If there’s one thing that most every Wisconsinite loves, it’s their cheese. They cherish their cheddar. They gotta have their gouda. They savor their Swiss. All that may become a thing of the past, at least for those who use food stamps. The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP for short, requires that each state has a program to administer this essential safety net. Although there are some small differences between the states, they cannot limit the types of food that people can buy. The bill by Assemblyman Kaufert does just that. Recipients of Wisconsin’s FoodShare SNAP program may find that their cherished cheese may well be among the foods that are deemed as junk food.
Assembly Bill 110 aims to:
“conduct a pilot program under which the department allows the benefits under the food stamp program to be used only for foods, food products, and beverages that have sufficient nutritional value.”
While the bill does not specify the foods, cheese could very well be on the chopping block. Due to the high fat content of full fat cheese, it could well be considered less nutritious as compared to other foods. For example, one cup of cheddar cheese contains 28 grams of saturated fat, which is 139% of the daily value for saturated fat. However, that same amount contains 95% of the daily requirement for calcium. Children, pregnant women, and the elderly often do not get enough calcium. Besides the nutrition part, this bill shows strong opposition from grocers, food manufacturers, and food banks.
Democrats on the committee criticized the bill because it would unduly stigmatize recipients. Program rules require that food outlets that take SNAP benefits treat those customers the same. A change of this type would surely open the door to this mistreatment, as cashiers may have to inform SNAP customers that they aren’t allowed to purchase certain foods because they had reached their limit for the month.
Even with all the voices against it, this bill passed the committee on a 7-2 vote. Even if the bill passes both houses and is signed by Governor Walker, it faces an uphill battle. Other states have tried and failed to get the required waiver, including Wisconsin’s neighbor Minnesota. It seems that Wisconsin is trying to tell its food stamp recipients that they can wear a cheese hat to a Packer game, but they won’t be able to munch on cheese while watching their favorite team.
Edited by AEK
Published by: CB
