Last week, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, introduced a proposal “to help improve SNAP recipients’ diet quality and collect data on SNAP purchases to identify what products taxpayer dollars are being spent on,” with the support of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
Booker brought out the “SNAP Nutrition Security Act” with Rubio as a co-sponsor.
“The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to help low-income Americans afford food and remedy nutrient deficiencies. However, there is a significant lack of data regarding SNAP’s impact on improving diet quality and poor nutrition. This makes it difficult for lawmakers to evaluate the program and understand whether taxpayer dollars are being used effectively,” Rubio’s office noted.
“SNAP plays a crucial role in alleviating poverty and food insecurity, but needs to do better at improving nutrition security and diet quality for program participants. We need timely, comprehensive data to determine SNAP’s impact on nutrition security and diet quality in order to effectively promote access to nutritious food, improve the well-being of SNAP recipients, and help address our nation’s alarming increase in chronic diet-related diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer,” said Booker.
“In the midst of America’s obesity crisis, taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be spent on junk food. This legislation would strengthen the SNAP program by requiring the USDA to collect data on the impact of SNAP. This data will provide a clearer picture of how SNAP can be used to improve recipient’s health and ensure the program promotes a healthy, nutritious diet,” said Rubio.
Among the supporters of the proposal are Advocacy at the American Heart Association, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and prominent chef José Andrés.
The bill was sent to the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. So far, there is no companion measure over in the U.S. House.
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