SNAP and Choices

SNAP - the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – exists to improve nutrition among the 43 million poorest Americans who receive food stamps.  This $74 billion program aids roughly 23 million households each month - many of them single-parent homes at or below the poverty line – with an average benefit of $256 a month. 

I have no ax to grind with the intent or the basic merits of this program.  Nevertheless there is this.  

A recent report revealed that SNAP households spent about 40 cents of every dollar at the grocery store on basic items like meat, fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs and bread.  Another 40 cents of every dollar was spent on cereal, prepared foods, dairy products, rice and beans.  The last 20 cents of each dollar was spent on a broad category of junk foods that included sweetened beverages, desserts, salty snacks, candy and sugar.  SNAP households spent 9.3 percent of their grocery budgets on soft drinks alone.  That was slightly higher than the 7.1 percent figure for households that do not receive food stamps.  That means a household that spent 10 percent of its SNAP money on soda could buy at least 20 two-liter bottles of orange Crush soda. 

It is true that Americans indulge in too much sugary soft drinks in general and SNAP recipients are no exception. It should also come to nobody’s surprise that PepsiCo, Kraft, Coca –Cola, the sugar industry and the rest of the beverage industry have lobbied against attempts to restrict the purchase of junk food under the SNAP program.  As a consequence we have a multibillion-dollar taxpayer subsidy of the soda industry. 

It would seem to me that SNAP dollars should be spent on nutritious and healthful food – including fresh fruit and vegetables.  Of course there is the problem of a dearth of full-service groceries with large produce departments in urban and poor America.  Poor rural America doesn’t have hardly any grocery stores.   

You can read more about this here.  And for the record our family purchases no sugary beverages at all.