Nebraska first in nation to ban soda, energy drinks from public grocery aid benefits
LINCOLN — Nebraska has become the first state in the nation to restrict low-income recipients of public grocery aid from using SNAP benefits to buy soda and energy drinks.
The ban related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was announced Monday during a daylong visit to the Cornhusker state by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.
Rollins, accompanied by Gov. Jim Pillen on her three-stop tour, was following through on a request Pillen had made earlier. She said the waiver she signed while in Fremont was the first approved by the USDA. It becomes effective Jan. 1.
Pillen, in a news conference last month, said he planned to submit a request for the federal waiver to remove the drink items he describes as unhealthy 'junk.'
'There's absolutely zero reason for taxpayers to be subsidizing purchases of soda and energy drinks,' said Pillen.
Rollins called the move 'historic' and, in a statement, called Pillen a pioneer, along with the governors of six other states, in improving health in the nation. The waiver amends the definition of food products to be purchased by SNAP benefits, excluding soda, soft drinks, and energy drinks.
'Today's waiver to remove soda and energy drinks from SNAP is the first of its kind, and it is a historic step to Make America Healthy Again,' Rollins said, adopting the phrasing popularized by the Trump administration's Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Rollins' visit and approval of the move came the same day the Nebraska Legislature upheld a Pillen veto of a bill that sought to lift a lifetime ban on SNAP benefits for some Nebraskans with past drug felonies.
Lawmakers back Pillen veto, kill bill to lift lifetime ban on food aid for some with drug pasts
Both measures received instant criticism from nonprofits that work low-income families and inmates reentering their communities.
Eric Savaiano, manager for food and nutrition access for Nebraska Appleseed, said SNAP is designed to 'maintain the dignity' of participants by helping low-paid people buy groceries. He called the latest SNAP ban 'poverty-shaming.' 'With the approval of this waiver, some of that dignity is stripped away,' Savaino said.
About 150,000 Nebraskans, or about 7.5% of the state's population, participate in SNAP, including seniors, children, people with disabilities, working families and veterans. Nebraska Appleseed said the average SNAP benefit received in the state is about $5.82 per person per day.
Savaiano, in a statement, said research shows SNAP recipients buy the same things as everyone else, including soda, soft drinks and energy drinks. 'By targeting just SNAP participants, we're poverty-shaming the most vulnerable among us and adding complications to an already complicated system.'
He said carrying out the restriction would cause extra expenses to grocers, and he worried that could cause smaller stores to stop serving SNAP recipients altogether, and possibly shut off options in some rural areas.
Pillen said SNAP is to help families in need get 'healthy food into their diets' and that there is 'nothing nutritious' about the drinks to be ruled out under the waiver.
'We have to act because we can't keep letting Nebraskans starve in the midst of plenty,' Pillen said.
Also with Rollins and Pillen during the Nebraska ag tour was Sherry Vinton, director of Nebraska's Department of Agriculture and U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb.
The group stopped at the Cargill Bioscience 650-acre facility in Blair, Wholestone Farms in Fremont and the Ohnoutka Family Farm in Valparaiso.
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