18 States Now Allowed to Restrict Food Stamp Usage on Junk Food

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Wednesday that she has granted waivers to six additional states, allowing them to prevent the use of food stamps to purchase certain items, like soft drinks and candy.

“President [Donald] Trump has made it clear: we are restoring SNAP to its true purpose – nutrition. Under the MAHA initiative, we are taking bold, historic steps to reverse the chronic diseases epidemic that has taken root in this country for far too long,” said Rollins in a statement.

The Trump administration has now allowed 18 states to implement a variety of restrictions on low-income recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps.

Rollins and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have urged states to adopt the restrictions as part of the administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.

“We 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,” Kennedy said in a statement.

The restrictions, which go into effect next year, vary by state and include barring soda, candy, and energy drink purchases.

Jennifer Galardi, a senior policy analyst who focuses on the Restoring American Wellness initiative at The Heritage Foundation, praised Rollins’ move.

“The word ‘nutrition’ is inherent in the SNAP acronym. There is no nutritive value in soda,” she said.

“If taxpayers are footing the bill to help manage the chronic disease epidemic through the sick care system, we shouldn’t have to foot the bill for the products that contribute to those chronic diseases.” 

“We are all for individual choice, but when those choices are taxpayer funded and cause skyrocketing health care costs, the government can decide whether or not to restrict those choices based on their contribution—or burden—to the public good,” Galardi added.

The new state waivers are for Hawaii, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee, Rollins said at an event at the U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters.

States that apply for such waivers gain an advantage in their applications for a $50 billion rural health fund established this year by the Trump administration, Mehmet Oz, the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the Department of Health and Human Services, said at the event.

Rollins and Kennedy have worked closely together to advance the MAHA agenda, including a revision of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which gives advice on what Americans should eat.

The guidelines, expected in January, will “suggest limiting highly processed foods and those high in sugar,” Rollins said on Wednesday.

Rollins also said the USDA would spend $700 million on regenerative agriculture to encourage farmers to adopt conservation farming practices that support soil health.

The administration earlier this year canceled a $3 billion program for sustainable farming practices, like reducing soil tillage.

Reuters contributed to this report.