NGA Fights Bill That Would Limit SNAP

The National Grocers Association (NGA) is speaking out against Federal legislation that would restrict purchases under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Sent to Senators Charles Schumer and Mitch McConnell along with Congressmen Mike Johnson and Hakeem Jeffries, the leaders of the United States Senate and House of Representatives respectively, the letter signed by nearly 2,500 NGA members claims two provisions in the pending legislation would undermine SNAP.

Those provisions include the creation of a pilot program to catalog and restrict SNAP purchases. The other would collect SNAP purchasing data with the goal of eventually restricting SNAP purchases. 

“One of the main reasons SNAP is such an effective program is because of the ease of processing transactions for both retailers and beneficiaries, allowing folks to make the best decisions for their nutritional needs and families,” said Stephanie Johnson, RDN, NGA vice president of government relations. “Independent grocers support SNAP choice because it maintains an already successful program and ensures families can shop with the same dignity and ease as any other grocery customer.”

The letter, in part, notes the dietary needs of the SNAP population are diverse and no one diet would be appropriate for all participants. For instance, a cancer patient struggling to gain weight doesn’t have the same needs as a child fighting diabetes.

“Restricting eligible items to those approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will quickly drive-up food costs and strangle the program with needless red tape with no meaningful public health outcome to show in return,” the letter said. “The government will need to categorize more than 600,000 products and update the list each year with thousands more products. Grocery store cashiers will become the food police, telling parents what they can and cannot feed their families.”