It was wartime in the 1940s. The first peacetime draft in the history of the United States had taken place in 1940. Amid extraordinary patriotism in the United States, often demonstrated by young men enlisting in the military to serve their country, there was scattered opposition to selective service. Indeed, a few hundred men had claimed the right to refuse to perform military service. These men, known as Conscientious Objectors (COs) and self-proclaimed human guinea pigs, served the country in other ways that contributed a great deal to our knowledge of everything from treatment for typhus and hepatitis to acute pneumonia and malaria.
Read MoreSustaining Health through Food Stamps: Why We Need to Look to WIC to Improve SNAP
Potatoes—the Senate Appropriations Committee may haveapproved the inclusion of them this spring as part of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (known as WIC). But, while legislators and representatives from the National Potato Council hashed it out over whether to include fresh spuds on the WIC-approved food list, it’s important to remember the larger role WIC takes in influencing the diets of low-income families.
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