Summary
SNAP recipients, healthcare professionals, retailers, and anti-hunger advocates from across Colorado testified today in overwhelming opposition to the proposed Colorado SNAP ‘Healthy Choice’ Waiver during the first public hearing before the Colorado State Board of Human Services.
DENVER, CO —SNAP recipients, healthcare professionals, retailers, and anti-hunger advocates from across Colorado testified today in overwhelming opposition to the proposed Colorado SNAP ‘Healthy Choice’ Waiver during the first public hearing before the Colorado State Board of Human Services. If passed, the waiver would restrict the purchase of sweetened beverages with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits beginning April 30, 2026.
The proposed SNAP Restrictions Waiver is part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) demonstration project under which states can choose to submit waiver requests to modify the federal definition of “eligible food” that SNAP participants can purchase. The Polis administration originally submitted a package of three waivers to the USDA to modify the Colorado SNAP program by restricting the purchase of sweetened beverages, expanding SNAP to include hot and ready foods, and allowing retailers at farmers markets to accept SNAP. Of the three waivers, the proposed SNAP restriction prohibiting the purchase of sweetened beverages is the only waiver to receive approval from the USDA.
Today’s hearing marked the first step in the state rulemaking process.The State Board will hold a final public hearing and take a vote on the proposed rule on March 6, 2026.
Community members who rely on SNAP shared how the proposed restrictions would affect their daily lives and ability to feed their families. “As the primary caregiver for my four-year-old grandson, I do everything I can to give him stability and a healthy start especially when it comes to food,” shared a SNAP participant. “If these SNAP restrictions are approved, it would change how we shop and how my grandson experiences the world. There’s no way to explain to a four-year-old why the rules are different for him. These restrictions will make kids whose families use SNAP feel different and singled out. It’s painful to have to tell your child that you can’t buy what other families can and wrong to have one set of rules for families who use SNAP and a different set for everyone else.”
“SNAP is the nation’s most effective anti-hunger program because it is built on trust,” said Mariah Guerrero, Senior Public Policy Manager at Hunger Free Colorado. “At a time when SNAP is facing ongoing threats at the federal level, it’s more important than ever that we keep the program strong, stable, and reliable for the families who depend on it. Restricting what people can buy undermines that trust, adds stigma, and fails to address the real barriers families face in accessing healthy food.”
Restricting Choice Does Not Improve Health
Healthcare professionals and advocates highlighted that improving health outcomes requires expanding access—not adding restrictions.
Dr. Lunsford, Graduate Director for the Department of Nutrition at MSU Denver shared concerns, “There is a severe cost to the shame and stigma this restriction will create, with no clear benefits for participants. There is neither compelling nor sufficient evidence that limiting SNAP purchases improves health outcomes. Moving forward with a drastic public health policy change, without any substantive evidence to suggest improved outcomes is not only unethical, but also dangerous and shortsighted.”
Family Medicine Physician Dr. Bela Mohapatra, who has practiced in the state for nine years, also testified, emphasizing that, “As a physician, I’m guided by the principle of do no harm, adding restrictions does,” she said. “While I believe that this effort is well intended, it’s unfair that SNAP participants are being singled out, despite evidence that SNAP and non-SNAP households have similar purchasing patterns. That is not equity. Shame is not an effective method for behavior change or health promotion.”
“I am a type 1 diabetic, hispanic mother, and a SNAP recipient and I rely on SNAP benefits to purchase beverages to help me when my sugar is low.” Testified Nieves Aragon, Young Invincibles Engagement Fellow. “For many families like mine, items like this are not luxuries, they are affordable, familiar, and sometimes medically necessary. I rely on a simple box of juice to keep my glucose levels up, but if this is passed I will not be able to afford to buy these to regulate my glucose.”
Policies that limit SNAP purchasing choices are rooted in a false and harmful narrative—that low-income people cannot be trusted to make responsible decisions. Evidence consistently shows that SNAP participants’ purchasing patterns are similar to non-SNAP households. What they lack is not good judgment, but access to affordable, healthy options.
