Louisiana is one of several states asking the Trump administration to make changes to its food stamp program.
Gov. Jeff Landry sent a request to the Department of Agriculture last week, asking it to remove sugary drinks, soda, and candy from the SNAP eligibility list.
The move is part of the Trump administration's broader effort to remove sugary drinks from the SNAP list as part of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" initiative. Kennedy was in Baton Rouge last week when Landry signed the request, and stressed that it wasn’t about limiting freedom of choice, but promoting health and avoiding wasteful spending.
“ Americans have… they should have a choice about whether to poison themselves or not. We're not trying to take that away from 'em, but the federal government should not… taxpayers should not be paying for you to do that, and then paying for the outcomes after you make yourself sick,” Kennedy said.
Landry also instructed Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services, which oversees the state’s SNAP program, to find ways to incentivize recipients to purchase local, healthy food.
If approved, Louisiana would join Arkansas, Idaho, Utah, Nebraska and Iowa in having the exemption. Oklahoma recently submitted a similar waiver.
