Fair Food Network Joins More than 250 Food and Farm Leaders Urging MAHA Commission to Boost Nutrition Incentives to Fight the Chronic Disease Epidemic

Nutrition Incentives Show Positive Health and Economic Impacts for Families, Children, and Farmers

August 1, 2025 | Washington, D.C. – Today, Fair Food Network joins more than 250 farm, food, and health advocates across 42 states, DC, and Puerto Rico are urging the Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission to expand federal nutrition incentives to address the chronic disease epidemic. Nutrition incentives provide dollar-for-dollar matches for shoppers who use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to purchase fruits and vegetables.

“To further the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s goal of identifying solutions to our chronic disease epidemic with the highest return on investment for American taxpayers, we applaud the Commission for including nutrition incentives in its initial findings report and urge the Commission to expand support for nutrition incentives in its forthcoming comprehensive strategy” wrote the advocates. “In addition to achieving measurable health outcomes, nutrition incentives advance USDA’s goal of putting farmers first in policy solutions.”

Despite national guidelines recommending daily fruit and vegetable consumption, fewer than one in ten Americans meet those standards, and low-income shoppers face larger barriers to accessing healthy produce. Nutrition incentive programs are proven to significantly increase fruit and vegetable intake among low-income shoppers. Multiple studies prove that SNAP incentive participants eat more fruits and vegetables than the average American, not just the average SNAP recipient.

Nutrition incentives have a proven track record of success. Expanded by Congress and President Trump under the 2018 Farm Bill, the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) provides competitive state and local grants to nutrition assistance incentives and produce prescription (PRx) programs.

Research shows that PRx programs help reduce blood sugar levels by up to 17% among SNAP-eligible participants, with the largest improvements seen in those with uncontrolled diabetes. If scaled nationwide, these programs offer the potential to reduce national healthcare costs by as much as $40 billion annually. With American farmers being undercut by foreign competition, nutrition incentives can also provide a vital source of revenue.

In the letter addressed to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, the groups underscored the value of utilizing nutrition incentive programs to combat chronic illness, including three key goals:

Enable 42 million low-income Americans to access healthier, more nutritious food

Ensure every SNAP recipient in all 50 states has access to a nutrition incentive program

Scale GusNIP well beyond its current $50 million annual funding level to drive population-level health impacts

The letter was signed by 253 national and local farm groups, nutrition advocates, grocers, farmers markets, and public health leaders, including the Bread for the World, Fair Food Network, Farmers Market Coalition, International Fresh Produce Association, Mobile Market Coalition, National Grocers Association, and Wholesome Wave.

The full text of the letter is included below. A PDF of the letter, which includes the full list of signatories, is available here.

Dear Secretary Kennedy and Secretary Rollins,

We write today to commend your efforts to make Americans healthy and urge you to utilize nutrition incentive programs to advance those efforts. To further the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s goal of identifying solutions to our chronic disease epidemic with the highest return on investment for American taxpayers, we applaud the Commission for including nutrition incentives in its initial findings report and urge the Commission to expand support for nutrition incentives in its forthcoming comprehensive strategy. In addition to achieving measurable health outcomes, nutrition incentives advance USDA’s goal of putting farmers first in policy solutions.

Incentive programs—which provide shoppers with a dollar-for-dollar match when their supplemental nutrition benefits are spent on fruits and vegetables—have a proven record of motivating behavior change among low-income shoppers. Today, fewer than one in ten Americans eat the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Due to the higher per-calorie cost of fruits and vegetables versus other grocery items, low-income shoppers eat even less produce than the average American. It is therefore statistically significant that low-income shoppers who participate in nutrition incentive programs eat more fruits and vegetables than the average American, not just the average low-income shopper.

Research finds that supplemental nutrition assistance-eligible populations who participated in produce prescription programs (PRx) lower their A1C (blood sugar) levels by between 6% and 17%, with the largest decrease occurring among those with uncontrolled diabetes. If achieved at scale, this behavior change will drive down costs for America’s healthcare system. While the potential cost-savings to American taxpayers and health insurers resulting from an increase in produce consumption on this scale is difficult to predict, it is estimated to be upwards of $40 billion annually.

Nutrition incentives have been tested and are ready to scale. In the 2018 Farm Bill, Congress and President Trump expanded the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), which provides competitive grants to state and local nutrition assistance incentive and produce prescription programs. GusNIP advances USDA Secretary Rollin’s vision for USDA’s nutrition programs by creating new opportunities to connect America’s farmers to nutrition assistance and empowering states to take ownership of nutrition policy.

GusNIP’s enabling legislation directs programs to increase the share of supplemental nutrition assistance and incentive dollars spent with American fruit and vegetable farmers. At a time when American fruit and vegetable growers are being undercut by foreign competition, supplemental nutrition assistance and nutrition incentive benefits are a much-needed source of revenue.

As of 2025, 34 state governments have seen GusNIP’s value in supporting their state’s fruit and vegetable industry while simultaneously improving health outcomes among their residents and appropriated match funding from their state budgets. These appropriations help federal funds go further and ensure that states are invested in the success of their nutrition incentive programs.

GusNIP’s current funding level—roughly $50 million annually—is a down payment but not full-fledged investment in improving the health of low-income Americans. Current federal spending on nutrition incentives is simply inadequate to allow every supplemental nutrition assistance recipient or farmer to participate in a nutrition incentive program. We urge the MAHA Commission to begin the process of scaling GusNIP to achieve population-level impact. Within the decade, every SNAP recipient in all 50 states should be able to participate in a nutrition incentive program.

After years of struggling to motivate SNAP recipients to eat healthier diets, we have finally found a solution that works and supports American farmers – it’s a win-win scenario! We stand committed to working with the Commission to seize this opportunity and capitalize on the health savings to be realized by allowing 42 million low-income Americans to put healthier, more nutritious food on their tables.

###

Contact:

Andi Nank, anank@fairfoodnetwork.org, 734. 213.3999 x221