The agency approved waivers from the states.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on May 22 approved requests from the governors of Iowa and Indiana that asked permission to bar residents from using food stamps for soda and certain processed foods.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said at an event in Washington that she signed waivers from the two states, several days after the USDA
allowed Nebraska to become the first state to ban soda from the program formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Another half a dozen more waiver requests are “coming down the line,” Rollins said.
The Department of Agriculture has said other states that requested waivers include Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, Utah, and West Virginia.
“We are on track to sign multiples of SNAP waivers to get junk food and sugary drinks out of our food stamp system, and I am so proud,” Rollins said.
She was speaking at a
White House event held alongside
the release of the first report from the Make America Healthy Again Commission, of which Rollins is a member.
About 42 million Americans, or about 12 percent of the population, receive food stamps, the report notes. The only restrictions in place before the waivers were approved
applied to foods that are hot at the point of sale, non-food items, alcohol, and tobacco.
The commission pointed to research that
found children in households receiving SNAP are more likely to consume more sugary beverages and processed meat.
About 259,000 Iowa residents and 610,000 Indiana residents receive food stamps, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
“Unlike other administrations, we will not be silenced or intimidated by the corporate lobbyists or special interests. And I want this group to do what they have to do,” President Donald Trump told the event. He said later that the waivers would “stop taxpayer dollars from being used to make our children obese.”
Under past administrations, the USDA has turned down requests for waivers to ban food stamps from being used for soda and other sugary drinks, including a 2011 rejection of a request from New York City.
Iowa and Indiana asked in their requests for clearance to bar SNAP funds from being used for sugary beverages such as soda as well as certain processed foods such as candy.
“Soaring obesity rates have brought our nation and state to a crossroads,” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds
said in a statement. “To promote healthy eating and protect future generations from disease—and to ensure SNAP fulfills its core function—we need a change. Thank you to Secretary Rollins and her team for helping make that change happen.”
Iowa’s Health Director, Kelly Garcia, added that “limiting food benefits to purchase only the foods we know are healthier is a step in the right direction for Iowans.”
Some groups have said they support new restrictions on SNAP. “In the face of industry opposition, we have long called upon the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use its authority over SNAP to decrease sugary drink consumption,” the American Heart Association
states on its website.
The American Beverage Association, whose members include PepsiCo, has
said that the bans “won’t make an ounce of difference on health.”
The steps came as Congress weighs tax legislation that would result in reducing spending on SNAP by $285.7 billion from 2025 to 2034, according to a Congressional Budget Office
analysis. The bill, which would expand the program’s work requirement and require states to pay more for the benefits, would reduce or eliminate food stamps for 4.5 million people in an average month during those years, the office said.
“The Republicans’ budget will make America hungrier, poorer and sicker,” Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee,
said in a statement. “Parents struggling to afford groceries for their families and seniors living on fixed incomes will have their food taken away if this bill becomes law.”
