BOISE, ID – Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 109 on Tuesday morning banning candy and soda from the government’s food assistance program.
“Idaho welcomes the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement. It is all about looking for creative ways to improve nutrition and increase exercise, the two main factors that influence overall health. Secretary Kennedy said it so well: we need to take better care of ourselves and each other. He said it is an act of patriotism, and the future of our nation depends on it. Idaho couldn’t agree more,” Little said.
“Thank you, Governor Little for your leadership and commitment to the MAHA movement to ensure taxpayer-funded SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) dollars go to nutritious food, not soda,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said. “I urge all governors to follow Idaho’s lead and submit innovative SNAP waivers to the USDA to reverse the childhood chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again.”
Idaho House Bill 109 requires a federal waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to implement the changes to Idaho’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program, and Governor Little said his administration is committed to securing the waiver as quickly as possible.
“I do recognize the complexities of defining candy and soda, but at the same time this issue is not complex at all. It is actually quite simple: assistance from the government should go toward healthy foods, not foods that cause so many health problems,” Governor Little added.
Little noted that America spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country, with worse health outcomes because of chronic diseases, and the food we eat is at the center of the problem.