SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Government waste, soaked in soda
Jan 22, 2017, 12:56 PM
Turns out SNAP recipients spend more of their government money on sugary soda drinks than on any other food group. (AP)
(AP)
A new Department of Agriculture report offers shocking revelations about food stamp recipients — those 45 million Americans enrolled in Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP. It turns out they spend more of their government money on sugary soda drinks than on any other food group — wasting a much higher percentage of their food budgets on unhealthy soda than those who buy their own food.
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This helps account for higher rates of obesity and diabetes among food stamp recipients and lends support to policy experts who want to stop beneficiaries from wasting taxpayer money on food choices that are especially harmful for children.
Despite Michelle Obama’s advocacy for healthy eating, the Obama administration blocked all attempts to impose such restrictions, but Trump advisors say they’ll welcome them — to improve public health while reducing government waste. We currently spend a staggering $74 billion a year — five times the total foreign aid budget! — on food stamps alone.
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