healthy offerings.

Rollins also announced new guidance encouraging child nutrition program leaders to incorporate the updated dietary recommendations, with a proposed school meals rule expected this spring.

Kennedy says the administration is “redirecting government procurement dollars toward American farmers and not junk food manufacturers,” adding that the guidelines will influence food served in schools, the military, prisons and other federal institutions.

Beyond Schools: Military and Prisons

Military and correctional facility leaders shared how nutrition changes are already underway.

Army Undersecretary Mike Obadal says the military branch is increasing access to “lean proteins and complex carbohydrates” and streamlining procurement of “local unprocessed foods” and “fresh American seafoods and produce.”

Bureau of Prisons Director William Marshall says dietary reform aligns with safety and rehabilitation goals, citing research linking improved diet quality to reductions in aggression and disciplinary infractions.

For produce suppliers, these institutional shifts represent potential long-term demand growth across large-volume federal channels.

Cultural Reset

Kennedy frames the guidelines as a turning point.

“For the first time in our nation’s history, the federal government put real food at the center of the American diet and protein in the center of the American plate,” he says.

Rollins distills the message further: “Eat real food.”

For the fresh produce industry, the rollout signals more than a revised pyramid. It suggests an alignment of federal policy, medical advocacy, cultural messaging and procurement dollars around whole fruits, vegetables and minimally processed foods — positioning fresh as foundational to national health strategy through 2030 and beyond.

How Hy-Vee Dietitians Guide Shoppers Toward Plant Variety

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 20:17:06 GMT

Editor’s note: This column is part of an ongoing series, “The 30 Different Plants Per Week Challenge, Retail Edition.”

Week 2 of the 30 different plants per week challenge was about learning how support systems make variety easier to sustain. At home, that meant leaning on meal prep and familiar recipes that could handle extra vegetables without extra effort. In the store, it meant paying closer attention to how retailers like Hy-Vee use in-house dietitians to help shoppers move past uncertainty and confidently add more plants to the foods they already enjoy.

I learned that variety gets easier when preparation is practical. A large pre-cut vegetable platter became a meal-prep go-to, making it effortless to add multiple plants to every meal. Growing tatsoi and red sorrel in my indoor hydroponic garden added nutrient-dense greens that don’t always show up in a typical produce run.

Red sorrel and tatsoi growing in the author’s kitchen garden.

(Photo: Jill Dutton)

To keep breakfasts and lunches realistic during the workweek, I leaned into batch cooking. A warm, hearty soup made with Kevin’s chicken basil meatballs included garlic, onions, celery, spinach, tomatoes, broccoli and barley (seven plants in one bowl) and paired easily with a simple salad. Breakfasts also stayed straightforward: sautéed mushrooms and spinach scrambled with eggs, served with yogurt, homemade granola and blueberries on the side.

The biggest lesson of the week was building repeatable habits that naturally layer in plant diversity. That same principle shows up clearly on the retail side, especially in stores that focus on guidance as much as selection.

Hy-Vee’s Approach: Making Plant Variety Feel Doable

Hy-Vee has long invested in in-store dietitians as part of its customer experience, and that expertise plays a key role for shoppers trying to expand their plant intake without overwhelming their budget or routine.

I sat down with Paige Green, a registered dietitian for Hy-Vee, to learn more.

“Start by adding one extra fresh produce item to meals you already enjoy, like tossing spinach into scrambled eggs or roasting peppers alongside chicken,” says Paige Green, a registered dietitian for Hy-Vee.

(Photo courtesy of Hy-Vee)

The Packer: In a large-format store like Hy-Vee, shoppers often stick to the staples they know. When you’re walking the aisles with a customer aiming for 30 different plants, what are the top three gateway plants you recommend from the produce department that provide high nutritional variety but are approachable enough for a beginner’s budget and palate?

Green: When I’m with a customer who is new to eating more plants, I focus on items that are familiar and easy to use across multiple meals:

Bell peppers — Naturally sweet and incredibly versatile. Bell peppers pair great with dip, roasted on sheet pans, tossed into pasta or added to eggs. Each color offers different nutrients, so mixing them boosts plant variety without extra effort.
Spinach (or baby greens) — A simple starter green that blends easily into smoothies, omelets, pasta, soups and salads. Spinach has a mild flavor and cooks down easily, making it perfect for adding nutrition without drastically changing taste or texture.
Sweetpotatoes — Affordable, filling and naturally sweet. Sweetpotatoes can be roasted, mashed, air-fried or cubed into bowls and salads. They provide fiber, vitamin A and antioxidants. (And they’re kid-friendly, too.)

Start by adding one extra fresh produce item to meals you already enjoy, like tossing spinach into scrambled eggs or roasting peppers alongside chicken.

Hy-Vee has been a leader in using in-store expertise to simplify healthy eating. From your experience, what is the biggest mental barrier shoppers face when trying to diversify their plant intake, and how can produce managers use simple signage or usage tips to help them overcome that hesitation at the point of purchase?

From a Hy-Vee dietitian’s perspective, the biggest barrier shoppers face when diversifying their plant intake is uncertainty — not knowing how to use produce or worrying it will go to waste. Many customers tell me they want to eat more plants, but they’re unsure how to prepare something new or fit it into meals their family already enjoys.

This is where simple signage and usage tips can make a huge impact. When shelf tags highlight quick ideas like “Try me roasted,” “Great in smoothies” or “Add to tacos or pasta,” it immediately lowers that barrier. Shoppers don’t need a full recipe, just one or two practical suggestions to spark confidence.

I also see success when signage focuses on how to use an item rather than just its nutrition. For example, pairing bell peppers with “slice for snacks, sauté for dinner or add to eggs.” These small cues help shoppers visualize success before they even leave the store.

Ultimately, the goal is to make produce feel approachable. When customers can picture exactly how a vegetable fits into meals they already love, they’re far more likely to try something new.

Why Variety Matters, and How Retailers Can Frame It

Erin Mittelstaedt, CEO of The FruitGuys, puts the value of plant diversity in simple, consumer-friendly terms.

“Fruits and vegetables are like snowflakes: Each one is unique,” she says. “Apples and zucchini are both good for you, but they have different healthy nutrients and phytonutrients inside. Eating a wide variety of produce will help you get as many of those beneficial compounds as possible and keep your whole body healthy, from your heart to your brain.”

Mittelstaedt emphasizes that eating a wide range of produce supports whole-body health because each plant brings a different mix of compounds.

“Every fruit and vegetable has its own combination of nutrients and phytonutrients, like vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, folate, carotenoids, anthocyanins, polyphenols and more. All of those compounds do different things in our bodies,” she says. “Some of them prevent heart disease or protect us from cancer. Others help lower our cholesterol, support our bone health or improve our digestion. The more of them you eat each day, the more health benefits you’ll get.”

For retailers, this message pairs naturally with merchandising strategies that emphasize abundance, mix-and-match displays and cross-category inspiration rather than single-item promotions.

From a Hy-Vee dietitian’s perspective, the biggest barrier shoppers face when diversifying their plant intake is uncertainty — not knowing how to use produce or worrying it will go to waste, says Hy-Vee dietitian Paige Green.

(Photo courtesy of Hy-Vee)

Takeaways for Retailers

Week 2 of the challenge highlighted several opportunities retailers can lean into:

Promote prep shortcuts. Pre-cut vegetable platters and ready-to-use greens lower the friction for shoppers aiming to increase plant variety.
Lead with familiarity. Bell peppers, spinach and sweet potatoes serve as comfortable entry points that can be built into multiple dayparts.
Use signage that answers “how,” not just “why.” Simple usage cues help shoppers imagine success at home.
Frame variety as an additive. Encouraging shoppers to add one more plant to meals they already love feels achievable and sustainable.

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What’s the Future of the Produce Department? A Fresh Del Monte Exec Talks Vision, Strategy, New Acquisition

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 01:15:43 GMT

It’s been a promising start to the year for the Coral Gables, Fla.-based Fresh Del Monte, with the newly released Dietary Guidelines for Americans placing a strong emphasis on fruits and vegetables, and the company’s recently won bid to acquire assets from the California-based Del Monte Foods Corporation.

To learn how Fresh Del Monte sees the new food pyramid influencing the fresh produce department at retail and what its pending acquisition of Del Monte assets could mean for the fresh produce company, The Packer connected with Danny Dumas, senior vice president of sales, marketing and product management for Fresh Del Monte.

The new guidelines place produce and proteins at the widest part of the inverted pyramid, signaling they should be the foundation of every meal. How does Fresh Del Monte plan to adjust its marketing or product mix to address this shift? Are you planning on new products or packaging as a result?

Dumas: The updated guidelines reinforce a direction we’re already moving toward. At Fresh Del Monte, we see this less as a pivot and more as an acceleration.

From a marketing standpoint, we expect to place greater emphasis on how fresh produce anchors everyday meals by highlighting vegetables and fruits as meal builders, not just ingredients.

On the product side, we’re continually evaluating how packaging, formats and assortments can make it easier for consumers to meet these expectations. That includes portion-appropriate packaging and formats that support convenience without compromising freshness or quality.

Danny Dumas is senior vice president of sales, marketing and product management for Fresh Del Monte.

(Photo courtesy of Fresh Del Monte)

With the 2026 guidelines recommending three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit daily for a 2,000-calorie diet, do you anticipate this influencing how produce departments are merchandised or the product mix in-store?

Yes, we expect this to influence how produce departments are merchandised. Clear, numerical guidance gives retailers a stronger foundation to rethink layout, signage and cross-merchandising. We anticipate seeing produce departments organized more intentionally around daily eating patterns, for example, vegetables grouped by meal occasion or usage rather than just by category.

Over time, this may also influence the mix on-shelf, with more space dedicated to everyday staples, versatile vegetables and high-rotation fruits that support repeat consumption rather than occasional purchase.

The MAHA initiative also emphasizes food as medicine and nutrient density. Some in the produce industry are concerned the “food as medicine” messaging takes away from the flavor, joy and vibrancy of fresh fruits and vegetables. Where does Fresh Del Monte stand?

We support the idea that food plays a critical role in long-term health, but we don’t believe that it has to come at the expense of joy, flavor or experience. Fresh fruits and vegetables are powerful precisely because they are both nourishing and enjoyable. This is clear from our mission statement: to inspire healthy lifestyles by providing wholesome and convenient products to everyone, everywhere.

We focus on growing and delivering produce at peak quality because when food tastes better, people eat more of it.

How can the fresh produce industry use the new guidelines to drive increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables?

Increased consumption won’t come from telling people to eat more produce but by making produce easier to choose, easier to use and easier to enjoy every single day.

As an industry, we must reduce friction at every step of the journey — from discovery to preparation to consumption. Shoppers should feel confident selecting produce, inspired by how to use it and rewarded by how it tastes. When fruits and vegetables feel approachable, intuitive and consistently satisfying, they become diet staples.

The industry’s role, then, is to simplify decision-making, spark inspiration and remove barriers — not through more messaging alone, but through better experiences in-store, at home and at the table.

SNAP benefits don’t currently include value-added produce such as precut items or salads that come with a fork. What is Fresh Del Monte’s position, and do you think this will remain the case moving forward?

If fresh produce is truly the foundation of the diet, then formats that make it easier to consume, including certain value-added options, should be available for all.

While policy decisions sit outside our control, we have made progress but believe there’s room for thoughtful evolution here. The long-term goal should be to remove barriers to fresh produce consumption, especially for households balancing time, cost and nutrition.

Earlier this month, Fresh Del Monte Produce won a bid to acquire select assets of the California-based Del Monte Foods Corporation for $285 million. If the sale hearing, scheduled for Jan. 28 closes, the transaction will bring the Del Monte brand under a single owner for the first time in nearly four decades. How would the acquisition further support Fresh Del Monte’s abilities to reach consumers with new food pyramid-friendly foods?

The potential purchase of Del Monte Foods’ assets allows us even more ways to offer consumers quality fruits and vegetables in a convenient way. It expands our portfolio of produce, adding prepared and packed vegetables and refrigerated fruit.

Ultimately, it helps us deliver high-quality fruits and vegetables, consistently and at scale, in ways that align with how people are being encouraged to eat now and in the future.

How the MAHA Effect Could Impact the Potato Industry Under New Federal Guidelines

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 11:44:34 GMT

DALLAS — It was a timely presentation at Potato Expo 2026 when National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles and Beth Johnson, CEO and founder of Food Directions, a Washington D.C.-based government relations and food policy consulting firm, took the stage to analyze the new federal nutrition guidelines released earlier that day.

