© 2024 Blue Ridge Public Radio
Blue Ridge Mountains banner background
Your source for information and inspiration in Western North Carolina.
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

USDA Proposes Rule To Restrict SNAP Access

WUNC | By Frank Stasio,
Laura Pellicer
Published January 31, 2019 at 12:52 PM EST
USDA has proposed changes to SNAP that would crack down on access to the food program. Agriculture professor Lindsey Haynes-Maslow explains how the proposed changes would impact citizens' health and the U.S. economy.
USDA has proposed changes to SNAP that would crack down on access to the food program. Agriculture professor Lindsey Haynes-Maslow explains how the proposed changes would impact citizens' health and the U.S. economy.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Lindsey Haynes-Maslow, an assistant professor and extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University, about new rules that would make it more difficult for some working-age adults to access SNAP food benefits.

The Department of Agriculture has put forward new rules that would make it more difficult for some working-age adults to access SNAP food benefits. The suggested rule change comes after a failed effort by House lawmakers to tighten work requirements through the farm bill. Currently, states have flexibility to waive work requirements for some recipients depending on factors including the state’s unemployment rate. The new USDA rule would strip states of that general waiver option.

Host Frank Stasio speaks with Lindsey Haynes-Maslow, an assistant professor and extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University, about what the changes would mean for citizens’ health and the economy. Haynes-Maslow is also principal investigator for “Steps to Health,” a SNAP-Education program based at NC State and funded by the USDA. She recently wrote a piece about the proposed rule change for the publication "The Conversation." 

Copyright 2019 North Carolina Public Radio
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
Laura Pellicer
Laura Pellicer is a producer with The State of Things (hyperlink), a show that explores North Carolina through conversation. Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, a city she considers arrestingly beautiful, if not a little dysfunctional. She worked as a researcher for CBC Montreal and also contributed to their programming as an investigative journalist, social media reporter, and special projects planner. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian RTDNA Awards. Laura loves looking into how cities work, pursuing stories about indigenous rights, and finding fresh voices to share with listeners. Laura is enamored with her new home in North Carolina—notably the lush forests, and the waves where she plans on moonlighting as a mediocre surfer.
See stories by Laura Pellicer