State Governor Pushes to Ban Junk Food with Food Stamps—Will Texas Be Next?

We live in a world where our own decisions are slowly being taken away. Do those in higher positions believe they know better than we do about certain aspects of our lives? Do we need laws? Yes, we absolutely need laws. But should they leach on our certain freedoms?

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Recently, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote a letter to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the designated U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, and Brooke Rollins, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary, in President Trump's upcoming cabinet.

In her letter, she expressed concern about junk food and how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is failing to provide proper nutritional assistance. Instead, she argued, it encourages families to consume highly processed, unhealthy junk food.

Governor Sanders proposed a more health-focused SNAP program and urged both Kennedy and Rollins to prohibit the sale of junk food and eliminate taxpayer-funded purchases of such items.

Sanders also announced plans to pursue a SNAP waiver from the USDA to promote the purchase of fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, and protein while banning the use of SNAP benefits for junk food.

Is it possible that Governor Greg Abbott will follow suit and also ask that SNAP users be unable to purchase junk food?

Not everyone on SNAP purchases only junk food. Many families who rely on these benefits use them to buy food for their household and occasionally treat themselves to junk food, just like most families do.

Even though SNAP is a government-funded program paid for by taxpayers, do you think there should be restrictions on the types of food that can be purchased with these benefits?

Should families lose the option to buy a Coke and Oreos as an occasional snack, or should they be limited to only healthier choices?

On the other hand, some people indeed abuse the system, and in some cases, the only food purchased with SNAP is highly unhealthy.

As most people know, junk food is cheaper than the healthier option, and when you only have so much money to purchase food, you buy more of the unhealthy to make sure your family is being nourished.

If this ban on junk food goes through, will the government make health food cheaper?