BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - In early September, the USDA approved Louisiana’s request to ban soda, energy drinks, and candy from SNAP benefits. Now, the USDA announced a proposal to double the number of healthy options available through SNAP in the latest Make America Healthy Again push.

Right now, a SNAP provider must stock three varieties of each of the four staple food groups (protein, dairy, grains, and vegetables/fruit). USDA’s new proposal would bump that up to seven varieties for each food group, with at least one variety in at least three food groups that must be perishable.

“Retailers participating in SNAP need to sell real food, plain and simple,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said. “Right now, the bar for stocking food as a SNAP retailer is far too low, allowing people to game t

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