XPost: alt.retail.grocery, nebr.news.general, alt.politics.immigration
XPost: sac.politics, alt.society.liberalism

LINCOLN — Nebraska has become the first state in the nation to restrict low-income recipients of public grocery aid from using SNAP benefits to
buy soda and energy drinks.

The ban related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was
announced Monday during a daylong visit to the Cornhusker state by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.

Rollins, accompanied by Gov. Jim Pillen on her three-stop tour, was
following through on a request Pillen had made earlier. She said the
waiver she signed while in Fremont was the first approved by the USDA. It becomes effective Jan. 1.

Pillen, in a news conference last month, said he planned to submit a
request for the federal waiver to remove the drink items he describes as unhealthy “junk.”


‘First of its kind’
“There’s absolutely zero reason for taxpayers to be subsidizing purchases
of soda and energy drinks,” said Pillen.

Rollins called the move “historic” and, in a statement, called Pillen a pioneer, along with the governors of six other states, in improving health
in the nation. The waiver amends the definition of food products to be purchased by SNAP benefits, excluding soda, soft drinks, and energy
drinks.

“Today’s waiver to remove soda and energy drinks from SNAP is the first of
its kind, and it is a historic step to Make America Healthy Again,”
Rollins said, adopting the phrasing popularized by the Trump
administration’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Rollins’ visit and approval of the move came the same day the Nebraska Legislature upheld a Pillen veto of a bill that sought to lift a lifetime
ban on SNAP benefits for some Nebraskans with past drug felonies.

Both measures received instant criticism from nonprofits that work low-
income families and inmates reentering their communities.

Eric Savaiano, manager for food and nutrition access for Nebraska
Appleseed, said SNAP is designed to “maintain the dignity” of participants
by helping low-paid people buy groceries. He called the latest SNAP ban “poverty-shaming.”

“With the approval of this waiver, some of that dignity is stripped away,” Savaiano said.

About 150,000 Nebraskans, or about 7.5% of the state’s population,
participate in SNAP, including seniors, children, people with
disabilities, working families and veterans. Nebraska Appleseed said the average SNAP benefit received in the state is about $5.82 per person per
day.

Savaiano, in a statement, said research shows SNAP recipients buy the same things as everyone else, including soda, soft drinks and energy drinks.
“By targeting just SNAP participants, we’re poverty-shaming the most
vulnerable among us and adding complications to an already complicated
system.”

He said carrying out the restriction would cause extra expenses to
grocers, and he worried that could cause smaller stores to stop serving
SNAP recipients altogether, and possibly shut off options in some rural
areas.

‘Nothing nutritious’
Pillen said SNAP is to help families in need get “healthy food into their diets” and that there is “nothing nutritious” about the drinks to be ruled
out under the waiver.

“We have to act because we can’t keep letting Nebraskans starve in the
midst of plenty,” Pillen said.

Also with Rollins and Pillen during the Nebraska ag tour was Sherry
Vinton, director of Nebraska’s Department of Agriculture and U.S. Rep.
Adrian Smith, R-Neb.

The group stopped at the Cargill Bioscience 650-acre facility in Blair, Wholestone Farms in Fremont and the Ohnoutka Family Farm in Valparaiso.

https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/05/20/nebraska-first-in-nation-to-ban- soda-energy-drinks-from-public-grocery-aid-benefits/

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)