USDA on Tuesday approved Arkansas’ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program waiver to ban soft drinks and candy, but one part of the waiver was not approved.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins signed three states’ waivers to remove candy and soft drinks from the program in Arkansas, Utah, and Idaho during a presser with governors from each state and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Rollins was asked by a member of the media during the presser about whether the Arkansas waiver would allow SNAP users to purchase hot, ready-to-eat rotisserie chickens, since it was not included in the waiver.
“We are working through all of the technicalities of that. That is a significant pivot from before, but obviously getting nutritious foods and the hot rotisserie chickens and others are a major part of that, but we are moving in that direction,” Rollins said.
A spokesperson for Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office told KNWA/FOX24 on Thursday that the governor is continuing to pursue the addition of hot rotisserie chicken to food stamps through a separate waiver and ongoing discussions with the USDA.
