Shock study shows how 42 million recipients spend their food stamps

An alarming study has spotlighted how 42 million food stamp recipients spend their welfare handouts on ultra-processed junk food. Coca-Cola, Sprite and other soft drinks are the most commonly-bought items via the $135 billion-a-year Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a new study says.

Candy, potato chips, frozen pizza, ice cream, cookies, and other ultra-processed food dominates the top 20 items, says a report from the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC). Report author Matthew Dickerson says recipients spend ‘spend significant portions of their allotments on junk food.’

These ‘non-nutritious foods’ include ‘sugary beverages and ultra-processed foods, which can lead to poor health,’ says the 35-page study. The prevalence of junk food is another reason to trim SNAP, which has ballooned this century and gets recipients hooked on handouts, says Dickerson.

The research comes as Washington lawmakers debate the text of an updated farm bill, with Republicans gunning to cut some $27 billion worth of nutrition program funding over 10 years. Health experts warn against junk food, which is often high in calories, fat, and sugar, and low in fiber, which can lead to many health problems.

Poor diets can lead to weight gain, digestive issues, liver and kidney damage, depression and cancer . The Department of Agriculture’s SNAP scheme helps low-income families buy groceries, snacks, and non-alcoholic drinks. Some 42 million Americans currently receive monthly benefits at an average of $212 per person or $401 per household.

Hot foods, alcohol , and tobacco are not allowed under the scheme, but, the report says, there are ‘few other guidelines about eligible foods.’ Recipients spend much of their payouts on junk food, such as soft drinks, chips and other bag snacks, breakfast cereals, frozen handheld snacks, candy, frozen pizza, ice cream coffee creamer, and cookies. Other items on the top 20 list can also be problematic, experts warn. Shelf stable juice, for example, often includes added sugar. Lunchmeat and fresh chicken frequently have had nitrates added as a preservative, which have been linked to breast and prostate cancer.

Even some baked breads and breakfast cereals found in grocery stores can be a worry, when they contain some food dyes and preservatives. Heavily-processed foods have more synthetic ingredients that have little nutritional benefit and can cause harmful effects on the body. They also contain more artificial ingredients like colorings and dyes, which have been linked to conditions like hyperactivity and cancer. Dickerson, a former House Budget Committee advisor, says food stamp enrollment surged from 17.3 million beneficiaries in 2001 to 42.1 million last year. Meanwhile, SNAP costs have exploded from $31 billion to $135 billion, his report says, using inflation-adjusted numbers. That’s close to the entire annual turnover of Morocco. As the scheme grows, recipients stay on stamps for longer, says Dickerson.

In the mid-1990s, less than a fifth of beneficiaries collected food stamps for 20 months or longer. Nowadays, nearly half of them keep getting benefits for that period. Worse still, says Dickerson, recipients include ever-more people who should be at work. Nearly two thirds of SNAP recipients who could work did not, says the report Between 2017-2019, the latest year for which relevant data were available, nearly two thirds of SNAP recipients who could work did not, he says. SNAP’s work requirements are ‘limited, weak, and are currently waived completely or in part in 34 states,’ he adds. ‘The story of the food stamp program is one of expanding enrollment, higher spending, benefit payments growing faster than inflation ,’ Dickerson says in his report. The food stamp program that was launched in 1978 faces strengthening political headwinds.

The US House Agriculture Committee on Friday released its long-awaited farm bill draft that includes provisions to SNAP benefits by $27 billion over 10 years, a committee aide said. The savings result from restricting the Department of Agriculture’s authority to update the cost of a sample grocery budget that underlies the benefit calculation. Benefits would continue to rise with inflation, a committee aide said. Anti-hunger groups have said they oppose any cuts. The bill is expected to cost $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Congress faces steep odds to pass the bill this session as the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-majority Senate remain far apart.

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