Food stamps and farmers markets: Why the USDA’s latest move isn’t enough

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, is designed to aid America’s poorest citizens by providing a stipend to support the cost of food and beverages. The program has come under criticism in the past few decades due to the high proportion of unhealthy and processed items that are often purchased using SNAP funds. In recent years, the USDA has worked with thousands of farmers markets across the country to provide incentives for SNAP recipients to buy fresh produce with their federal dollars. While this is a step in the right direction, there are limitations to this approach that necessitate further action by the USDA in order to prioritize nutrition in SNAP and thwart the rising obesity epidemic.

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Sabrina KimComment
The Bane of Bannon

What can we learn from Steve Bannon’s swift exile from the Trump administration and Breitbart? He has revealed the failures of the Trump campaign through his own controversial tenure filled with extremism, political battles, and controlling the agenda. Will this exit be the last of Steve Bannon?

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Pauline DiLorenzoComment
China and the New International Aid Architecture

Since the turn of the century, China has become one of the top global donors to international development. Many Western states and institutions view China as a ‘rogue donor’ due to their lack of transparency, but they continue to play an increasingly important role in the international aid architecture.

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Kelsey BechtelComment
Virginia’s Economy Has a Diversification Problem

Only ten years ago, the Commonwealth of Virginia experienced an economic boom that saved most Virginians from the worst of the Great Recession. During Virginia’s 2017 Gubernatorial election, however, addressing the economy was a topic of intense debate. Serious underlying problems have come into the public view, and hard decisions are coming for Virginian policymakers.

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Jack HarringtonComment
Making the Case for Separation: Nationalism in Cataluña Under Review

In light of recent events in Cataluña, Spain and their claims for secession and independence from the rest of the country, as well as Britain’s very recent exit from the European Union, people remain utterly perplexed in regards to the logistics and complexity of the process of “breaking away.” Is there a “right” way to make the case for separation, a correct and legitimate way of going about initiating independence?

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Can the U.S. Learn from the Danish Primary Care Model?

As an American student studying abroad in Denmark, I have observed and experienced stark differences between the American and Danish healthcare systems, most notably the fact that Denmark provides universal healthcare for its citizens. There are elements of the Danish system that could be implemented in the United States to increase the access and quality of U.S. care, particularly the Danish primary care model.

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The U.N. Is Running Out of Time to Fix Its Sexual Assault Crisis

Last week, the United Nations convened its 62nd Session on the Status of Women with the theme, “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls.”  But perhaps what many of those rural women and girls across the 193 member states of the U.N. really need is protection from the U.N. peacekeepers sent to help them.

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The Argument Against Merit-Based Immigration

The issue of immigration reform has been a staple in Congressional debate since Trump took office. However, the GOP focus on immigration as a tool to stimulate the US economy through the prioritization of “highly-skilled workers,” while outwardly neutral, may become racially discriminatory and harmful to the US labor force in practice.

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Victoria McKelveyComment