|Photo by Tom Markland| Gov. Patrick Morrisey, flanked by more than a dozen students at St. Joseph, as well as Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., signs a letter of intent for West Virginia to file multiple SNAP waivers with the federal government.

MARTINSBURG – Following the passing of a bill by the West Virginia Legislature banning several food dyes from schools and stores, Gov. Patrick Morrisey recently announced changes to the state’s SNAP program, also known as food stamps, along with his plan to make the state healthier, during a press conference at Saint Joseph School in Martinsburg.

United States Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Morrisey in the presentation, saying West Virginia would lead the way in his push to make America healthy again. West Virginia is the first state in the nation to pass any sweeping ban of seven different food dyes, as well as two preservatives, which proponents of the bill say will help improve health outcomes across the state.

Dozens of Saint Joseph School students and their parents were in attendance. The Rev. Thomas Gallagher, pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Church, said it was a great honor for the school to host Friday’s event.

The push to make West Virginia a healthier state has been at the forefront of state politics for some time now, with the state ranking 50th in life expectancy in 2020, leading the country in rates of diabetes and heart disease.

“That’s the bad news, but we have good news,” Morrisey said. “We have the power to change it.”

To that end, Morrisey said his administration is working to realign SNAP so that healthy food choices are easier to make for low-income Americans who are on the plan. He announced that he would be requesting a SNAP waiver from the federal government to no longer have taxpayer-subsidized soda as an entitlement under SNAP.

He also announced that to incentivize West Virginians to return to the workforce, he would be expanding work, training and educational requirements for SNAP recipients. Currently, to receive SNAP benefits, able-bodied adults without dependents ages 18 to 54 are required to work or train for 80 hours a month in order to receive SNAP benefits.

“You see, SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” Morrisey said. “The N stands for nutrition, not for nonsense.”

West Virginia currently ranks 51st in the nation in labor force participation, with 54.5% of the population working.

Morrisey said he’s also planning on incentivizing healthy food choices, expanding access to them in all 55 counties. His plan, dubbed the “Four Pillars of a Healthy West Virginia,” centers around cleaning up the state’s food, beginning with the ban on food dyes. It also works to help West Virginians find a purpose and return to the workforce and incentivize healthy food choices. He’s also asking every West Virginian to get out and walk at least a mile every day, a challenge that he’s calling the Mountaineer Mile.

Morrisey said he’s planning on leading by example, making an effort to clean up his own food and exercise habits first, with Kennedy as his personal trainer.

“I’m going to do my best, my personal best, to make the hard choices to get healthy,” Morrisey said. “I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve not always made the best food and exercise decisions in my life, but I will do my best to get better.”

Kennedy said he’s excited to be Morrisey’s personal trainer, saying he would put him on a “carnivore diet” and a rigorous exercise regimen. He asked the audience if they’d like to see Morrisey do a public weigh-in once a month to track his progress.

“When he’s lost 30 pounds, I’m going to come back and do a celebration in a public way,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy said he’s glad West Virginia is leading the charge to make America healthy again, with the state having the highest obesity rate in the country, recently pulling ahead of Mississippi as the highest rate of chronic disease in the country.

“Today, we’re the sickest we’ve ever been,” Kennedy said. “Sixty percent of Americans, from 3% when my uncle was president, have chronic disease, and it’s not happening in other countries.”

Kennedy and Morrisey said they’ve already heard pushback from “big food” and “big drink” lobbyists, who argue that the bans on dyes and buying soda with SNAP will just raise prices for everyday Americans.

“These companies are now just like the tobacco companies were – are flooding into the offices of your state leaders and legislatures and the governor, and they’re telling him he’s making a big mistake,” Kennedy said.

To end the conference, Morrisey, flanked by more than a dozen students, signed a letter of intent for West Virginia to file multiple SNAP waivers to the federal government to make their changes.