Johnson says the overall impact of these new dietary guidelines on the potato industry is relatively positive, despite some emerging challenges. She credited this success largely to the proactive efforts of the National Potato Council and Potatoes USA to ensure the potato maintained its critical classification as a vegetable.

“We want to make sure that we get those policies right to maintain the competitive advantage for U.S. potato growers,” Quarles says.

Unprecedented Speed in Food Policy

Johnson says one thing to remember is just how active the Make America Healthy Again group has been.

She put into perspective that the MAHA commission began in February 2025 and, by May, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had already announced removing petroleum-based dyes from food. The commission’s first assessment focused on ultra-processed foods. Then the USDA worked with states to remove sugar-sweetened beverages from the food permitted under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

Johnson says that while this is President Donald Trump’s second term, what MAHA has accomplished within a year has been remarkable.

“We just don’t see food policy action like that,” she says. “It’s not typical, and we do anticipate that this is going to continue at least through 2026, at least through the midterms.”

Securing the ‘Vegetable’ Label

Johnson says that as part of the lead-up to these new dietary guidelines, the potato industry had focused strongly on the importance of the potato staying in the vegetable category. Another focus was on increasing potato and vegetable consumption, not decreasing it. And with the new dietary guidelines, she says it’s even more important.

“We were worried about how it would be looked at in regards to refined carbohydrates, starch, etc.,” she says. “Given the outcome of this particular dietary guidelines … the focus on grains has gone from high to extremely low. So, now the way that the graphic is, it’s protein and vegetables and then grains at the very tip.”

Johnson lauds the industry’s work to promote the potato’s benefits and place in the vegetable category as a big success. She also points out that a white potato is a prominent part of the graphics for the new dietary guidelines.

“They do talk about eating a variety of vegetables, nutrient-dense vegetables,” she says. “So, a vegetable is a vegetable now, whether it’s green or yellow or blue or starchy or whatever it is, and the recommendation is for three servings of vegetables a day.”

These guidelines, Johnson says, really emphasize whole foods.

“They speak quite a bit about the problems associated with highly processed foods,” she says. “They don’t actually define highly processed or ultra-processed, but they lean into it a bit, I would say and note the markers of how they would look at that as extracted ingredients, packaging materials, chemical additives, refined carbohydrates and added sugars.”

With that understanding, there might be some challenges in how processed potato products will be looked at, Johnson says. The new guidelines focus on glycemic index, and vegetables do not fall under that scrutiny, but she says it’s something she and her team will continue to monitor to ensure the focus remains on added sugar.

“We’re going to fight hard to make sure that those are maintained in a school meals program and government procurement programs,” she says.

Johnson says what will be interesting to follow is how these guidelines will play into school meal programs, SNAP and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC.

Quarles pointed to an effort during the Obama administration to eliminate potatoes in school meals. He says the contrast between then and the new dietary guidelines announcement is positive momentum. He points to how school nutritionists helped vocalize how vital a potato is in school meals.

Bipartisan MAHA Race and Midterm Outlook

“Agriculture is the MAHA movement,” Quarles says. “There is a very important thread running through the MAHA movement that we want to make Americans of all ages more healthy. There are nutritional problems with our population, but you want to do it in a common-sense, science-based way. It can’t just be the loudest voice on social media who’s making policy. It needs to have a background of nutrition science and things that are implementable to folks in the schools and in senior feeding programs.”

Johnson says another thing for the potato industry to keep an eye on is what happens in the states. With midterm elections in 2026, she sees both parties looking to capture the MAHA vote.

“It really is kind of a fight to see which party can out MAHA the other one,” she says. “We’ve got a lot of Democratic governors that are interested in taking some of these things on so that they can show and they can try to win those MAHA votes as well in 2026.”

Next Battleground is Defining Ultra-Processed Foods

Quarles asked Johnson to expand more on the move to define ultra-processed foods. The effort at the federal level is to hopefully create some sort of uniform standard of definition, she says, as states such as California have already begun efforts to define ultra-processed foods. She suspects other states will follow a similar path. Johnson says she anticipates a definition at the federal level to come in the next six to nine months.

“In all likelihood, it’s going to be the extra additives, high salt, high sugar, that we’re going to have to be looking at,” she says.

That definition would likely play out in updates to the school meal regulations, WIC requirements and SNAP-eligible foods, though Johnson says it might be a challenge to work through all the whole foods within a school lunch.

Quarles asked Johnson about the likelihood that the MAHA commission would classify a derivative of potatoes made from three ingredients that could be produced in a home kitchen as an ultra-processed food.

“If we’re talking potato, salt and oil, I think this is going to be difficult for the administration, for those in charge, for those who already have an opinion of what is an ultra-processed food, including snacks. … I think it is going to be a challenge for them to be able to figure out how to set the definition so that it incorporates things with very few ingredients that could be made in your home,” she says.

Johnson says the administration’s goal is to change the diet, but that is a long-term process and more research is needed. She says those in the administration say it’s a 10-to-15-year goal.

“I was on another call where they said that they’re hoping to complete the next round of dietary guidelines before the Trump administration leaves,” she says.

New Dietary Guidelines Move Food Pyramid Closer to the Farm

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 20:43:25 GMT

The White House delivered a simple but clear message to Americans today: Eat real food.

“We are finally putting real food back at the center of the American diet. Real food that nourishes the body, restores health, fuels energy and builds strength,” says Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. “This pivot also leans into the abundant, affordable and healthy food supply already available from America’s incredible farmers and ranchers. By making milk, raising cattle and growing wholesome fruits, vegetables and grains, they hold the key to solving our national health crisis.”

In the “most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in decades,” the White House released the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030 . The updated pyramid inverts the 1992 USDA version by prioritizing:

Protein (1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, an increase from 0.8 grams)
Dairy and healthy fats as the foundation
Vegetables (3 servings per day)
Fruits (2 servings per day)

Unlike the old pyramid’s grain-heavy base and processed carbs, new recommendations limit whole grains to 2 to 4 servings per day and added sugars and highly processed oils should be avoided entirely.

Eat More Protein

Rollins says the previous dietary guidelines demonized protein in favor of carbohydrates.

“These guidelines reflect gold standard science by prioritizing high-quality, nutrient-dense protein foods in every meal,” Rollins says. “This includes a variety of animal sources, including eggs, poultry, seafood, and red meat, in addition to plant-sourced protein foods such as beans, peas, lentils, legumes, nuts, seeds and soy.”

To put the new protein recommendations into perspective, Sigrid Johannes, executive director of government affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, says for folks who should be consuming 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight that’s a 100% increase in recommended daily protein intake.

Dairy’s Seat at the Table

Dairy emerged in a strong position under the new dietary guidelines, with federal nutrition guidance supporting dairy at all fat levels for the first time.

“One of the key messages they’re telling consumers is eat dairy and eat dairy at all fat levels — that’s whole milk, cheese and butter,” says Matt Herrick of the International Dairy Foods Association. He calls it “a significant watershed moment,” reflecting how many families currently eat and shop today.

Echoing Herrick’s perspective, National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Gregg Doud adds by better recognizing both fat and protein, the guidelines give a fuller picture of dairy’s nutritional value.

“Not all fats are created equal, and because the guidelines acknowledge this, dairy’s benefits are better reflected in this iteration of the guidelines,” Doud says.

When it comes to protein, consumer demand is reshaping the category, with cottage cheese at its highest level since the 1980s because of the high-protein trend, Herrick notes.

“Consumers are looking at labels more than ever and trying to find cleaner, less processed foods. Dairy fits that bill. Most products have just a handful of ingredients, and they’re all high in protein. People are turning to protein for growth, energy and overall health, and we’re going to continue to see consumers look to dairy to fulfill their protein and healthy fats needs,” Herrick says.

The processing sector has grown alongside the rising demand for dairy, reflecting both increased production and changing consumer preferences. Roughly $8 billion has been invested in new processing facilities from 2022 to 2025, with another $11 billion expected through 2028.

“We’re going to continue to see investments in processing facilities — new plants, updated lines and more capacity — to meet growing consumer demand for dairy protein and healthy fats,” Herrick notes.

Eat More Meat and Poultry

When it comes to meat and poultry, Julie Anna Potts, Meat Institute President and CEO, says Secretary Rollins and Secretary Kennedy’s leadership have simplified the dietary guidelines making it clear meat is a protein powerhouse.

“Robust scientific evidence demonstrates that meat is a rich source of high-quality protein, essential vitamins and highly bioavailable minerals that support human health throughout the lifespan,” Potts says.

Kansas beef producer Marisa Kleysteuber describes the new “commonsense” dietary guidelines as “exciting and refreshing.”

“As beef producers we are blessed to work with a ruminant animal that can utilize Mother Nature’s production of cellulose from rain and sunshine and then convert it to one of the most nutrient rich proteins there is,” she says. “Whether the consumer is desiring an organic, grass fed or corn fed beef product, there are cattlemen and women all over the U.S. who put their heart into raising these cattle to produce a nutritious and delicious product that we have always believed in and now our leaders are standing behind the ranchers and farmers of America.”

Quintessentially American foods such as burgers, steaks, pork chops and Easter hams can remain a staple of American households, and the guidelines go so far as to recommend parents introduce nutrient-dense foods, including meat, early and continue focusing on “nutrient-dense foods such as protein foods” throughout childhood.

“America’s pork producers appreciate the 2025 dietary guidelines putting pork front and center on the plate. They took note of producer concerns and rightly gave pork and other high-protein, nutrient-dense and delicious meats their due when it comes to Americans’ health and dietary habits,” says Rob Brenneman , National Pork Producers Council president-elect and pork producer from Washington, Iowa.

Maddie Hokanson , a Minnesota pork producer and mother of two, says the new dietary guidelines’ strong emphasis on protein is a positive for the pork industry. She believes the new guidelines, paired with pork’s quality nutrition and versatility, bring together the perfect opportunity to increase pork consumption and demand in the U.S.

“As pig farmers, we are proud to produce a meat product that is packed with high-quality protein, while also being nutrient-dense with many essential vitamins and minerals,” Hokanson says. “As a parent to young children, I see both the physical and cognitive benefits of prioritizing protein in the diet at all ages, and I’m excited to see what the short- and long-term effects of this recommendation will be.”

Three Servings of Veggies and Two Servings of Fruit

Dairy and meat weren’t the only items at the top of the new dietary pyramid. Fresh fruits and vegetables were also given top billing.

“Diets rich in vegetables and fruits reduce disease risk more effectively than many drugs,” says Robert F Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health.

The new dietary guidelines recommend three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit per day. Like past editions of the dietary guidelines , the new guidelines recommend Americans eat “a variety of colorful, nutrient-dense vegetables and fruits” and advises whole produce items be eaten “in their original form.” Though not explicitly stated, the updated guidelines also call out “frozen, dried, or canned vegetables or fruits with no or very limited added sugars” as good options.

“Today’s dietary guidelines reinforce the critical role fruits and vegetables play in overall health,” says Mollie Van Lieu, International Fresh Produce Association vice president of nutrition and health, in the group’s response. “Scientific evidence consistently shows that fruits and vegetables should make up the majority of what people eat. The Administration’s focus on whole foods is an opportunity to increase fruit and vegetable intake, as they are the most nutrient-dense foods available.”

Rollins Teases Plan to Expand Real Food Retail Accessibility

There was more than the new dietary guidelines announced at the press event. Rollins mentioned upcoming changes at retail she says would increase the accessibility of whole, healthy foods to those in food deserts.

“Soon, USDA will finalize our stocking standards,” she says, explaining retailers that take SNAP benefits are bound by the stocking standards. “Very soon we will be finalizing that rule that will mandate all 250,000 retailers in America to double the type of staple foods they provide for America’s SNAP households. This means healthier options will be in reach for all American families, regardless of circumstance, at levels never seen before in our country.”

Grains and Oilseed Industry Focuses on Positives

In terms of grains, in its guidance USDA recommends Americans “focus on whole grains, while sharply reducing refined carbohydrates.” The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) shared mixed reactions to the changes.

“We appreciate the continued recognition of whole grains as an essential part of Americans’ diets,” said a spokesperson with NAWG in a statement to Farm Journal. “However, we are concerned that some portions of the new guidelines around grains and wheat are unintentionally confusing. Wheat, wheat flour, and foods made from wheat have been nutrient-rich, life-sustaining staples for tens of thousands of years and deserve clear, continued support as a central part of our nation’s diet.”

