There is a fool proof way of helping the SNAPers. Limit their food purchases to food items that have to be cooked and not the precooked items that cost more. A whole lot of flour, cornmeal, cooking oil, lower cost cuts of meat, and vegetables (maybe canned), rice, potatoes, dried beans and peas, will be cheaper and better. Oh, mom doesn’t work so she doesn’t have time to cook. I never cease to be amazed at the number of food vendors that have signs saying that they accept SNAP. Places that many who get up and go to work everyday cannot afford on their hard earned budgets.
I am sick and tired of standing in the checkout line behind these people and watching them put the best cuts of meat (steaks, bonless ham, precooked chicken breasts and etc.) on the counter. A little bit of ground beef with a whole lot of Hamburger Helper will go a long way. Also, a few meatballs with a whole lot of spaghetti will go far to feed a family. The proper choices are infinite, but without any limits, the SNAPers will never make them.
Another fact is that during school, their children are getting free breakfast and lunch. Some school districts are sending them home with a sack lunch for supper. Meanwhile, the SNAP payments remain the same year round. Some school districts are providing lunches during the summer vacation. This provides the parent/s with opportunity to sell some of their SNAP benefits for cents on the dollar cash. We that are providing the free stuff are fools for allowing this to continue.
There needs to be sensible limitations on what can be purchased using SNAP. The reason these limitations do not exist are due to the power of those that lobby on behalf of the processed food industry. Everyone wants a place at the public trough provided by those that get no free stuff.
We don’t have boat loads of money to waste on eating out, however, 3-4 years ago I stopped by a bbq place to pick some up for hubby’s birthday. Saw a sign in the window that they accept EBT cards and that was the end of that. Never went back.
Back in the day, people would take the time to look at unit pricing. Today, they throw $14/lb steaks in their baskets without so much as a glance at the price. I’m the one who’s digging through the reduced shelf, checking the weekly circular against my list, reading nutrition labels, cooking from scratch and budgeting $5 per person per day for food. If it takes 2+ hours in the store, then that’s what it takes but my bill is considerably less than theirs.
Don’t forget the “free” afternoon juice and snack for bus riders. Well, it used to be for bus riders but now it’s for all students. I saw a sign earlier this week just down the road from here where the school drops off hot lunches during the summer. Outrageous school taxes are why we’re on such a strict budget. Freebies for illegals and the EBT crowd!
SIL teaches at an urban school and is surprised and dismayed by how many of the kids — families on EBT, mind you — talk about no food in the house. I guess the elders (can’t call them parents or even adults) spend it on other stuff and the only food the kids get is at school. SMH.
We are lucky/blessed to have a “dented can” grocery store nearby. Sometime we can get candy bars at 4 for $1 ... name brand coffee at 50 percent off.
But they don’t take EBT. And its in the middle of farm country. Still, if I spend $100 there we are living high on the hog. Then again, I know how to cook. For instance, stir fry or taco’s or pasta are great for spreading out meat portions.
I’d go even more radical. I’d do away with food stamps altogether and give people actual food, the way it was done “back in the day.”
My family was never on welfare, yet I’ve eaten plenty of “commodities.” We had relatives who got them. What their children “wouldn’t eat” was given to us. We didn’t have a choice; we ate or did without.
Dried beans, peas, rice, powdered milk, canned tuna and peanut butter, corn meal, flour, etc might not make elegant eating but they’ll keep body and soul together.
If that can’t be done, then your idea, of limiting what can be bought with the EBT cards, is a good one. Pay for basic foods and fresh produce. Stop paying for prepared foods.
My local farmer’s market started a program last year where they accept EBT cards. People paying with those get a better deal than those of us paying for our own produce, but I’m not complaining, because they are buying real food. I’d much rather see the EBT card used for tomatoes, potatoes, fresh corn, cantaloupe, green beans, onions, and so forth than see it used for cheesecake or cookies (or fruit cups for that matter).
Every state needs to have programs to teach benefits recipients how to plan, budget, and cook. Every community has, still, some grandmas and other people who know how to turn the beans, potatoes, rice, and other items into real food. Hire THEM to teach people in their own communities. Don’t get too caught up in how “healthy” those food items are; they may not be ideal but they are most likely still healthier than the junk food many people buy now.