Nutritionists Urge USDA to Reconsider Food Stamp Test

Two nutritionists have published commentary in the September 2011 issue
of the Journal of the American Medical Association that calls for the federal
government to revisit a ban on using food stamps to purchase sugar-sweetened
beverages. Authored by Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity
Director Kelly Brownell and Harvard School of Public Health Professor David
Ludwig, the article responds to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s)
rejection of a New York City proposed pilot program that would have prohibited
soda purchases under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP). Additional details about USDA’s decision appear in Issue 407
of this Update.

The article notes that opposition to the proposal came from industry groups
like the American Beverage Association but also “prominent antihunger
groups,” some of which felt the ban would stigmatize SNAP recipients “and
make them less likely to want to participate in the program.” To meet this
challenge, the authors propose restructuring SNAP and similar programs “to
align government spending with the long-term public health and economic
interests of the nation.” It also calls on USDA to conduct its own pilot studies
in an effort to provide policy-makers with “objective data” on the purchase of
sugar-sweetened beverages using SNAP benefits.

“The government purchases millions of servings of sugar sweetened beverages
for SNAP participants each day,” conclude Brownell and Ludwig. “This
practice arguably erodes diet quality and promotes chronic illness among
individuals who are at increased risk of obesity related disease because of
limited financial resources. Moreover, the costs of treating chronic illness
associated with increased sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in this
population will fall primarily to taxpayers. “