DURHAM, N.C. -- For schoolchildren who receive food through the monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which day payment arrives affects their academic performance, according to new research from Duke University.

Food policy councils are making local changes that "trickle up." And this is only the beginning.

NEWS & OBSERVER - Food stamps aren’t enough for families to afford the healthy diet the federal government recommends. A researcher at N.C. State University has helped define the financial distance between food stamps and healthy eating.

NEWS & OBSERVER - The truth is, we have a health care system where asking “are you hungry?” is so far outside of what “counts” as health care that we often fail to ask. The result is patients get and stay sicker, and we miss opportunities to spend health care dollars as effectively as possible.

NC JUSTICE - Even when you have a steady job, it can be tough to put enough food on the table. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as FNS or food stamps) is the nation’s best anti-hunger tool.