Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins approved the request from Tennessee, West Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, and Nebraska, for a pilot program to study the potential health benefits of prohibiting the use of SNAP funds for the purchase of sugar-based foods as part of the Make America Healthy Again project.
Almost immediately – after virtually any Trump administration action – the now all too familiar five step dance begins:
1) A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) (which as non-profits pay no income taxes, but can pay their employees), in this case The National Center for Law and Economic Justice (whose contributors include General Mills), and the Hinder Cantor Lerner LL.P law firm,
2) “find” or “recruit” potential plaintiff(s), in this case a SNAP recipient in each of the five states,
3) find a friendly Obama or Biden appointed judge,
4) file a law suit requesting an injunction to block the program before the facts can be presented at a trial, and
5) the judge issues an injunction.
In Aragon v. Rollins the D.C. Federal District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, appointed by President Obama, issued an injunction preventing the implementation of the five states pilot program for SNAP.
SNAP
SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is the U.S. primary food security initiative. SNAP provides financial assistance for groceries to eligible low-income households.
Under SNAP, funds are loaded electronically onto an EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) card, which functions like a debit card and is accepted at most grocery stores and approved farmers markets.
Benefits can be used for staple groceries, produce, and seeds, but cannot be used for hot, ready-to-eat foods, alcohol, tobacco, or pet food.
In California, SNAP is known as CalFresh.
In Santa Barbara County, the Department of Social Services (DSS) processes applications, while other local organizations—like the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County or Family Service Agency—assist with applications.
Diabetes
It has been reported that an estimated 40.1 million Americans (12% of the population) have diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes and roughly 115 million adults have Pre-diabetes.
Santa Barbara has been in the forefront of diabetes research since 1922 when the Santa Barbara based Sansum Diabetes Research Institute (SDRI) became famous for being one of the earliest manufacturers of insulin.
Latinos in the U.S. and Santa Barbara (where they make up nearly 46% of the population) are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Pilot Program
At the states’ request, Secretary Rollins approved a Pilot Program to study the effects of extending the list of prohibited products under SNAP—hot, ready-to-eat foods, alcohol, tobacco, or pet food—-to include certain sugar-based products.
For example, The Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) received federal approval from the Trump administration to implement changes that promote healthier food options for households receiving SNAP benefits as part of a two-year pilot program to test whether clearer food standards improve nutrition outcomes.
Starting on July 31, 2026, SNAP benefits in Tennessee could still be used to purchase the following items:
Fruits and vegetables
Meat, poultry, and fish
Dairy products
Bread
Cereal
Other foods such as snack foods and non-alcoholic beverages
Seeds and plants, which produce food for the household to eat
SNAP benefits would no longer be eligible to purchase the following:
—Processed Foods - Processed foods include foods altered from their natural state and that list the following ingredients as the first ingredient:
Sugar
Cane sugar
Corn syrup
High fructose corn syrup
Exception: Single-ingredient sugars used for cooking and baking (such as granulated sugar or raw sugar) remain eligible.
Soda & Energy Drinks – Beverages that list carbonated water and one of the above items as the first two ingredients.
The SNAP benefit amounts will not be impacted and recipients can still shop at the same stores.
Conclusion
The Trump Derangement Syndrome has reached the point where even a pilot program requested by five states to study the potential health benefits of reducing the use of SNAP funds to purchase sugar-based products may well require a 6-3 (there are two Obama appointed Justices and one Biden appointed) vote by the Supreme Court.
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