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Starting Thursday, Americans in five states who get government help paying for groceries will\u00a0see new restrictions\u00a0on soda, candy and other foods they can buy with those benefits.<\/p>\n
Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia are the\u00a0first of at least 18 states\u00a0to enact waivers prohibiting the purchase of certain foods through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part of a push by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to urge states to strip foods regarded as unhealthy from the $100 billion\u00a0federal program\u00a0\u2014 long known as food stamps \u2014 that serves 42 million Americans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot continue a system that forces taxpayers to fund programs that make people sick and then pay a second time to treat the illnesses those very programs help create,\u201d Kennedy said in a statement in December.<\/p>\n
The efforts are aimed at reducing chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes associated with sweetened drinks and other treats, a key goal of Kennedy\u2019s Make America Healthy Again effort.<\/p>\n
But retail industry and health policy experts said state SNAP programs, already under pressure from steep\u00a0budget cuts,\u00a0are unprepared for the complex changes, with no complete lists of the foods affected and technical point-of-sale challenges that vary by state and store. And research\u00a0remains mixed\u00a0about whether restricting SNAP purchases improves diet quality and health.<\/p>\n
The National Retail Federation, a trade association, predicted longer checkout lines and more customer complaints as SNAP recipients learn which foods are affected by the new waivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a disaster waiting to happen of people trying to buy food and being rejected,\u201d said Kate Bauer, a nutrition science expert at the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n
A report by the National Grocers Association and other industry trade groups estimated that implementing SNAP restrictions would\u00a0cost U.S. retailers $1.6 billion\u00a0initially and $759 million each year going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cPunishing SNAP recipients means we all get to pay more at the grocery store,\u201d said Gina Plata-Nino, SNAP director for the anti-hunger advocacy group Food Research & Action Center.<\/p>\n
The waivers are a departure from decades of federal policy first enacted in 1964 and later authorized by the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, which said SNAP benefits can be used for \u201cany food or food product intended for human consumption,\u201d except alcohol and ready-to-eat hot foods. The law also says SNAP can\u2019t pay for tobacco.<\/p>\n
In the past, lawmakers have proposed stopping SNAP from paying for expensive meats like steak or so-called junk foods, such as chips and ice cream.<\/p>\n
But previous waiver requests were denied based on\u00a0USDA research\u00a0concluding that restrictions would be costly and complicated to implement, and that they might not change recipients\u2019 buying habits or reduce health problems such as obesity.<\/p>\n
Under the second Trump administration, however, states have been encouraged and even incentivized to seek waivers \u2013 and they responded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t the usual top-down, one-size-fits-all public health agenda,\u201d Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said when he announced his state\u2019s request last spring. \u201cWe\u2019re focused on root causes, transparent information and real results.\u201d<\/p>\n
The five state waivers that take effect Jan. 1 affect about 1.4 million people. Utah and West Virginia will ban the use of SNAP to buy soda and soft drinks, while Nebraska will prohibit soda and energy drinks. Indiana will target soft drinks and candy. In Iowa, which has the most restrictive rules to date, the SNAP limits affect taxable foods, including soda and candy, but also certain prepared foods.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe items list does not provide enough specific information to prepare a SNAP participant to go to the grocery store,\u201d Plata-Nino wrote in a blog post. \u201cMany additional items \u2014 including certain prepared foods \u2014 will also be disallowed, even though they are not clearly identified in the notice to households.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marc Craig, 47, of Des Moines, said he has been living in his car since October. He said the new waivers will make it more difficult to determine how to use the $298 in SNAP benefits he receives each month, while also increasing the stigma he feels at the cash register.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey treat people that get food stamps like we\u2019re not people,\u201d Craig said.<\/p>\n
SNAP waivers enacted now and in the coming months will run for two years, with the option to extend them for an additional three, according to the Agriculture Department. Each state is required to assess the impact of the changes.<\/p>\n
Health experts worry that the waivers ignore larger factors affecting the health of SNAP recipients, said Anand Parekh, a medical doctor who is the chief health policy officer at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis doesn\u2019t solve the two fundamental problems, which is healthy food in this country is not affordable and unhealthy food is cheap and ubiquitous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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