(NewsNation) — U.S. Department of Agriculture Chief Tom Vilsack has proposed that the “Make America Healthy Again” commission consider banning junk food and sugary drink purchases using food stamps.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program should prioritize healthy food choices. However, many of those options are costly compared to cheap, ultraprocessed foods, and accessibility is an issue for low-income communities.
The proposal follows Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s vow to remove soda from items eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits.
Over 40M Americans receive SNAP benefits
Last year, 41.7 million Americans received SNAP benefits, according to the USDA, which cost taxpayers nearly $94 billion. Each recipient received about $188 per month.
Congress is currently considering two bills addressing SNAP benefits. One seeks to ban SNAP purchases of junk foods like cookies, cakes, pies and sodas, while the other aims to improve the nutrition and diet quality of food available to recipients.
Another economic argument favoring the ban is that taxpayers are indirectly paying twice: once to fund the purchase of junk food and again to fund medical costs resulting from chronic diseases linked to poor diets.
Doctor: Incentives need to support farmers, fresh produce
Dr. Joel Warsh, a pediatrician, supports the idea of banning junk food purchases with food stamps but also believes the government needs a plan for incentives to support local farmers and fresh produce.
He notes that the American diet, 70% of which is made up of ultraprocessed foods, is a key cause of chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. He also highlighted a disturbing rise in type 2 diabetes in children.
“It’s called adult-onset diabetes. It wasn’t even something that you would have seen when I was a kid, in a child, but now we’re seeing it in teenagers and even younger children,” Warsh said. “Going back to diabetes, like one-third of kids are diabetic or pre-diabetic, that is not okay. We have to do something about that. It’s not the same all over the world.”
It’s unclear when or how these proposed changes to the SNAP program will be implemented and whether they’ll come through Congress or the “Make America Healthy Again” commission.