On Thursday, February 19, state representative Carter Nordman, Chair of the House Health & Human Services Committee, introduced House Study Bill 216. This bill would direct the state to request a waiver from USDA to enact sweeping food restrictions for Iowans participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
While HSB 216 does include $1 million in funding for the Double Up Food Bucks program, which would help make fresh fruits and vegetables more affordable for SNAP participants, the appropriation is being held hostage by Section 3 of the bill, which states that the Double Up Food Bucks funding is contingent on the state being granted a massive food restriction waiver for SNAP.
Double Up Food Bucks is currently available at less than 1% of SNAP retailers statewide. We should not be pushing food restrictions for Iowans on SNAP, especially when nutrition incentive programs are so limited in their availability.
This is a harmful, unnecessary bill that would increase stigma for the 260,000 Iowans who rely on SNAP to put food on the table.
SNAP is highly effective at reducing food insecurity, and there is no evidence food restrictions would improve nutrition for program participants. A randomized trial found that restricting soda and candy failed to improve SNAP participant nutrition. Some research even suggests the negative psychological stigma associated with SNAP participation can counteract any positive nutritional and health benefits that would otherwise be gained from the program.
The number one reason SNAP participants struggle to improve their diets is the high cost of healthy food. Over 60% of SNAP participants report the affordability of healthy foods as a barrier to achieving a healthy diet throughout the month. A recent report from Iowa HHS found that SNAP participants want more fruits and vegetables, but struggle to afford them. This bill ignores the root causes of food insecurity—low wages and lack of access to affordable nutritious food, child care, housing, health care, transportation, and other basic household essentials.
Low-income Iowans should be trusted to make the best food choices for their families. This bill has little regard for religious and medical dietary requirements, food allergies, and cultural preferences. The state should not be policing Iowans’ grocery carts.
SNAP participants have similar consumption patterns as non-SNAP participants. A 2016 USDA study found that household food expenditures were not significantly different when comparing SNAP households and non-SNAP households. SNAP households spent slightly more on soft drinks than non-SNAP households (5 versus 4 percent), and both groups were equally likely to purchase salty snacks, cookies, and other sweets.
This policy would increase administrative costs for the state and retailers alike, who would need to go through their entire inventory to classify banned foods and update their point-of-sale systems to restrict the redemption of those products.
What Could SNAP Benefits Be Used to Purchase?
SNAP benefits could only be used to purchase foods on Iowa’s WIC-approved food list, as well as “real meat,” “real dairy,” “real eggs,” bread, grains, fruits, vegetables, cereal, peanut butter, nuts, pasta, rice, and legumes. These food items could be fresh, frozen, canned, preserved, made intro spreads, or juiced.
So, what food items would be banned from SNAP? Everything else, including:
- Bottled water, seltzer, coffee, tea, and any other beverage that is not milk or specific varieties of juice and soy milk included on the WIC-approved food list
- Spices, seasonings, condiments, pasta sauce, and salad dressings
- Olive oil, vegetable oil, and other cooking oils, including animal-based oils
- Granola bars, protein bars, fruit and grain bars, and trail mix
- Infant formulas and baby food varieties not included on the WIC-approved food list
- Macaroni and cheese, hamburger helper, ramen noodles, and other packaged goods
- Chips, crackers, and cookies
- Frozen prepared foods
- Pumpkin, sunflower, and other seeds, including food-producing plant seeds and starter plants for people to grow their own food
- And much, much more
What Can I Do?
Please contact members of the HSB 216 subcommittee and urge them to vote no:
- Rep. Carter Nordman – carter.nordman@legis.iowa.gov
- Rep. Rob Johnson – rob.johnson@legis.iowa.gov
- Rep. Shannon Lundgren – shannon.lundgren@legis.iowa.gov
You can also contact all Representatives who serve on the House Health & Human Services Committee, and voice your opposition to HSB 216.
Please spread awareness about this harmful bill, and thank you in advance for your advocacy!
How do you expect people to cook healthy and tasty meals without olive oil and spices? Why can’t children from these families have healthy trail mix, fruit or granola bars?
And seriously – no seeds??? Food-producing seeds are in vegetables, so should all vegetables containing seeds be banned?
So much of this makes no sense.
The three emails listed above are all blocked