Earlier this year, President Donald Trump’s administration changed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by adding new restrictive work requirements. This change resulted in over 2 million Americans being kicked from the program. Trump bragged about this during his State of the Union address, acting like he had done those people a great favor. Now, he is coming back to attack the program again by approving SNAP Food Restriction Waivers in 22 states, including Texas. Texas’ waiver restricts the purchase of candy items and sweetened beverages, which only further stigmatizes SNAP recipients and leaves those in food deserts — areas lacking reliable access to affordable, nutritious food — in the dust.
These SNAP restrictions are ineffective at best and harmful at worst. The website states that the waivers are a “key step in ensuring that taxpayer dollars provide nutritious options.” First and foremost, feigning care about taxpayer dollars is a pathetic joke since Trump’s war in Iran is costing taxpayers over a billion dollars a day. Second, food is expensive, and taking candy away from kids does not make food any cheaper; rather, it makes it seem like pleasantries ought to be restricted to more fortunate people. This change does not provide anyone with better meals; it only leaves them with fewer options.
If Trump’s administration really wanted to promote healthier eating, it could find a way to make healthy food more obtainable. Instead, all that has been accomplished is poor families feeling even poorer since the items they “should” be buying are still expensive, and the items they were buying before are no longer on the table. Healthier choices should be made, but taking away sweet treats does not make healthy food any more available.
That statement is especially true for people who live in food deserts. People in these areas are taken advantage of by convenience stores that primarily sell cheap, hyper-processed food, and when they do sell healthier food, it is sold with a markup for the “convenience.” This reform does not help families in food deserts even a little bit. They still only have access to cheap food, and the healthy food Trump wants them to buy is still either sold at a markup or an hour away.
The apparent initiative by Trump’s administration to promote healthier eating has somehow ignored over a quarter of San Antonio’s population. Just about 28% of the city’s population lives in food deserts, and so about 28% of the city’s population has been completely disregarded, introducing absolutely no positive changes to their situation.
These restrictions are useless and unfair. First, millions are taken off of SNAP, then millions more are told they cannot have treats and even more are entirely ignored. The idea of putting restrictions on the most needy is already absurd, but acting like they have failed in some sense by treating themselves, and telling them they need to eat better while offering no legitimate help, is just a cruel kick down for no reason.
