A federal food assistance program’s ban on sugary items is affecting Tarrant County retailers and families, prompting them to educate themselves on the changes.
Motagid Muntakhabulliqq, owner of Afghan Halal Market in Carter Park, estimates that 7 out of 10 customers a day at his grocery mart use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
The former Houston resident has lived in Fort Worth and operated the store for the last two and a half years. Muntakhabulliqq is not worried that new restrictions will be catastrophic for his business. Customers purchasing items with an EBT Lone Star Card — which is how Texans access their federal food benefits — mostly buy regular groceries at his store, he said.
Still, the effect will be substantial as Muntakhabulliqq expects profits to drop. The store owner said he’ll likely need to reduce product orders in reaction to the demand.
“Hopefully, things will change back, but I don’t think so,” Muntakhabulliqq said about the SNAP changes.
New restrictions on what can be purchased through SNAP began in Texas on April 1. The changes, which are outlined on the Texas Health and Human Services website, restrict retailers from selling sugary snacks and drinks.
What can’t be bought with federal SNAP benefits in Texas?
- Candy, such as candy bars, gum and taffy. Nuts, raisins or fruits that have been candied, crystalized, glazed or coated with chocolate, yogurt or caramel are also not allowed.
- Sweetened drinks, including nonalcoholic beverages made with water, that contain 5 grams or more of added sugar or any amount of artificial sweetener.
The move by state officials echoes wholesale changes being made across the country. Under the direction of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the federal food benefit program has begun prohibiting participants from purchasing unhealthy processed snacks.
“For years, SNAP has used taxpayer dollars to fund soda and candy — products that fuel America’s diabetes and chronic disease epidemics,” Kennedy said in an August press release. “These waivers help put real food back at the center of the program and empower states to lead the charge in protecting public health.
Despite Kennedy’s push, most SNAP restrictions have been made at the state level. While the grocery aid program is funded by the federal government, states distribute the funds to participants and apply for waivers to restrict certain purchases with SNAP.
Texas is the ninth state this year to implement a SNAP pilot program for sweets restrictions, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with 13 states looking to place similar restrictions within the next two years.
The business and human effect
Any changes to the federal program from states become the responsibility of retailers, such as Muntakhabulliqq.
Some sellers, especially large corporations, are unlikely to change their stocking patterns because of SNAP changes, Feeding Texas CEO Celia Cole said.
“They’re just looking for clarity,” Cole said. “They want to make sure that across retailers, they’re all implementing restrictions in the same way … so that people aren’t going to one retailer and not finding something and then finding it in another.”
Smaller convenience stores such as those attached to gas stations will also see little impact.
Prasidha Karki, a cashier at the Stop N Save store on East Seminary Drive, said the business sees few customers who use SNAP.
“People would rather go to Walmart to buy things in bulk,” he said.
If a SNAP recipient purchases restricted items with an EBT Lone Star Card, any punishment from Texas officials would be levied on the business owners.
That doesn’t mean private customers aren’t affected.
“Mama” Susan Anderson Costner, a homeless woman with diabetes, said she was concerned that the SNAP changes could affect fruit, which she buys to help control her medical condition. She receives state assistance to purchase food each month.
On a recent weekday, she spent about $200 on food at the Renaissance Square Walmart, accompanied by three service dogs that she kept in a shopping cart filled with bagged items from the store.
The SNAP changes, she said, would mean more out-of-pocket costs for some items.
“It’s going to affect how much I spend,” she said.
Costner, who dreams of growing sugar cane one day on a farm, said to save money she would seek trades with suppliers at local farmers markets.
SNAP recipients indicated confusion or a lack of awareness in the weeks and months prior to the program’s shift, said Jared Williams, vice president of external affairs at Tarrant Area Food Bank.
“The public is, from our vantage point, largely unaware of these changes,” he added.
Although food bank recipients are not generally on SNAP, Williams said the nonprofit has worked with Feeding Texas to continue spreading awareness of the new restrictions.
A continuous shift
Alongside items that clearly fall within the restrictions — soda, chocolate candy bars and energy drinks — Muntakhabulliqq indicated certain nuts, dried fruit and bars will not be sold to EBT Lone Star customers at his store, which is stocked with an assortment of nuts, including those that are candied.
Such products fall into a gray area that Cole said will be redefined continuously under the state’s direction.
“There’s so many products on the market already and coming out every day,” she added. “It’s really impossible to come up with an exhaustive list.”
Cole said the state will likely not punish retailers in the early months for product sales in that gray area. Officials will mostly be on the lookout for offenders clearly ignoring the new restrictions completely.
Feeding Texas, a statewide hunger relief network that connects nearly two dozen food banks, is part of an ambassador group working with retailers and other stakeholders. The group is operating alongside Texas Health and Human Services officials to oversee the launch of the program.
Along with general concerns on how the program will affect small retailers such as Muntakhabulliqq, Cole said the nonprofit is tracking how purchasing patterns from different SNAP recipient populations change.
She pointed to the diabetic population, which includes Costner, as an example because those people need to maintain glucose levels.
“To what extent that happens and is a problem I don’t know, but it’s the kind of thing — with any significant change like this — that’s important to look out for,” Cole added.
Ismael M. Belkoura is health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org.
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
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