According to the USDA, the one item most commonly purchased with food stamps is Coke — the incredibly sugary drink that other parts of America call soda, pop or soft drinks.
That’s a problem that our state Legislature is moving to solve.
Any day, the Senate will vote on a bill to allow Texas to prohibit the purchase of sugary beverages and unhealthful snacks like candy and potato chips using food stamps. Lawmakers are reacting to the reality that food stamps have become a major cause of our state’s and our country’s health crisis.
All told, about a quarter of food stamp spending — some $25 billion — goes toward this unhealthful food according to Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Nearly twice as much money is spent on sweetened beverages, candy and prepared desserts than is spent on fruits and vegetables, according to a report from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA). Coke and junk food are known to contribute to obesity, with all the health problems that follow. And children suffer most, since early obesity leads to a lifetime of medical issues.
But food stamp spending on unhealthful food isn’t just a medical and moral crisis. It’s also a monetary crisis for taxpayers. Every dollar in food stamp spending comes from people like you and me. That means we’re funding this health crisis. What’s more, we’re also paying for the resulting health care costs, since most food stamp recipients are also on the taxpayer-funded Medicaid program. Taxpayers are getting hit from two sides.
Medicaid and other taxpayer-funded health programs spent $60 billion a year on obesity-related treatments in 2015 and 2016, according to a study published in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, and that number has almost certainly grown in the past decade.
The numbers are so high, in part, because using food stamps encourages people to buy unhealthful food. FGA research shows that people on the program drink more sugary beverages than those who aren’t, even when they have similar incomes. It’s also the case that food stamp recipients have a higher obesity rate than people who aren’t, again accounting for income.
This is a vicious cycle in which taxpayers are helping to ruin people’s health and then paying for the resulting treatments. Hence state lawmakers are taking action. The bill they’re considering would help lower-income Texans make healthful choices, while protecting every Texas taxpayer from both fueling and treating a health crisis.
Practically, the bill would direct state officials to ask the federal government for permission to prohibit unhealthful foods. The food stamp program is ultimately federal, even though states operate it, so D.C.’s sign-off is necessary. It’s safe to assume the Trump administration would grant the request, given the president’s promise to “Make America Healthy Again” and his appointment of Cabinet officials like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. at Health and Human Services, and Brooke Rollins at Agriculture.
Texans aren’t the only ones who are pushing for solutions. Other states are moving to make the same request, showing the groundswell of support for protecting taxpayers and improving public health.
If and when this reform goes into effect, Texans will benefit.
Jay Bhattacharya, the incoming director of the National Institutes of Health, estimates that 141,000 kids wouldn’t become obese and 240,000 adults wouldn’t get Type 2 diabetes with a nationwide prohibition of food stamp purchases of sugary drinks. Prohibiting other unhealthful foods like potato chips would help even more people avoid major health problems.
Lawmakers are right to tackle this crisis. It’s always good to protect taxpayers. But it’s even better to protect taxpayers while empowering vulnerable people to lead healthier lives. The sooner the state Legislature passes this food stamp reform, the stronger and healthier our state will be.
Victoria Eardley, a Dallas resident, is marketing director at the Foundation for Government Accountability.
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