What Cutting Junk Foods From SNAP Could Mean for Millions of Recipients
“Some Trump administration officials citing health concerns are looking to remove “junk food” from a federal food assistance program serving more than 41 million Americans.
The big picture: A ban on any foods in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could be particularly paramount for recipients living in food deserts who don’t have access to nutritious foods nearby.
- A ban would require action through Congress.
- Late last month, House Republicans voted to pass a budget resolution that sets the stage for $230 billion or more in cuts to agriculture programs, with a large chunk expected to come from SNAP.
State of play: The Food and Nutrition Act defines food for SNAP purposes as any food or food product for home consumption, with some limited exceptions like alcoholic beverages or hot foods for immediate consumption.
- In order to narrow that definition, either Congress would need to change the law or a state would need to propose and get approval for a demonstration project to test that, Katie Bergh, senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Axios.
- “This is something that we’ve seen a handful of states request in the past, where they essentially are asking the Department of Agriculture to approve a request to restrict the foods that SNAP participants within their state can purchase in some form,” she said.
- But no such requests has ever been approved under either Republican or Democratic presidents, including under the first Trump administration.”
Read more at Axios.