Spray Cheese Would Count as Staple Under Trump Food Stamp Rule

(Bloomberg) -- Canned spray cheese, beef jerky and pimiento-stuffed olives would count as staple foods under a proposed Trump administration rule for the federal food stamp program.

The U.S. Agriculture Department says retailers would save money under the revised minimum stocking requirements for staple foods. But the nutrition advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest criticized the proposal Wednesday, saying it would harm low-income families’ access to healthy foods.

Margo Wootan, the group’s vice president for nutrition, compared the change in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, to a much-ridiculed effort under President Ronald Reagan to count ketchup as a vegetable in the federal school lunch program.

“You don’t have to have a nutrition degree to know that canned spray cheese sauce is not a staple food,” Wootan said. “It’s not that different than counting ketchup as a vegetable.”

The disagreement reflects a tension between efforts to promote convenience for SNAP recipients by making it easy for small stores to accept benefits, and combating obesity by encouraging retailers in poor neighborhoods to carry healthy food choices.

The regulatory change addresses a requirement that stores carry a minimum number of varieties of four types of staple foods -- meat, dairy, grains and fruits and vegetables -- to be authorized to accept SNAP benefits. The proposed rule wouldn’t alter what items recipients can purchase with their benefits.

Farm Bill

Amid concern that many low-income families didn’t have easy access to healthy foods, the 2014 farm bill strengthened the stocking requirement so that stores would have to carry seven varieties of each staple type rather than three varieties under previous legislation. Congress has blocked 2016 Obama administration regulations to carry out the law.

The Trump administration redefined what constitutes a variety for each staple in the proposed rule issued in April. A final rule would be issued sometime after a public comment period ends June 4.

The Federal Register notice cites “canned spray cheese sauce” as an example of a dairy staple. It would count “beef jerky” as a staple in the category of meat, poultry or fish. Lemon juice and “jarred pimiento-stuffed olives” would be counted as fruit and vegetables.

“These are things that previously would have been considered accessory foods, not staple foods,” Wootan said in an interview. She said the proposal would water down the nutrition program’s requirements for staple foods to “make it not meaningful anymore.”

“They could meet the fruit and vegetable stocking requirements with fresh apples, oranges and bananas or a liquor store could just offer lemon juice, Craisins, maraschino cherries and pimiento-stuffed olives,” Wootan said. “Those are not real food you could serve to your family for dinner.”

The Agriculture Department estimated that its proposal, on average, would allow small stores to add six fewer items to their inventory and save $500 per store over five years.

In the 2017 fiscal year, 82% of SNAP benefits were redeemed at supermarkets or superstores such as Walmart or Target while 6% were redeemed at convenience stores. Convenience stores accounted for 45% of retailers authorized to accept benefits.

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