The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program implemented changes on April 1 that bar recipients from using benefits to purchase sugary foods and drinks.
Some of the banned items include candy bars, gum, taffy and sweet drinks with more than five grams of added sugar or artificial sweetener, according to the Texas Health and Human Services. Recipients are also prohibited from purchasing candy-coated nuts, raisins or fruit. However, benefits can still be used for items such as fruits, vegetables, meat, bread and other food needed for “good health,” according to the Texas Health and Human Services website.
“For most people, it’s going to be an adjustment,” said Jamie Olson, the vice president of policy and advocacy with Feeding Texas. “It’s not black and white in terms of what items are restricted versus able to be purchased.”
Olson said some people have expressed concerns that small stores in rural parts of Texas may end up backing out of the SNAP program.
“In some really rural parts of the state, there’s already not a lot of SNAP retailers,” Olson said. “If that store is a convenience store or a corner market and suddenly, a lot of the products that they carry are no longer allowed to be purchased, the concern is that those retailers might drop out of the program, and then those customers are going to be left with even fewer places to use their SNAP card.”
Retailers are responsible for ensuring they are abiding by the changes, Olson said.
“If they are accidentally able to buy a candy bar, for example, they’re not going to get penalized,” Olson said. “We just want to reassure people that they’re not going to get in trouble if they’re accidentally able to purchase something that they’re not supposed to.”
UT Outpost, an on-campus food pantry, does not require students to be part of the SNAP program to access its items. Valeria Martin, associate director for basic needs in the Office of the Dean of Students, said people can visit once a week and get up to 20 pounds of food per month, including fruits, vegetables and canned goods.
“We try to keep it as simple as possible,” Martin said. “The whole point is to show that you’re an enrolled UT student, because that’s the only (criterion) for shopping with us.”
Texas has to survey SNAP recipients to see if the changes are leading people to make healthier food purchasing choices, according to the Texas Health and Human Services website. These surveys are supposed to occur before and after the initial change.
“If there’s anything that their family really needs that now they’re not able to buy, I just encourage people to go ahead and take that survey and provide that feedback to the agency,” Olson said.
