FIRST ON FOX: Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has sent a letter to the incoming Trump administration heads of the Health and Agriculture departments, calling for the end of junk food as part of the federal food stamp program.
"As you know, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a $113 billion federal program designed to support low income families with food assistance," Sanders wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital to HHS Secretary-nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary-nominee Brooke Rollins. "Unfortunately, this ‘Nutrition Assistance’ program is undermining the health of millions of Americans, on the taxpayers’ dime, by encouraging families to eat highly processed, unhealthy junk food."
"In fact, soda, unhealthy snacks, candy, and dessert account for nearly 23 percent, or $25 billion, of all SNAP purchases. Given the relationship between junk food and poor health, our federal food assistance policies are fueling obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and a wide range of chronic health conditions around America."
Sanders cited her experience as a mother of three as motivation for "improving maternal health outcomes" in children and explained that one third of the people in her state suffer from diabetes or pre-diabetes, and 40% struggle with obesity.
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"Sadly, these health conditions disproportionately affect lower-income families-the same people who rely on SNAP for food," Sanders wrote.
Sanders cited the work of Stanford University Professor Jayanta Bhattacharya, nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to head the National Institutes of Health, which concluded that removing sugary drinks and snacks from the SNAP program would prevent obesity in 141,000 children and Type 2 diabetes in 240,000 adults.
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"Health-centered SNAP reform also offers a great opportunity for Americans to support Arkansas farmers by enjoying Arkansas-grown and harvested poultry, eggs, beef, pecans, peanuts, soy, strawberries, sweet potatoes, rice, peaches, oats, and more," Sanders wrote. "As someone who believes in the Trump administration’s unifying, aspirational vision for the future, the time has come to support American farmers and end taxpayer-funded junk food."
"As Secretaries, I ask that you work collaboratively across the Administration to prohibit the sale of junk food in SNAP and end taxpayer-funded junk food. I also wish to notify you of my intent to pursue a SNAP waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service that would support fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, and protein and prohibit using SNAP for junk food."
Sanders closes the letter by saying, "Together, we can, and we will, Make America Healthy Again."
Sanders' letter is likely to have a sympathetic ear in the form of Kennedy Jr., who has openly expressed his desire for healthier food in the United States.
"We have a generation of kids who are swimming around in a toxic soup right now," Kennedy previously told Fox News in regards to process foods. "We’re letting these industries corrupt our agencies and mass poison them."
