Governor Urges Trump Administration To Eliminate Junk Food in Federal Food Stamp Program

Clear Facts

• Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has urged the incoming Trump administration to eliminate junk food from the federal food stamp program.
• Sanders highlights that nearly 23% of SNAP purchases are unhealthy snacks, contributing to widespread health issues.
• She proposes SNAP reform to support healthier food options and benefit local farmers.

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is taking a bold stance against junk food in the federal food stamp program. In a letter addressed to the anticipated Trump administration’s Health and Agriculture department leaders, Sanders calls for significant changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“As you know, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a $113 billion federal program designed to support low-income families with food assistance,” Sanders stated in her letter to HHS Secretary-nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary-nominee Brooke Rollins.

She expressed concern that the program is inadvertently promoting unhealthy eating habits by allowing the purchase of highly processed junk food.

Sanders highlighted a startling statistic: soda, snacks, candy, and desserts make up almost 23% of all SNAP purchases, amounting to $25 billion. She emphasized the connection between these unhealthy choices and chronic health issues such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

“Sadly, these health conditions disproportionately affect lower-income families-the same people who rely on SNAP for food,” Sanders noted.

Drawing from her personal experience as a mother, Sanders is motivated to improve health outcomes for children, especially in her state, where a significant portion of the population grapples with diabetes and obesity.

She referenced research by Stanford University Professor Jayanta Bhattacharya, suggesting that removing sugary items from SNAP could prevent obesity in 141,000 children and Type 2 diabetes in 240,000 adults.

Sanders also sees this as an opportunity to support local agriculture.

“Health-centered SNAP reform also offers a great opportunity for Americans to support Arkansas farmers by enjoying Arkansas-grown and harvested poultry, eggs, beef, pecans, peanuts, soy, strawberries, sweet potatoes, rice, peaches, oats, and more,” she wrote.

In her letter, Sanders urged the incoming administration to collaborate on prohibiting junk food sales within SNAP and to end taxpayer-funded junk food. She also mentioned her intention to seek a SNAP waiver to promote fresh produce and protein while restricting junk food purchases.

Sanders concluded with a rallying cry: “Together, we can, and we will, Make America Healthy Again.”

Her appeal is likely to resonate with Kennedy Jr., who has previously criticized the influence of processed foods on public health. “We have a generation of kids who are swimming around in a toxic soup right now,” Kennedy remarked, stressing the need for healthier food policies.

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