Penna Dexter

The Wall Street Journal’s Allysia Finley says, “American waistlines have ballooned in tandem with government welfare.” Her recent column addresses the connection. She points out that “About three quarters of adult food-stamp beneficiaries are overweight or obese.” She points to studies which show that “people on food stamps eat less healthily than other low-income Americans.” One such report, released by the Foundation for Government Accountability, reveals that 11 percent of food stamp dollars go to sweetened beverages and candy. That’s more than is spent on fruits, vegetables, eggs, pasta, beans and rice combined.

The food stamp program is supposed to support “nutrition.” Allysia Finley wonders, “Are Skittles nutritious?” The bigger question is, are people on food stamps fatter than the rest of us — or less healthy? To find out, governors in three states, Indiana, Arkansas, and Idaho are seeking “waivers to exclude soda, candy, and other sweets from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, i.e., food stamps.”

Would restrictions on candy and soda “nudge recipients to eat better?” It’s hard to say, but the feds should grant those waivers and let willing states study what happens among their own recipients. This isn’t the nanny state depriving people of their Cokes and Kit Kat bars. People can still buy those treats. But the government shouldn’t pay for them.

We know that people on food stamps do eat more junk than people of similar incomes who are not in the program. Ms. Finley points to U.S. Department of Agriculture studies which show that “working age adults on food stamps consume more added sugars and refined grains than nonrecipients with similar demographics.”

HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement is gathering steam. According to The Daily Signal, nearly 60 percent of Americans have heard about MAHA and a majority of them support it. A key component of the agenda “involves promoting healthier ingredients in foods.”

Let’s quit subsidizing junk food and let this healthier agenda take root.