A pair of Democratic lawmakers are criticizing the SNAP benefits that provide a high-dose of junk food to the poor.
The Healthy SNAP Act, which may amend national food stamps to outlaw things with almost no nutritional value, such as candy and soda, was introduced last week by Republican senators Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama.
According to Lee,” the quickest way to make America good again is to promote balanced diets and stop subsidizing bad foods choices.” ” The Good SNAP Act is a good step forward in building a culture where all individuals can … like strength, health, and good diet”.
According to a recent report from the Foundation for Government Accountability ( FGA ), the roughly 42 million beneficiaries of federal food stamp dollars spend the lion’s share on soda, snacks, candy, and ice cream instead of eggs, fruit, and vegetables. In the macroeconomic year 2023, the federal government spent about$ 113 billion on the SNAP program, with billion going toward food purchases made at the grocery store and then spending money in hospitals where people experience a many serious diseases caused by sugar.
After previous attempts to reform the food stamp system failed while Democrats were in authority, Republican Representative Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma introduced friend legislation in the House in January.
” If one wants to buy junk foods on their own money, that’s up to them”, Brecheen said. ” But what we’re saying is to not expect the taxpayer to foot the bill for the ensuing health effects” ( p. 21 ).
Republicans are now operating with a new mission to enhance the world’s health, despite repeated failures to effectively reform the nutrition assistance program to deliver meaningful nutrition. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the head of the Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS), released a platform for the new administration in The Wall Street Journal just as he endorsed President Donald Trump and dropped out of the race for president last summer. Kennedy argued that a Trump presidency would need to” prevent allowing recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to use their food stamps to purchase beer or processed food” in order to “make America good again.”
” Nine percent of all SNAP money goes to sweetened drinks, according to 2011 data”, Kennedy wrote. It’s absurd for U.S. citizens to invest tens of billions on subsidizing garbage that harms the health of low-income Americans.
The Republican Party has a stronghold in the Senate, with GOP legislators on Capitol Hill also forming “MAHA” caucus in both chambers, despite Kennedy’s confirmation to direct HHS and not the firm overseeing the SNAP program ( the Department of Agriculture ).
” The prevalence of chronic illness in America limits our ability and prevents our children from achieving the American Dream.” Bad SNAP-eligible foods certainly contribute to this health crisis, according to Britt, who introduced her legislation next week. The Healthy SNAP Act represents a significant move forward in the effort to restore health in America. I will continue to work with HHS Secretary Kennedy, Agriculture Secretary Rollins, and the rest of President Trump’s group to accomplish this”.
At least one of the states ( which currently determine eligibility and benefits at the local level ) has already begun calling for change while lawmakers are working to reform SNAP benefits at the federal level. In December, Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders addressed a letter to Trump’s contenders for HHS and USDA urging transformation.
” Given the connection between junk foods and bad health, our national food aid plans are fueling obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and a wide range of serious health problems across America”, Sanders wrote. The governor cited data from Trump’s nominee to run the National Institutes of Health ( NIH), Dr. Jay Bhattacharya,” and his Stanford colleagues”, who “estimated that prohibiting sugary drinks and soda from SNAP would prevent obesity in 141, 000 kids and Type 2 diabetes in 240, 000 adults”.
