<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><a href="http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/320-80/21438-doctors-slam-proposed-food-stamp-cuts-the-dumbest-thing-you-can-do-is-cut-nutrition">http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/320-80/21438-doctors-slam-proposed-food-stamp-cuts-the-dumbest-thing-you-can-do-is-cut-nutrition</a><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; "><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; font-size: 15px; "><img border="0" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; " id="90161dca-aa01-4590-9b0d-e8e57ae368aa" height="25" width="27" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:219BCC39-4704-4670-889B-E9125E0149F4">octors have a message for congressional lawmakers inching toward a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/farm-bill-talks-nearing-conclusion-with-little-concern-for-food-stamp-cuts/2014/01/08/26b5a2aa-786f-11e3-b1c5-739e63e9c9a7_story.html" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">compromise farm bill</a> that would cut food stamps by nine billion dollars: It's a terrible idea.</p><p class="indent" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; font-size: 15px; text-indent: 30pt; ">"If you're interested in saving health care costs, the dumbest thing you can do is cut nutrition," Dr. Deborah Frank of Boston Medical Center <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/doctors-cutting-food-stamps-backfire-21484890" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">explained</a> in an interview with the Associated Press. "People don't make the hunger-health connection."</p><p class="indent" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; font-size: 15px; text-indent: 30pt; ">The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) offers benefits to <a href="http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/15SNAPpartPP.htm" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">over 47 million Americans</a>. But the benefit level has fallen to the point that recipients <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/11/25/2991921/food-stamps-healthier/" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">only get about $1.40 per person per meal</a>, even though food stamps often constitute the entirety of a family's food budget. Doctors and researchers say that additional cuts on the horizon could increase the incidence of medical problems...</p></span>
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