摘要：The state of New York recently petitioned the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for permission to conduct a demonstration project in which sweetened beverages would be excluded from the foods eligible to be purchased with Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) benefits (i.e., food stamps) in New York City. The USDA and advocacy groups have raised objections to new SNAP restrictions such as the proposed exclusion of sweetened beverages. Some objections rest on empirical issues best resolved by demonstration projects or pilot studies of new exclusions. Other objections question the equity of excluding sweetened beverages from SNAP; these objections are important but not ethically decisive. The USDA should approve the proposed demonstration project and should encourage other pilot studies to assess the effects of excluding sweetened beverages from SNAP. AMERICANS' USE OF FOOD stamps has reached an all-time high. Use of the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, surged during the recent recession; the number of recipients rose from 31 million people in November 2008 to 38 million in November 2009, reaching more than 44 million in early 2011. One in 8 Americans now receives SNAP assistance (i.e., food stamps). 1 SNAP benefit levels were increased in 2009 as part of the economic stimulus bill (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), 2 but Congress has eliminated those increases effective November 2013, 3 despite the unprecedented use of SNAP, continued high unemployment, and some researchers' belief that SNAP assistance levels are not high enough to feed families a healthy diet. 4 Now more than ever, SNAP funds need to be deployed as efficiently as possible to achieve SNAP's aims of alleviating hunger and improving the nutrition and health of low-income people. 5 One way to work toward this goal is to modify SNAP to exclude foods that have minimal nutritional value or that especially contribute to poor nutrition and ill health, such as sweetened beverages, and New York City wants to try it. The state government of New York recently petitioned the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for permission to conduct a demonstration project in which sweetened beverages would be excluded from the food items eligible to be purchased with SNAP benefits in New York City. 6 The proposal, more exactly, is to exclude sweetened beverages containing more than 10 calories per cup, excluding fruit juice without added sugar, milk products, and milk substitutes. There is precedent for excluding foods from food assistance programs: the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children gives participants assistance to purchase only the specific food items deemed most nutritionally beneficial. 7 There is also precedent for excluding items from SNAP: currently, SNAP assistance cannot be used to purchase alcoholic beverages, among other items. In accordance with the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, the USDA administers the SNAP program, and states must get permission from the USDA to run demonstration projects and pilot studies in which foods are excluded from SNAP. A permanent modification to SNAP, such as the permanent exclusion of sweetened beverages, would require permission from the USDA and might even require a change in the law. In 2004, Minnesota's Department of Human Services petitioned the USDA for permission to exclude soft drinks and candy from the foods eligible for purchase with food stamps, but the USDA turned down the request. 8 In addition, the USDA has raised several objections to placing any new restrictions on SNAP. Some antihunger advocacy groups, notably the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, also oppose the proposed restriction on sweetened beverages, even though such groups typically support efforts to improve the health and nutrition of low-income people. First I make the positive case for sweetened beverage exclusion; then I review and respond to the objections raised by the USDA and antihunger groups.
