It’s been true for a long time. I was a cashier in the late 70’s. Every two weeks or so, a certain man would come through my checkout line with two shopping carts overflowing with nothing but USDA Grade A beef, the best cuts. He’d pay for it all with food stamps. I was making $6.50 an hour, eating lots of mac & cheese and soy burger, and wondering why he was eating a lot better than most of us lowly workers.
I know a guy who in a very down period in his life, took a late night cashier shift at a convenience store. He would always tell me about this one regular customer. The guy would come in all the time to buy the same two items...a quart of milk, and Hustler magazine.
He paid for the milk with food stamps. He then whipped out a $20 to pay for the Hustler.