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I have a friend whose husband lost his job in the economic downturn in 2008, I think?

She is SO GOOD with money, that the food stamps they were allowed for her family of three for a short period of time was stretched far enough for her to feed them for a year BEYOND the time the benefits were no longer needed and husband was back to work. she just stocked up on the basics: rice, flour, sugar, peanut butter, canned goods, etc.

This stuff just BLOWS my mind when I think of how easily I fed three adults and three teen boys back in the day. Of course I know how to cook from scratch, we hunt and fish and had a big garden and laying hens back then, too.

My MIL fed a family of 14 at one time - with NO assistance from the Government on a ONE paycheck household! ‘On Monday I would go to the Dairy and buy 20 gallons of milk. On Tuesday I hit the day-old bakery rack and bought 20 loaves of bread...’

THOSE skills should be REQUIRED TEACHING for everyone getting some sort of government assistance! *

President Trump needs ME as one of his Economic Advisors, LOL!

*Unless disabled or a little baby of course!

Indeed!
As a retailer, I can tell you a majority of SNAP recipients have no idea how to shop, cook, conserve, etc. The WIC moms often only buy fruit, I think because they don’t have to cook It? Rarely do I see any SNAP user flinch at the price of berries or try to stretch their dollar to stock up on potatoes and other basics. I have personally advocated for required workshops to teach basic shopping, nutrition, and cooking skills. Never going to happen!

That is true. My brother had a teen single mother staying at his house for a short time who had spent her adult life on food stamps. He was amazed she didn't know the basics of providing a normal meal to her children. Also, she would take out a huge package of food, give a little to the kids, then throw the rest away.

He and his wife did their best to educate them in the short time they had to little avail. That was years ago and the mother is doing better today but will never have the horse sense that was common knowledge 40 years ago.

Your idea is perfect. A class on food purchasing and eating proper meals should be required before they get the food stamps - and pass a test at the end. More classes on cooking should be available at least.

And don’t forget despite EBT, you’ve got the socialist schools thinking they have to feed everybody, so we’re basically paying twice (property and income taxes), and making it more likely they can either waste food or be eating surf and turf while we’re eating beans.
Why in the world should we be giving a family EBT, then 2 meals at school, then a weekend backpack of probably horrible processed food? Are there children starving in the streets? Not here.

Knowing how to cook should be a basic instinct for everyone.

When frozen pizzas, crab legs, shrimp and microwave meals are removed from food stamps the societal uproar will make 1960’s Detroit riots look like a Dale Carnegie meet and greet.

I don’t believe the “teaching” will help much...many are LAZY, and won’t do the work...it’s why they are in the situation they are in. I think we should give out rice, beans, milk/cheese, lettuce, canned veggies....give them a few recipes...and let them learn on their own. But, if we continue handing out MONEY, ie “stamps” or whatever, they will definitely NEVER learn.