A Tennessee Republican introduced a bill on Tuesday that would limit the kinds of food that food stamp recipients can buy, according to The Hill.
Rep. Phil Roe said he wants the national food stamp program to have same standards as state-level programs started in Wisconsin and South Carolina that aims to stop an estimated $2 billion of unhealthy food purchases made with funds provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“By giving SNAP recipients more nutritious choices, we can take a meaningful step towards ending hunger in America,” he told The Hill.
Roe’s bill would make the SNAP program adhere to the same standards that the Women Infant and Children (WIC) program puts on food purchases. Critics have alleged that the WIC program’s food choices aren’t necessarily based on science and need to better adhere to nutrional guidelines.
