Governor Greg Abbott today sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins requesting a waiver from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service to prohibit unhealthy foods from being purchased using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. 
 
"SNAP was created to increase access to nutritious food; however, many SNAP purchases are for food with little to no nutritious value," Governor Abbott writes in the letter. "Under the Trump administration, for the first time since the program was authorized, states can take steps to eliminate the opportunity to buy junk food with SNAP benefits and assure that taxpayer dollars are used only to purchase healthy, nutritious food. I look forward to the opportunities this approach will bring to improve the health and quality of life for low-income Texans." 
 
Read the Governor's letter to Secretary Rollins.