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Arkansas Governor calls for SNAP reform

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has requested a waiver from the USDA that would allow changes to the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

She says the proposal is an effort to reduce chronic health conditions and would eliminate soft drinks, candy, and ultra-processed foods from SNAP eligibility. “Taxpayers are subsidizing poor health,” she says. “We’re paying for it on the front end and the back end. That’s not a nutrition program. It’s actively harming Arkansans’ health and contributing to our nation’s mountain of debt.”

Sanders says approximately 23 percent of current SNAP spending goes toward soft drinks and unhealthy snacks. The Governor says the move isn’t about taking choice away from consumers. “The government isn’t dictating what you can or can’t buy with your hard-earned money,” she says. “It’s simply saying that taxpayers are no longer going to cover the cost of junk food like candy and soft drinks. Instead, those who rely on food stamps can use them to buy healthier, more nutritious foods.”

The waiver also requests the addition of rotisserie chicken, an affordable healthy protein source, to the list of foods that can be purchased with SNAP benefits. She says the state will use the GS1 US food categorization system to make the policy changes easy for retailers to implement.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins says increasing access to healthier foods helps empower families. “So that they can have the opportunity to make better choices,” she says.  “And to be clear, this is not taking any money out of these programs, so the levels stay the same. It just opens up the opportunity to buy better and more healthy food moving forward.”

‘Arkansas is the first state to submit this kind of waiver to the USDA.  It is now available for a 30-day public comment period in the state.