What do households on food stamps buy at the grocery store?
The answer was largely a mystery until now. The United States Department of Agriculture, which oversees the $74 billion food stamp program called SNAP, has published a detailed report that provides a glimpse into the shopping cart of the typical household that receives food stamps.
The findings show that the No. 1 purchases by SNAP households are soft drinks, which accounted for 5 percent of the dollars they spent on food. The category of ‘sweetened beverages,’ which includes fruit juices, energy drinks and sweetened teas, accounted for almost 10 percent of the dollars they spent on food. “In this sense, SNAP is a multibillion-dollar taxpayer subsidy of the soda industry,” said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. “It’s pretty shocking.”
For years, dozens of cities, states and medical groups have urged changes to SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, to help improve nutrition among the 43 million poorest Americans who receive food stamps. Specifically, they have called for restrictions so that food stamps cannot be used to buy junk food or sugary soft drinks.
But the food and beverage industries have spent millions opposing such measures, and the U.S.D.A. has denied every request, saying that selectively banning certain foods would be unfair to food stamp users and create too much red tape.
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As the program, SNAP, is allegedly dedicated by name to supplementing nutrition, soft drinks have no place in being supported as nutritious foods. The government needs to get a grip on this. If a person is in need of a meal, overpriced flavored water containing sugar and corn syrup as the sole nutritive ingredients aren't the answer.
ReplyDeleteI agree. So how would YOU fix this and not cause a huge uptick in costs? Is hamburger ok but not steak? Is fish sticks ok but not lobster? Chocolate milk?
ReplyDeleteThe reason is isn't fixed is because it can't.
And with Philly's new "soda tax", federal government money just gets redistributed to local government. It will have zero effect on influencing purchases because it's OPM- other people money.
ReplyDelete7:23. I don't intend to insult you, but yes you can fix it. Have you ever heard of WIC- Women , Infants and Children? That is a program that has strict guidelines for what can be purchased to ensure pregnant/nursing mothers provide nurishing foods for themselves and their children. I'm not for government intrusion except when many people are abusing the handout that you and I pay for. The SNAP program should employ a nutritionist in every state who would develop a list of 'eligible' items that can be purchased via SNAP - similare to WIC or the way your health insurance has a formulary. This could help ensure the foods they buy are the best nutrition for the buck. I worked in the grocery business so I've seen the abuse and bad decisions first hand. It's sad when some of the worst cases of obesity are in areas where SNAP usage is highest. A WIC type of program CAN work.
ReplyDeleteEvery packaged food item has a UPC label on the package, even soft drinks. Program registers to disallow certain UPC-identified items from being purchased with SNAP funds.
ReplyDeleteThis takes care of the sodas, which are pretty much non-foods. I would add other drinks to that, such as bottled tea, pre-mixed kool-aid type drinks, energy drinks, etc., which are all just tasty vehicles for sugar and corn syrup.
Secondly, it's about time that some pressure was put on the FDA to classify what's a food and what isn't. Soft drinks aren't. Kool-aid isn't, and neither is iced tea.
If the government were honest about it, SNAP benefits would have a narrow range of nutritious food options guided by established or modified FDA nutrition and caloric daily intake guidelines. The implementation, oversight and flak from many sides would be nightmarish, but it could be done. I think, too, that anyone who accepts SNAP benefits should have some mandatory food preparation, nutrition and menu planning training.
7:23, yes. With a barcode on every item, it's easy to fix this, and yes, with a burger-not-steak value in place, these people could eat healthy and well on 2/3 the food stamps. It works for the WIC program that 7:48 mentioned, and can work for SNAP as well.
ReplyDeleteGIving SNAP benefits to people and limiting their range of purchases is doable! The costs iof taxpayer treatments for diabetes and high blood pressure and even cavities could be cut drastically with just a limit on soda.
ReplyDelete7:23 doesn't want it fixed - he wants to continue buying his crabs from fat-boys....
ReplyDeleteIf the government can figure out whether to tax it (it's soda) or not (it's bottled water) then it can figure out whether it's nutritional. And while I wouldn't exclude steak, candy, soda, and other junk foods need to be removed!
ReplyDeleteSounds like the soda companies are in bed with the dental industry somehow. Sugary drinks=cavities in children. Maybe someone is getting a government kick back?
ReplyDeletePretty simple no pre-made foods at all no sugar coated any thing just the basics flour salt pepper milk bread eggs cheese fruits raw uncooked meats and fish no shell fish ,period see how fast the snap program starts saving money.
ReplyDeleteSo who is going to screen the items and make them put expensive items back? It's not fair for grocery check out clerks to be the bad guy.
ReplyDelete