Isadora Rangel

Florida Today

If you want to make bad food choices that's your prerogative — but if two Republican lawmakers get their way, you won't be using food stamps to buy it.

State Reps. Randy Fine and Ralph Massullo filed a one-page bill last month asking the federal government to allow Florida to ban food stamp purchases of soft drinks. The state would need a waiver to do that because the U.S. Department of Agriculture sets the rules for the program.

Fine, R-Brevard County, said the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is intended to, as its name suggests, supplement the nutrition of families at or below 130 percent of the poverty level. Junk food and sugary products don't achieve that, and he said targeting just soda increases the chances of the bill getting passed. Fine said the idea for the bill came from Massullo, a Citrus County Republican who is a dermatologist.

The food stamp program already bans other products, such as hot dogs, vitamins, alcohol, tobacco and any food that's consumed in store.

"Food stamps are for people who can't afford food, and if you can afford soda then you probably don’t need food stamps," Fine said Thursday.

Other states have requested similar waivers for soda and junk food in the past but got denied under the Obama administration. Fine expects President Donald Trump, who's proposed food stamp cuts, will be more favorable.

Whether you support Fine's proposal depends on which problem you're trying to tackle: welfare recipients using taxpayer subsidies to buy soda; or the link between such high-sugar products and obesity. The latter would require more than a one-page bill to resolve.

Where's the problem?

Sugary drinks were the second-most popular food stamp purchases, according to a USDA study that analyzed 2011 data provided by an unidentified leading grocery store retailer. They came behind only meat, seafood and poultry.

Sugary drinks also are a problem among non-food stamp shoppers and were the fifth-most popular purchased items, the study found. Overall, shopping habits of food stamp and non-food stamp consumers were very similar, the study concluded.

The USDA has warned restricting which items food stamps can buy would increase costs to enforce new restrictions and identify and track restricted products. Incentives and education would do a better job keeping low-income people away from junk food, a 2007 USDA report states.

"There is no guarantee that restricting the use of food stamps would affect food purchases, other than substituting one form of payment (cash) for another (food stamps)," according to the report.

Addressing the real issue

Fine's bill fails to create a comprehensive policy to reduce the use of soft drinks across the board, said Miami-Dade County Rep. Kionne McGhee, the Democratic ranking member on the House Children, Families, and Seniors Subcommittee, where a similar version of the bill was heard last legislative session. The bill, also filed by Massullo, banned soda and candy purchases and cleared that committee but eventually died.

The Republican legislative majority is unlikely to agree to take measures adopted in more progressive parts of the country, such as San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia, where voters approved imposing a soft-drink tax.

Fine said he understands the reasoning behind these taxes: Taxpayers could still be on the hook for the health care costs associated with treating people who suffer from obesity-related ailments. People who consume one to two soda cans a day have a 26 percent greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to a 2010 study published in the Diabetes Care journal.

Fine said he "prefers a world in which if you make bad decisions then you have to accept the consequences.

Unless you're on food stamps.

Rangel is FLORIDA TODAY's public affairs and engagement editor and a member of the Editorial Board. Her columns reflect her opinion.

Contact Rangel at 321-242-3631

or irangel@floridatoday.com.

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