USDA tells food-stamp stores to sell more ‘real food’
by Stephen Dinan · The Washington TimesThe U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday that stores that accept government food stamps must sell more “real food” in an effort to prod America’s poor to ditch snacks in favor of healthier fare.
Retailers that want to keep their authorization for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will have to meet standards for the amount of perishable and minimally processed foods they sell.
“SNAP authorized retailers accept over $90 billion a year, or $236 million a day, in taxpayer dollars — USDA is making sure they’re actually in the business of selling food,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
The exact guidelines for stores will be released “in the coming weeks,” her department said, and the changes take effect this fall.
“This rule puts real food back at the center of SNAP,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The goal, the officials said, is to force changes to retailers that have been offering the minimum to get ahold of food stamp business. The changes will also try to eliminate what the government called a loophole that allows some snack foods to be covered by food stamps.
Under the current standards, retailers that are authorized to take SNAP must carry at least 36 staple food items, and such sales must be more than 50% of total gross sales.
Staple foods range from a head of lettuce or a package of blueberries to a bag of rice or box of oatmeal.
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Food stamps can also be used to buy sodas and chips, at least under national standards. A number of states are moving to limit those options.
Hot food, such as soup and items from a hot buffet, are not allowed — though the House recently passed legislation to allow hot rotisserie chicken to be purchased with food stamps. That measure awaits Senate action.
The Agriculture Department said the new standards will double the requirement for fare available while emphasizing perishables and whole food.
Food stamps account for more than $90 billion a year in sales, and the secretaries said that gives the government massive power to prod changes in health.
“To turn the tide on our nation’s health crisis, we need to ensure our nutrition assistance programs emphasize real food first, and that’s exactly what these updates to SNAP retailer requirements will do,” Ms. Rollins said.
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She said the new changes should also cut down on food stamp fraud because the increased standards will knock out marginal retailers.
Federal prosecutors in Boston won a guilty plea in March from an owner whose store, occupying just 150 square feet, claimed to be doing as much as $500,000 a month in SNAP sales. Full-sized supermarkets in the area averaged less than $100,000 a month.
Authorities said the owner had little actual food and was exchanging food stamps for cash. He also sold liquor for food stamps, which is against the rules.
Despite collecting millions in ill-gotten gains, the owner himself was collecting food stamps.
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• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.