skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Missouri Receives Large Grant to Battle the Bulge

play audio
Play

Monday, June 20, 2016   

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Money has been distributed around the country by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to get low-income residents to eat healthier.

While most hunger-relief organizations got grants of $100,000, the Mid-America Regional Council Community Services Corporation in Missouri was awarded almost $3 million.

Kevin Concannon, under secretary for Food and Nutrition and Consumer Services at the USDA, says it's part of a pilot program to let SNAP recipients double their money at farmers markets. As an example, a family could spend $20 on fresh food and get $40 worth.

"The average American does not consume enough fruits and vegetables in their diet," says Concannon. "Most of us consume too many processed foods, and in low-income households that gap is even greater."

According to a report by Feeding America, Missouri's food insecurity rate is about 17 percent, with more than a million people in the state not knowing where their next meal will come from on a consistent basis.

Concannon says even though hunger is a problem in Missouri, the obesity rate is also high because people are making unhealthy food choices.

Concannon says the idea is to get residents, especially children, to always have healthy food available. He says that's not happening now because it tends to be more expensive.

"This has been tested in other areas of the country, and it has resulted in households purchasing and consuming more fruits and vegetables," says Concannon. "That's our underlying goal."

Missouri's obesity rate is 30 percent, raking it 20th in the nation.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021