Posted on 01/15/2017 7:12:22 AM PST by Drew68
What do households on food stamps buy at the grocery store?
The answer was largely a mystery until now. The United States Department of Agriculture, which oversees the $74 billion food stamp program called SNAP, has published a detailed report that provides a glimpse into the shopping cart of the typical household that receives food stamps.
The findings show that the No. 1 purchases by SNAP households are soft drinks, which accounted for 5 percent of the dollars they spent on food. The category of ‘sweetened beverages,’ which includes fruit juices, energy drinks and sweetened teas, accounted for almost 10 percent of the dollars they spent on food. “In this sense, SNAP is a multibillion-dollar taxpayer subsidy of the soda industry,” said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. “It’s pretty shocking.”
For years, dozens of cities, states and medical groups have urged changes to SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, to help improve nutrition among the 43 million poorest Americans who receive food stamps. Specifically, they have called for restrictions so that food stamps cannot be used to buy junk food or sugary soft drinks.
But the food and beverage industries have spent millions opposing such measures, and the U.S.D.A. has denied every request, saying that selectively banning certain foods would be unfair to food stamp users and create too much red tape.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
We ate it. Would you rather it be thrown away?
That is a problem but it is more sinister than that; while our safety net provides enough food from the taxpayers to cause obesity/diabetes, the nanny state can’t force the welfare queens to provide a single meal for their “golden ticket welfare bastards” with that food. Many grow up in environments that would lead to the arrest and prosecution of white parents in terms of neglect; the nanny state, with its lower expectations, simply tries to keep young ‘hoodrats out of the home as much as possible.
When schools are offering free lunches (and FREE BREAKFAST in many ghettoes), and keeping the lunch program running throughout the summer, it is time to seriously reduce the foodstamp benefits to the welfare queens. Obviously they are eating the food intended for the children...
And if you were a lobster fisherman, you might wonder why Tyson's chicken gets taxpayer subsidies but not you.
That isn’t the issue here.
Whether we give government assistance to people in need or not is certainly a debatable point, and I side with those who say there is not only too much, but it it ill used and corrupt.
I will say that while I believe the private sector, churches, and citizens should voluntarily shoulder a larger role if they are willing (and as they had at one point in our history) I believe the government has a role as well.
That is completely open to debate, and I understand there are those who say the government should have no role at all, or a bare minimum. I understand those arguments too.
In this discussion, we are not contesting whether people should or shouldn’t get government food assistance.
We are discussing whether certain types of foodstuffs are or should be eligible...do you agree?
In my opinion, if we have agreed to render assistance, we should have a say in how that money is spent by the recipients, not just give them an open checkbook.
If that is the case, that means a recipient of aid shouldn’t be able to use that money to buy candy, cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, caviar, or imported serrano ham. Or lobsters. While those are delicious,
Beef, poultry, dairy and grain have long been considered staples of diet. If we are agreed to give assistance, these should be all that is allowed for the most part.
What are your thoughts on this?
And with technology today, I do not see why this could not be implemented, tight controls on both who has been given the money to spend, and what it is spent on.
Anything else has and is been turned into simple redistribution of wealth, which is where we stand.
I’ve always assumed and actually observed, that they will band together in a household, so it’s several disability checks, EBT cards, kids from different dads getting WIC, and on and on. This is why the welfare queens often have a long term “fiance” but no husband.
Pair all that with free medical care and not paying any taxes, and their standard of living exceeds that of many hard working nuclear families, or retiree households. Infuriating.
So true.
A friend that taught in an urban district here in NJ (the school was 100% black) described the anger of the black teachers about how little was expected of black parents. I guess they felt that if they could work and take care of their families, the ‘hoodrats who weren’t working should be able to take care of their own.
Thanks, LBJ.
I think we’re probably on 4th generation welfare by now.
It worked exactly as he planned; they vote more or less as a bloc - and for the party that enslaved and oppressed them.
If it were me, I’d turn them in.
This is so wrongheaded, I don't know where to begin. Money that has been taken from me and handed to someone else as largesse, someone I don't approve of having it, does not make it theirs. It is public funds at best, and the public has a right in the say of how it is spent.
Its hypocritical to say Moochelle can’t do it but you can. Its her money too. Heck its all of our money. This nation was founded on freedom and that comes with the freedom of choice. Whether we disagree with that choice is utilizing our freedom of speech. Freedom of choice falls in the purview of pursuit of happiness. We choose how we are to be happy through the choices we make. When we start dictating choices because a subgroup of people are on food stamps then we are no betterthan what Moochelle tried to do and failed at.
These people are using public funds for personal use. The public has a right to set the terms. Not the same as what Michelle Obama did.
If it is your money and your choice then change the law,
OK. Sure. Why didn't you tell me that was all I had to do? Abracadabra!! There done. Law changed, right?
In IL, foster families get food stamps regardless of income. Could be something similar.
They do. Don't accept food stamps.
If you don’t want soda as part of food stamps then change the law but don’t judge someone if they are on food stamps.
Of course I judge them. I would be a moron if I didnt.
I am diabetic. I became diabetic through A PILL. Diet soda is worse thing you can drink. Will you judge me if i buy an Ocean Spray grape juice which has more sugar in it than if I were to buy a Mountain Dew?
Diet soda is not a health food, but it is not worse than the regular full calorie, full sugar version. This is a lie people with no discipline over their own pleasure seeking taste buds tell themselves. Drink what you want. But if you use public funds, you will be "judged".
Yup.
Perhaps my memory is faulty but when I was growing up, I seem to remember that food stamps could only be used for certain commodity items, such as milk, bread, cheese, butter, poultry, rice, and produce. I don’t think food stamps were originally used for frozen pizza, Doritos, skittles, soda pop, snack cakes and all that other junk I see filling up shopping carriages, almost always by obese woman in tight sweatsuits. Also, what is up with those motorized carts almost always driven by very obese people? You would think a legitimately handicapped person would already have their own motorized wheelchair or whatever you call them these days.
Excellent idea. Food pantries already exist now for the most part but they are typically run by volunteers. Simply direct the food stamp recipients to the already existing pantries and streamline the choices to the nutritional essentials.
The real reason those classes were eliminated from government-run schools is because the feminists raised holy hell that girls were being instructed on "domestic" chores like baking, sewing and running a household. There are now entire generations of women who have no clue how to properly cook a meal or sew a button on a shirt. On the other hand, there are plenty of men who can't drive a nail into a piece of wood, operate a power tool or even change a tire on a car. Pretty sad state of affairs all around.
If you don’t know by now how to change the law, then you seriously need to take a civics 101 course. It’s people like you that just sit back and let everyone else do the work and you judge them for it. You are no better than the woman buying a soda.
Diet soda is actually worse than regular soda as is some of the so-called juice drinks on the market. If you don’t understand that then you need to do some research on the most common sugar substitute aspartame, followed by stevia and others. Once you find out how these sugar substitutes are processed you will understand if given the choice between regular and diet, regular will always be better for you. You probably think it is okay to eat baked potatoes, corn, beans and rice.
Your answer to my question on Ocean Spray tells me you have no idea about the food and drink you eat. Especially since you think diet soda is better than regular soda. Keep drinking diet soda.
If you “judge’ people and are ignorant, you too will be judged.
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