This week, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the Nutritious SNAP Act to confront an uncomfortable truth: while the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was created to fight hunger, it is now fueling a new public health crisis—obesity and chronic disease—by subsidizing the purchase of junk food with taxpayer dollars.
“SNAP was designed to fight hunger and improve nutrition—not to subsidize soda and junk food,” said Dr. Paul. “It makes no sense that taxpayer dollars are being used to fund an epidemic of obesity and diet-related illness in low-income communities. My bill ensures that this assistance program actually supports health and wellness, not chronic disease.”
SNAP currently provides food-purchasing assistance to more than 42 million individuals. While it successfully addresses food insecurity, studies show that nearly one-quarter of SNAP benefits are spent on junk food—sodas, chips, snack cakes, and desserts—contributing to worse diets and higher obesity rates among SNAP recipients than the general population. Despite these health concerns, previous efforts by states—like Minnesota, California, and New York—to limit SNAP junk food purchases have been rejected by the USDA.
The Nutritious SNAP Act represents a common-sense step toward improving public health, protecting taxpayer dollars, and respecting the decisions made by states to combat chronic disease.
