As an organization dedicated to the long-term recovery of New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward after 2005 hurricanes and levee breaches, and ensuring food security here post-COVID, I am concerned by Governor Jeff Landry’s recent request to the federal government to restrict what Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants can purchase with food assistance.
The Lower 9th Ward continues to be what is called a “food desert” lacking any large grocery stores, and with many of its lower income residents depending on the food they can purchase from ‘dollar’ and discount stores. While the well-meaning intention of Make America Healthy Again is to improve food choices, until the ability for lower income families to access healthy foods in this and other neighborhoods, limiting items which can be purchased by SNAP benefits is unrealistic and unfair.
Evidence shows that people receiving SNAP benefits use them to purchase food, which is their intent. Restrictions don’t get to the root causes of the biggest barriers to achieving a healthy diet, which is the cost and availability of healthy foods.
In Louisiana, where nearly one in five households struggles with food insecurity, we need policies that expand access to nutrition—not restrict it. Instead of adding surveillance and undermining the dignity and autonomy of SNAP program participants, we should be investing in nutrition education, making healthy food more affordable and accessible, and lifting barriers to economic stability.
Laura Paul, executive director, LowerNine.org
发表回复