My thoughts on Utah Code Title 35A, Chapter 17
I have to be honest — I’m really upset about this new Utah law: Utah food stamp law soda restrictions, which lets the state decide what people can and can’t buy with their food stamps. According to Utah Code Title 35A, Chapter 17, lawmakers now have the power to say certain items, like soda, might not be “acceptable” to purchase with SNAP benefits.
That just doesn’t sit right with me.
It’s frustrating to see our legislators making decisions about what struggling families are “allowed” to eat or drink, as if they can’t be trusted to make their own choices. Life is hard enough when you’re trying to stretch a food budget, and now the state wants to tell people what kind of drink they can have with dinner? It feels wrong.
People who rely on food stamps already deal with enough judgment and stigma. They shouldn’t have to be told that a simple treat — like a soda — is off limits because someone in the legislature thinks it’s not healthy enough. This isn’t about promoting better nutrition. It’s about control, and it takes away people’s dignity.
If lawmakers really cared about helping families eat better, they’d focus on making fresh, healthy food more affordable and accessible — not by punishing people for buying the “wrong” thing.
Food is personal. It’s comfort. It’s culture. It’s choice.
And everyone, no matter their income, deserves that basic right to choose what’s on their own table.
This law feels like one more way to shame people instead of supporting them. I just don’t think that’s the kind of community we should be building here in Utah.
Petition for change: Utah food stamp law soda restrictions
Sign this petition if you believe our lawmakers went too far.