What to know about the 'Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act' for SNAP recipients
SNAP recipients are currently unable to purchase hot foods with their benefits.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation that would allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients to purchase hot rotisserie chickens with their benefits.
SNAP recipients are currently only able to buy cooked rotisserie chickens once they have been cooled down. Existing SNAP guidance limits recipients to purchasing "staple foods" that are intended for home preparation and consumption, automatically excluding any hot prepared food items like rotisserie chicken, according to the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service.
The bill, introduced Tuesday and dubbed the "Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act," would update the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to add "hot rotisserie chicken" to the definition of SNAP-eligible food.
As proposed, the bill would not increase SNAP funding, expand eligibility, or allow purchases of other hot foods, according to a press release, and would apply only to eligible retailers.
"America's best (and delicious) affordability play is Costco's $4.99 rotisserie chicken," Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, one of the bill's sponsors, said in a statement introducing the bill on Wednesday. "It's one of my family's favorites and I'm proud to join this bill with Senator [Jim] Justice for all to try. SNAP funds would be well spent to feed our nation's families who need it."
Fetterman joined Republican Sens. Jim Justice and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado to introduce the bill, which Justice said would make it easier for families to put meals on the table.
"Allowing folks on SNAP to buy hot rotisserie chickens is truly just commonsense," Justice said. "It's as basic as you can get to help busy parents or grandparents put something as simple as this on the table to feed their families. We have to give people the option to put a healthy, protein-dense choice on the table that actually tastes good and doesn't take an hour and a half to cook."
Capito said the proposal reflects the realities faced by many SNAP recipients, calling it "a simple, practical step to make the program work better for the people it serves."
"For seniors, working families, and those without reliable access to cooking equipment, this is about convenience and dignity," she added.
Bennet said the legislation would remove an "unnecessary barrier" for families and help them "get a quick, nutritious meal when they need it."
"Congress should be making it easier, not harder, for families to put food on the table," he said in a statement.
Under current law, grocery stores must cool cooked rotisserie chickens to comply with SNAP rules, which National Chicken Council president Harrison Kircher described as a waste of energy that also reduces food quality.
"Right now, a SNAP family can buy a cold rotisserie chicken -- but the moment it's hot, it's off limits," Kircher said in a statement. "There is no nutritional difference. There is no logical difference. There is only an outdated technicality that forces grocery stores to heat chickens and cool them back down just to comply, wasting energy, degrading quality, and adding cost."
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