Health News
Louisville-based Yum! Brands, which owns the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains, wants the homeless, disabled and elderly to be able to pay for their meals with food stamps. The company registered last month to lobby the administration of Gov. Steve Beshear on the matter. Yum! executives have given to Beshear's re-election campaign, The Courier-Journal's Tom Loftus notes.
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Health News
Yum! Brands asks state to allow elderly, disabled and homeless to use food stamps at restaurants
Louisville-based Yum! Brands, which owns the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains, wants the homeless, disabled and elderly to be able to pay for their meals with food stamps. The company registered last month to lobby the administration of Gov. Steve Beshear on the matter. Yum! executives have given to Beshear's re-election campaign, The Courier-Journal's Tom Loftus notes."Under the federal food-stamp program, states may authorize (use of food stamps) by the elderly, disabled or homeless, who often have difficulty preparing meals," Loftus writes. "Only Michigan, Arizona and parts of California have done so."
"We think it's a win-win," said Paul Carothers, the company's vice president for government affairs. "It's obviously of interest from a business standpoint, and it provides access to the elderly, homeless and disabled who are often underserved."
But state Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville, told Loftus, "My concern is that so much of that food is the most unhealthy food in America ... and it leads to obesity and all kinds of other health problems."
Carothers said he did not see a difference between customers being able to pay for their meals at KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell with food stamps and being able to buy candy bars and soda at the grocery store, which is allowed. "The only thing they cannot use their benefits for ... now are household products, alcohol, tobacco and those sorts of things," Carothers said, adding that Yum! meals "stack up nutritionally quite well. For some of these people access to a restaurant may be their only opportunity for a hot meal."
The Cabinet for Health and Family Services told Loftus that about 814,000 Kentuckians receive food stamps, but could not say what percentage are elderly, disabled or homeless. (Read more)
- Some School Districts Reject Federal Offer Of Free Lunch For All Students, Saying Schools Would Lose Money On The Deal
Some school districts are rejecting a federal program that would provide free meals to all students in districts with a certain percentage of students in poverty, Jared Nelson reports for The Times Leader in Princeton, after the Caldwell County Schools...
- Altria, Parent Of Philip Morris, Reports Spending Most On Lobbying The 2014 Legislature But Says It Didn't Fight Smoking Ban
The parent firm of the nation's largest cigarette company again reported spending more than anyone else on lobbying the Kentucky General Assembly, but says it did not fight the bill that would have imposed a statewide smoking ban in most public places....
- Study: Banning Sugary Drinks From Snap Would Reduce Obesity And Type 2 Diabetes; Subsidy Would Boost Fruit Consumption
A measure preventing people from purchasing sugar-sweetened beverages through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, would significantly reduce obesity and Type 2 diabetes in adults under 65, and adding a subsidy for fruits and...
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Louisville's Greg Fischer is among 18 mayors asking Congress to ban sugary drinks from purchase under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called food stamps. One day after their June 18 letter, the American Medical Association...
- Website Eases Application Process For Snap, Formerly Food Stamps, And Promotes Healthy Food
With a federal grant, the state Department for Community Based Services has launched a customer service website to promote healthy foods by assisting the families receiving food benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,...