New York City’s now-rejected push to ban the use of food stamps to purchase soda was a political pariah from the get-go. The proposal, sent to the Obama administration last fall, had the relatively rare ability to draw the ire of both soft drink lobbyists and advocates for the poor and underfed.
On Friday, the USDA shot down the idea, which would have required a waiver from the food stamps program. In a letter to a New York state official, quoted by the New York Times, the Agriculture Department “wrote that the waiver the city sought was denied because of the logistical difficulty of sorting out which beverages could or could not be purchased with food stamps,” among other reasons.
Lost in the political debate over New York City’s proposal: Would the proposal have actually worked? Does banning the use of food stamps to purchase soft drinks actually reduce consumption of soft drinks, thereby lowering obesity rates?
Recent food policy research suggests the proposal would have had a tough time making an impact.
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