WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2024—The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently awarded a grant to Auburn University’s Hunger Solutions Institute (HSI) to significantly expand the Healthy Fluid Milk Incentives Projects (HFMI) to more than 1,150 retail stores in 32 states since the program began in 2020. HFMI pilot projects provide SNAP beneficiaries with a dollar-for-dollar match when they purchase healthy fluid milk options, helping SNAP participants stretch their dollar with healthy dairy options.
Since 2022, USDA has awarded nearly $10 million in grants to Auburn HSI to partner with retail food establishments to implement HFMI projects. The latest USDA grant will provide $2.79 million in FY2024 congressional appropriations to Auburn to bring the program to 438 additional participating locations across 18 states, including locations in rural communities, counties with persistently high poverty rates, and low-income and low access census tracts. HFMI, or Add Milk! as it is known at retail stores across the country, is reaching more than 25,000 SNAP households every month, a number that continues to increase as more stores come on line and more SNAP participants become aware of the program.
The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), led by President and CEO Michael Dykes, D.V.M., lauded the expansion of the HFMI program, noting the important role dairy incentives play in improving health outcomes for Americans. IDFA led the charge to create HFMI in the 2018 Farm Bill and has continued to closely collaborate with Congress and USDA to expand the program to more communities across the country. IDFA is a major proponent of incentivizing SNAP participants to purchase healthy dairy options to increase access to affordable, nutritious food and beverage options for food and nutrition insecure Americans.
“IDFA congratulates Auburn’s Hunger Solutions Institute and its retail partners on their continued efforts to bring nutritious dairy to food insecure households across the country,” said Dykes. “Consuming milk’s 13 essential nutrients is linked to healthy immune function, hydration, cognition, mental health, bone health, and lower risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. That is why HSI’s work to expand Add Milk! is so important. Their expertise with SNAP nutrition incentives, especially the use of electronic point of sale incentives, has been instrumental in the growth of Add Milk! We commit to support HSI’s work to make HFMIP pilots successful in 2025 and beyond.”
The latest federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans report showed that more than 90% of Americans do not consume enough dairy products to meet daily nutrition requirements, impeding positive health outcomes for Americans of all ages. Studies have shown that incentive programs, like HFMI, increase purchase and consumption of the incentivized food.
IDFA is asking Congress to include provisions in the next Farm Bill that would expand the existing HFMI program to include all milk varieties as well as cheese and yogurt. The organization supports the Dairy Nutrition Incentive Program Act of 2023, bipartisan legislation (S. 1474/H.R. 5099) that would implement early HFMI learnings to improve the effectiveness of incentives to increase SNAP participants’ consumption of healthy dairy products and expand access to dairy incentives to additional areas of the country that are in most need.
To learn more about the health benefits of milk, cheese and yogurt, visit www.idfa.org/dairynourishes.
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Contact: press@idfa.org
The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, which supports more than 3.2 million jobs that generate $49 billion in direct wages and $794 billion in overall economic impact. IDFA’s diverse membership ranges from multinational organizations to single-plant companies, from dairy companies and cooperatives to food retailers and suppliers, all on the cutting edge of innovation and sustainable business practices. Together, they represent most of the milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt and cultured products, and dairy ingredients produced and marketed in the United States and sold throughout the world. Delicious, safe and nutritious, dairy foods offer unparalleled health and consumer benefits to people of all ages.