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Too much of too little [Food stamps fuel poor diet, illness]
New York Times ^ | November 9, 2013 | Eli Saslow

Posted on 11/10/2013 4:30:29 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

McAllen, Tex. — They were already running late for a doctor’s appointment, but first the Salas family hurried into their kitchen for another breakfast paid for by the federal government. The 4-year-old grabbed a bag of cheddar-flavored potato chips and a granola bar. The 9-year-old filled a bowl with sugary cereal and then gulped down chocolate milk. Their mother, Blanca, arrived at the refrigerator and reached into the drawer where she stored the insulin needed to treat her diabetes. She filled a needle with fluid and injected it into her stomach with a practiced jab.

“Let’s go,” she told the children, rushing them out of the kitchen and into the car. “We can stop for snacks on our way home.”

The family checkup had been scheduled at the insistence of a school nurse, who wanted the Salas family to address two concerns: They were suffering from both a shortage of nutritious food and a diet of excess — paradoxical problems that have become increasingly interconnected in the United States, and especially in South Texas.

For almost a decade, Blanca had supported her five children by stretching $430 in monthly food stamp benefits, adding lard to thicken her refried beans and buying instant soup by the case at a nearby dollar store. She shopped for “quantity over quality,” she said, aiming to fill a grocery cart for $100 or less.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government
KEYWORDS: education; foodstamps; nutrition; obesity
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Should government really be in the position of telling adults what to eat?

Remember, I don't think the government should tell adults what to eat. It's the libtards like Bloomberg and Moosechelle that do. But I don't have a problem with telling adults how they can spend the money we taxpayers give them.

And if so, who would be trusted to sort through the 40,000 items sold in a typical grocery store and divide healthy from unhealthy?

We have federal agencies such as the FDC and the Department of Agriculture that have the expertise, and willing accomplices such as Mikey and Moosechelle who are nanny-staters and would love the opportunity.

If energy drinks were banned, why not also ban canned iced coffee that has twice the caffeine and triple the sugar? Or Sunny D fruit drink? Or Gatorade? Or fruit punch?

An opportunity for food manufacturers to lobby their government to get their items on the approved list. Hey, libs, another opportunity to extort campaign money!

And once every product had been rated and sorted, what if some grocery stores decided it was easier not to accept food stamps at all?

There's already a short list of what is and is not eligible for food stamps. You can't buy alcohol, cigarettes, or non-food items such as diapers. Maybe manufacturers will start with a "WIC Approved" package label.

Or what if food-stamp recipients felt too stigmatized to shop?

Then they go hungry.

61 posted on 11/10/2013 6:19:06 AM PST by Yo-Yo
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To: JRandomFreeper

She left out the corn tortillas.

Corn and beans cross link to protein. the non transfat lard then augments the mix.

The diet is healthy except for the junk food component.

When TransFats are outlawed, we will all be eating more lard, just like our ancestors


62 posted on 11/10/2013 6:19:38 AM PST by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 ..... Travon... Felony assault and battery hate crime)
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To: EricT.

Well, I take umbrage that WE are the problem. The money for this is stolen from us at the point of a gun. We just haven’t gotten to the point of pointing ours back at them.


63 posted on 11/10/2013 6:25:14 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: bert
There isn't anything wrong with lard. I use it a lot.

The problem with the lady in the article is that she's lazy. I spent an average of about $30/month at the grocery store last quarter. I actually have to plan meals and cook. I also garden for part of my diet. That takes effort that the giveme crowd won't put out.

Breakfast this morning is smoked feral pork, eggs from the chickens, and potatoes from the garden. Salsa to go with the eggs is also from the garden.

I didn't spend much money on breakfast, but I did put some effort into it.

/johnny

64 posted on 11/10/2013 6:26:09 AM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

“-————— why not also ban canned iced coffee that has twice the caffeine and triple the sugar?”

I didn’t know that iced coffee came in cans. Sounds ghastly.

We really do learn something every day. :-)

.


65 posted on 11/10/2013 6:38:47 AM PST by Mears (Liberalism is the art of being easily offended.)
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To: Mears
It's found next to the canned wine. ;)

/johnny

66 posted on 11/10/2013 6:42:46 AM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: randita

Exactly.


67 posted on 11/10/2013 6:45:12 AM PST by 9YearLurker
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To: ConservativeInPA

Yummy!! And exactly!
Betcha a dime to a doughnut that it wouldn’t interest the people in this posted article, because #1, they are used to eating junk and are hooked on sugar, salt, and chemicals; #2, they don’t want to take the time or trouble to shop for and make something like that (never mind what they do with their time); #3, they may not even know how to make it (never been taught) or have the cooking tools...I guess the list of excuses could go on & on...but one thing I do know, it’s NOT THE GOVERNMENT’S FAULT & it’s NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE “POOR.”

Another way to cut down on expenses is to make your own laundry detergent, toothpaste, cleaning stuff. I do; the recipe for the laundry detergent makes so much that I can share it & recipe to help others, plus helps give more money for food.


