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US Budget mooting food boxes with American foods in lieu of food stamps
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Tuesday, 20 February, 2018, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Greater Philadelphia
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Independence LED Lighting stated that it was shovel ready for a pilot programme in Philadelphia to support proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP), included in the President’s Budget for Financial Year 2019.
The White House recently unveiled the updated Budget, which had a path to include American-grown foods provided directly to households. The move is being described as food boxes instead of food stamps.
Mick Mulvaney, director, White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said that the administration’s plan would not only save the government money, but also provide people with more nutritious food than they have now.
The concept of an America’s Harvest Box, delivered each month as part of the SNAP, is based on volume purchasing to reduce unit costs. Over 16 million American households currently receive some form of assistance through SNAP.
Individually, they do not have the buying power that would come with government volume purchases. The logistics of the proposed programme are naturally very complicated and detractors should not dismiss the idea outright. With economies of scale, SNAP recipients could receive more nutritious food at lower costs.
“Cost-effective change involves challenging the status quo, and we are pleased to leverage our American-made technology to launch a pilot project that will demonstrate the benefits of next-generation future food for SNAP recipients,” said Charlie Szoradi, chairman and chief executive officer, Independence LED Lighting.
American innovation
Independence LED Lighting is one of the first authentic Buy Amercan Act- (BAA) compliant LED lighting manufacturers.
Since moving its production from China to southeastern Pennsylvania in 2010, the company has provided its United States-made light-emitting diode (LED) technology across the public and private sectors.
Building owners and mangers typically save 50 per cent or more on electricity, and Independence LED Lighting also has developed advanced LED grow lights to optimise indoor farming.
In conjunction with indoor farm partners, the company produces vegetables at lower costs than Americans pay at grocery stores.
By adjusting the light wavelengths of its LEDs, the company can enhance growth by plant type and optimise photosynthetic photon flux density (PPDF).
After more than two years of research and development (R&D), the first consumer received, via overnight mail, the first delivery of live microgreens in November 2017 at 20 per cent below the grocery store cost, including the shipping cost.
Microgreens are an excellent addition to any diet, because they often have 40 times more nutrients than their mature counterparts.
The live aspect is important in this example, because the vegetables last over two weeks in home refrigerators and retain more of their nutrients than harvested produce.
Local delivery would replace overnight shipping for the majority of the SNAP programme, given that one or more indoor farms would be in or near each major US city.
In addition to the food and cost advantages for the government and SNAP recipients, American manufacturing, indoor farming and produce delivery all help create more job opportunities for SNAP recipients.
Domestic job creation is naturally the top aspect of US president Donald Trump’s Buy American and Hire American Executive Order, signed in April 2017.
Pilot concept
Imagine that there is not necessarily just one American Harvest Box for each family each month, but multiple drop-shipments from a coalition of private sector companies.
The participating companies provide farm-direct and factory-direct food to the families.
Perishable vegetables are not referenced as part of the box concept in the budget, but many SNAP families live in neighbourhoods with limited access to fresh produce.
These food deserts are a health challenge for Americans. Independence LED Lighting envisions starting with an indoor farm pilot programme in Philadelphia and then rolling out to each major metropolitan market.
Local indoor farms reduce transportation costs. Currently, California produces over 90 per cent of the vegetables in the United States, so reducing 2,000 miles down to under 20 miles is one of the very real ways to generate savings.
Plus, indoor farming is weather-proof for year-round harvesting that is fresh versus truck-ripened.
The reduced transportation also reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, for cleaner air and environmental sustainability.
For the pilot programme, Independence LED Lighting will use veggie drop-off days as opportunities to share health tips and recipes.
The programme will also train SNAP recipients for new jobs, build a youth mentor programme for next-generation ambassadors of healthy living, and provide reports on performance metrics.
The intended outcome is lower-cost food, healthier food, engaged members of the community and measurable results.
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