The American Soybean Association (ASA) focuses on the positives saying it highlights the importance of increased protein consumption, including plant-based proteins, such as soy-based foods. They also emphasize prioritizing healthy fats, including oils rich in essential fatty acids like soybean oil.

ASA says an addendum continues to call into question the process of soybean oil extraction, which it says is scientifically proven to be safe for human health.

“Soybean oil and soy protein play a critical role in the health and nutrition of Americans,” says Scott Metzger, ASA president and Ohio farmer, in a press release. “We remain deeply concerned by the rhetoric and selectively cited studies regarding the health and safety of soybean oil in DGA supporting material.”

Metzger says soybean growers will continue to work with the administration and educate MAHA commission leadership on the health benefits of soy-based foods and soybean oil.

The National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) echoed those concern: “Vegetable oils, or “seed oils” as they’re sometimes referred to, are a significant provider of essential fatty acids and remain a safe and cost-effective source of dietary fats in the American diet, as they are globally,” said a NOPA press release. “However, some appendices rely on a narrow evidence base with limited citations, which is concerning given the administration’s rhetoric questioning the safety of certain vegetable oils despite an established scientific consensus.”

NOPA also argues oilseeds support the production of affordable meat, dairy and eggs as meal produced from oilseeds are a key component of livestock diets.

New Year’s Resolution Trends Include More Fresh Produce

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 21:37:20 GMT

Well before the new year officially rings in, consumers begin turning to Google to look for ways to reset their eating habits, leading to searches related to healthier diets, gut health and high fiber foods. Rather than limitations and restrictive eating, consumers are seeking ways to add to their health and wellness, whether through adding more plants or consuming more fiber.

Google Trends data shows interest building through December and spiking in January, indicating naturally fiber-filled produce as a connection to the resolution season.

Data over the past five years shows a reliable spike every January for topics tied to healthier eating. Terms such as “plant-based recipes,” “gut health diet” and “Veganuary” all rise coming out of the holidays. Still, it’s “high fiber foods” that consistently earns the strongest interest.

Beyond the classic “foods high in fiber” query, consumers are asking more nuanced questions:

“How much fiber do I need a day?”
“Are grapes high in fiber?”
“Are potatoes high in fiber?”
“High fiber, high protein foods.”
“Chia seed pudding.”
“Anti-inflammatory foods.”

The January produce rush used to be defined by restriction. Whether it was a rigid juice cleanse or the annual surge of “Veganuary,” the consumer goal was traditionally about what shoppers were taking off their plates. But as we head into the 2026 resolution season, Google search data reveals a fundamental shift. Consumers aren’t looking to cut back; they are looking to “max out.”

According to recent Google Trends data, search interest in “High Fiber Foods” has reached a five-year high, consistently outperforming traditional seasonal keywords like “Veganuary” and “Plant-Based Recipes.” This shift is being driven by a new, addition-based wellness narrative that retailers can capitalize on directly in the produce aisle.

Produce Sits at the Center of Resolution-Driven Searching

While packaged foods still dominate some diet trends, fiber-forward searches point directly to the produce department. The uptick aligns with broader interest in:

Gut health — prebiotics such as onions and garlic, fermented produce and plant diversity.
Plant-based cooking — recipes that emphasize vegetables, legumes and whole grains.
Simple swaps — adding fresh fruit, vegetables and salads to everyday meals.

Google Trends shows that these interests move in parallel, especially in the first four to six weeks of the year — a window where retailers, dietitians and brands have a strong opportunity to connect education and merchandising.

(Verified with ‘High Fiber Foods’ & “Multi-Timeline’ CSV data)

The Convenience Catalyst: Value-Added Growth

While the desire for health is high, time remains the primary barrier. Recent industry data shows that value-added produce (pre-cut, pre-washed and ready to cook) is no longer a luxury and is a necessity for the “gut-health” shopper.

Shoppers participating in the viral “ 30 Plants a Week ” challenge are increasingly seeking variety without the waste of buying 30 whole vegetables. Retailers are seeing success by offering:

Cruciferous “slaw” blends — mixing kale, shredded broccoli stalks and cabbage provides three to four “plant points” in a single bag.
Pre-peeled “forgotten” veggies — items like kohlrabi, celeriac and parsnips are trending (+150% search growth), but their tough skins are a deterrent. Pre-cubed or spiralized versions of these high-fiber roots are seeing breakout sales.
Fiber-forward snack packs — combining berries, sliced jicama and snap peas into a single grab-and-go container.

The Breakout Produce Stars

Google search data identifies specific fresh items that are seeing breakout status this season. Incorporating these into endcaps or promotional flyers is a high-yield strategy:

Passion fruit (+400%) — one of the highest-fiber fruits; ideal hero for fibermaxxing displays.
Dates (high consistency) — trending as a natural “sugar-free” sweetener for high-fiber overnight oats.
Kohlrabi (+130%) — a forgotten friend making a comeback in the value-added sector.
Fermented slaws (+140%) — prepackaged krauts and kimchis featuring fresh produce are essential gut-health anchors.

(Data Source: Google Trends Analysis for The Packer)

The GLP-1 Opportunity

The rapid adoption of GLP-1 weight-loss medications is also reshaping the aisle. As these patients focus on nutrient density to manage satiety and digestive side effects, high-fiber produce is their primary tool. Experts predict that “GLP-1 Friendly” signage highlighting high-fiber, high-protein produce like artichokes, raspberries and avocados will be an effective retail marketing tool of 2026.

The data shows a massive +1,250% breakout in searches for “high-fiber foods charts,” signaling that shoppers are entering stores looking for information. They aren’t just looking for vegetables; they are looking for specific, data-backed fiber winners.

Concurrent with the fiber trend is the mainstreaming of the “ 30 Plants a Week ” challenge. Based on research from the American Gut Project, this trend encourages consumers to eat 30 different species of plants every seven days to diversify their microbiome.

What this Means for Retailers and Suppliers

Lead with education, not restriction: Consumers are asking how much fiber they need and which foods count. Clear signage, quick-hit tips, and recipe cards can translate curiosity into cart adds.
Make fiber easy to find: Call-outs on displays (“Good Source of Fiber,” “Prebiotic Produce” or “High-Fiber Meal Ideas”) help shoppers connect benefits to real-world items.
Pair produce with meal solutions: Rising searches like “high fiber high protein foods” and “chia seed pudding” suggest shoppers want balance, not just vegetables. Cross-merchandising with beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds can help.
Connect fiber to trending health conversations: Gut health and anti-inflammatory eating continue to resonate. Highlight how everyday produce supports both.

Though interest peaks at the start of the year, fiber searches remain elevated compared to pre-pandemic baselines. That signals a lasting shift: Consumers are becoming more label- and benefit-aware, and produce plays an important role.

Administration to Halt Food Aid Support for Democratic-Led States Amid Data Fight

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 22:27:45 GMT

The administration of President Donald Trump will halt federal payments that help administer the food stamp program to Democratic-led states next week if they do not turn over aid recipient data, according to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.

Democratic state and federal officials have resisted an effort by USDA to collect data like immigration status and social security numbers of recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps, calling it an unlawful privacy violation. USDA has said it will use the data to root out fraud.

“As of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply,” Rollins said at a Tuesday Cabinet meeting at the White House.

“If a state won’t share data on criminal use of SNAP benefits, it won’t get a dollar of federal SNAP administrative funding,” Rollins later posted on X.

While SNAP benefits are funded by the federal government, states administer the program and each maintain their own recipient records. USDA and states split SNAP administrative costs.

Trump’s fiscal legislation known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” will eventually shift more of the administrative cost and some of the cost of benefits to states.

The Democratic governors of 22 states and the District of Columbia sued USDA in July over the data demand. A federal judge ruled in October that USDA could not deny SNAP funding to the states because of their failure to submit data.

A USDA spokesperson says the agency has established a “SNAP integrity team” to analyze state data.

“We have sent Democrat states yet another request for data, and if they fail to comply, they will be provided with formal warning that USDA will pull their administrative funds,” the spokesperson says.

Twenty-eight states have so far submitted the data to USDA, according to a November letter sent from the agency to states and included in court filings.

Nearly 42 million Americans receive SNAP benefits.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Alistair Bell)

Publix Fall Produce for Kids Campaign Gains Support From Village Fresh Greenhouse Grown

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 23:22:57 GMT

The Healthy Family Project fall Publix Produce for Kids cause-marketing campaign, which concluded Nov. 5, featured participation from 13 produce sponsors, including Village Farms Greenhouse Grown.

Based on the campaign’s performance, this season’s program helped provide approximately 875,000 meals to 35 Feeding America partner food banks across Publix’s market footprint, according to a news release. Since Produce for Kids launched in 2002, the biannual campaign has generated more than $4.2 million for causes benefiting families and children while delivering over 18 million meals to local Feeding America food banks.

With 1,419 Publix stores engaged across multiple store regions, Publix once again played a central role in expanding the reach of Produce for Kids, bringing hunger-relief support and healthy-eating encouragement directly into the communities where families shop every week. In-store displays featuring participating produce partners paired fresh fruits and vegetables with easy meal ideas, helping shoppers turn everyday produce purchases into meaningful community impact.

For Village Fresh Greenhouse Grown, Produce for Kids has long been more than a campaign; it’s a shared commitment to nourishing families, the release says.

“Produce for Kids continues to prove what’s possible when a retailer like Publix uses its scale to rally growers and shoppers around a common cause,” says Helen L. Aquino, director brand marketing and communication for Village Fresh Greenhouse Grown. “Publix’s reach across its store regions makes this program visible, easy to engage with, and genuinely powerful. We’re honored to help fuel the meal donations this campaign delivers year after year, while inspiring families to put more fresh produce at the center of everyday meals.”

Healthy Family Project, the national nonprofit that created Produce for Kids, says it experienced another strong Publix season— one that combined charitable outcomes with practical, kid-friendly nutrition education.

“The Publix Produce for Kids campaign shows how lasting change happens; consistent partners, community-minded shoppers, and a shared belief that healthy food should be part of every family’s life,” says Siad Tray Shaw, partnership manager for Healthy Family Project. “Publix’s leadership and long-time commitment of partners like Village Fresh Greenhouse Grown helps this program deliver millions of meals over time. while keeping produce approachable and fun for families.”

Campaign programming included digital and social content from Healthy Family Project registered dietitians, seasonal family-friendly recipe ideas, and ongoing healthy-eating tips shared across email, social and digital channels, reinforcing the campaign’s dual mission: increase produce consumption among families and provide meals to those facing hunger.

USDA estimates one in five children in the U.S. experiences hunger. Produce for Kids, produce sponsors and Publix shoppers are helping to meet this need with donations that support Feeding America food banks throughout the Publix footprint.

The SF Market Rescues 10M Pounds of Fresh Produce

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 19:17:01 GMT

The SF Market, a wholesale produce market occupying a 25-acre campus in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood, recently marked a major milestone. It has recovered and donated 10 million pounds of fresh produce through its food recovery program.

The program, which continues to recover and donate an incredible 4,000 pounds of produce a day from its 20 merchants is a success in large part because of Carolyn Lasar, food recovery project manager.

“[We] started in 2016 and built up from just a few of the merchants here, and over a fairly short amount of time, we managed to get everybody on board, and so we’ve been capturing about a million pounds a year since then and still going strong,” Lasar says.

Carolyn Lasar, food recovery project manager, puts all the fresh produce she has available to donate into a text to communicate with nonprofits each day.

(Photo by Jennifer Strailey)

Lasar works with the merchants in the campus’ six warehouses Monday through Friday, looking for surplus produce that’s of good quality that can be donated to nonprofit organizations in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

“To my knowledge we’re the only wholesale produce market in the country that has its own food recovery program with its own staff,” says Michael Janis, general manager of The SF Market. “We’ve really leaned into a lot of our community work, and the piece that we’re most proud of is our food recovery program.”

Coordinating food for rescue at The SF Market is in many ways a one-woman show and a fast-paced one at that.

“I am the one person who works for food recovery here,” Lasar says. “So, I start at 6 in the morning, which is the end of the workday for our merchants, and I contact each one of them, first by text and also in person to find out what they have available.

“By 7 o’clock, I put together a list of everything that I have available from the whole market, and it’s a very low-tech operation,” Lasar continues. “I work with a notebook, a mechanical pencil, so I can erase if I need to. And I work with a phone, so I put everything into a text, and I send that text out of what’s available to each one of the nonprofits that we work with that day.”

Lazar works with nearly 20 nonprofits from food pantries to cooking kitchens to home delivery to get a variety of fresh produce to people in need.

“All of this has to take place and finish up, pick up by 8:30 in the morning, because the market closes, the merchants close their doors,” she says. “We can’t leave anything on the docks. So, between 6 and 8 or 8:30 — that’s the whole operation of everything in the morning. It happens pretty rapid fire.”

The SF Market, which serves as a kind of connector between rural and urban California, supplies San Franciso’s diverse population with some 180 types of produce a year.

Lasar says part of the beauty of The SF Market’s food recovery program is that its merchants donate “just about anything that you could find in the produce business anywhere.” Case in point: this beautiful purple cauliflower perfect for the Thanksgiving holiday.

(Photo by Jennifer Strailey)

“We do have all the typical commodities, but we also have a huge variety of what you might call specialty items,” Lasar says. “We have every kind of Asian green that you can imagine. And then we also have daikon and ginger and green garlic, onions and garlic chives and regular garlic and every kind of herb you could think of. And this time of year, we’re starting to get local citrus — different kinds of mandarins and other kinds of oranges, lemons, limes, pomelos and blood oranges.”

The donation of specialty, seasonal produce has tremendous value to The SF Market’s food redistribution partners who serve ethnically and culturally diverse populations, Janis says.

“We have found that our community partners really value this variety because they’re able to have product that they typically couldn’t have for their meals or for their boxes or for their pantries,” he says. “It’s become a really important part of their programs, which is very humbling for us and our merchants.”

The SF Market’s food recovery program is so popular, Lasar says there’s a waiting list of community organizations hoping to receive fresh produce.

“The demand is definitely up,” Lasar says. “It’s certainly up from COVID days, people think things must have gotten better since then, absolutely not. The demand is increasing — ever increasing.”

Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner Costs Dip By 5%

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 20:24:05 GMT

As families across America prepare for their Thanksgiving celebrations next week, the 40th annual American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) survey brings some welcome news for the wallet.

The classic Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people is projected to cost an average of $55.18, marking a 5% decrease from last year. However, this price point remains notably higher than five years ago.

A Long-Standing Tradition
Since 1986, the AFBF has tracked and reported the cost of a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Each year, volunteer shoppers from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico canvas local grocery stores—or their online counterparts—to record prices for a standard list of holiday staples.

The list of items surveyed for prices includes turkey, cubed stuffing, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, frozen peas, fresh cranberries, celery, carrots, pumpkin pie mix and pie crusts, whipping cream, and whole milk.

This year’s grocery bill highlights several price shifts. Four key items saw a drop in price: the centerpiece turkey, cubed stuffing, fresh cranberries, and dinner rolls.

Conversely, five items—sweet potatoes, frozen green peas, vegetable tray, whole milk, and whipping cream—experienced price increases. Pumpkin pie mix and pie shells remained virtually unchanged from last year’s figures.

Regional Differences Contribute To Costs
For those celebrating in the West, the classic Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people costs $61.75, making it the most expensive region and approximately 12% higher than the national average. Families in the Northeast also face prices above the national average, with their classic meal coming in at $60.82. The South boasts the most affordable holiday meal at $50.01, closely followed by the Midwest at $54.38.

Americans living in the West will pay, on average, nearly $10 more per meal than those living in the South.

(AFBF)

If you expand dinner options to include ham, Russet potatoes, and green beans, including these additional items elevates the total meal cost for 10 to $77.09, or $7.71 per person.

Regionally, the South again offers the lowest total at $71.20, followed by the Midwest at $76.33. Both the Northeast and the West saw a jump in cost, reaching $82.97 and $84.97, respectively. The West once more stands out, with costs higher there than in other regions.

Turkey Takes a Back Seat in the Bill
Historically, the turkey has been the undisputed heavyweight on the Thanksgiving receipt, often accounting for an average of 43% of the total dinner cost. However, in 2025, a 16-pound turkey represents only 39% of the cost for a 10-person dinner—its lowest share since 2000.

Turkey prices have dropped for consumers this year because, in many instances, retailers are using them as a loss leader to attract shoppers.

(AFBF)

A 16-pound turkey will set shoppers back an average of $21.50, reports the AFBF, a significant 16% decrease from 2024. While fresh turkey prices continue to climb as the poultry sector battles highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), the prices for frozen turkeys—the preferred choice for most Thanksgiving feasts—are steadily declining.

Adding to this trend, turkey demand outside of the holiday season continues to wane, with the average American consuming only 13 pounds of turkey per year, nearly 3 pounds less than six years ago.

Side Dishes Gain Weight on the Grocery Receipt
Despite the overall dip in Thanksgiving meal costs this year, side dishes now command a larger share of the total grocery bill. Price increases for fresh produce and essential baking ingredients underscore elevated costs throughout the entire supply chain.

Items like fresh vegetables and sweet potatoes registered some of the most substantial cost increases. A veggie tray is up by more than 61%, and sweet potatoes saw a 37% jump.

Several items saw price reductions this year, helping to mitigate the overall meal cost, according to the AFBF survey. Dinner rolls are down 14.6%, stuffing is down 9%, and cranberries are down 2.8%.

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SNAP Funding Confusion Continues

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 21:07:27 GMT

Editor’s Note: On Saturday, USDA told states to undo efforts to fully fund SNAP, but late Sunday, a federal appeals court allowed a judge’s order to stand that directs the Trump administration to fully fund this month’s SNAP benefits. Alliance to End Hunger President Eric Mitchell spoke with The Packer Friday about the ongoing confusion surrounding SNAP payments during the government shutdown.

In a memo issued Nov. 7 to all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program agencies, the USDA says it is “working towards implementing November 2025 full benefit issuances in compliance with the Nov. 6, 2025, order from the District Court of Rhode Island.”

The memo, signed by Patrick Penn, deputy under secretary of the Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, also says FNS will complete the processes necessary to make funds available to support subsequent transmittal of full issuance files to EBT processors later today.

But the hold on SNAP benefits has already had a real impact on the 42 million people in this country receiving benefits and the communities in which they live.

The USDA memo “just lends to the confusion,” says Eric Mitchell, president of the nonprofit Alliance to End Hunger in Washington, D.C., adding the uncertainty around SNAP funding since the government shutdown has created confusion and chaos across states for weeks.

A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled, Nov. 6, that the government must pay the full SNAP benefits to the approximately 42 million Americans receiving them, but the administration immediately appealed the ruling.

“Some states have decided to just go ahead and fully fund the benefits themselves, while other states are opting for the 65% of SNAP benefits, and still other states are waiting to see how these legal challenges play out,” Mitchell says.

Mitchell says the government shutdown and halt to SNAP benefits has put millions of people at risk of hunger at a time when food is more expensive. It’s also come during the holiday season, when people hope to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and loved ones, with food as the centerpiece.

“It’s disheartening to see that this Thanksgiving that may not happen for some families here in this country,” he says.

Mitchell says the economic impact of the halt to SNAP benefits at the start of November has had a domino effect.

“When the government takes a pause on providing these SNAP benefits, people still have to pay rent. People still have to pay the medical bills. People still have car payments to make. They have to get to work, etc. So, what happens when you are relying on a particular resource to cover your balance around food, other things are sacrificed,” Mitchell says. “What you’re seeing now is people are making tough decisions. Do I pay my rent this month? Do I pay my mortgage this month? Do I pay this car note?

“That is the domino effect this has had,” he continues. “It’s like when you pull a thread and the entire shirt falls apart — everything unravels. That’s what we’re seeing right now.”

Mitchell says a lack of leadership consistency from the U.S. government has added to the confusion and uncertainty.

“These are unprecedented times,” he says. “In previous shutdowns, including the one under the first Trump administration in 2019, USDA provided the money needed to sufficiently fund SNAP. This is the longest shutdown we’ve seen in history.”

But Mitchell says the decision to press pause on SNAP benefits was really made weeks ago before the country hit a record on the longest U.S. government shutdown.

“This was a decision that was made two to three weeks ago when we didn’t know how long the shutdown was going to be,” he says. “So, this has nothing to do with the shutdown, other than it being a calculated decision — maybe a political decision — to put SNAP in the crosshairs of political negotiation.”

Impact to Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Multiple reports have indicated some SNAP households have turned to shelf-stable pantry items like cereal and ramen, as their SNAP benefits have dried up and with it the ability to buy fresh food.

“There’s always this misconception that folks who are using SNAP benefits are relying on processed foods and unhealthier food options,” Mitchell says. “And the reality is that the purchasing habits of individuals who are using SNAP are no different than folks who are not on SNAP. But what we do know is that by having those SNAP benefits, it does make fresh fruits and vegetables — healthier food options — more affordable and available for those families.”

Mitchell says he’s spoken with SNAP households stocking up on canned items and shelf-stable foods in an effort to stretch their dollar.

Looking Ahead

What lessons have we learned from the suspension of SNAP benefits in early November and what do we need to do to avoid this happening again?

“That’s a long conversation,” Mitchell says. “Addressing food insecurity or hunger in this country is achievable, it’s doable, but you have to have the policies to make it work. We were already walking down a very tricky path with the changes that were being made to the SNAP program ahead of this, where hundreds and thousands of people are at risk of losing their benefits as a result of policy changes that Congress passed over the summer. And states were already in the process of implementing those programs and those policies.

“In the long term, we need to be looking at our policies from a lens of: How is this going to address food insecurity in this country?” he continues. “Whether it’s our tax policies, our policies directly related to agriculture, our policies related to how we address trade and the cost of living and the cost of food, housing — all these things are connected.”

Mitchell says we live in a system that is connected, and when you take away 42 million people’s ability to buy food, they have to stop paying other bills to put food on the table.

“I think the lesson learned from this is that these issues are important to all of us,” he says.

Dietitian Reveals Key Nutrients Missing From Many Diets and How to Get Them

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 17:37:27 GMT

As part of its Fresh Expressionists program, Fresh Express has partnered with actress, cookbook author and mom Tiffani Thiessen , along with registered dietitian and cookbook author Kylie Sakaida, to help demonstrate how fresh, chef-crafted salads can engage consumers who want convenience and culinary inspiration.

The campaign encourages consumers to get creative with Fresh Express salad kits and blends, showing how easy it is to add color, crunch and flavor to everyday meals.
It also aims to help consumers get more of the key nutrients they need for good health from their diets.

“Many consumers today fall short on key nutrients like fiber and potassium, largely because they aren’t eating enough vegetables,” says Sakaida. “Convenience and taste are two of the biggest barriers, which is why ready-to-eat options like Fresh Express can make such a meaningful difference. Fresh Express helps bridge that gap by making it easy to add more greens to everyday meals with no washing, chopping or prep needed. Their wide variety of salad kits makes getting more produce not just simple but exciting and flavorful.”

Through her cookbook, “So Easy So Good,” Sakaida seeks to demonstrate that nutritious foods can be simple to prepare and delicious at the same time.

“‘So Easy So Good’ is about showing that eating well doesn’t have to be complicated,” she says. “I wanted to create recipes that are realistic for busy people: minimal prep, simple ingredients and balanced meals that leave you satisfied.

“Every recipe is designed with a dietitian’s eye for protein, fiber and veggies, but in a way that feels approachable and doable on a weeknight,” she says, adding her favorite recipe in the book is the Blackened Fish Taco Bowl cover recipe that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare.

As for Sakaida’s favorite Fresh Express salad, the American Crunchy Blend is a top contender.

“I recently used it to make a Lemon Balsamic Chicken, Sweet Corn and Avocado Salad that’s light, fresh and satisfying,” she says. “I’m also a big fan of the Mediterranean Herb Chopped Salad Kit, which has kale, cabbage, carrots, chickpeas and feta tossed in a lemon-oregano vinaigrette. I usually add grilled chicken or shrimp for extra protein.”

And when it comes to getting kids to eat their veggies, Sakaida says it shouldn’t be a fight.

“I always say to start small and make veggies taste great,” she says. “Add Fresh Express salads to meals your kids already enjoy, like mixing greens into pasta or serving a salad alongside pizza. When vegetables are flavorful and easy to eat, they become part of the routine rather than a fight.”

Your next read: Star-Powered Produce Shines at IFPA Global Show

Food Rescue Nonprofit Seeks to Help Fill the SNAP Gap

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 12:58:15 GMT

While two federal judges ordered the Trump administration to pay Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds last week, the ongoing government shutdown has impeded payment of those funds that should have gone out Nov. 1. It’s a situation that’s left the 42 million people who receive SNAP benefits uncertain about where their next meal is coming from.

Food rescue nonprofit Sharing Excess, which rescues and distributes more than 2 million pounds of food a week in partnership with grocers, wholesalers and farmers, is working to help ease the uncertainty by increasing access to food through its network of distribution centers.

Evan Ehlers, founder and executive director of Sharing Excess, says the country is facing one of the most pivotal moments in food access in recent history. The Packer spoke with Ehlers on Friday to learn why this is a critical time and what the nonprofit is doing to get food to those in need.

“The reality is, come Nov. 1, people who are reliant on SNAP will no longer see balances in their SNAP accounts if they have used it already, and this is going to be a huge wake-up call,” he says. “Not only will people not be able to use those funds, but they’ll be in a moment of panic to try to get as much food as possible into their pantries — into their refrigerators — and it will be a frenzy scenario similar to what we saw during COVID, only during COVID there were SNAP benefits. There was actually an increase in SNAP benefits, so this is going to be even more dire.”

Ehlers says the lack of SNAP benefits is going to put a tremendous amount of pressure on the charitable food network of local food banks, pantries and free food distribution sites.

“And it’s almost guaranteed that those sites will be running out of food before the lines of people waiting for food are finished,” he says.

When it comes to the impact at retail, Ehlers says there could be billions in losses if SNAP benefits don’t resume quickly.

“There’s 250,000 major retailers out there accepting SNAP,” he says. “That’s over $8 billion in revenue that will dry up.”

Ehlers says the impact of those lost dollars will not only threaten the food security of everyone using SNAP dollars but local economies as well.

“It will have a chain reaction of effects that are not only going to impact people who are hungry, but also the very businesses that support the food supply for everyone that isn’t using SNAP dollars,” he says.

Mapping Out Food Distribution

To help get food to those in need, Sharing Excess has created a landing page on its website that features a map of the U.S. with the locations of food distribution centers and the times they’re feeding people. He says the nonprofit is careful to only send people to places that can handle the volume.

“Sharing Excess works with hundreds of community partners with food distribution sites that regularly feed people, and what we’re doing is bolstering them with more supplies and getting their approval to send people their way,” he says.

Ehlers, who along with his team were racing to get the map up on Friday, says it’s a work in progress that they will continue to enhance.

“Our immediate response is that we’re directing people to our closest partners that we’re bolstering with supplies,” Ehlers says. “We will also be setting up our own distribution centers that are similar to farmers markets.

“But I want to be clear: We’re not going to be able to provide everything that a family needs — every single staple of the food supply from meat to dairy. We have incredible partnerships with produce suppliers that are really becoming our champions during this time and are supporting even more than they have been,” continues Ehlers, pointing to a pear supplier who decided to donate his pears rather than try to sell them.

Sharing Excess works with an extensive network of organizations across Philadelphia, where the nonprofit was founded, as well as in New York, where it works with over 170 organizations across all five boroughs. Ehlers says while Sharing Excess is national, it isn’t able to deliver to each site every day.

“It really depends on where we have consistent supply,” he says. “We have consistent supply wherever we have produce terminal partners or retail partners. So, in the Maryland/Virginia area or D.C. and Baltimore area, we’re working with about 20 Trader Joe’s stores where we’re able to provide access at these different sites. And then we are working with wholesalers — mainly in Philly, New York, Detroit and Chicago — at the produce markets there.”

The website also invites visitors to sponsor a truckload of food to any of the sites. Ehlers says it costs about $1,290 for a truckload, which is over 30,000 pounds of food.

“Each truckload is enough to feed 80 families for a month,” he says. “We’re seeing some companies sponsor five truckloads, six truckloads, 10 truckloads, and that is what will really keep us going during this time. There are so many generous food businesses that not only are donating their excess that is a part of their normal day to day business, but they’re also reaching into their pockets and reaching into their hearts to donate outside of their typical excess or surplus.”

Sharing Excess works with grocers, wholesalers and farmers to rescue food and redirect it to people in need.

(Photo courtesy of Sharing Excess)

Produce Steps Up

Sharing Excess, which has space at produce terminal markets including the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market and Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx, N.Y., regularly works with produce suppliers to rescue fresh fruits and vegetables.

“The produce industry, even before this crisis, has been such a steadfast partner of food access, one of those silent supporters that has been the backbone of food security for so many Americans for decades,” Ehlers sats. “I think they have quietly always been supporting this work with fresh food donations, and now they’re stepping up more than ever by prioritizing these food distribution sites for free distribution, knowing they won’t make a profit for the sake of helping people during this critical time.”

Ehlers says the produce industry is like no other in its response to crisis.

“When times like this happen, although business is also suffering for them, the produce industry still wants to support their local communities, especially when the SNAP dollars that are being impacted and what’s going to be available through a lot of food banks is going to be nonperishable food,” he says. “Produce wholesalers are coming in to provide the nutritious food that’s really important for families and kids.”

Food Insecurity Persists

With Thanksgiving around the corner, November is a particularly difficult month to await SNAP benefits.

“There is at least the added benefit that people’s minds are on giving back around Thanksgiving, so you’ll see a lot more volunteers, you’ll see more companies wanting to get involved,” says Ehlers. “But there are also increased costs of family gatherings. This is such a critical time for families to have a food budget to be able to provide. And I think we shouldn’t understate the emotional well-being of people and families who aren’t able to support their children during this time.

“There’s not only the physical anguish of hunger, but also the emotional piece and the anxiety that it creates to not have food security for your family going into the winter,” he adds.

Ehlers also wants to remind people that even when government reopens and SNAP benefits are issued, the problem of food insecurity doesn’t go away.

“There are already tightening restrictions on SNAP, and everyone has been feeling the pressure of that,” he says. “We saw a 40% increase of people in need showing up at all our partner distribution centers before this shutdown was impending. So, even if this does get resolved, we still need to think about how we are going to come together as a society to support if communities can no longer rely on SNAP.

“SNAP supplies nine times more food than all food banks combined,” he continues. “I don’t think when people hear about some of these SNAP changes that they really understand that. We should be advocating for doing everything we can to protect SNAP because we’re never going to be able to fill the gap as a charitable food network.”

Your next read:

Stop to SNAP Payments Could Have Multibillion-Dollar Ripple Effect on Entire Food Supply Chain

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 11:57:46 GMT

With the government shutdown, some 42 million food-insecure people in the U.S. will not receive their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits on Nov. 1. While this impacts millions of households across the country, its economic impact is far greater, affecting everyone across the entire food supply chain, says Eric Mitchell, president of Washington, D.C.-based The Alliance to End Hunger.

To learn more about how the pause to SNAP benefits could impact everyone from farmers to retailers to consumers, The Packer spoke with Mitchell on Oct. 30.

Just in the last 24 hours, the impact of pausing SNAP benefits has prompted New York to declare a state of emergency, a federal judge to say she’ll likely order the Trump administration to send SNAP funds to states, and Colorado lawmakers approved $10 in food assistance. This is a complex situation with many moving parts. What are you seeing with boots on the ground in D.C.?

Mitchell: As a coalition, we’re working collectively with all our members in different ways to engage. We have some of our members outside our food bank partners who are tuning up — getting ready for what they believe could be a surge of customers and people coming to their food banks and pantries and making sure that they have enough on the shelves.

We have corporate partners who have stepped up, some like DoorDash , for example, who is waiving fees for SNAP recipients to be able to have groceries delivered. Our advocacy organization partners are sending out blasts to congressional leaders who are in support of some of the congressional legislation that’s out there right now to help keep SNAP funded.

Our role has really just been educating the public on what’s happening in real time but also keeping our foot on the gas and making sure that constituents and folks who are impacted by this program and by these policy changes understand what this means.

These changes don’t just impact the beneficiary, they also impact the larger community as a whole. The impact is around $8 [billion] to $9 billion in economic loss to the food economy — that’s hitting retailers, farmers, producers, the truck drivers, the manufacturers — everyone is impacted by this policy change.

We’ve been beating the drum and saying, as both sides negotiate — and hopefully start to negotiate the end of the shutdown — to not put our most vulnerable neighbors in the crosshairs of this political game.

I just read that Walmart stands to lose $2 billion from the halt to SNAP benefits. What are you hearing from retailers?

SNAP benefits — our nutrition benefits altogether — are an economic engine for the United States. There’s always been policy conversations around SNAP and improving access to the program, but the reality is, when you start drawing back from these programs, it starts to hit the pockets of everyone. Some of our retail partners are saying they’re worried that when people don’t have the benefits, they won’t be able to come to their stores and buy what’s on their shelves.

There was already some level of economic concern with the policy changes of the bill that passed this summer — the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” — but when the administration decides to full stop providing benefits this month, then it really starts to have a significant impact. And quite frankly, states and the community aren’t prepared for it. That’s why states are scrambling to figure out how to close those gaps.

Is there any scenario in which you think the SNAP benefits could go out for November?

The only scenario I see is if the administration, the president, changes his mind and the USDA changes their mind right now. The legislation that’s floating in Congress right now has to be voted out of both chambers and get signed into law. The House hasn’t been in session since Sept. 30 and both Sen. [John] Thune and Speaker [Mike] Johnson indicated that they’re not interested in in passing these one-off solutions to problems. So, the only way this changes is the administration reverses its decision.

You may recall the administration said prior to last week that they would, in fact, use the contingency funds to support SNAP benefits. And then on Friday, they changed course. Now they’re saying that they want to use it for emergency purposes. We just want the administration to go back to the original promise of making sure that our most vulnerable families aren’t having to decide whether or not they’re going to pay their rent or buy food this month.

What are you seeing on a regional or state basis as people rally to solve the problems associated with SNAP benefits on pause?

It’s case by case. New York, as you said, has declared a state of emergency. I live in Maryland, where they’re looking at how to close the funding gaps at least temporarily. Virginia has indicated that they’re going to use some surplus funds to close certain gaps, but even then, everyone agreed that this isn’t a permanent fix. They don’t even know these fixes will last through the month of November. On top of that, there are foundations, philanthropic organizations, food banks, corporations — all trying to figure out how they can help as well.

Different sectors are stepping up to the plate, which, to me, is also a sign that this isn’t a Republican issue. This isn’t a Democratic issue. SNAP is not a Republican program. SNAP is not a Democratic program. SNAP is a community program. And when you pull it away, the community comes together, but the community can only do but so much.

For every meal that’s provided at a food bank, SNAP helps to provide nine meals to that one meal. So, the federal government has a huge footprint in this, as they should, and so from that standpoint, there is no one-stop solution. State and local resources are thin and limited, and with the other economic pressures that we’re seeing, this is one more add-on that many folks are unprepared to deal with.

What can you tell us about the 42 million people in this country receiving SNAP benefits?

About 80% of SNAP households either have a senior, a child or a person with disabilities who are receiving those benefits. When I say, “the most vulnerable,” I really am talking about the most vulnerable.

Sometimes people try to paint a picture of someone receiving SNAP benefits who‘s able to work but not working. But the reality is, most of the people who are receiving benefits are working, and those who aren‘t either fall into those categories of either being a child, a senior or a person with disabilities or a person who has to take care of that child, that senior or the person with disabilities.

If Trump picked up the phone and called you to talk about SNAP, what would you tell him?

You mean, after I get up off the floor?

I would say, sir, SNAP is not a Republican program. SNAP is not a Democratic program. SNAP is a United States of America program. It helps to make sure that families are fed. It helps to make sure that the people who voted for you are fed.

Tell the Democrats and Republicans to come to the table, lock the door and don’t let them until they come out with a solution to open the government. In the meantime, tell Secretary [Brooke] Rollins to allow SNAP benefits to flow on Saturday while the shutdown is negotiated.

Your next read: SNAP Cuts Could Leave Millions Hungry, States Scramble to Fill the Gap

Organizations Decry USDA Ending Household Food Security Reports

Shannon FitzGerald Becomes Snacktime Explorers Specialist

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 17:51:06 GMT

DNO Produce announced Oct. 28 that Shannon FitzGerald has joined the company as its new Snacktime Explorers specialist. The Snacktime Explorers program aims to create meaningful learning experiences for students around healthy food choices and increase produce consumption through education and accessibility.

