Posted on 10/30/2025 10:38:36 AM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
“We would not eat.”
That is how disabled U.S. Navy veteran Juan Saro described a life without the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP…About 1.2 million veterans are enrolled now, according to the National Council on Aging. More than 20,000 military families, 213,000 National Guard and Reserve members, and more than 1 million veterans, rely on such benefits, according to Veteran.com.
Saro survived a brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his time in the Navy. He later worked as a sixth-grade teacher. But COVID-related health problems made it impossible to stay in the classroom.
The veteran now lives on fixed disability payments from the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA). By mid-month, the money runs out. Food runs out. SNAP becomes the difference between dinner and nothing at all.
“SNAP is everything,” Saro told Military.com. “Without SNAP, we would go hungry. We would not eat. We would not have food on the table. The boys would not have what they need.”
Saro said he once opened his refrigerator and saw one onion. He tried to stretch food for as long as possible.
Experts say that many veterans who qualify never apply, even though age, disability and fixed incomes put them at higher risks for hunger.
“I try not to let them see the struggle," Saro said. "They lost their mother. I want them to focus on school. I want their lives to feel normal.”
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
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And why do our soldiers get poverty pay such that they need this? That’s the real scandal.
Confusing article since Social Security payments, SSI, and VA disability payments are not affected during the shutdown. SNAP certainly is affected.
I have no problem whatsoever funding these families. We should move these expenditures
into “Veteran’s benefits” and make them “essential” ........not subject to a govt shutdown.
Amen.
I thought military pay had been increased to the point where military families did not need to rely on food stamps and other public relief to live. If not, it should be.
Read an article today from Freighwaves, that Trump’s English-proficiency and testing requirements for foreign truck drivers could remove up to 600,000
“non domiciled commercial drivers license” (ie. illegal migrants given licenses) from the total driver pool - that’s as much as 17% of all truck drivers in the USA.
So just to understand - we have 42 million SNAP receivers in the USA
But we have 600K illegals - in just one industry, trucking - suppressing wages and taking jobs.
Who benefits from this absurd arrangement, the social chaos, and the massive government debt being created????
Nobody wants to live on rice and beans for long, but in an emergency Walmart sells a 20 pound bag of rice for $11.14 and a 20 pound bag of Pinto beans for $14.94.
Walmart peanut butter,2-4 pound jars $12.94 and 4-30 ounce jars of jelly for $9.84 and 6 loaves of bread for $8.52, 4-42 ounce boxes of oatmeal for $16.72, 8 pounds of sugar for $6.14.
For $80.14 one has a base survival food box that kids or any adult will choke down for a few weeks, consisting of 2-4 pound jars of peanut butter, 4-30 ounce jars of jelly, 6 loaves of bread, 20 pounds of rice, and 20 pounds of pinto beans, 11 pounds of oatmeal and 8 pounds of sugar.
Throw in what one has at home and a few dollars to flesh out that survival diet, and a woman and a couple of kids, or a couple, can hang on while this sorts itself out.
Thinking people can do much better than this basic Walmart example, but this list would work for even simple minded households.
Thank you for posting this. Not everyone on SNAP is defrauding the system. Some good people really do need it.
Perhaps. Perhaps not. Not enough info provided. That’s all I’m asking for. More info. I’m not heartless
Just skeptical. I don’t appreciate my heartstrings being played like a fiddle. Which is what I suspect is happening.
I got married in 72 and qualified for food stamps but wouldn’t take them, but I did collect C-rations from when we went out in the field, some intact boxes but mostly what the other guys wouldn’t eat, ny teen wife was not impressed and I couldn’t help but notice that while C-rations were OK when one is living outdoors and working hard and eating out of the can, they taste pretty bad when sitting in a carpeted living room and put on a plate.
My November VA check is already in the bank.
However the majority group of curmudgeons would deny all such aid to everybody because it would save a lot of money and make them even more smug indeed.
Soldiers who put their lives on the line should not be forced to ration as though they were on a battlefield — by the very politicians sending them off into war in the first place, who I assure you, are NOT rationing themselves. And nor are their families.
I am assuming you do not know many vets, or disabled vets. Putting aside food: I know a dear elderly gentleman who continues to wait years on the V.A. (Dept of Veterans Affairs) for surgery! It’s horrible how they are treated. And way too many end up on the streets homeless or end their own lives.
Well, he’s suffered a brain injury, and he says his boys ‘lost their mother’; so I’d tend to believe that he’s got his hands full financially.
Some people actually do honestly need these subsidies.
Freeper @DesertRhino noted the following yesterday:
We barely count the billions we give to any deadbeat foreigner with their hands out. Argentina, Israel, Ukraine, Pakistan, the other Stans, etc.
Then of course, big tech, pharma, Palantir, the “too big to fail banks” etc...
But if something directly benefits some poor working class schlub, a veteran, or a kid coming out of foster care... DC draws a hard line and stands firm to stop that crap!
And to think we would fight over the lima beans and ham. After a while we called them ‘ham and motherfuckers. There was one guy who would collect plants and cook this shit up in his helmut. UnGodly stuff, but he was from West Virgina, so we took that into account.
Eliminate illegals. Eliminate luxury items soda and Halloween type candy. How about baby diapers they are not covered.
Ideally soldiers wouldn’t be allowed to marry until they become an NCO or during their second enlistment.
The ideal military would be similar in many ways to the French Foreign Legion.
>> Confusing article
virtually every trade mag has been infected by the Left including this one
I compare this to all those handicapped parking spots I see in front of stores. Sure, there are some people who are truly handicapped to the point where the spots are beneficial but my spidey senses tell me most (notice I said MOST) people who use them don't truly need them. Yes, yes, I acknowledge that they do make things more convenient for people who are less ambulatory than an Olympic athlete but I suspect a lot of those people could actually benefit from a little walk.
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