Food Stamps in NYC a No-Coke Currency

Momentum may be building behind a New York City proposal to cross sweetened drinks such as soda off the list of goods that residents can buy with food stamps, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “soda ban,” which still needs federal approval, picked up a high-profile local endorsement this week from the city’s newly elected public advocate, Democrat Bill de Blasio.

Bloomberg himself recently lobbied U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, whose department administers food stamp programs, to approve the two-year pilot program for the nation’s most populous city. New York City under Bloomberg has aggressively limiting smoking in public and more recently chased alcoholic soda.

Opponents are also making the rounds at Agriculture and Congress, saying the ban would punish poor people and put the government in the middle of their dietary choices. Gov. David Paterson supports the ban while Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo hasn’t yet taken sides.