“Shannon brings an incredible mix of passion, expertise and leadership to Snacktime Explorers,” says Alex DiNovo, president and chief operating officer of DNO Produce. “Her ability to connect the dots between nutrition science, education and school operations makes her a perfect fit for this role. We’re excited to see the impact she will have in helping students build healthy relationships with food.”

FitzGerald is a registered dietitian nutritionist and strategic education leader with extensive expertise in developing and scaling school-based nutrition and food education programs. With a deep understanding of school operations, stakeholder engagement and program sustainability, she has dedicated her career to advancing experiential learning approaches that connect students with food systems, nutrition science and healthy eating practices.

Her leadership extends beyond the classroom, as she currently serves as chair of the School Nutrition Services Dietetic Practice Group within the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, contributes to the American College of Culinary Medicine, and is a Fellow at the Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network (NOPREN). In addition, FitzGerald is an adjunct professor at the University of Mississippi, teaching child nutrition.

“I’m honored to be part of Snacktime Explorers and to work with DNO and Pilot Light Chefs to grow this important initiative,” FitzGerald says. “Empowering students with hands-on food education and access to fresh fruits and vegetables has been at the core of my work, and I look forward to helping even more schools integrate these opportunities into their classrooms.”

Texas Ag Commissioner Champions Farmers and Schools with Farm Fresh Challenge

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 15:03:23 GMT

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller kicked off the 2025 Texas Farm Fresh Challenge on Oct. 2.

Every October, which is also Farm to School Month, schools and child care centers join the challenge to make eating local food and learning about Texas agriculture fun for children and staff. Farm Fresh Challenge participants earn recognition for serving Texas products, offering agricultural learning opportunities and highlighting their efforts on social media, according to a news release.

“Texas children should cultivate a healthy appetite for fresh food from a local farm or ranch.” Miller says. “During the Farm Fresh Challenge, children learn about local food and the men and women who produce it. Our child nutrition professionals are ensuring kids know that hard-working farmers and ranchers are behind every meal they eat.”

The Farm Fresh Challenge is a centerpiece of Miller’s Farm Fresh Initiative, a comprehensive plan to create more nutrition-program opportunities for Texas agricultural producers and increase the amount of local food in the 1 billion meals served annually in Texas in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) resources help nutrition professionals achieve any level of recognition, the release says. TDA-curated recipes include ingredients that are available from Texas producers. The department also created a success guide with a step-by-step plan for earning recognition, a tracking tool for recording achievements necessary for recognition and learning resources such as flashcards, word games and coloring pages. A social media toolkit helps participants champion their programs online, and promotional stickers and buttons are fun additions to the excitement, the release says.

The Farm Fresh Challenge also drives participation in the TDA’s Farm Fresh Network, which includes 239 agricultural producers prepared to provide Texas products for federal nutrition programs. Farm Fresh Challenge participants can use the network to find local producers and purchase their vegetables, fruits, meats, dairy and more.

For more information about the Farm Fresh Challenge, visit SquareMeals.org/FarmFreshChallenge .

MAHA Commission Strategy Focuses on Nutrition, Food Policy

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 22:33:52 GMT

The release of the Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s strategy to Make Our Children Healthy Again features several measures that directly tie into fresh produce, nutrition guidance and farm-to-school initiatives. While the broad plan outlines more than 120 proposals to improve children’s health, some of the issues in the strategy stand out for the produce industry.

Chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the commission is tasked with investigating and addressing the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis, with a focus on childhood chronic diseases.

“Today is an exciting moment for policy makers, parents and friends of the movement to make America healthy again. As we release our second report, we are thrilled for this day because we share a common desire to build a healthier future for our children and our society,” Director of Domestic Policy Vince Haley said during a Sept. 9. press conference. ”Nothing is more important than the health of our children. We therefore recognize that we cannot accept disastrous trends toward increasing childhood obesity, diabetes, neurodevelopmental disorders and other indicators of poor childhood health.”

Haley says the initiative aims to create systemic change to protect and promote children’s health through four key pillars:

Driving innovation through research.
Policies to realign incentives and systems.
Increase public awareness and knowledge.
Private sector collaboration.

“These four pillars are designed to address root causes and deliver transformative health outcomes for American children,” Haley says.

Kennedy says the U.S. is now the sickest country in the world.

“The CDC announced this week that 76.4% of Americans are suffering a chronic disease. When my uncle was =resident, it was 11%; in 1950, it was 3%. We’re the sickest country in the world, the highest chronic disease burden of any country in the world, and yet we spend more on health care than any country in the world. And yet we have the worst health outcomes,” he says.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins adds, “Over 350,000 American children have been diagnosed with diabetes. As MAHA moms … I consider myself one with four children … as MAHA moms across the entire country know, behind all of these statistics are mothers and fathers and sons and daughters and neighbors and coworkers.

“Since my confirmation as secretary of agriculture, we have been taking action on this front. As Secretary Kennedy mentioned, 12 states have now been approved, historically, to implement waivers to restrict the purchase of junk food and sweetened beverages within our food stamp program, called our Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. More have expressed interest, and I continue to call on all states,” she adds.

Rollins says the U.S. has an epidemic on its hands and that all states “need to innovate and put the nutrition back in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.”

Another initiative, Rollins says, is the removal of artificial colors from all products sold to K-12 schools.

“For this school year, some of America’s largest and best-known consumer brands have voluntarily committed and begun removing petroleum food dyes from their products,” she says. “This remarkable list includes Tyson Foods, PepsiCo, Smucker Kraft, Heinz, General Mills, ConAgra, Nestle and Hershey.”

Rollins also announced the revised Farm to School request for applications, saying that the initiative takes multiple steps in support of the USDA initiative to put farmers first and to promote healthy choices, healthy families and healthy outcomes.

“This year’s opportunity streamlines the application process, supports expanding access for small family farms to markets and infrastructure by facilitating connections to the Child Nutrition Marketplace, which is a huge government-funded marketplace with the opportunity to really move the market,” Rollins says.

She says the grant program’s commitment to educating children about the source of their food and support for agricultural education also helps prepare the next generation of farmers.

“We’re utilizing the depth and reach of the USDA to make America healthy again,” Rollins says. “To date, we have purchased nearly $1 billion worth of fresh seafood, fruit and vegetables from American producers through our Section 32 program. These foods are distributed to food banks and other nutrition programs across the country.

“We’ll continue to actively work with Secretary Kennedy in crafting the dietary guidelines, which will be out very, very soon … Federal nutrition advice must be sound, simple and clear,” she continues. “These guidelines will prioritize whole, healthy and nutritious foods such as whole-fat dairy, fruits, vegetables and meats, and suggest limiting highly processed foods and those high in sugar.

“We know the American food system is the safest in the world, but now we must do what it takes to make it the healthiest in the world,” Rollins adds.

Of the changes to food policy, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty McCary says, “For the first time, we’re talking about the microbiome and food as medicine, micronutrients and soil and micro plastics … topics that we know are central to the health of kids.”

McCary also points to specific regulatory changes that create opportunities for growers and suppliers.

“We took the action on petroleum-based food dyes [and] approved natural dyes — four already this year,” he says. “Typically, the FDA would approve one or two every several years.”

Citrus growers may see a direct benefit. “We changed the Brix requirement for sugar with orange juice, allowing more American oranges to be used for orange juice instead of importing oranges as frequently as was required by this arcane regulation,” McCary says.

In a broader strategy, nutrition policy is being reevaluated.

“We’re working with USDA to change the broken food pyramid, maybe one of the greatest sources of misinformation in modern American history,” McCary says.

With spotlights on food as medicine, soil health, natural food dyes and nutrition policy reform, the MAHA Commission’s strategy signals a new policy environment where fruits, vegetables and plant-based nutrition are central to the national conversation around children’s health.

The International Fresh Produce Association says it welcomes the commission’s focus on nutrition and calls for a produce-first national health strategy.

“IFPA welcomes the publication of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s second report, which marks an important step in elevating nutrition as a national public health priority,” IFPA said in a release. “We applaud the Commission’s recognition of the vital role ‘whole, healthy’ foods like fresh produce play in improving health outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. Simply put, you cannot make America healthy again without fruits and vegetables.”

IFPA says it urges policymakers to take bold, practical action.

”Our evidence-based policy recommendations call for the Department of Health and Human Services to embed produce prescriptions as a covered benefit within federal health programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs; urge Congress and USDA to expand the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to all schools and improve fresh produce procurement options in feeding programs; ask FDA to prioritize clear and transparent front-of-pack labeling to help consumers make informed choices; and support all production systems including voluntary, incentive-based regenerative agriculture policies that focus on strengthening soil health, biodiversity and water efficiency while ensuring a sustainable produce supply,” IFPA said in the release.

The association says it will focus its efforts on both administrative and congressional pathways in the months ahead to make its recommendations a reality. “The fresh produce industry stands ready to partner with the Trump administration, lawmakers, and nutrition and agricultural leaders to ensure every American has access to the fruits and vegetables they need for a healthier life.”

Potatoes as Fuel for Endurance Athletes

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 20:40:19 GMT

The humble potato is growing in popularity among endurance athletes like cyclists and ultramarathoners, according to the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association. The association and Jenny Heap, MS, RDN, note endurance athletes are diversifying their mid-competition fuel options by adding potatoes to the rotation.

They say this athletic attention is more than a fa; in fact, it’s backed by research and may have been sparked, in part, by research supported by the Alliance for Potato Research and Education and published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 2019.

In a randomized crossover trial, 12 trained cyclists were fueled with russet potato puree or a commercial energy gel during a two-hour cycling challenge followed by a time trial. The cyclists consumed water only for the control cycling challenge. Results showed the potato puree and commercial carbohydrate gel were equally effective in sustaining blood glucose levels and improving speed during the time trials.

While the study wasn’t double-blinded since the athletes knew what they were consuming, the association, Heap and Annie Wetter, retired professor of nutrition at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, report that blood draws during the potato and carbohydrate gel-fueled cycling challenges showed similar increases in circulating glucose, indicating comparable carbohydrate availability. A later study published in 2020 showed similar results, that potato-based products were equally effective in replenishing muscle glycogen post-workout.

“Another consideration important to many consumers is the environmental impact of their food choices,” says Wetter, an expert in sports nutrition and eating for wellness.

She notes most sports foods like gels, bars and chews are ultraprocessed that require manufacturing and shipping from far flung places. Their wrappers cannot be recycled or repurposed and clog landfills.

“But potatoes are a minimally processed food that Wisconsinites can purchase directly from local farmers to support their local economy and reduce their diet’s environmental impact,” Wetter continues. “Many grocery stores feature Wisconsin-grown potatoes, so even potatoes from the store will have lower food miles than foods grown and processed elsewhere.”

She advises anyone who wants to reduce the environmental impact of their diet to eat more plant protein and less animal protein. Ounce for ounce, vegetables, including potatoes, were found to have the lowest environmental impact and best nutrition profile among a wide array of foods, especially compared to animal-based foods and ultra processed, packaged food products.

“When people think about dietary protein, meat is the food that comes to mind first,” Wetter says. “Understanding that all plant foods provide protein and a diet with a wide variety of plant foods does provide enough protein to meet our needs enables consumers to make food choices that honor both their value for the environment and their health.”

Potatoes as a whole-food fuel

Potatoes are a whole food, and this is part of what makes them so well-suited as a fuel for physical activity, according to the association. Whole foods like potatoes bring a naturally deep bench of beneficial macro- and micronutrients. One medium (5.3 ounces) skin-on potato provides the following:

26 g of complex carbohydrate (including 2 g fiber), mostly in the form of easily digested amylopectin and amylose, a resistant starch that undergoes fermentation in the gut and supports a healthy microbiome.
3 g of high-quality protein per 100-calorie serving, comparable with many nuts and better than most grains.
620 mg potassium, roughly 15% of the daily value and more than a large banana.
20 mg vitamin C, roughly 30% of the daily value and necessary in the creation of collagen.
46.7 mg magnesium, roughly 11% of the daily value, which is necessary for muscle function and repair, regulating blood pressure, energy production, and glucose regulation.
0.2 mg vitamin B6, roughly 10% of the daily value, which is a key vitamin for the production of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to the brain, muscles and all other parts of the body.
1.1 mg iron, or 6% of the daily value, which quite literally puts the “heme” in hemoglobin, crucial for oxygen delivery to the brain and muscles.

