Arkansas moves to ban ‘junk food’ from SNAP program: ‘Definition of crazy’

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced a plan to restrict the types of food that can be purchased with food stamps, becoming one of the first governors to seek federal permission to ban items like soda and candy from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

At a news conference at the Arkansas Capitol Tuesday, Sanders said her administration had submitted a waiver request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that would prohibit the use of SNAP benefits for soft drinks, artificially sweetened candy and snacks made with flour, while expanding eligible items to include hot rotisserie chicken, which is currently excluded.

“Right now you can use food stamps to buy a soft drink or a candy bar from a gas station, but you can’t use them to buy an Arkansas-raised hot rotisserie chicken from a grocery store,” Sanders said. “That’s the definition of crazy.”

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins praised Sanders’ move in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Gov. Sanders is confronting childhood disease head on, and it starts with what families consume,” Rollins said. “Today’s waiver announcement is a welcome one, and I look forward to moving through the approval process swiftly. I encourage more states across the nation to follow the bold lead of states like Arkansas as we Make America Healthy Again.”

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The waiver request is part of the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” or MAHA agenda, which seeks to address chronic disease and healthcare costs by reforming federal nutrition programs.

“We finally have a president who, along with Secretary Rollins, has put a laser focus on solving America’s chronic disease epidemic,” Sanders said. “Reforming food stamps is a great place to start.”

Trump’s policies on food and health are taking the spotlight in his second administration, with a shift toward state-driven solutions focused on prevention rather than treatment. The MAHA initiative is led in part by Rollins and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who also appeared Tuesday at a similar SNAP reform announcement in Indiana.

Speaking in Arkansas, Rollins praised the state’s leadership. 

“What we are doing here today is affirming the value of federalism in all aspects of governance,” she said. “No federal bureaucrat can understand the needs of Arkansas families better than their own governor.”

Rollins added that SNAP reform was a key issue for Trump. 

“This is one of the things he campaigned on, and this is what the American people voted for,” she said.

Sanders said the program, originally designed to fight hunger, has been twisted by outdated regulations and perverse incentives. 

“One third of our state has diabetes or is prediabetic,” she said. “We’re paying for it on the front end and the back end.”

The waiver would affect nearly 350,000 Arkansas residents enrolled in SNAP and is scheduled to take effect in July 2026 if approved. 

According to Sanders, 23% of SNAP spending, or $27 billion per year, is used on soft drinks, candy and desserts, while the state spends $300 million annually treating chronic illness through Medicaid.

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“This is not about taking anything away,” she said. “It’s simply saying that taxpayers are no longer going to cover the cost of junk food like candy and soft drinks.”
 
Rollins praised Arkansas’s SNAP reform plan as a bold step toward improving public health, calling Sanders “courageous” for addressing childhood disease through nutrition. 

“We are working to realign USDA and every taxpayer dollar around what is the best and most effective spend,” Rollins said. 

Arkansas Department of Human Services Secretary Kristi Putnam noted that the same state agency running SNAP also manages Medicaid. 

“In one program, we’ve subsidized foods that we know make people less healthy. In the other, we’re devoting significant resources to treating the same conditions brought on by unhealthy food,” she said. “This makes no sense.”

Critics, including the Food Research and Action Center, have argued the restrictions are punitive and unsupported by data. Trade groups representing beverage and candy manufacturers have also criticized the move. 

As reported by The Associated Press, American Beverage accused officials of “choosing to be the food police,” while the National Confectioners Association called the plan “misguided.”

Sanders addressed concerns about food costs, noting her administration’s work to eliminate the state grocery tax. 

“I think you’d be hard-pressed to say that you’re gonna be better off having purchased a pack of Skittles and that your hunger is gonna be satisfied after that purchase,” she said.

Rollins stressed that funding levels for SNAP would not change. “It just opens up the opportunity to buy better and more healthy food moving forward,” she said.

The Arkansas waiver request was formally submitted Tuesday and includes a 30-day public comment period. The USDA and the governor’s office are expected to begin coordination on implementation details this week.

“We’re hopeful that this gets done very quickly,” Sanders said.

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Gov. Sanders’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.