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An alarming study has highlighted how 42 million food stamp recipients spend their welfare donations on ultra-processed junk food.
Coca-Cola, Sprite and other soft drinks are the most commonly purchased items through the $135 billion-a-year Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to a new study.
Candy, chips, frozen pizza, ice cream, cookies and other ultra-processed foods dominate the top 20 items, according to a report from the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC).
The report’s author, Matthew Dickerson, says recipients spend “significant portions of their allowances on junk food.”
Even seemingly healthy products like baked breads and cold cuts often contain dangerous dyes and preservatives.
These “non-nutritious foods” include “sugar-sweetened beverages and ultra-processed foods, which can lead to health problems,” the 35-page study says.
The prevalence of junk food is another reason to cut back on the plan, which has exploded in this century and has recipients addicted to handouts, Dickerson says.
The investigation comes as Washington lawmakers debate the text of an updated farm bill, with Republicans seeking to cut about $27 billion in funding for nutrition programs over 10 years.
Health experts warn against junk food, which is often high in calories, fat and sugar, and low in fiber, which can lead to many health problems.
A poor diet can cause weight gain, digestive problems, liver and kidney damage, depression and cancer.
The Department of Agriculture’s SNAP plan helps low-income families purchase food, snacks, and non-alcoholic beverages.
About 42 million Americans currently receive monthly benefits at an average of $212 per person or $401 per household.
Hot foods, alcohol and tobacco are not allowed under the plan, but, according to the report, there are “some other guidelines on eligible foods.”
Preschool teacher Jaqueline Benitez, one of the 42 million food stamp recipients in the U.S., shops for groceries at a supermarket in Bellflower, California.
Recipients spend much of their payments on junk food, such as soda, chips and other bagged snacks, breakfast cereals, frozen grab-and-go snacks, candy, frozen pizza, coffee creamer ice cream, and cookies.
Other items on the top 20 list may also be problematic, experts warn.
Shelf-stable juice, for example, often includes added sugar.
Deli meat and fresh chicken often have nitrates added as preservatives, which have been linked to breast and prostate cancer.
Even some baked breads and breakfast cereals found in grocery stores may be cause for concern, as they contain some food dyes and preservatives.
Highly processed foods have more synthetic ingredients that have little nutritional benefits and can cause harmful effects on the body.
They also contain more artificial ingredients such as colors and dyes, which have been linked to conditions such as hyperactivity and cancer.
Dickerson, a former aide to the House Budget Committee, says food stamp enrollment increased from 17.3 million recipients in 2001 to 42.1 million last year.
Meanwhile, SNAP costs have skyrocketed from $31 billion to $135 billion, their report says, using inflation-adjusted figures.
This is equivalent to almost the entire annual turnover of Morocco.
Food stamp recipient Steve Summers prepares dinner in his apartment in Oakland, California.
A sign alerting customers about SNAP food stamps is displayed at a Brooklyn grocery store.
As the system grows, recipients keep the stamps longer, Dickerson says.
In the mid-1990s, less than one-fifth of recipients were collecting food stamps for 20 months or more.
Today, almost half of them continue to receive benefits during that period.
Worse yet, Dickerson says, the recipients increasingly include people who should be at work.
Nearly two-thirds of SNAP recipients who could work did not, report says
Between 2017 and 2019, the last year for which relevant data was available, nearly two-thirds of SNAP recipients who could work did not do so, it says.
SNAP work requirements are “limited, weak, and currently not fully or partially enforced in 34 states,” it adds.
“The story of the food stamp program is a story of increased enrollment, increased spending, and benefit payments that grow faster than inflation,” Dickerson says in his report.
The food stamp program that launched in 1978 faces strong political headwinds.
The U.S. House Agriculture Committee on Friday released its long-awaited farm bill that includes provisions for $27 billion in SNAP benefits over 10 years, a committee aide said.
The savings result from restricting the Department of Agriculture’s authority to update the cost of a sample grocery budget that underlies the benefit calculation.
Benefits would continue to rise with inflation, a committee aide said. Anti-hunger groups have said they oppose any cuts.
The bill is expected to cost $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
Congress faces long odds of passing the bill this session as the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-majority Senate remain far apart.