Research also finds that restricting SNAP purchases has not been shown to meaningfully improve diet quality or health outcomes. Instead, these policies make using benefits more confusing and stigmatizing at the checkout line, while failing to address the underlying drivers of diet-related health disparities, such as high food prices, limited transportation, and a lack of nearby grocery stores.
New Costs and Red Tape Threaten Food Access Across Colorado
Testimony also raised concerns about the administrative and financial burdens the waiver would impose on retailers. If the proposal moves forward, stores would be required to update point-of-sale systems, train staff, and continuously track product eligibility—costs that could be especially difficult for small, rural, and independent grocers to absorb.
“Large grocery chains can absorb these costs. Independent and rural retailers often cannot, placing disproportionate burdens on stores that are essential to food access in many communities,” testified Anjali Prasertong, a Registered Dietician and SNAP Electronic Incentives Manager with Nourish Colorado.
“The “Healthy Choice Waiver” is misleading. It provides neither healthy food nor a choice; it simply creates another barrier,” shared Madi Zuniga-Rubio, a community navigator in the Western Slope. “Our region is defined by rural ‘food deserts.’ Grocery shopping in Northwest Colorado is already a logistical hurdle with few SNAP-authorized retailers. Restricting choices and piling administrative work onto our few local retailers will not increase access to nutrition.”
Small and rural retailers play a critical role in communities that already lack access to large grocery stores. Fewer SNAP-authorized retailers would mean longer travel distances, fewer food choices, and increased food insecurity for families across Colorado—particularly in rural areas and underserved urban neighborhoods.
“Daily life is different for communities living in the mountains like mine,” shared Judith Alvarez, Project Director at Safe and Abundant Nutrition Alliance (SANA) in Glenwood Springs. “We face a limited number of stores offering SNAP in our area, a higher cost of living and inflated prices for fresh food. If we truly want to support people in making healthier decisions, we need to expand access to these foods and education, as public health leaders in my county are already doing through education at public libraries with local nutrition leaders and community members on topics like nutrition. Health is promoted through information, support, and moderation, not with restrictions aimed only at those with fewer resources.”
A Better Path Forward: Expand Access, Not Restrictions
At a time when SNAP is already facing serious threats at the federal level, Colorado should be strengthening—not restricting—this essential program. There are proven, evidence-based strategies that improve nutrition without limiting choice, including:
- Expanding nutrition incentive programs that empower rather than restrict like Double Up Food Bucks, which match SNAP dollars spent on fruits and vegetables at farmers markets, grocery stores, and local food outlets;
- Investing in culturally relevant nutrition education led by trusted community organizations;
- Addressing systemic barriers such as transportation challenges and the lack of healthy food retailers in underserved communities.
“SNAP works best when it gives families the flexibility and support they need to make food choices that work for their lives, while also supporting the local retailers they depend on. Restricting what people can buy doesn’t lower food costs or improve access to healthy food, investing in nutrition incentives and nutrition education does.” Shared Daysi Sweaney, Director of Nutrition Incentives with Nourish Colorado. “These proven, evidence based strategies help families stretch limited dollars, bring more customers to grocery stores and farmers, and strengthen local food systems and communities.”
Hunger Free Colorado, Provecho Collective, and Nourish Colorado also submitted a formal letter in opposition to the proposal that leveraged data-driven research as well as statements from SNAP participants across the state. This hearing marks the beginning of the state decision-making process and continued community engagement will be essential as the proposal moves forward to the second and final hearing on March 6, 2026.
“We stand with the people who use SNAP every day and the communities that depend on it,” said Dayana Leyva, Senior Policy and Advocacy Manager, Provecho Collective. “Colorado deserves a food assistance program guided by evidence and shaped by the voices of those most impacted—one that supports health, dignity, and access for all.”
For a deeper analysis of why SNAP restrictions are ineffective—and what works instead—read the March 2025 white paper, Protecting Food Choice in the Free State of Colorado, from Provecho Collective, formerly known as the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger.