All fired up about SNAP
Football coach Vic Wallace used to tell his team, “Football fires me up!” Some things just fire me up, including the children and youth at Dover UMC and House Bill 1035 (I’ll call it the Junk Food Bill).
This bill is pending in the 2017 Arkansas legislative session that is currently underway, and attempts to legislate what foods are nutritionally appropriate for families receiving federal SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-formerly known as food stamps). The bill proposes that the Arkansas Department of Human Services establish a list of foods and beverages that are deemed to have “sufficient nutritional value” using the guidelines set out in the “WIC” program designed to feed women, infants, and children. Because SNAP is federally funded, the state would have to ask the United States Department of Agriculture for a waiver to implement this plan. Similar bills have been introduced in other states over the last few years, and those that have passed have been denied a waiver by the USDA. However, the policy of the USDA under President Trump gives hope to sponsoring legislators that a waiver might be granted.
Junk Food Bill addresses real issues
As I write, the bill has just passed the house committee and may be law in our state by the time you read this. Either way, it is true that the Junk Food Bill addresses real issues that face our state – poverty, hunger, obesity and poor health. A lot of Arkansans live in poverty, and a lot of Arkansans are obese and unhealthy. But a lot of us who are not living in poverty are also obese and unhealthy. I kind of wish I was forbidden from buying PayDay bars and chocolate chip cookies. I kind of wish I had to buy nutritionally sufficient foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. I probably wouldn’t struggle with that extra ten (or so) pounds! But — shopping that way is so much more expensive than buying macaroni and cheese, hot dogs and Ramen noodles. Unfortunately, the junk food bill doesn’t provide additional state funding for families to purchase foods of “sufficient nutritional value.” The bill doesn’t provide for education about nutrition, wise shopping or how to cook broccoli so that kids will eat it. And most importantly, the bill doesn’t address the core underlying issues of a living wage for all Arkansans and the rejection of racism and classism in our public policy.
I know those who are affected
I’m fired up because 72% of SNAP participants in Arkansas live in families with children and 33% of participants live in families with members who are elderly or have disabilities. I’m fired up because 41% of people receiving SNAP in my state are working families who still don’t make enough to feed their kids. I’m fired up because SNAP gives families an average of $1.28 per meal, per person to feed their families, and that will simply not stretch to buy oranges and grapes, cucumbers and cauliflower. And I’m fired up because I see the faces of these families every single week. There are families who will be affected by this legislation; they are my friends, and they are members of my church.
A call to bridge the gap
Our Lord Jesus Christ came to proclaim good news for the poor. How can we, the church, do the same? How can we bridge the gap that exists for families living in poverty now and even if the Junk Food Bill becomes law?
Roy Beth Kelley is a pastor with Dover United Methodist Church in Dover, Arkansas.
