It was announced last week that RFK was going to begin pushing to remove soda from the list of foods that can be bought with SNAP, commonly known as food stamps.
This is a little off because RFK is the head of HHS and the SNAP program is under the USDA so I’m exactly sure how he will go about doing this.
RFK to Push Ban on SNAP for Soda
He has reportedly been asking state officials to request the Federal government to make the change to begin to apply some political pressure to the USDA but it’s unclear if that will work or if that is even the correct way to go about this.
I was shocked to learn that sugary drinks are the number one thing bought by SNAP users. SNAP is a way to provide supplemental nutrition to our nation’s poorest people so the fact that most of it is going to buy something with no nutritional value is really stunning to me.
I’m not sure how we got to the place where public funds are being used to buy things that only make people fatter and less healthy.
Of course the other side of the argument is if we allow sugary drinks to be taken off the list, the next administration could take actually healthy food off like eggs or meat out of a concern for cholesterol levels.
I think the effect of soda on our kids is so large and so dangerous that we should do this now and worry about what the next administration might do later. The obesity crisis is getting to the point where drastic measures need to be taken.
One other factor is the fact that these sugary drinks are so cheap because of the massive subsidies to the corn industry that makes sugar and HFCS as cheap as it is.
Those subsidies seem like the place we could start if we are actually trying to make everyone healthier and not just SNAP recipients.
What do you think about the issue? I’d love to hear in the comments below.
