INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana was among the first in the country to apply for a waiver to remove soft drinks and candy from SNAP benefits.
On Friday, Brooke Rollins, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, signed Indiana’s waiver to remove sugary soft drinks and candy from the taxpayer-funded nutrition assistance program, SNAP.
According to a news release from Governor Mike Braun's office, soda is the number one commodity purchased with SNAP benefits. Purchases of sugary drinks, desserts, and candy exceed the combined sales of fruits and vegetables on SNAP. Children enrolled in SNAP consume 43% more sugary drinks than non-SNAP recipients with similar incomes.
“More taxpayer-funded SNAP dollars are spent on sugary drinks and candy than on fruits and vegetables," said Governor Mike Braun in a statement. "Indiana is proud to lead the way in the Make America Healthy Again agenda by making this common-sense move to return the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to its intended purpose: nutrition."
During the Make Indiana Healthy Again initiative, HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said:
“I urge every governor across America to follow your lead by signing similar executive orders in their states to improve nutrition standards in SNAP, increase transparency around food dyes and additives, implement physical fitness tests in schools, expand farm-to-school programs, and embrace the full scope of your transformative health agenda. Together, we can Make America Healthy Again.”