Wetter adds that when athletes fuel up matters. For athletes who engage in relatively intense and/or long-duration training and competition, muscles need plenty of stored carbohydrates, called glycogen. During the training and competition seasons, a high-carbohydrate diet day in, day out is necessary to ensure adequate muscle glycogen stores.

Athletes generally don’t need to eat carbs during bouts of training or competition lasting less than 90 minutes. However, soccer players, runners, triathletes and other endurance athletes can benefit from eating carbs right before and/or during sessions of 90 minutes or longer.

“I rely on potatoes during long-distance races. I prefer them dipped in salt so I can drink water instead of sports drinks. Some people prefer the mild taste of potatoes to the intensely sweet and artificially flavored sports products. They cost less too: 40 grams of carbs from a Clif Bar costs $2.50 or more, whereas 40 g of carbs from potatoes costs about 75 cents,” Wetter says.

Potatoes are easy to digest and deliver carbohydrate energy quickly to muscles so they can be a good choice before or during long-duration exercise. Under these circumstances, be sure that they are not fried or have other high-fat add-ons like cheese. Fat slows digestion and prevents the carbohydrates from getting to the muscles. Food settling in the stomach during exercise can also lead to nausea and gut discomfort. The highly processed sports foods such as goos, bars and chews are all low in fat.

Chef Andrew Zimmern Calls for Food Policy Overhaul Ahead of MAHA Report

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 19:19:12 GMT

During the Environmental Working Group’s Aug. 11 webinar on the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report, celebrity chef and food advocate Andrew Zimmern issued a sharp critique of the U.S. food system and urged the Trump administration to take bold, structural action when it releases its food and health recommendations.

Zimmern says the problem starts with “corporate capture” — when “the industries that a government agency is supposed to regulate end up holding the pen that writes the rules. It makes no sense whatsoever when it comes to food and nutrition policy.”

He argued that current dietary guidelines often reflect profit motives rather than public health, leading to decades of recommendations that downplay the dangers of sugar, salt and ultraprocessed foods (UPFs).

The problem, Zimmern says, is when dietary guidelines and public health recommendations serve profit margins more than public health.

“Here are three reasons [why] we should worry,” he says. “It erodes trust in science and government agencies; it hardwires public crises like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease into the population; and it locks our food system, the U.S. food system, into status quo industrial agriculture and crowds out sustainable and regional alternatives.”

Calling the current state of nutrition guidance “the fox … writing the poultry manual,” Zimmern laid out steps to counter industry influence, including stronger conflict-of-interest rules, more public-interest research funding and improved consumer literacy.

“And I think the last thing I would add is that corporate capture of our dietary guidelines is not some abstract policy concern. It’s the reason the public gets nutrition advice written with a food lobbyist pen. It couldn’t be more obviously wrong. So, until we firewall government agencies from industry money, we’re not going to be getting dietary guidance. We’re going to be getting marketing copy in a lab coat,” he says.

Zimmern also called for universal access to real food, permanent fixes to school lunches, labeling reform and even the creation of a Cabinet-level secretary of food position to unify fragmented food policy.

He emphasized that the American diet’s overreliance on UPFs is fueling a national health crisis, pointing to the “big four” processed-food-related diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. The lack of front-of-package warnings, he says, prevents parents from making informed choices.

For Zimmern, the real change will come from reshaping the food environment itself.

“Kids don’t need another lecture on balance … What we need is a food environment where the healthy choice is the default choice, the easy choice,” he says.

Zimmern closed by framing healthy eating as a basic right.

“If the goal of the administration’s MAHA plan is to build healthier diets at a national scale, strengthen our food system and provide true food equity, then a strong report should combine actual policy levers, food industry accountability, education and access,” he says. “The plan shouldn’t shame people for what they eat. It should empower them to make better choices by making those choices easier, cheaper and more delicious.

“I believe a healthy diet is a human right, not a luxury item,” he adds. “And I think that there is a bipartisan recipe for fixing the food system without giving up flavor.”

Whether the MAHA recommendations will reflect that urgency remains to be seen, but Zimmern made it clear he thinks that without decisive policy, America will continue to pay the price for a broken food system.

WIC Association CEO Responds to Trump Administration’s USDA Reorg Plans

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 23:48:11 GMT

The National WIC Association, the nonprofit education and advocacy arm of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, serves nearly 7 million people across the U.S., providing critical health and nutrition services for low-income families. But despite its reputation as one of the most successfully federally funded nutrition programs, WIC is bracing for unwelcome change as a result of the Trump administration’s reorganization plan for USDA.

To learn more about what’s ahead for the nutrition program, The Packer sat down with National WIC Association President and CEO Georgia Machell on Tuesday.

What concerns you most about the USDA’s plans to close its food and nutrition headquarters in Alexandria, Va., and relocate staff outside the D.C. metro area?

Machell: What ultimately concerns us most is the negative impact this is going to have on families. We’re always thinking about the end user and the folks who participate in the program to access healthy food and fresh fruits and vegetables, breastfeeding support, nutrition education — and [we’re concerned about] the disruptions to service that we know this is going to present.

And we’ve been through this before. In the last Trump administration, we saw the Economic Research Service get moved out of Washington, D.C., and as a result, they lost about two-thirds of their staff, and that had a really negative impact on the output they had and what they were able to continue doing.

You’ve said relocating key staff and dismantling regional offices is not about efficiency and that it will in fact “sever decades of institutional knowledge, weaken quality control, delay critical services and create unnecessary barriers for state agencies and families who rely on WIC.”

We know this isn’t about efficiency, even though that’s how it’s being framed. It’s about politics. And our concern is that this is actually going to be the opposite of efficient, because we know that services will be impacted.

The relationship between federal staff, regional staff and state staff is intrinsic to making WIC work on the ground, and if that gets disrupted, we can anticipate that there are going to be disruptions to how WIC functions on the ground.

There will be delays. There will be issues. The troubleshooting that happens between the state, the regions and the federal workforce is really, really important, as are the decades of institutional knowledge that are at risk if these moves actually happen. So, when we heard that this was being proposed, we were deeply concerned about the impact that this was ultimately going to have on how WIC services will function and how families will be able to access WIC services.

Even before the announcement of this plan, the administration’s dismissal of probationary employees and deferred resignation programs had already undermined the agency’s capacity to deliver timely support to state WIC agencies, including the distribution of congressionally appropriated funds. These are not cost-saving measures or efforts aimed at streamlining. They are politically motivated acts of bureaucratic disruption, designed to erode USDA’s ability to function.

Is there a timeline in place for how quickly the reorg is happening?

One of the things we are learning is that there’s a lack of details on what this plan includes. We know high-level that the aim is to move people out of D.C. and to close the FNS [Food and Nutrition Service] office in Alexandria, but in terms of what the specifics actually are, I don’t think there’s that level of clarity yet, which, as you might imagine, is creating a lot of deep concern for the folks who work at USDA and FNS.

Is part of your concern not only the inefficiencies this is going to create, but also that they might be letting people go from their positions?

I think it’s a roundabout way of letting people go. And again, going back to what we saw with the ERS move in the last Trump administration, we saw the impact that had on folks leaving.

This is restructuring in a very roundabout way because there are folks who simply cannot drop everything and move to a completely new region. I think the other thing that’s important to be aware of is that there has already been a significant reduction in staff at FNS, simply through the voluntary redundancy programs, and as a result of everything else that’s happened this year.

They’ve already been reduced from a staff of 1,500 to 1,000, which is significant. And that’s before the restructuring plan. So, I think the questions that we’re left with is: How far is this going to go and how many more people is the service going to lose? And again, what will the impact be on families and how disruptive is this going to become?

We’ve already lost 500 people from FNS, and states are reporting that it is taking them longer to receive their federal funds. So, there’s already disruption. There’s already delays, and we can only expect those to get worse should more people leave as a result of this announcement.

If this isn’t a move toward greater efficiency, as the administration says, what is it?

In a nutshell, it’s in alignment with a lot of other things we’ve seen come from the administration. It’s reducing the size of government. It is reducing who can access the programs. It is all about making sure that they’re completely turning on its head what we’ve known for decades to be successful and impactful programming.

So, it is confusing and difficult to make sense of why this is being framed as an efficiency move, where when you actually pause and think about what the impact truly will be is anything but efficient.

In terms of access to fresh fruits and vegetables and other nutritious foods, as well as providing nutrition education, how might the reorg impact WIC’s ability to serve?

I think it’s a case of services being disruptive. And I think you have to put in context that, over the last few years, WIC has made tremendous strides in improving the experience that families have participating in WIC.

We have done extensive research with over 40,000 WIC participants, and what they value most about the WIC program — what keeps them coming back — is the fruits and vegetable voucher and the value that that brings to them and their families.

Our concern is that if the ability to approve vendors and get people in the WIC program is disrupted, then the experience participants have is also impacted. So, our primary worry here is that implementing WIC and the Cash Value Benefit is going to get slowed down.

Ironically, our concern is also efficiency and about making sure that services are provided at the pace that people are used to, and not taking any steps backwards. And we want to ensure that families who are eligible can access WIC services in a way that works for them.

The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) contained some pretty significant cutbacks to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. What has the indirect impact been to WIC as a result?

One of the things that came out of the One Big Beautiful Bill was significant cuts to SNAP and significant cuts to Medicaid. And yes, WIC wasn’t mentioned explicitly. But there’s an interconnectedness of things, and this is an area where that is very true.

Many participants access WIC through what’s called adjunctive eligibility, which is where you are eligible for another program which automatically makes you eligible for WIC. And if folks are no longer eligible for those programs, we risk losing a significant number of people who would be eligible for WIC.

According to a June 2025 policy brief the National WIC Association sent to The Packer, an estimated 8,252,425 pregnant women, postpartum women, infants and children are adjunctively eligible for WIC in a given month in 2025 due to their participation in Medicaid or SNAP and could be impacted by the policies in the OBBB. Of those, 3,076,968 women and children would lose their income eligibility for WIC entirely should they lose access to Medicaid.

Our deep concern here is about how people access the program and how people are used to accessing the program. That’s something we’ve been paying a lot of attention to and raising flags about. There is some interconnectedness between these programs, and if you mess with one, then that does have a knock-on effect and impact WIC as well.

Where does WIC go from here?

Congress needs to be included in this conversation. There is going to be a hearing [July 30] to inform and allow folks to ask more detailed questions. So, we would urge Congress to use their oversight authority to prevent any kind of move.

And we’re hopeful that [the relocation] doesn’t happen, because a move would be incredibly detrimental in terms of what’s next for WIC. We are continuing to move forward with appropriations and continuing to make sure the program gets the funding that it needs to continue to provide services to every eligible family.

We’re also as an association working to modernize and be participant focused. So, I’m hopeful that over the next year you will see more on opportunities around online ordering in WIC. We want WIC to be a program that is easy for folks to access and helpful to them in the way that they can participate.

What’s the latest with WIC funding?

We did have concerns a couple months ago when the president’s budget came out, specifically related to the cash value voucher, because there were some really nasty cuts proposed to that. The House budget proposed less cuts. But we are going to oppose anyone cutting any aspect of the fruit and vegetable voucher, because we know just how important it is.

And then the Senate came through and has protected it, but it all still needs to pass.

We are hoping that it will, but I think we also anticipate there could be continuing resolutions come September. So, we’re just trying to keep our eye on the ball and keep a finger on the pulse to make sure that folks on the Hill are educated as to how important WIC is to families.

70% of Shoppers Report Healthier Diet Since Using Flashfood

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 17:30:40 GMT

Flashfood, an app marketplace that seeks to both reduce food waste and increase consumers’ access to nutritious and affordable food by connecting shoppers with fresh produce, meat and other groceries nearing sell-by dates at up to a 50% discount, recently released its third annual “ Impact Report: The Future of Waste is Health .”

In addition to exploring what the Toronto-based company says is the growing connection between food waste and the health and nutrition crisis, the report includes the results of its first-ever GHG assessment as well as results from its shopper insights survey on the health outcomes of Flashfood.

To learn how Flashfood is moving the needle on food waste and fresh produce consumption, The Packer recently connected with Flashfood CEO Jordan Schenck.

What result from your shopper survey surprised you most and why?

