[o_zarkman44]

Now that is an idea worth considering. I often see food stamps buying more soda than I can afford.

[ncfool]

Is that on Michelle Obummers list for Obesity! It should be. Soda is nothing but wasted calories and should be banned from food stamp as should twinkies.

[GeronL]

Where will it stop? No cereal? No boxed or canned foods? Fresh fruit, veggies and bagged beans only?

Food police

[dasboot]

Well if that’s a good idea, here’s a better one:

1 fresh and dried fruit, and nuts

2 fresh veggies

3 unprocessed, packaged fresh or frozen meats

4 loaves of fresh bread

Nothing else.

[MrB]

That’s the insidious nature of having someone else in charge of paying for your “needs”...

not only do THEY get to control what you can have,
it makes people like you and me tend to justify that control
because we don’t approve of what it’s being spent on.

Same with healthcare control.

[cricket]

No mention of banning 'soda' only 'caloric' soda - as if sugar is worse than artificial sweeteners.

NO. ..just get the Gov out of the 'food line'. These kind of 'good intentions' lead to hell. We know that.

[ilovesarah2012]

That isn’t the point. The point is the government will control what people eat. Are you really okay with that?

[GailA]

Add cookies, chips, and candy to the list, and go back to the old food stamp coupons with NO CASH BACK! They swipe their cards when they purchase food and get $20 in cash, then turn around and buy cigs, beer, and lottery tickets with the money.

[kingu]

Soda pop bans? Better to ban public schools, since each family who joins the food stamp program also gets free lunches at school. Go take a look at the offerings - it is a horror fest including that yummy strawberry milk with twice the sugars as the sodas they've banned from school grounds. Breakfast will be syrup soaked pancakes wrapped around sausage links and served with butter. Lunch is PIZZA DAY with a side of french fries.

I'm a teach a man to fish kinda guy. Offer real cooking classes for food stamp participants, show people how to make reasonable cooking decisions, so they don't have to rely upon those red box Banquet obesity meals, processed lunchables, and hamburger fatso helper. Many of our young families have no clue how to roast a chicken, steam vegetables, or even how to turn a head of lettuce into a salad.

[GreenStreak]

Now that is an idea worth considering. I often see food stamps buying more soda than I can afford.

Feel good legislation never works.

[ziravan]

We should end the program, but IF we keep it, then it should be exactly limited like W-I-C:

From WIC website:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/WIC-Fact-Sheet.pdf

“WIC foods include infant cereal, iron-fortified adult cereal, vitamin C-rich fruit or vegetable juice, eggs, milk, cheese, peanut butter, dried and canned beans/peas, and canned fish. Soy-based beverages, tofu, fruits and vegetables, baby foods, whole wheat bread, and other whole-grain options were recently added to better meet the nutritional needs of WIC participants.”

The PROBLEM of course is that by far the largest beneficiary of food stamps is Coca-Cola, Frito Lay, et. al. As such, there is a major lobby arm in Washington to ensure that those eating off your dime have more choices than you do.