Tensions over food stamp restrictions are bubbling between the soda industry and the Trump administration, splitting Republicans and driving a lobbying bonanza.
Health advocates and some states have for years tried to have the federal government approve state waivers to stop soda from being purchased with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, which bolstered the grocery budgets of more than 41 million people in the U.S. last year. But the movement has new life thanks to the Make America Healthy Again agenda spearheaded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“People have been trying to apply for these waivers around sugar-sweetened beverages for like 10 to 15 years, and this is the first administration who’s been willing to consider the waivers,” said Kate Bauer, an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health who studies children’s nutrition and family food security.