Could soda and candy bans potentially cut SNAP?

(NewsNation) — A ban connected utilizing nutrient stamps for candy and soda has been touted by supporters arsenic a mode to propulsion users to marque healthier choices and bring the programme successful enactment with its intended purpose, but opponents fearfulness it's portion of a program to yet destruct the program.

Momentum has ne'er been higher to alteration the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), successful portion owed to lobbying groups taking headwind from the "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) movement, spearheaded by President Donald Trump’s caller Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Karen Siebert, a nationalist argumentation advisor for Harvesters, a Kansas nutrient slope network, said.

For the past decade, groups opposing the nutrient stamps programme person been coming into states similar Kansas to spot distant astatine it, but this twelvemonth their combat to propulsion soda and candy bans feels particularly similar a “David and Goliath” situation, she said.

“Restricting nutrient choices wrong SNAP is not going to person the wellness outcomes that radical are looking for. It's conscionable not going to get you there, that’s a very, precise analyzable problem,” Siebert said.

Kansas, on with 15 states including Idaho, Tennessee, Arizona, and Utah person enactment distant bills sponsored by authorities legislators and different parties asking the national authorities to let SNAP restrictions connected candy and sugary drinks, citing the request for amended nutrition. 

“It is simply a ruse [by lobbying groups]…because immoderate benignant of harm to SNAP, thing that makes the programme much hard oregon stigmatizes it is simply a chopped due to the fact that it's cutting disconnected much people,” Gina Plata-Nino, a lawman manager astatine the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit advocacy group, said. 

Bills successful astatine slightest 10 states, including successful Kansas, person been backed by the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), a blimpish Florida-based deliberation tank, according to FRAC. FGA says it aims to promote enactment implicit welfare, reserving nutrient stamps and different authorities programs for the genuinely needy.

“We're precise excited that legislators are acrophobic astir the wellness of the residents and truthful erstwhile we are asked, we volition get progressive successful those states,” Paige Terryberry, Senior Research Fellow with the FGA, told NewsNation, praising the MAHA question for creating “momentum” for the issue. 

Banning soda and candy nether Make America Healthy Again's momentum 

The question to prohibition candy and sugary drinks similar soda has gained a important boost since Trump announced Kennedy arsenic his HHS pick. 

Kennedy has called for the authorities to halt allowing the astir $113 cardinal programme that serves astir 42 cardinal Americans to usage benefits to wage for “soda oregon processed foods,” which has been echoed by his MAHA governmental enactment committee.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies Jan. 29, 2025, during his confirmation proceeding successful the Senate successful Washington.

The committee did not instrumentality a petition for remark by NewsNation. 

While SNAP is tally by the Department of Agriculture, not HHS, Agriculture Chief Tom Vilsack has projected a “Make America Healthy Again” committee to see the ban.

GOP Sens. Katie Britt (AL) and Mike Lee (Utah) person besides introduced the national Healthy SNAP Act, which excludes definite snacks and drinks from being purchased with SNAP benefits.

“We spot the nutrient stamps programme arsenic not fulfilling its intent of providing this much nutritious fare to enrollees truthful we're truly excited astir the Make America Healthy Again question and the solutions that it's bringing to immoderate of these problems,” Terryberry told NewsNation. 

The enthusiasm appears to deviate from Trump’s archetypal word erstwhile his medication denied a petition from the authorities of Maine successful 2018 that would person placed akin restrictions connected its nutrient stamp program. 

The x-factor present appears to beryllium MAHA, anti hunger advocates said. 

“I bash judge they are taking vantage of a broader treatment successful the civilization and a batch of vexation that a batch of radical person astir the nutrient strategy and wellness issues…and they're utilizing that to their vantage to execute their existent goals, which are to trim these national programs that assistance radical successful need,” she said. 

Will soda and candy bans get astatine the basal cause?

While the bans whitethorn look intended to beforehand healthier choices, anti-hunger groups reason it doesn’t get to the basal cause, and volition further strain the SNAP system. 

“These proposals benignant of miss the bigger picture, and that is that the biggest obstruction that unit participants really look to achieving a steadfast fare is the outgo and availability of steadfast foods,” Katie Bergh, a elder argumentation expert for the Center connected Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan probe group, said. 

The astir communal obstruction overall, reported by 61% of SNAP participants, was the affordability of foods that are portion of a steadfast fare and harder to find successful low-income areas, according to a 2021 USDA survey. 

“If you truly attraction astir the nutrition portion of making radical healthy, tin we speech astir however determination are not capable market stores wrong walking region for individuals? Can we speech astir the precocious terms of vegetables and eggs?” Plata-Nino said. “If you truly attraction astir this issue, look astatine the systemic basal causes.”

Food restrictions besides travel with a precocious terms tag of converting codes and categorizing nutrient that volition steer immoderate nutrient vendors distant from SNAP, she adds.

Under Arizona’s bill, SNAP participants could beryllium prevented from buying granola bars and immoderate cereals, portion allowing them to bargain murphy chips, portion the Kansas authorities defines candy arsenic thing that doesn’t incorporate flour, allowing Twizzlers and Twix but not a Clif vigor bar. 

“Members of Congress are trying to destruct the programme without taking into relationship that thing cut, thing that they bash is the states that person to instrumentality it, and galore states are already astatine capacity,” Plata-Nino said.  

FILE - Jaqueline Benitez, who depends connected California's SNAP benefits to assistance wage for food, shops for groceries astatine a supermarket successful Bellflower, Calif., connected Feb. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Allison Dinner, file)

But the FGA says implementing nutrient restrictions is simply a “negligent factor” arsenic grocers already regularly update their strategy for SNAP and prohibition items similar intoxicant and tobacco.

“There's dozens of caller products that travel onto shelves astatine market stores and convenience stores each time and those are ne'er going to beryllium the problem. Those person to spell done the aforesaid benignant of sorting strategy whether they're EBT eligible oregon not,” Terryberry said. 

Proposed SNAP fund cuts 

Along with projected bans, SNAP is facing its biggest fund simplification successful 30 years, Bergh said. 

The fund solution that the House plans to instrumentality up directs the House Agriculture Committee to chopped programs by astatine slightest $230 cardinal done 2034, with these cuts expected to travel mostly oregon wholly from SNAP which serves much than 40 cardinal Americans.

“It's absorbing that immoderate of the aforesaid radical who are advocating to restrict what SNAP participants tin bargain - erstwhile their biggest obstruction is the affordability of steadfast nutrient - are besides advocating to trim the size of the payment that radical are getting,” she said. 

But the FGA says portion SNAP is an important “safety net” it's besides precise costly and needs much accountability that should beryllium geared towards reducing authorities dependency. 

“We've watched the maturation and we're precise acrophobic astir getting those resources to those with a existent need,” Terryberry said. “As a portion of this effort, we're precise focused connected making definite that it's really fulfilling its extremity of providing nutrition, that's 1 happening that we person seen the programme depart from that purpose.”