You miss the point, many people are not on food stamps, so they take what they can get at those food pantries, etc. There are millions of people who do without rather than take government help.
Do you grocery shop, yourself? If you have 2 or 3 children, and lunches to make etc....Do you look at costs on grocery shelves or just assume a .49 cent can of green beans can be replaced with fresh ones at .48 cents? Not going to happen.
Yes, if they get food stamps, the choice is theirs. Or have a job, where they have choice.
“Do you grocery shop, yourself?”
Yes, because I am far smarter than to live on welfare and eat packages foods I cannot afford because I too damned lazy to learn to cook for myself, much less learn not to be on welfare.
We need to cut off welfare 100%. NOTHING in the constitution allows for stealing from one to give to another.