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Junk Food Ban
Wisconsin is inching closer to maybe banning junk food in its food stamp program.
The State Senate held a hearing on the plan last week. State Rep. Clint Moses, R-Menomonie, said 18 states have already banned people from buying candy and soda with their food stamp benefits. He wants Wisconsin to be next.
“It’s time to end the subsidy on poison and ensure the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is actually supplying people with nutritious food, not Snickers bars and Mountain Dew,” Moses said.
Moses’ plan specifically singles out soda and candy, and would require the state’s Department of Health Services to ask for a federal waiver to allow the state to ban candy and soft drinks.
“If the waiver is granted, DHS must prohibit the use of FoodShare benefits to purchase candy or soft drinks. If any necessary waiver is not granted, the bill requires DHS to resubmit the waiver request annually until it is granted,” the legislation states.
Moses said the idea is Menomonie to help people eat healthier, and maybe cut down on the number of people on food stamps with preventable diseases like diabetes.
“In Wisconsin, 67% of SNAP recipients are on Medicaid and over half of Medicaid recipients are on pharmaceutical drugs,” Moses added. “So many people on the SNAP program are using their benefits to purchase soda and candy, with minimal funds being used on actual nutritional foods.”
The plan is slowly working its way through the legislature, but will likely never become law. Governor Evers is not likely to sign it.
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