Schenck: The fact that 70% of our shoppers report a healthier diet since using Flashfood. We had a strong hypothesis that this would be true, but 70% is a very profound impact. This is the health and nutrition multiplier that the world needs today. It makes it all the more important that we continue to scale Flashfood and make it accessible to more people.

Flashfood’s Impact Report points to research indicating consumers are eating more ultra-processed foods due to rising food costs. What are the economic benefits of using the Flashfood app for both retailers and consumers?

For consumers, Flashfood enables the purchase of perfectly good food — produce, meat, dairy, fish and other whole foods for up to 50% off. Our No. 1 selling item is the Flashfood Produce Box, a 10-pound box of mixed fruits and vegetables sold for $5. When we make more nutritious foods more affordable, that’s what people purchase. People don’t actually want to buy ultra-processed items.

For retailers, there’s a number of economic benefits. They’re making money on food they were previously throwing away. They’re reducing their waste disposal costs, and they’re bringing in new shoppers who make additional trips and incremental purchases in-store per visit. They’re also providing a service their customers really want and really appreciate, and reaching Flashfood’s 1.5 million shoppers without any marketing spend.

There’s obviously a health benefit to increasing consumer access to fresh food. What kind of impact has Flashfood had on health and nutrition?

This shopper survey is really the first time we’ve measured the health and nutrition outcomes of Flashfood. It demonstrates to us that there’s a lot more to dig into, and we’d love to find an academic research partner to study this more. The food-as-medicine world is really expanding right now, and we’d love to get Flashfood into the conversation as a true, impact-driving solution for health and nutrition right now.

Are sell-by dates one of the biggest challenges to reducing food waste? If so, why and how do we overcome this hurdle?

It’s certainly on this list — consumer confusion around sell-by dates is absolutely a contributor to food waste. The important takeaway from our side is that there’s a massive opportunity in standardizing best-by dates and consumer education to reduce food waste. That’s easy, and it’s right on the table.

Flashfood posted some impressive numbers on produce boxes sold in 2024. Where do you hope to take these numbers in 2025 and how will you reach that goal?

We sold over 1.3 million boxes of produce in 2024. We’d love to hit 3 million in 2025. The produce box is far and away our most popular item on the app. People love access to fresh fruits and vegetables at affordable prices.

Flashfood measured and reported its carbon emissions for the first time. What are your key takeaways from this exercise and have you set goals for the year ahead?

As expected, since we’re a software company without in-person offices, our largest carbon category is Scope 3 emissions (purchased goods and services, employee travel). That means many of the opportunities for improvement are primarily related to the vendors we work with as well as the amount and destinations we’re traveling. We are working with our GHG accounting partner Brightly to identify paths for improvement.

How many retail partners does Flashfood currently have and how many do you hope to gain in 2025?

Flashfood has approximately 2,000 grocery stores on the platform today and hopes to double that figure in the next year. Expansion to additional stores and new markets is our top focus as an organization.

How much food is saved in a year when a new retail partner joins Flashfood?

That’s a great question! It varies store to store based on how much the individual store is posting to the app, but on average, Flashfood diverted more than 16,000 pounds of food per store on the platform. That’s based on our total diversion figure and the number of stores we have.

Flashfood developed a tool specifically for independent grocers. Why was this needed and how has it helped indies fight food waste?

For starters, it’s a large market. Independently owned grocery stores account for 33% of all grocery sales in the U.S. with more than 20,000 stores. In Canada, there are nearly 7,000 independent stores with 11.9% of market share. These grocery stores also play an especially important role in providing food access in rural and hyper-urban communities.

At the same time, they’re facing unique challenges in an already difficult retail climate. They have to compete against larger grocers, they don’t necessarily have the funding to invest in traditional technology platforms and they are facing the same labor constraints as conventional grocers. We wanted to offer a platform designed for independent grocers that can provide them with the same benefits that Flashfood drives for enterprise grocers: an additional source of income, a marketing tool to reach and bring in new shoppers and a driver of incremental sales.

Today we have more than 100 independent stores on the platform, and we’re adding new stores every day. One of the strengths of independents is they are nimble and can move quickly, and our independent offering was designed to meet that skill set.

What You Eat Matters — But What About When?

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 21:25:32 GMT

“Healthy eating is not only what you eat, but also how much you eat and when,” says Kaylyn Koons.

Koons, a doctoral candidate at the University of Florida, is the lead author on a recently-released informational resource on chrononutrition from the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Chrononutrition is an emerging field of study that looks at how diet and the body’s 24-hour internal clock interact.

“The field of nutrition overall is a relatively new field,” Koons tells The Packer, giving the example of the discovery of vitamins, which occurred roughly from the mid-19^th century through the mid-20^th century.

“As we are starting to learn more about nutrition,” Koons says, “we are beginning to understand how other aspects of biology (i.e. circadian rhythm) interact with dietary patterns.”

Chrononutrition basics in brief

According to the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences resource, the field of chrononutrition kicked off in 1967 with Franz Halberg, a Romanian-born physician. The idea of the field is based on the idea that the sleep and wake cycle — one’s circadian rhythm — regulates functions such as metabolism and digestion. This means how someone schedules meals throughout the day can impact their weight, body mass index and likelihood of developing various health issues.

“Chrononutrition is an approach to diet that focuses on the timing of food intake in alignment with the body’s natural circadian rhythms,” the UF/IFAS guide summarizes. “Chrononutrition examines three primary aspects of eating behaviors: timing, frequency and consistency. These aspects play essential roles in maintaining metabolic health, weight management and overall well-being.”

Despite beginning almost 60 years ago, chrononutrition is still considered an emerging field.

“One challenge the field has faced in advancing knowledge and research on chrononutrition is the difference in circadian rhythms between animals and humans,” Koons explains. In most research settings, using animal models — such as testing on mice or rats — comes before studies on people. But research animals often have different circadian rhythms than humans do.

“For example, mice are nocturnal, so feeding schedules and other interventions must be timed accordingly to ensure relevance in translating findings to humans,” Koons says.

What is known versus what we need to learn

Though it is an emerging field with some obstacles to research, there have been plenty of findings, and the UF/IFAS guide gave several examples of chrononutrition in action.

For example, regularly skipping breakfast — something the resource called a “chrononutrition behavior” — has been “associated with lower diet quality, increased risk of obesity and many chronic diseases throughout the lifespan.”

Eating late in the day (after 8 p.m.) has similarly been “linked with poorer food choices, overeating, snacking at night and experiencing metabolic disorders,” according to the guide.

Koons explains that findings of “lower diet quality” and “poorer food choices” generally reference the Healthy Eating Index from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service . The HEI score is a tool to quantify diet quality in the U.S. The HEI score is out of a maximum of 100. Twenty points of that total maximum come from four produce-related categories: total fruits, whole fruits, total vegetables, and greens and beans.

The paper does not identify strong evidence linking chrononutrional behaviors to increased consumption of fresh produce, Koons says.

“Therefore, it’s unclear whether favorable chrononutrition behaviors would promote greater consumption of fresh produce,” she says. “This would be an interesting area for future research, especially with the consideration of chrononutrition.”

The impact of culture on chrononutrition

Culture can have a big impact on details around food and meals that impact types of food and when they are eaten — or not eaten, as the case may be.

“The Western diet, low in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and high in saturated fat and processed foods, has been well established to increase risks of chronic diseases,” Koons says. She also points to what she calls the “grind mentality” of Western culture, with its long hours, as potentially contributing to negative chrononutritional behaviors.

“Extended work hours can present time-related barriers that impact the amount of time one can spend engaging in healthful dietary practices such as grocery shopping, cooking and regular meal timing,” she says. “Arguably, the most significant obstacle in Western culture is the attitude towards food and meals, changing the narrative from being a task to complete to an opportunity for nourishment.”

Koons contrasts the Western diet and meal culture to the Mediterranean region, both its diet and lifestyle patterns.

“This dietary pattern includes a high intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and healthy fats (particularly olive oil), along with consumption of lean meat such as fish and poultry,” she says. “In addition to food choices, the Mediterranean diet encourages regular, balanced meals, community engagement through shared meals and routine physical activity.”

The UF/IFAS guide was published as an educational resource aimed at summarizing current research findings on chrononutrition for nutrition educators, Koons says. But it could also be a tool for consumers interested in identifying potentially negative chrononutrional behaviors they may be engaging in.

“Most eating patterns are often deeply ingrained in habits which can be difficult to change,” Koons says. “For those who seek guidance in improving their chrononutrition or food choices, I recommend working with a registered dietitian who can provide personalized guidance and strategies tailored to each individual’s needs.”

The Foundation for Fresh Produce Appoints First Chief Medical Officer

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 18:21:42 GMT

The Foundation for Fresh Produce has named Jelena Gligorijević its chief medical officer, a new position created to expand the influence of the produce industry within the global health and medical communities, according to a news release.

Gligorijević is a practicing medical doctor and nutrition specialist with over three decades of experience in clinical practice, academic instruction and public health advocacy, with a particular focus on preventive medicine, nutrition therapy and global health promotion. As the founding head of the Department of Nutrition at the University Clinical Center of Serbia — one of the largest medical institutions in Europe — she has personally treated more than 10,000 patients, developed pioneering outpatient nutrition services and helped shape best practices in medical nutrition therapy, the release said.

The Foundation for Fresh Produce said Gligorijević’s expertise and strategic guidance will strengthen the presence and influence of fruits and vegetables as part of the global medical, food system and policy dialogues. Her new role will focus on connecting health systems and communities with the produce sector, emphasizing how crucial fruits and vegetables are to addressing diet-related diseases and disparities in global health outcomes.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Jelena Gligorijević to our team as we continue our work to change the trajectory of human health,” said Lauren M. Scott, president of The Foundation for Fresh Produce. “Dr. Gligorijević’s expertise and global perspective is innovative for the produce industry, opening the door for meaningful alliances with the medical community to deliver on a shared goal of improving health through better nutrition.”

Gligorijević’s appointment supports the foundation’s mission to drive fruit and vegetable consumption. Her role will raise and strengthen the clinical and public health case for produce, ensuring that fruits and vegetables are recognized by the medical community as essential to health and disease prevention. This is particularly important for children as they form life-long healthy habits including a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, the release said.

“I am honored to join The Foundation for Fresh Produce as the first chief medical officer,” said Gligorijević. “Fruits and vegetables have the power to prevent disease, extend lives and promote equity. I look forward to working with health care providers, researchers and industry partners to turn the power of nutrition — and particularly produce — into measurable progress in global health.”

National nonprofit launches summertime nutrition campaign

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 14:42:09 GMT

Brighter Bites, a Houston, Texas-based national nonprofit that delivers fresh fruits and vegetables directly into families’ hands, announced June 3 the launch of its annual summer and back-to-school fundraising campaign: Nourish Their Potential.

The group said the campaign aims to provide thousands of children and families in under-resourced communities with access to healthy food, nutrition education and wellness resources as schools close for summer and prepare to reopen in the fall.

“This campaign is about more than meals — it’s about giving kids the fuel they need to thrive physically, mentally and emotionally,” Lindsay Jenkins, director of development at Brighter Bites, said in a news release. “With support from the community and our partners, we can reach more families than ever this year.”

As part of a broader $1.5 trillion federal spending reduction proposal currently under consideration in the Senate, funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education is at risk of being eliminated, the group said. The implications of such a decision would be devastating to the program. SNAP-Ed is a cornerstone of funding in New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas. Together, this represents over 40% of Brighter Bites’ overall funding, which is $4.3 million.

The group said it appears inevitable that, if this funding cut proposal moves forward, Brighter Bites would lose the resources needed to sustain its presence in these communities, impacting over 163,000 individuals. That means fewer families receiving fresh produce, fewer children gaining essential nutrition education and a missed opportunity to build healthy habits that last a lifetime.

Brighter Bites is actively seeking produce companies and distributors to support its work by donating fresh fruits and vegetables to support fall programming. Food banks across the country are facing increased demand while struggling with reduced federal support and fewer donations. This decline in resources has taken a toll on the quantity and variety of produce that Brighter Bites is able to provide for families participating in the program, making the support of the produce industry critical. Contributions of any size are welcome and will directly support the distribution of weekly produce bags for families throughout the school year.

Companies interested in partnering can contact Amy Priebe at amy.priebe@brighterbites.org or visit www.brighterbites.org/produce-partners to learn more and pledge a donation. Donation and partnership information can be found on the Brighter Bites website as well.