USDA Tells Grocery Stores They Can't Give Discounts to People Hit by Trump's Food Stamp Freeze | Common Dreams
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As the Trump administration illegally withholds food assistance from 42 million Americans, it's also telling stores it's against the law for them to provide discounts to those struggling after being robbed of their benefits.

As the Trump administration continued its illegal freeze on food assistance, the US Department of Agriculture sent a warning to grocery stores not to provide discounts to the more than 42 million Americans affected.

Several grocery chains and food delivery apps have announced in recent days that they would provide substantial discounts to those whose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have been delayed. More than 1 in 8 Americans rely on the program, and 39% of them are children.

But on Sunday, Catherine Rampell, an anchor at MSNBC, published an email from the USDA that was sent to grocery stores around the country, telling them they were prohibited from offering special discounts to those at greater risk of food insecurity due to the cuts.

“You must offer eligible foods at the same prices and on the same terms and conditions to SNAP-EBT customers as other customers, except that sales tax cannot be charged on SNAP purchases,” the email said. “You cannot treat SNAP-EBT customers differently from any other customer. Offering discounts or services only to SNAP-eligible customers is a SNAP violation unless you have a SNAP equal treatment waiver.”

  • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    7 days ago

    Always been this way to prevent abuse of the system and customers by grocery stores.

    The email referred to SNAP’s “Equal Treatment Rule,” which prohibits stores from discriminating against SNAP recipients by charging them higher prices or treating them more favorably than other customers by offering them specialized sales or incentives.

    • Doomsider@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      5 days ago

      There is something seriously wrong with this logic.

      Clearly treating SNAP recipients favorably is not abusive. This is to prevent stores from getting an unfair advantage at the cost of a free market. It is essentially a cut out so grocery stores can’t compete for customers only if they are SNAP.

      Probably harkens back to some misinterpretation of the procurement rules.