Sib Wylds uses Sour Patch Kids to quickly raise their blood sugar levels when they drop too low as an effect of their diabetes. In five months, the candy will no longer be covered by food stamps under Missouri’s new Healthy SNAP initiative.

Wylds is one of over 614,000 Missourians who are currently enrolled in the state’s Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program, according to the Missouri Department of Social Services. This number includes 20% of all Missouri’s children, according to the Missouri Foundation for Health.

In October 2025, Missouri submitted a waiver to the U.S. Department of Agriculture requesting permission to remove certain junk foods from SNAP eligibility. It was approved in December, along with similar waivers from five other states.

When the changes go into effect in October, SNAP will no longer cover the purchase of candy, prepared desserts, soda and energy drinks.

Part of the justification for the new restrictions is to promote health by alleviating malnutrition, heart disease, obesity-associated cancers and diabetes or pre-diabetes, according to the form submitted to the USDA.

This aligns with proposals of the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again initiative. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy hailed the waiver’s approval as a victory.

But some Missouri SNAP recipients have concerns about the changes going into effect.

“I can’t disagree with the sugar thing,” SNAP recipient Maryam Webster said. “But I also have severe reservations about any incursions on personal freedom by the government. There is nothing that disempowers an individual more than realizing that they have no choice.”

“They’re trying to make decisions for us because there’s this idea that because we’re poor we can’t take care of ourselves or make good decisions,” Wylds said.

Some Missouri lawmakers insist that the new restrictions will not remove choice from grocery shopping for low-income Missourians. Rep. Jamie Gragg, R-Ozark, is the sponsor of HB 2481, a bill that reiterates the SNAP-eligible food changes and passed the House in April.

During House floor debate on April 7, Gragg emphasized SNAP’s “original intent” as a supplementary assistance program, which is not intended to serve as the entire food budget for an individual or family.

“Take the supplement and use this to buy the nutritional portion of your food budget,” Gragg said. “And then, what you have from your budget, buy all the candy and soda pop you want. But the stuff that we’re giving you as help, use that to buy the nutritional portion.”

But for some on SNAP, an additional grocery budget does not exist.

Columbia resident and SNAP recipient Jennifer Layton is on a fixed income, receiving $1,000 a month from the government for disability. By the time she covers the costs of her housing, utilities, medical and other expenses, she says she typically has around $25 a month leftover. She used to place this money in emergency savings, but a recent $900 car repair will eat up any spare funds for the foreseeable future.

The $156 she receives monthly from SNAP is her sole grocery budget, an amount that she says makes it difficult to cover even the essentials.

“It is an insanely low amount of money we consider to be the poverty line in this country to begin with,” Layton said. “So the idea that this is supplemental is not understanding the reality of life underneath the poverty line. This is not supplemental. This is what I have to eat.”

Additionally, fresh foods such as produce and meat are typically more expensive than processed and packaged foods.

“It’s not about people making unhealthy choices because they’re on food stamps,” Layton said. “It is because our food system is broken that the unhealthy foods are cheaper than the healthy food.”

Each year, the USDA produces the Thrifty Food Plan, which analyzes current food prices, consumption patterns, dietary guidance and other factors to estimate the cost of a full healthy diet consisting of nutrient-dense, lower price food and beverage options. The sum they produce is used to set the maximum benefit allotment amount for SNAP.

As of March 2026, the estimated monthly cost of a healthy, balanced diet for a female between the ages of 51 to 70 is $231.70. For a male in the same age group, it is $276.10.

Wylds receives $139 in SNAP benefits per month. Maryam Webster receives $90.

“When you have $150 to last all month, you can’t buy healthy foods,” Layton said. “So many things are out of reach for me. My budget is so tight, I can’t use actual money on food. I have to save it for my housing funds and medical costs, so I am completely dependent on food stamps.”

Opponents of the new changes also worry that restricting the type of food that low income citizens are able to buy is government overreach and strips SNAP recipients of dignity.

Rep. David Tyson Smith, D-Columbia, said in the April 7 House floor debates that he was concerned the government was acting as “big brother” and called the new restrictions “degrading.”

“Living food insecure is such a tenuous place to be,” Layton said. “Financial scarcity is an extremely, extremely heavy burden to carry. And you’re going to take away any moment of joy I might have with some food? How dare you.”