By Travis Couture-Lovelady
Nutrition assistance should be a safety net — not a source of chronic illness.
That was the mindset behind Colorado and 21 other states pursuing waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prohibit the purchase of sugary drinks with food stamps.
Colorado’s Healthy Choice Waiver was set to go into effect in March, but the Board of Human Services has repeatedly delayed its implementation over concerns regarding compliance costs, customer confusion at checkout, the “quiet damage” of young Coloradans not being able to purchase sodas like their peers and now a federal lawsuit against the USDA.
Word is spreading, though, that Gov. Jared Polis plans to take matters into his own hands and issue an executive order banning soda and sugary drinks in the food stamp program — it’s a smart move, and one he should make without delay.
Prioritizing nutrition in the food stamp program is popular, common sense, and a major step forward in improving the health of the more than 330,000 Colorado households that rely on food stamps.
Sugary drinks are not an occasional, social treat for most Americans on food stamps. In fact, prior to states starting to implement their junk food bans, soda was the number one item bought with food stamps. Taxpayers in 2023 were projected to spend more than $60 billion on sugary drinks during the next decade.
There is nothing quiet about the damage long-term, frequent consumption of sugary drinks has on health. Sugary drinks are major contributors to the obesity epidemic, with several major health problems that come with excess weight, including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis, stroke and cancer. Adults and kids on food stamps have higher obesity rates than their peers, and kids on food stamps drink 43% more sugary beverages than kids who aren’t on food stamps. It’s a double whammy on state budgets because a majority of food stamp recipients are also on Medicaid, putting taxpayers on the hook for the health fallout from poor nutrition.
Restricting what food stamps can be used for doesn’t stop individuals from using their own money to purchase the foods or beverages of their choice, but taxpayers want their money to help low-income families put healthy food on the table, not subsidize soda consumption and a health crisis.
And it is no small majority that feels this way. Polling by the Center for Excellence in Polling found 69% of likely voters support limiting the kinds of foods that can be purchased with food stamps to foods with high nutritional value. This includes 82% of Republicans, 58% of Democrats and 67% of Independents.
Making America healthy again is such a significant priority it rises above partisan politics. Americans are tired of business as usual, and when it comes to the health of our children, the quality of our safety net, and the proper stewarding of tax dollars, voters want action and accountability.
A lack of parameters to guide the food stamp program has allowed it to devolve into the opposite of its intended purpose. Instead of increasing access to nutritious foods and beverages, it’s fueling the obesity epidemic.
Gov. Polis was wise to have Colorado be one of the now 22 states and counting that have an approved waiver request to limit the types of purchases that can be made with food stamps — now he should cut through the noise, issue the executive order and take this important step toward improving health and welfare programs for all Coloradans.
Travis Couture-Lovelady is a state government affairs director at the Foundation for Government Accountability.