The Louisiana Legislature is debating a comprehensive nutrition bill that, among other things, would ban SNAP recipients from using their benefits to buy soft drinks. Meanwhile Governor Jeff Landry is not waiting for that bill to reach his desk.
“I’ve signed an executive order banning soda and candy purchases from the Louisiana’s food stamps program,” Landry said.
Landry says if SNAP recipients want to buy those products, they can do so with their own money and not with taxpayer dollars.
“Why should we stand idly by while the least fortunate in our state are solicited to eat things that make them less healthy and vulnerable to chronic diseases, that’s wrong,” Landry said.
The governor is asking the feds to approve the ban in Louisiana.
He says a study from the Stanford University of Medicine in 2014 found that banning the purchase of sugar-sweetened drinks with food stamps is likely to reduce obesity rates and type-2 diabetes among low-income Americans.
Iowa, Nebraska, Indiana and Arkansas are four states that have also requested waivers from the USDA to ban sugary drinks, sodas, candy and other unhealthy items from purchased with SNAP benefits.
Landry says the federal government says 35% of Louisiana children between ages 10 and 17 are overweight or obesity. He says soft drinks, sodas, candy and energy drinks are leading causes of obesity and type-2 diabetes among Louisiana’s population, including low-income families.
The governor says it’s in the best interest of Louisiana to incentive healthy lifestyle choices for Louisiana citizens.
“It’s time to incentivize good food over junk food, exercise over screen time, water over soda,” Landry said.
Most Democrats in the Louisiana Legislature oppose the idea of restricting SNAP recipients from using their cash assistance to purchase of soda.
