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Keywords

food insecurity, food stamps, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, National School Lunch Program, NSLP, School Breakfast Program, Free Breakfast for School Children Program, Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants, and Children, WIC, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, MyPlate, White House Conference on Hunger Nutrition and Health

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The first Conference held more than 50 years ago by President Nixon in 1969 had significant impacts on our Department and the prevalence of food insecurity in our country. Most notably, the Conference sparked significant expansions to Food Stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), from 2 million in 1968 to 11 million by 1971. The Conference also increased the reach of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which served 2.9 million low-income children at the time of the Conference and expanded to serving nearly 8 million low-income children by 1971. Permanent authorization of the School Breakfast Program occurred in 1975, which was also inspired by The Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast for School Children Program, started in 1969. In addition, Congress authorized the pilot for the Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in 1972, laying the foundation for WIC which now serves about half of all infants in the US. Besides significantly expanding Federal nutrition assistance, the 1969 Conference set the stage for the development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which serve as the cornerstone for ensuring the latest nutrition science guides the Federal nutrition assistance programs and our Federal nutrition education and promotion activities including MyPlate.

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