"Indiana is one of five states-along with Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, and West Virginia-that has begun banning the purchase of certain unhealthy treats with food stamps, which is formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. They have all been spurred into action by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has made these bans a priority of his tenure as health secretary."
"My trip to Indiana and conversations with officials in other states have suggested that the policies are disorienting, and the implementation has been inconsistent. Nowhere was that clearer than at the 20/20 Food Mart a few blocks away from Gary's airport. When I entered the store, I was immediately confronted with a multi-shelf display of treats-chocolate-chip cookies, honey buns, double-chocolate muffins-all displayed next to handwritten signs that read Special: EBT item."
A gas station on Gary’s west side displays an EBT sign and packs coolers and snack shelves, yet a window sign warns that as of January 1 soda and candy cannot be purchased with food stamps. Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia have enacted bans on certain unhealthy items under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The bans were advanced by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who called the items non-nutritious and opposed using taxpayer funds for them. Thirteen additional states plan similar changes this year, and federal incentives tie program adoption to preferential access to rural health funding. Implementation has been disorienting and inconsistent, with stores displaying or labeling EBT-eligible treats.
Read at The Atlantic
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