This week, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins reportedly announced that it is possible that in the near future, it may be prohibited for people in the United States who are getting food stamps to use them to purchase junk food.
Rollins made these comments on Friday while responding to questions from reporters outside the White House.
The questions were on Rollins’ collaboration with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to reform the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“I look forward to working with Bobby Kennedy as we figure out, do we have the healthiest choices? So when a taxpayer is putting money into SNAP, are they okay with us using their tax dollars to feed really bad food and sugary drinks to children who perhaps need something more nutritious?” Rollins said.
It was said by her that she was looking forward to working with DOGE to determine the areas in which the SNAP program is squandering money and whether or not it is fulfilling the metrics that are necessary to achieve its objectives.
“Oftentimes, these government programs are started with the idea that you’re going to help people — it’s not a handout, it’s a hand up — and then years later, the programs are even bigger, and you’ve got more people on them. And are we really giving people a hand up, or is it instead a handout? So if we can have a whole other group of really smart people looking at SNAP and other programs at USDA, that will allow us to ensure, what are our metrics for success? Are we meeting those metrics for success?” she added.
“Will we ever take food out of a hungry child’s mouth? Of course not. This is the United States of America. But truly, this program has grown so large, especially in the last administration. Under Biden, I think SNAP, grew almost 30% more than before.” Rollins concluded.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that during the fiscal year 2023, more than 42 million persons got benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which resulted in a cost to the nation of more than 110 billion dollars annually.
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