The SNAP argument has resurfaced, with some states proposing to prohibit SNAP recipients from using their EBT cards to purchase sodas or carbonated beverages. More than 42 million individuals (about 12.5% of the population) benefit from this credit, which aims to supply food for those who struggle to do their monthly grocery shopping, but a discussion has erupted over whether they should be permitted to purchase soft beverages.
What is SNAP?
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal program whose purpose is to assist low-income people in doing their monthly grocery shopping in a healthy manner while promoting a balanced diet.
How does SNAP function, and who can get it?
To receive this benefit, you must complete four essential requirements: Specifically, having a monthly income of less than $1,580 per person (or less than $3,250 for households of four). You must be a US citizen or have legal residency in the country, and you must reside in the state where you apply for credit.
And it works quite simply: they give you an EBT card, and each month the right amount is added to it, so you don’t have to hand in checks; simply use your card at stores that participate in this nutrition program.
What can you purchase with this benefit?
With this card, you can obtain access to a variety of healthy foods, fresh products such as meat, cold cuts, vegetables and fruits, oils, dairy products, and even seeds to grow at home if you have enough space or a yard to put up a small vegetable plot.
In general, you can buy any raw or healthy product, but SNAP is very strict about what you can’t buy, which includes beer and wine, any alcoholic beverage, tobacco, live animals (except those that have already been slaughtered before leaving the warehouse because they are considered fresh meat), pet food, and personal hygiene and household items.
This is where the controversy begins, since the Trump administration has proposed many rules that would remove energy drinks and sodas off the list of things covered by EBT cards.
What exactly is the point of contention?
Several states, including Nebraska, led by Republican Jim Pillen, have written to the U.S. Department of Agriculture urging that a decision be made on energy drinks and sodas, which they believe should not be included in the benefits. States including Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia are also considering similar actions.
The exemption request is still pending approval, and since SNAP is regulated by each state, it is not surprising that it will become a reality soon.
Why is there a war on soft drinks?
Mainly because these drinks have a high sugar content, but the truth is that they are used equally in households with and without SNAP, and many people believe that denying SNAP users the ability to purchase soft drinks is paternalistic. And, of course, here is where the fight began. It is true that the country’s overall diet is not the best in the world, with an obesity rate of 42.1% (and 73.6% of the total adult population if overweight individuals are included), and 14 million children and teenagers are estimated to suffer from the same condition (19.7% of the population under 18).
Soft drinks and energy drinks may be directly linked to this illness or diabetes, but prohibiting them for those receiving state assistance will only increase the inequality of purchasing opportunities, which is precisely one of the core principles of the SNAP credit, and is why payments are made with bank cards to avoid stigmatisation. So outlawing them will be ineffective unless harsher restrictions are implemented for the broader public.
However, for the time being, the federal government must decide if these exemptions constitute the beginnings of a reform or simply a ploy to begin reducing SNAP benefits.
