Photo: Alamy | Analysis by Summer Lane
Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate introduced a bizarrely named bipartisan bill this week aimed at mandating the allowable purchase of a specific food item at the grocery store for those benefiting from the food stamp program in America: hot rotisserie chicken.
Indeed, the “Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act,” introduced by Democrat Sens. John Fetterman (Pa.) and Michael Bennet (Colo.), along with Republican Sens. Shelly Moore Capito (W.V.) and Jim Justice (W.V.), has garnered attention for its silly title.
“America’s best (and delicious) affordability play is Costco’s $4.99 rotisserie chicken,” said Sen. Fetterman in a statement. “It’s one of my family’s favorites and I’m proud to join this bill with Senator Justice for all to try. SNAP funds would be well spent to feed our nation’s families who need it.”
SNAP, or food stamps, is distributed to an average of 41.7 million Americans monthly, according to the USDA, amounting to 12 percent of the U.S. population. Under the Trump administration, the USDA has shifted the parameters of these SNAP programs, allowing states to sovereignly redesign what food items are included.
It’s no secret that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has led the charge on limiting the scope of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to include only healthy food items.
Last summer, the HHS and the USDA joined forces to provide state waivers allowing states to amend the definition of food for purchase on SNAP, aimed at ending the “subsidization of popular types of junk food beginning in 2026.”
“For years, SNAP has used taxpayer dollars to fund soda and candy—products that fuel America’s diabetes and chronic disease epidemics,”said HHS Secretary Kennedy in a statement at the time.
He continued, “These waivers help put real food back at the center of the program and empower states to lead the charge in protecting public health. I thank these governors who have stepped up to request waivers, and I encourage others to follow their lead. This is how we Make America Healthy Again.”
States like Florida, for example, have since taken steps to cut soda, candy, processed desserts, and energy drinks from SNAP benefits, per the Independent. Other states like Arkansas, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, and Louisiana are taking a similar approach in cutting sickly sweet and non-nutritious options from SNAP, in a move that most Americans see as common sense.
Fetterman’s bipartisan legislation would allow SNAP beneficiaries to purchase a “hot” rotisserie chicken. Currently, according to National Chicken Council President Harrison Kircher, SNAP families can purchase cold rotisserie chickens, but not hot ones.
“There is no nutritional difference,” Kircher argued in a statement this week.
He added, “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. Rotisserie chicken – a real food – is the most affordable complete protein in the grocery store. At around $7, it can feed an entire family.”
The legislation would amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to modify the definition of food by adding “hot rotisserie chicken,” according to Sen. Fetterman’s joint statement with his bipartisan colleagues.
“Hot take: putting hot rotisserie chicken on food stamps is common sense,” said Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Ark.) on X. “Arkansas took items like candy and soft drinks off SNAP. Now let’s put healthy, affordable options like hot rotisserie chicken on.”
The “Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act” is a companion to House farm-related legislation introduced by Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark.
