South Carolina – Six more states have limited the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program subsidies to buy sugary drinks and snacks. This is another step in a government campaign to help low-income families make better food choices.
This week, Hawaii, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee all signed up for the program. These states are now on a long list of states that have put limits on what SNAP money can buy.
During a press conference, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz talked about the next step in the federal “Make America Healthy Again” plan.
Rollins added that the expansion shows that states are very interested in using the SNAP program to promote better nutrition and make sure that taxpayer-funded benefits help “healthy choices for America’s families.”
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States can ask the federal government for waivers that let them stop people from using SNAP assistance to buy certain things, like sugary drinks, candy, and other processed goods with a lot of sugar. Each state can make its own rules since the Department of Agriculture lets them.
In real life, some governments have tight rules that apply to a wide range of things, while others only apply to one type of item.
For example, Arkansas doesn’t let those on SNAP buy soda, candy, or fruit beverages that don’t have a lot of juice in them. The only thing West Virginia limits is soda. There is also a financial incentive for states who participate in the waivers: they get more SNAP money, which Oz said is contributing to the growing interest.
South Carolina’s participation puts it in a group of states in the Southeast that are implementing stricter nutritional criteria. This shows that legislators in the region are changing how they think about public health and federal food aid.
People who support the campaign say that changing the policy could help lower the long-term prevalence of diabetes, obesity, and other chronic diseases, especially in places where sugary foods are common and actively advertised.
The main purpose of the promise is to encourage SNAP participants to choose healthier options by making it harder for them to get high-sugar foods and emphasizing the idea that the federal nutrition program should focus on foods that are high in nutrients.
Federal estimates say that about 12% of Americans utilize SNAP to help feed their family. This means that the changes might affect millions of families across the country.
With the most recent additions, 18 states have now signed up. The federal government stressed that the list’s growth shows support for the larger health agenda. They also said that the financial incentives showed that the collaboration was good for both sides: states get extra money to help with their SNAP operations when they follow stricter rules.
The expansion brings to light a national debate about how strict SNAP standards should be. The federal government sets the basic rules, but state experimentation has grown quickly as more governors and legislatures combine public health goals with dietary policy. For now, authorities at the federal level say they are concentrating on working with states that are open to the waiver process and trying out new ways to improve nutritional results.
As the campaign grows, we’ll see how each state chooses to build its own rules and whether the effort has a noticeable effect on the buying habits of SNAP users in the following months.