68 posted on 11/10/2013 6:48:38 AM PST by TurkeyLurkey
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
“Can I still eat hot Cheetos?” Antonio asked. “Just one bag a day?”
“Not anymore,” the doctor said.
“One a week?”
“No.”

So in this short sentence we find that one kid is currently eating at least one bag of chips a day. The cheapest little bag of chips in Chicago is 98 cents. So one kid alone is using up at least $30 worth of chips a month. And then they complain about not having enough money for food? Also Chocolate milk, I've never seen anywhere that Chocolate is cheaper than 2%. Sorry not feeling sorry.

69 posted on 11/10/2013 6:50:12 AM PST by sharkhawk (Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

No one is telling a damn soul what or what not to eat.

If you want to eat junk food, YOU pay for it. And if they are so ‘stigmatized’ GET A JOB.


70 posted on 11/10/2013 6:53:28 AM PST by Cowgirl of Justice
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To: randita

Same with Hubby and me. Empty nesters, plenty of money to eat more or less whatever we want. We eat every meal at home all week except one. Every meal is cooked and we have very little pre packaged anything. I just don’t like the taste of them. Doesn’t take long to put together a good meal. Thing is our grocery bill has gone way up in the last 5 years. The cost of all food has gone way up.


71 posted on 11/10/2013 6:55:15 AM PST by sheana
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To: snappahead

You have a good eye.

Universal healthcare has set deep roots in public education.


72 posted on 11/10/2013 6:56:21 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: sharkhawk

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.


Kids raised on diets of junk food are destined to end up just like the mom in this article because it’s all they know.


73 posted on 11/10/2013 7:02:11 AM PST by randita
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To: TurkeyLurkey
#3, they may not even know how to make it (never been taught) or have the cooking tools...I guess the list of excuses could go on & on...

This has a lot to do with the breakdown of families. I learned to cook from my parents, and I watch cooking shows on TV. Shortly after getting married to my wife some 23 years ago her grandmother gave us a used All-American pressure canner. At this moment, last night's soup is on the stove heating up in preparation to be canned. One day, the canner will be passed on to my children.

74 posted on 11/10/2013 7:15:45 AM PST by ConservativeInPA (Molon Labe - shall not be questioned)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
1. This is a new meme I see being introduced. Poverty in Texas. They had to travel allll the way to Texas to find stupid and fat. Cause it is really in shortage in NY/NJ

2. If you are eating cheetos from the bag with fake cheese sauce from convenience stores you really are too stupid to live.

3. Some ethnicities seems to really have genetic predisposition to lifestyle induced health problems. It does not take sitting in a classroom to figure out you should not eat potato chips for breakfast. Clearly some peoples have some problems with impulse control and life management. So, let's import more!

75 posted on 11/10/2013 7:20:52 AM PST by riri (Plannedopolis-look it up. It's how the elites plan for US to live.)
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To: ConservativeInPA

“No father ... five children. Do food stamps contribute do the decline of families?
To be very blunt, this welfare wench needs to learn to cross her legs.”

May I suggest a few minor corrections to the above?

No father ... five bastards. Do food stamps contribute do the decline of families?
To be very blunt, this welfare sow feeding at the Government Trough needs to be deported back to the “Hispanic Society” which spawned her.


76 posted on 11/10/2013 7:30:03 AM PST by GladesGuru (Islam Delenda Est - Because of what Islam is and because of what Muslims do.)
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To: tuffydoodle

My grandmother cooked with lard. Good stuff.


77 posted on 11/10/2013 7:30:27 AM PST by Lurkina.n.Learnin (If global warming exists I hope it is strong enough to reverse the Big Government snowball)
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To: ConservativeInPA

Millions of us in this country are blessed this way and should be passing it on to our kids and grandkids; yes, it does have a lot to do with the breakdown of families and other things (like drugs), but I think the root cause is a turning away from our Creator and Sustainer, a holy God who, in His love, mercy and grace made provision for the forgiveness of our sins by sending His only begotten Son to deliver us from the guilt and the penalty of them.

By rejecting God and His Provision, people are saying they don’t need Him, they can do just fine without Him, and go their own way, not realizing it’s the road to destruction both in experience here on earth, and finally, at the end of the age, when the Lord Jesus Christ returns and it is time for their final Judgment.

God has given us The Book, which says it all and is an everlasting message of truth and life to all who will believe.


78 posted on 11/10/2013 7:34:58 AM PST by TurkeyLurkey
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To: OpusatFR

“I’d like to see every family mailed a sample menu each month along with their food stamp deposit to give them an idea how to cook and eat well.”

Many are functionally illiterate, and that is partly a function of low IQ and their “culture” which denigrates education and hard work while in classes.

“We don’ need no steenkin homework!”


79 posted on 11/10/2013 7:36:30 AM PST by GladesGuru (Islam Delenda Est - Because of what Islam is and because of what Muslims do.)
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To: Travis McGee

What’s the over/under for time to censorship for THAT comment?


80 posted on 11/10/2013 7:38:43 AM PST by Black Agnes
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