Here’s a meaty controversy to chew on during the holidays:
The conservative governor of Maine, Paul LaPage, usually wants government out of the way. But when it comes to food stamps, he wants to prevent recipients from buying junk food or soda with government money. The much-more-liberal Obama administration says it agrees with LaPage and his nanny-state ambitions, but can’t change the rules due to solid opposition from anti-hunger groups.
And why would anti-hunger groups oppose efforts to improve the nutritional intake of food-stamp recipients, who are mostly poor? Well, they say they’re opposed to any rules that limit people’s ability to choose their own food. But as Slate and others have pointed out, many anti-hunger groups also accept funding from beverage and snack companies, sugar manufacturers and groups that lobby for the food industry. The irony, of course, is that hunger isn’t the problem for most people on food stamps; obesity is.
LaPage, a tea-party Republican who Politico described as “America’s craziest governor,” is on something of a crusade to make sure Mainers receiving government assistance spend the benefits wisely. In September, Maine declared that a childless couple with more than $5,000 in household assets would no longer be eligible for the supplemental nutrition assistance program, or SNAP (the modern equivalent of food stamps). "Hard-working Mainers should not come home to see snowmobiles, four-wheelers or Jet Skis in the yards of those who are getting welfare," LePage said at the time. (You can’t buy a snowmobile or a Jet Ski with SNAP benefits, but you can divert your food money toward expensive toys if the government covers your food costs.)
Most recently, LaPage has asked Washington to grant a waiver allowing Maine to prohibit the use of SNAP benefits for purchases of soda or candy. Maine isn’t the first. New York City and a handful of states, including Minnesota, have tried to cherry-pick the food people can buy with SNAP cards -- and been squashed by the feds, who fund the program and make most of the rules. It’s not clear that Maine has a stronger case than any other municipality or state that has asked for a waiver.
Legislating nutritious eating
Nutritionists broadly agree that foods high in sugar, salt and fat contribute to obesity and other health problems, and that reducing their consumption would be beneficial to millions. But that’s where the agreement ends. Interest groups spar over where to draw the line between healthy and unhealthy foods: What about diet soda, for instance? Or juice that has more sugar than a Pepsi? Or protein-filled meat that has no carbs but is filled with saturated fat? Besides, the government doesn’t want to referee a brawl over which foods (and politically powerful food companies) fall into the green and red categories.
Telling people what to eat can backfire, as well. The nutrition rules for school lunches were tightened a few years ago, but some students find the low-fat, low-sodium food schools must now provide so awful that they skip lunch, or eat off-campus at fast-food joints and other outlets where the food is even more unhealthy than the grub the lunch ladies used to serve. And since food that’s both tasty and healthy costs more, many schools can’t afford the higher-quality offerings that might interest kids.
LaPage probably doesn’t care what the unintended consequences might be, or what other states have done. He’s a notorious bomb-thrower who could teach Donald Trump a thing or two about coarseness. In 2013, for instance, LaPage speculated that President Obama doesn’t play up his biracial heritage much because Obama “hates white people.” The same year, he crudely criticized a political opponent for being “the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline."
His competence is in question, too. Earlier this year, LaPage allowed several dozen bills he opposed to become law without vetoing them, because he mistakenly believed his non-action would somehow invalidate the legislation. Maine Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to impeach him. “We’re the laughingstock of the country,” one of them told Politico.
About 200,000 Mainers, or 15% of the state’s population, receive SNAP benefits. Researchers say it’s clear there’s a link between junk food and conditions such as obesity and diabetes—but it’s harder to show those health problems are more prevalent among SNAP beneficiaries than the general population. Worries about rules that might unfairly disparage SNAP recipients could be one more reason the feds ultimately deny Maine’s request. Expect LaPage to disagree.
Rick Newman’s latest book is Liberty for All: A Manifesto for Reclaiming Financial and Political Freedom. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.
