The critical role of food in contemporary policy, in the UK, Europe and internationally, is explored in a comprehensive and readable account of current issues, including food rights, patenting, safety, aid, choice and poverty. This landmark collection explores the critical role of food in contemporary national and international policy. The contributors represent different professional and academic perspectives. The contributions challenge state, institutional and agency structures and responses to food as a social policy issue. Most of the contributors write from an empirical research base.

estation, habitat destruction and zoonoses; food naming and labelling; and food risk management. Throughout there is reference to an abundance of legislation, treaties, conventions, and case law at domestic, regional, and international levels, with particular attention to European, US, and World Trade Organization law and the work of the FAO. The book clearly demonstrates the necessity for reform of the global system of food production in the direction of a more sustainable and environment-friendly model. In its authoritative discussion of the relations among fields of law that are rarely discussed together – food law and the environment, food law and human rights, food law and animal welfare – this collection of chapters will prove a valuable resource both for officials working in food governance and security and for lawyers and scholars concerned with environmental management, sustainable development, and human rights around the world.

For many Americans who live at or below the poverty threshold, access to healthy foods at a reasonable price is a challenge that often places a strain on already limited resources and may compel them to make food choices that are contrary to current nutritional guidance. To help alleviate this problem, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers a number of nutrition assistance programs designed to improve access to healthy foods for low-income individuals and households. The largest of these programs is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly called the Food Stamp Program, which today serves more than 46 million Americans with a program cost in excess of $75 billion annually. The goals of SNAP include raising the level of nutrition among low-income households and maintaining adequate levels of nutrition by increasing the food purchasing power of low-income families. In response to questions about whether there are different ways to define the adequacy of SNAP allotments consistent with the program goals of improving food security and access to a healthy diet, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to conduct a study to examine the feasibility of defining the adequacy of SNAP allotments, specifically: the feasibility of establishing an objective, evidence-based, science-driven definition of the adequacy of SNAP allotments consistent with the program goals of improving food security and access to a healthy diet, as well as other relevant dimensions of adequacy; and data and analyses needed to support an evidence-based assessment of the adequacy of SNAP allotments. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Examining the Evidence to Define Benefit Adequacy reviews the current evidence, including the peer-reviewed published literature and peer-reviewed government reports. Although not given equal weight with peer-reviewed publications, some non-peer-reviewed publications from nongovernmental organizations and stakeholder groups also were considered because they provided additional insight into the behavioral aspects of participation in nutrition assistance programs. In addition to its evidence review, the committee held a data gathering workshop that tapped a range of expertise relevant to its task.

This report was prepared in response to a request from the Economic Research Service (ERS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It summarizes the discussions at a February 1998 workshop convened by the Committee on National Statistics; the Board on Children, Youth, and Families; and the Food and Nutrition Board. The fiscal year 1998 (FY1998) appropriations bill for USDA gave ERS responsibility for all research and evaluation studies on USDA food assistance programs. The bill provided $18 million to fund these studies, an increase from $7 million in FY1997. ERS asked the Committee on National Statistics for assistance in identifying new areas of research and data collection and in further improving the evaluation studies of food assistance programs. By bringing together many who work on evaluation of food assistance programs, policy analysis, survey methods, nutrition, child nutrition and child development, outcome measurement, and state welfare programs, the issues presented and discussed at the workshop provided ERS with information that could be used to develop a framework for their research program.

Advances in Poultry Welfare provides a targeted overview of contemporary developments in poultry welfare. The reviews in the volume address topical issues related to poultry welfare research and assessment, with a focus on identifying practical strategies for improvement as well as information gaps that remain to be filled. Part One provides an introduction to poultry production systems and gives a broad overview of current poultry welfare issues. Part Two moves on to review several aspects of poultry management, focusing on hatchery practices, early rearing, and slaughter. Part Three deals with welfare assessment on the farm, while Part Four explores continuing challenges, such as feather pecking and skeletal problems. This is followed in Part Five by a discussion of emerging issues, with chapters covering alternative parasite control methods, backyard poultry production, mass depopulation, and genetic approaches to reducing the impact of environmental stressors on welfare. This book is an essential part of the wider ranging series Advances in Farm Animal Welfare, with coverage of cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry. With its expert editor and international team of contributors, Advances in Poultry Welfare is a key reference tool for welfare research scientists and students, veterinarians involved in welfare assessment, and indeed anyone with a professional interest in the welfare of poultry. Provides in-depth reviews of emerging topics, research and applications in poultry welfare Integral part of a wider series, Advances in Agricultural Animal Welfare, which will provide comprehensive coverage of animal welfare of the world’s major farmed animals Covers a range of topical issues within the field, from beak-trimming and skeletal problems, to early rearing and the design and management of poultry production systems Edited by a distinguished leader in the field

Millions of Americans are just one paycheck away from becoming unemployment statistics. If it happens to you, you need to know what to do next. This book spells out where to get help after you lose your job, your home, or both. It specifically shows where to apply for government aid programs that offer food, heating bills assistance, subsidized phone service, subsidized housing, subsidized child care, welfare, unemployment insurance and other benefits. This book shows where to apply for food stamps (SNAP) and other food programs that put food on the table, where to apply for heating bills assistance (LIHEAP) and keep the heat turned on during the winter, where to apply for subsidized telephone service (Lifeline) and keep your phone turned on, where to apply for subsidized housing (Section 8) and keep a roof over your head, where to apply for unemployment insurance and keep some money coming in, and where to apply for welfare (TANF) and other benefit programs. Both the unemployed and the underemployed working poor are eligible to apply. Includes information about benefit programs, the income and assets guidelines used to determine eligibility for benefits and hundreds of agency contact phone numbers (many toll-free) and web sites. Use this book to find out what sorts of government aid programs are available, where to apply and how to keep going during the recession.

How we produce and consume food has a bigger impact on Americans' well-being than any other human activity. The food industry is the largest sector of our economy; food touches everything from our health to the environment, climate change, economic inequality, and the federal budget. From the earliest developments of agriculture, a major goal has been to attain sufficient foods that provide the energy and the nutrients needed for a healthy, active life. Over time, food production, processing, marketing, and consumption have evolved and become highly complex. The challenges of improving the food system in the 21st century will require systemic approaches that take full account of social, economic, ecological, and evolutionary factors. Policy or business interventions involving a segment of the food system often have consequences beyond the original issue the intervention was meant to address. A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System develops an analytical framework for assessing effects associated with the ways in which food is grown, processed, distributed, marketed, retailed, and consumed in the United States. The framework will allow users to recognize effects across the full food system, consider all domains and dimensions of effects, account for systems dynamics and complexities, and choose appropriate methods for analysis. This report provides example applications of the framework based on complex questions that are currently under debate: consumption of a healthy and safe diet, food security, animal welfare, and preserving the environment and its resources. A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System describes the U.S. food system and provides a brief history of its evolution into the current system. This report identifies some of the real and potential implications of the current system in terms of its health, environmental, and socioeconomic effects along with a sense for the complexities of the system, potential metrics, and some of the data needs that are required to assess the effects. The overview of the food system and the framework described in this report will be an essential resource for decision makers, researchers, and others to examine the possible impacts of alternative policies or agricultural or food processing practices.