As we begin 2026 in earnest, it’s a perfect time to resolve to eat better and be healthier in the year ahead.
Many grocery shoppers across the country will be doing so, whether they want to or not.
In five states so far, participants in the SNAP federal food assistance program will no longer be able to use their benefits to purchase unhealthy items like soda and candy. The new restrictions took effect on the first of the year in Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia. More than a dozen other states are planning similar moves in the months to come.
It’s part of an effort by the federal government to “empower states with greater flexibility to manage their programs,” by allowing states to apply for SNAP Food Restriction Waivers. “These waivers are a key step in ensuring that taxpayer dollars provide nutritious options that improve health outcomes within SNAP,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service explains.
In some states, like Utah and West Virginia, only soft drinks are now off-limits. In other states, like Indiana, candy also cannot be purchased with SNAP benefits. And in Florida and Missouri, where new restrictions are due to take effect later this year, “prepared desserts” are on the no-go list as well.
“We are restoring SNAP to its true purpose – nutrition,” Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a recent statement. By applying for waivers, states are “offering solutions that honor the generosity of the taxpayer while helping families live longer, healthier lives.”
If these new restrictions are the “stick” that forces SNAP recipients to eat healthier whether they like it or not, the country’s largest traditional grocery store is looking to provide the “carrot,” a friendlier incentive to make healthier choices.
Kroger has launched what it’s calling a new Verified Savings Program, in which registered SNAP recipients will get a 20% discount on fruits and vegetables. Those savings are only good for the first month of the program; afterwards, participants will get half-off memberships to Kroger’s Boost program, which offers free grocery delivery, extra fuel points and exclusive offers.
“Making fresh food more affordable and equipping more customers with free grocery delivery is an incredible step in expanding food access,” Kroger group vice president of Fresh Merchandising Carlo Baldan said in a statement. “With the launch of the Verified Savings program, we are thrilled to make fruits and vegetables more affordable and eliminate one more barrier to food security in our mission to end hunger.”
But critics warn that making some people healthier could prove costlier for everyone. “Any restrictions on which foods can and cannot be purchased would have to be administered by the retailers themselves,” which “would impose substantial costs on retailers, consumers, regulatory agencies, and the broader economy,” warned a recent report by the National Association of Convenience Stores, National Grocers Association and FMI – The Food Industry Association.
Their report finds that the technology and staffing requirements needed to enforce the new patchwork of state-by-state restrictions could cost the retail industry approximately $1.6 billion. “Ultimately,” the report concludes, “some of the higher costs must be passed onto consumers in the highly-competitive food retailing industry, so consumers stand to ultimately see higher food prices and reduced purchasing power.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argues that any additional costs up front would be a small price to pay in the long run. “We cannot continue a system that forces taxpayers to fund programs that make people sick and then pay a second time to treat the illnesses those very programs help create,” he said.
As these changes begin to take effect, we’ll soon find out whether incentivizing healthy purchases, and discouraging unhealthy ones, will have its intended effect of making us all better off in the year ahead – physically, and financially.
Image source: Kroger
It should not be hard to do. Program the registers to know what is and isn’t allowed (as they already do for items not allowed like alcohol), cashier rings up the order, person pays with card.
Anything that is not covered will show up as a balance due, then the customer can opt to pay for those items with their own funding or just have them taken off the order, as anyone else would if they had items they were unable to pay for.