A SNAP benefits recipient shops for groceries at a supermarket in California. Photo: Allison Dinner/Associated Press
More food-stamp money is spent on soda and sweets than fruits, vegetables, eggs, pasta, beans and rice combined, according to a report by the Foundation for Government Accountability. Sweetened beverages and candy alone account for 11% of food-stamp spending. A 2018 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association examined diet quality of food-stamp beneficiaries and people of similar incomes who didn’t receive the handouts from 2003 to 2014. Nonbeneficiaries ate better than beneficiaries, and their diets improved more over time.
USDA studies show that working-age adults on food stamps consume more added sugars and refined grains, and less fruit and vegetables, than nonrecipients with similar demographics. They are also more likely to have severe hypertension and low levels of “good” cholesterol. Women on food stamps in particular have much higher obesity and diabetes rates.