MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A pilot program would be created in Wisconsin to encourage healthy eating among food stamp recipients under a bill scheduled for a state Assembly vote.
The measure up Tuesday would offer 50 percent discounts on fresh produce and other healthy foods for 2,000 rural and urban participants in the FoodShare food stamp program.
The measure has bipartisan support and would also require the state to study results of the pilot program to determine if it led to more people eating healthier.
The approach has broad support and is in contrast with another bill that would require FoodShare recipients to buy only foods that have "sufficient nutritional value." Similar proposals taking that approach attempted to prohibit buying "junk food" have failed to pass in recent years.
That bill has cleared a committee but not been scheduled for a full Assembly vote.
