stop screwing around with soda and candy, if you’re gonna bother, fix this all the way instead of just symbolic fixes ...
[OTOH i’m guessing there’s zero will for a real fix since probably everyone in Congress is bought out by some portion of the food industry]
nonetheless, the only way to stop SNAP from slowly killing people with very-expensive-to-treat chronic diseases is to list the things that they CAN buy, because the list of ineligible junk food is simply too long ...
to start with:
meat and seafood in all forms (excluding added sweetener forms)
all forms of legumes (excluding added sweetener forms)
vegetables and fruits in all forms (excluding added sweetener forms as well as all fruit juice)
all WHOLE grains (excluding added sweetener forms)
milk and milk products in all forms
eggs in all forms
seed flour and corn bread, both risen and flat in all forms (excluding fried forms such as chips as well as all added sweetener forms)
all nuts (excluding added sweetener forms)
cooking oils and fats (excluding semi-synthetic forms such as anything made with hydrogenated oils)
baking supplies and seasonings
I would have to agree with that. Junk food should not be covered by EBT. Luxury foods such as prepared food in the deli, lobster, etc. should also not be eligible. Basic food staples such as milk, bread, meat, cereal, etc. should be covered.
If the purpose of the program is to keep people from starving and provide them adequate food and nutrition on low incomes then that should indeed be the purpose.
He’s not saying they can’t buy soda. Just that they have to use their own money to do it.
They should be able to buy anything they want with their money. They can’t buy coke and Pepsi with our money.
Since the SNAP program is all on computer, the card should be updated (increase and decrease) on a daily basis. This would help people manage their benefits better and not spend most of it on junk once a month.