Serving Barnwell County and its neighbors since 1852
Recently, Gov. Henry McMaster announced he will seek restrictions for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), our country’s largest food and nutrition assistance program for low-income households.
On the surface, these changes are framed as a push toward healthier eating. In reality, they take away the flexibility families need to feed themselves and make ends meet.
For many South Carolinians, grocery choices are an economic decision, not a nutritional one. SNAP isn’t just a safety net, it’s a lifeline.
Nationally, it served an average of nearly 42 million Americans monthly last fiscal year.
Here in South Carolina, it supported about 580,000 people — over 275,000 households — many in rural communities where grocery options are scarce and food costs are significantly higher.
Beyond limiting junk food purchases, these restrictions create enormous administrative hurdles for grocery stores and state agencies. Retailers would be forced to reprogram checkout systems to flag restricted items, increasing costs and confusion.
Families would bear the brunt, finding out only at the register that a food item they’ve planned, budgeted, and counted on is suddenly not allowed.
Imagine a parent with two children at the store, carefully balancing a cart of groceries for the week. When the cashier scans an item and the system rejects it as “junk food,” that parent has to decide whether to put it back in front of their kids or pay out-of-pocket with money that was already earmarked for rent. These moments don’t just create inconvenience; they strip away dignity.
I recently spoke with child nutrition advocates about the potential junk food restrictions, and they agree the idea is problematic. One advocate thought about her autistic daughter, who would eat only one item for a week straight and nothing else.
And then there’s the question of what counts as “junk food.” Drawing these lines is far more complicated than it sounds.
For example, are sports drinks off-limits but fruit juice, with its high sugar content, acceptable?
Will cereal be judged by the sugar on its label, or by whether it’s marketed as breakfast or a snack?
For families, the end result is the same: frustration, wasted time, and fewer options. In practice, these restrictions could easily backfire, and the timing could not be worse.
With food costs soaring and Congress proposing additional cuts to SNAP, families are already stretching every dollar.
Last month, the average benefit was less than $6.70 per person per day. That cannot realistically cover the cost of a balanced diet.
Since 2020, grocery prices have risen by 25%, meaning those benefits buy less each month.
Restricting food choices under the banner of “healthy eating” sends a damaging message: that low-income families cannot be trusted to make their own decisions.
The truth is that families know how to feed themselves. If Gov. McMaster truly wants to encourage healthy food selection, there are proven strategies that work without taking choice away.
Expanding access to farmers’ markets, investing in grocery stores in rural food deserts, and subsidizing refrigeration costs for low-income households would do far more to improve health outcomes than policing shopping carts.
The real crisis is not that SNAP recipients occasionally buy chips or soda. It’s that so many working families, seniors, people with disabilities, and children in South Carolina are one missed paycheck or unexpected bill away from hunger.
The program already has built-in safeguards to prevent misuse, and fraud rates remain extremely low.
Punishing struggling families by narrowing their choices will only deepen hardship and push more people toward the brink.
Gov. McMaster’s proposed restrictions on “junk food” are especially concerning when coupled with federal changes to the SNAP program that will cut benefits. More cuts could be on the way as Congress debates the farm bill and other government funding proposals.
South Carolina has a choice to make. We can invest in solutions that respect the dignity of our neighbors and address the root causes of food insecurity, or we can pass policies that make it harder for people to survive.
Restricting SNAP purchases under the guise of promoting health does nothing to address the real issues: stagnant wages, rising prices, and the lack of affordable, accessible healthy food.
The families who rely on SNAP are our coworkers, our neighbors, and in many cases, our friends and relatives. They are doing their best in an economy that too often works against them.
They deserve support, not judgment. We cannot push more kids into hunger. Instead of cutting benefits, expand them. Make it easier, not harder, for every family to put food on the table.
Hafeezah is the state manager of Save the Children Action Network, which she joined in June of 2022 with a background in community outreach, family services, and victim advocacy. Hafeezah believes it is a privilege to amplify the voices of children and families in South Carolina. Hafeezah has a bachelor's degree in human services from Southern Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in organizational leadership and management from Capella University.
