States are beginning to take action to ban food stamp recipients from using their food stamps for soda.
West Virginia will ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for a waiver that enables the state to prohibit using food stamps to buy soda, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced on March 28.
He noted that the formal name of the food stamp program is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
At the end of the event, Morrisey signed a letter of intent to request waivers for changes to the SNAP program in West Virginia, the governor’s office stated.
Kennedy told those assembled that the governor had recounted to him what unfolded during a recent meeting with soda companies.
“He came in with his Diet Coke, and he said, ‘Is there anything nutritious in here?’” Kennedy said. “And they were like, ‘No, of course not, but food stamps is not a nutrition program.’”
“[SNAP] is supposed to be nutrition,” Kennedy said.
“It’s not supposed to be food-like substances that are actually poisoning us ... but it takes a lot of courage to stand up to these companies the same way that it did to stand up to Big Tobacco.”
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has indicated that she supports letting states implement a ban on the use of food stamps for soda.
In fiscal year 2023, SNAP served an average of 42 million Americans per month, or 12 percent of the U.S. population, according to the USDA.
Some 293,550 West Virginia residents were receiving food stamps as of June 2023, according to federal data.
Eligibility for SNAP is based on the amount a person makes and the assets he or she has.
West Virginia’s action came a day after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, signed legislation that requires the state Department of Health to submit a waiver to the USDA that would authorize the department to bar food stamp recipients from using SNAP benefits to buy soft drinks.
“We should not force Utahns to eat certain foods, and we are not doing that, but we should also not use tax funds to subsidize choices that don’t have nutritional value,” state Rep. Kristen Chevrier, another Republican, said during the floor debate over the bill.
“As Secretaries, I ask that you work collaboratively across the Administration to prohibit the sale of junk food in SNAP and end taxpayer-funded junk food,” she wrote. “I also wish to notify you of my intent to pursue a SNAP Waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service that would support fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, and protein and prohibit using SNAP for junk food.”
Kennedy said on March 28 that other governors should seek to eliminate soda as an option for food stamps.
“I urge every governor to follow West Virginia’s lead and submit a waiver to the USDA to remove soda from SNAP,” he said.