Abbott wants to stop allowing federal benefits in Texas to be spent on unhealthy, high-processed food

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Gov. Greg Abbott is requesting a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prohibit the use of SNAP benefits to purchase unhealthy and highly processed foods in Texas.

In a Wednesday letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Abbott asked for the waiver — which would give the state the ability to restrict these food purchases — to ensure taxpayer funds are used for only “healthy, nutritious food.”

“I look forward to the opportunities this approach will bring to improve the health and quality of life for low-income Texans,” Abbott wrote.

More than 3.2 million Texans use SNAP benefits, according to the governor. SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — is a federal program that gives assistance to low-income Americans to purchase food.

A household of three can receive at most $768 a month through SNAP, according to the USDA.

Rollins and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, announced in April that the administration is calling on governors to submit waivers to change what can be purchased through SNAP, the program long known as food stamps. The step is a part of the agencies’ “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.

Iowa, Arkansas, Indiana and Nebraska have recently requested waivers to ban SNAP purchases of soda, high-sugar juices and candy.

The Texas House is considering a bill to bar purchases of highly processed foods through SNAP benefits including sweetened drinks, chips, candy and cookies. The state Senate passed the bill in March.

Republican lawmakers have introduced similar legislation in other states.

Critics of legislation barring certain purchases through SNAP argue that restrictions could be difficult to monitor, unjustly limit individual’s decision making and could complicate grocery budgets for people already living with low-incomes. Grocery shopping could also be made more difficult for SNAP recipients living in food deserts — areas with little access to affordable healthy food— who have to rely on convenience stores and other food outlets.

Congress is also considering major cuts to the SNAP program and handing some of the program’s costs to states.

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