[Twotone]

I thought they were, at one point in time. And then the rules were loosened.

[Resolute Conservative]

If you are on welfare, why do you get anything but water, some healthy fruit juices, and milk?

[gloryblaze]

I think it is up to the states.

[READINABLUESTATE]

Laundry detergent and baby formula are the same as money in the hood for drug purchases.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“Why wasn’t candy and sugary drinks banned before?”

No kidding. The government should invert it and make only “clean” food eligible for SNAP. Fruit, produce and meat. That’s it. Zero processed food. Nobody would starve.

Better yet, get all the freeloaders off all welfare, SNAP, etc.

[central_va]

1 small victory for common sense.

[bigbob]

Those who listeeen to the Surgeon General nominee know why. Sugar is good for business - first to make people sick and then to treat them - pills for life.

[gloryblaze]

It is tragic that programs like this invariably bloat up and become vote bait.

If people genuinely can’t afford food, everyone agrees it is a good thing to help them out. Then, so what if they want a treat just like we all do?

But - no - it has to get so indulgent that normal people start to resent it.

[lee martell]

So, you’re saying Ranch Doritos and Ruffles Potato Chips are still seen as ‘Food’?

[T.B. Yoits]

Why wasn't candy and sugary drinks banned before?

Because the cashier doesn't know until after everything is rung up that the customer is going to whip out an EBT card. This then forces the cashier to go back through all the bagged items to figure out what is ineligible, all while the customer rages at them.

The customer can walk away, leaving all the items behind, forcing the store to return items of now-questionable integrity back to the shelf, especially meats, while the customer simple goes to another store and tries again.

Sounds like a great idea, with the best of intentions, what could possibly go wrong?

The alternative is to have the EBT card presented beforehand and then have the rejected items flag as they're rung up, leading to multiple confrontations as each gets flagged.

In addition, stores that put up signs in the aisles are playing pretend. Customers move items all the time and someone coming along and picking up an item that has no sign nearby is going to be pissed when the cashier tells them it's not approved for EBT.

Producers do NOT want to label their items "EBT Approved" or "EBT Unapproved", especially since some states have supplemental programs that don't align with Federal requirements. Good luck sorting that out in the system.

Banning items on the same shelves as other items leads unscrupulous vendors to rename the banned items to let them through. Smaller convenience stores in ghetto neighborhoods are notorious for selling alcohol and cigarettes via EBT, programming their register systems to change the identity on the receipts. That pack of cigarettes is now "produce".

[Buffalo Bob]

When I was a boy there was a family in the next town who were on "public relief", and had been for years. This was years after the state of Massachusetts took control of all locally managed public relief efforts and renamed it Welfare and created a huge Bureaucracy to manage it. Welfare shortly became generational.

Things were very different when the towns each managed their own public relief effort. Relief was for a limited time. Just long enough to get a family back on its feet. It was a hand UP not a hand OUT. Each town had a board made up of volunteer citizens who managed the effort.

There were strict rules. No alcohol or tobacco products allowed. Only raw food items (unprocessed) to be purchased to make meals. No candy. A garden was a requirement. The father must obtain and hold a job(s) with sufficient salary to care for his family.

The citizens board visited each public relief family regularly and unannounced to ensure compliance. Once a family was on its feet, they paid pack the town for their public relief costs, although only a portion - so as not bankrupt the family.

Public relief had been very successful for many generations when it was managed locally - but became a disaster after the State took control. The family I mentioned at the start always had food even when regular working-folks did not. They always had a better car than most townspeople.

We drove past their home and saw the father and several family members sitting on their asses smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol - day after day. By this point the family was on their 2nd generation of welfare, with more babies coming.

My mother was disgusted with the outcome.

[Chickensoup]

Lobbyists

[rdcbn1]

SNAP has mutated to transform the welfare system into a permanent government dependent life style. The money put into the SNAP program is astronomical and every business in America wants to get a piece of the action so everyone form Walmart, McDonalds, Jack In The Box, 7/11 lobby Congress to get as many of their their products put on the SNAP as possible.

The surest sign that your neighborhood is about to be destroyed is when the local stores start putting EBT Cards accepted here signs of the doors.

We need to start enforcing the welfare reform provisions that Obama suspended when he took office.

[eyeamok]

they were along with a whole lot of other stuff back when you had to use Coupons, you know Food Stamps...

[lastchance]

I believe allowing such junk foods was based on lobbying by certain agricultural interests.

[Alberta's Child]

SNAP isn’t designed to feed people healthy food.

It’s designed to subsidize Walmart and the big grocery store chains.

[Bigg Red]

Why weren’t they banned before? I suspect that it’s because of the powerful lobbying of the junk-food producers.

[Organic Panic]

Follow the money.