Commissary Healthy Options and servicemember Welfare (CHOW) Act
The CHOW Act (Commissary Healthy Options and servicemember Welfare) would authorize the Department of Defense to run a one-year pilot program that gives junior enlisted service members monthly coupons to buy food at military commissaries. The pilot would be conducted at two installations chosen based on factors like the prevalence of unaccompanied housing, dining facility usage, and the availability of healthier ready-made or easy-to-prepare foods. Coupons can only be used for food at commissaries and cannot be used for alcohol, tobacco, or certain bottle deposits. The coupons are intended to supplement, not replace, the member’s standard food benefits (such as the basic allowance for subsistence and any in-kind meals or rations). A comprehensive report to Congress would follow, evaluating coupon usage, satisfaction, impact on commissary and dining facility use, and effects on food insecurity and access to nutritious options.
Key Points
- 1Sense of Congress: Affirms that military members and their families deserve affordable, healthy food options, with particular concern for unaccompanied junior enlisted personnel in government housing.
- 2Pilot program authorization: DoD may run a two-installation pilot to assess monthly food coupons for junior enlisted members.
- 3Selection criteria for installations: Installations with large unaccompanied housing populations, high enlisted-to-officer ratios, kitchens, healthier food options at commissaries, low dining facility attendance/satisfaction, and reasonable access to housing.
- 4Coupon rules: Coupons are for food at commissaries only; exclude alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and certain bottle deposit fees; coupons supplement but do not replace BAS or in-kind meals.
- 5Duration and evaluation: Pilot lasts up to one year; a report to Congress within 90 days of termination covering usage, satisfaction, impact on commissary/dining facility use, historical dining facility metrics, and effects on food insecurity and nutritious food availability.