82R3678 BPG-D
By: Lucio S.C.R. No. 9
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program helps
millions of our nation's families during difficult times, and in
the present economy, more than one in seven Americans relies on this
aid, historically known as food stamps; and
WHEREAS, The primary goal of the program is to ensure that
households can obtain supplemental nutritious food; when the food
stamp program was introduced in 1939, it met the combined goals of
subsidizing nutritious food purchases for victims of the Great
Depression while reducing agricultural surplus and allowed food
stamp recipients to buy fresh fruits and vegetables as well as eggs,
dairy products, and other items produced in abundance by farmers;
and
WHEREAS, Today, nearly seven percent of food stamp funds are
spent on soft drinks and other sweetened beverages defined by the
United States Department of Agriculture, which administers the
program, as having "minimal nutritious value"; these beverages are
the single greatest source of added sugar in the American diet, and
the Centers for Disease Control has called for reductions in
soft-drink consumption, as have numerous other organizations; it is
estimated that the federal government will spend $4 billion on soft
drinks through SNAP in 2011; and
WHEREAS, Program recipients can also use benefits to pay for
candy, doughnuts, potato chips, and other snacks that are high in
fat or sugar or both but very low in nutrients; instead of improving
health, such products contribute to the growing epidemic of
obesity, which has brought about increased rates of diabetes and
other chronic diseases; pediatricians report seeing more obese
children suffering from diseases that once affected only adults,
including hip problems, high blood pressure, hardening of the
arteries, and gallstones; and
WHEREAS, The foundations for good health are established in
childhood, a fact recognized by the Special Supplemental Nutrition
Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), likewise
administered by the USDA; WIC bans sugary drinks, pastries, snack
foods, and other unhealthy items from its list of eligible foods;
and
WHEREAS, The majority of households receiving funds from the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program include children, yet
this program permits the purchase of high-calorie, low-nutrition
products that contribute to childhood obesity, and youths
struggling with obesity are very likely to become adults facing
serious health problems; as a rising number of families become
dependent on food stamps, it is imperative that the nation ensure
that the program is supporting good nutrition, rather than
subsidizing the purchase of products that will, ultimately, lead to
ever-higher health care costs; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to amend the
list of allowable foods under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program to eliminate sweetened drinks and snack foods of minimal
nutritional value; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States Congress, to the secretary of
the United States Department of Agriculture, and to all the members
of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this
resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to
the Congress of the United States of America.