Reaction split to SNAP decision on NYC beverage ban
August 22, 2011 | 12:56 PM
The Agriculture Department has rejected New York state’s application for a demonstration project to ban the use of supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits (SNAP) to purchase sweetened beverages in New York City, but the issue of what SNAP beneficiaries can buy could surface again in the 2012 farm bill debate as an issue that crosses party lines.
Anti-hunger advocates representing low-income people and the food industry are opposed to any rules that would limit what SNAP participants can buy with their benefits.
Joel Berg, who served as a political appointee at USDA during the Clinton administration and is now the executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, cheered the federal government for “deciding not to micromanage” the lives of poor people, _The New York Times_ reported.
“The whole attempt was misguided and unworkable. This proposal was based on the false assumption that poor people were somehow ignorant or culturally deficient," Berg said, according to the _Times_ report.
But House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., has said that if spending on SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, is leading to health outcomes that cause additional government spending for care, changes should be considered.
Republicans are also split on the issue. Some consider any intrusion into food purchases to be an extension of the "nanny state" they have campaigned against. But Republicans have also expressed concern about the increased spending on SNAP, and called for a reevaluation of the program.
National Review Online featured an article Sunday in which Nicole Gelinas, a contributing editor of the Manhattan Institute City Journal, said conservatives should support the experiment because, in a time of tight government budgets, all SNAP spending should go toward nutritious food.
New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said he was “very upset” by the decision, said that it “really calls into question how serious the USDA is about addressing the nation's most serious nutritional problem,” The Times reported.
Eddie Gehman Kohan, who writes the _Obama Foodorama_ blog, wrote that the decision to reject the demonstration project raises questions about whether the administration’s healthy food initiatives and First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative are serious endeavors.
Although the proposal originated with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, SNAP is administered by state governments and the letter denying the request was sent by Jessica Shahin, associate administrator of the SNAP program, to Elizabeth Berlin, executive deputy commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance in Albany.
Anti-hunger advocates representing low-income people and the food industry are opposed to any rules that would limit what SNAP participants can buy with their benefits.
Joel Berg, who served as a political appointee at USDA during the Clinton administration and is now the executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, cheered the federal government for “deciding not to micromanage” the lives of poor people, _The New York Times_ reported.
“The whole attempt was misguided and unworkable. This proposal was based on the false assumption that poor people were somehow ignorant or culturally deficient," Berg said, according to the _Times_ report.
But House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., has said that if spending on SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, is leading to health outcomes that cause additional government spending for care, changes should be considered.
Republicans are also split on the issue. Some consider any intrusion into food purchases to be an extension of the "nanny state" they have campaigned against. But Republicans have also expressed concern about the increased spending on SNAP, and called for a reevaluation of the program.
National Review Online featured an article Sunday in which Nicole Gelinas, a contributing editor of the Manhattan Institute City Journal, said conservatives should support the experiment because, in a time of tight government budgets, all SNAP spending should go toward nutritious food.
New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said he was “very upset” by the decision, said that it “really calls into question how serious the USDA is about addressing the nation's most serious nutritional problem,” The Times reported.
Eddie Gehman Kohan, who writes the _Obama Foodorama_ blog, wrote that the decision to reject the demonstration project raises questions about whether the administration’s healthy food initiatives and First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative are serious endeavors.
Although the proposal originated with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, SNAP is administered by state governments and the letter denying the request was sent by Jessica Shahin, associate administrator of the SNAP program, to Elizabeth Berlin, executive deputy commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance in Albany.
- USDA/SNAP Letter to Elizabeth Berlin, New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
- National Review: Obama's Food-Stamp Fizzle
- Obama Foodorama: USDA Rejects New York's Proposed Sugary Drink Ban for Food Stamp Recipients
USDA Documents
- USDA Food and Nutrition Service: Implications of Restricting the Use of Food Stamp Benefits
- Diet Quality of Americans by Food Stamp Participation Status
- Food Expenditures and Diet Quality Among Low Income Households and Individuals
- Improving Food Choices – Can Food Stamps Do More?
- Food Stamps and Obesity: What Do We Know?
