People in town have strong opinions about another bill making it’s way through the legislature that would limit food stamp recipients from some popular favorites.
If the proposal passes, it would ban any food or drink with 54 milligrams of caffeine or more for every eight fluid ounces. This includes sweetened or carbonated drinks, also no chips or candy. But the bill would not ban SNAP users from buying fruit or vegetable juices.
The folks with the South Plains Food Bank help SNAP recipients through the application process.
“The SNAP benefits that the people, our clients, will get actually comes from the state of Texas in the form as a little card that they will get,” said said Meagan Bratton, the South Plains Food Bank Director of Development. “They are able to go to the grocery store and actually purchase items that way.”
They feel like this bill would be difficult to enforce.
“Personally, I just don’t think that there needs to be kind of an oversight or somebody making those decisions for you,” said Bratton. “I think it’s a personal choice just like anything you decide to put into your body and just because you’re getting money from the state doesn’t meant they need to tell you what you can and can’t buy.”
For coffee drinkers, coffee is not included in this potential ban. If the bill is passed, it will become effective September 1.
